HomeAway Community: Refunding deposit- credit card fee

Skip navigation

Join the Vacation Rentals Conversation!

Get answers to all of your questions from fellow owners and travelers.

Join the Community X

Facebook Twitter

Up to Discussions in Deposits, Payments, Fees

5174 Views 9 Replies Latest reply: May 21, 2012 12:31 PM by jconway@gmail.com

vcaldwell

2 posts since
Jul 30, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Jul 30, 2011 9:29 AM

Refunding deposit- credit card fee

I refunded a guest's $100 deposit, which she had paid by credit card, by making a partial refund of $100 through the Reservation Manager system. The next day I received an email documenting the transaction but it indicated that only $97.50 was refunded to my guest so now I have to send her a check for $2.50. I understand and am willing to accept being charged a 2.5% fee on my end for the convenience of accepting credit cards, but I don't like having my guest shorted, especially when I advertise a full refund of their deposit. Is there a way to fully refund a guest's deposit other than by sending a check for the full amount? I've read through some of the threads about credit card fees but I haven't seen this addressed.

Like (0)

Tags: deposits_payments_fees, credit_card, security_deposit, chargebacks

disneyfunvilla
409 posts since
Mar 5, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Jul 30, 2011 11:47 AM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

My understanding is that all fees are supposed to be refunded as well. Hopefully someone can confirm that and make an adjustment for you. Otherwise, I'll have to switch back to Paypal.

Report Abuse

Like (0)
- patrickduncan
  143 posts since
  Mar 21, 2011
  
  Currently Being Moderated
  
  Aug 2, 2011 1:43 PM (in response to disneyfunvilla)
  Refunding deposit- credit card fee
  
  Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We will investigate and let you know what we find. Best, Patrick
  
  Report Abuse
  
  Like (0)
mainecoast
1 posts since
Aug 10, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Aug 10, 2011 2:49 PM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

VCaldwell,

Unless this was a coding error on the processor's part, your guests should never, ever, ever see the fees you pay discounted from their refund. This was almost certainly a mistake on the part of the processor and should be rectified immediately.

Depending on who you are using for a processor, it is getting less and less common to charge merchants for refunds. In any case, you should be in touch with the processor today and demand that the mistake is fixed.

Hope this helps!

Mike

Report Abuse

Like (0)
naomibatac
3 posts since
Aug 11, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Aug 11, 2011 9:19 AM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

I am doing business online and I also receive payments that are net of a certain fee. However, when I inquired about the fee, I do not usually get a clear answer. I think the fees depend on the payment system because sometimes other transactions are not deducted with fees.

Report Abuse

Like (0)
vcaldwell
2 posts since
Jul 30, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Aug 11, 2011 2:11 PM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

I'm the original poster. Just wanted everyone to know that my guest receved her full deposit and neither she nor I was charged a fee. The statement that I received from Yapstore, the folks that process the payments, was not as clear as it could have been (for me anyway) but she got her full deposit of $100 and only $97.50 was taken out of my account, thus refunding me the 2.5 percent I had been charged when she made her original payment of rental fee plus deposit.

Report Abuse

Like (0)
naomibatac
3 posts since
Aug 11, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Aug 15, 2011 5:44 AM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

Glad that you are able to clarify the transaction with the processor. We should truly not let our customers feel that they are being shortchanged. Honesty is the best policy. Cheers.

Report Abuse

Like (0)
shengamillo
1 posts since
Oct 5, 2011

Currently Being Moderated

Oct 5, 2011 3:50 PM (in response to vcaldwell)
Refunding deposit- credit card fee

I had the exact same situation today, got an email showing the refund minus the cc fee and it looks like it was charged to the renter. I used reservation manager to do a partial refund.

@patrickduncan, is Homeaway doing something about this? or who should I contact to have a different kind of set up? or is there a better way to issue sec deposit refunds?

thanks for your help

Report Abuse

Like (0)
- patrickduncan
  143 posts since
  Mar 21, 2011
  
  Currently Being Moderated
  
  Oct 5, 2011 10:55 PM (in response to shengamillo)
  Refunding deposit- credit card fee
  
  Hi shengamillo -
  
  Rest assured, your guest will receive the full amount of the refund you specify, while only the amount originally deposited to your account will be debited. VacationRentPayment (YapStone) reimburses their fees to make up the difference.
  
  We will work with them to improve the clarity of the confirmation email you receive to avoid this confusion in the future.
  
  Thanks for the feedback.
  
  Regards,
  Patrick
  
  Report Abuse
  
  Like (0)
  - jconway@gmail.com
    1 posts since
    May 21, 2012
    
    Currently Being Moderated
    
    May 21, 2012 12:31 PM (in response to patrickduncan)
    Re: Refunding deposit- credit card fee
    
    This is really good to know. I thought that my renter was not getting his full security deposit refund, and I almost sent him a check for the fee amount. Making that clearer in the email confirmation would be helpful.
    
    Report Abuse
    
    Like (0)