The cancelation fee setting currently only allows a fixed $ amount. Since we're charged a % of the total for CC charges we should be able to set the cancelation fee as a percentage.
For a percentage based cancellation fee, decrease the refund by that amount.
For example, if you have a 100% refund policy outside 60 days, and then a 50% refund inside 60 days, but you want a 3% cancellation fee...
Then that's not really a 100%/50% refund policy. It's a 97%/47% refund policy. Change the numbers on your policy accordingly and it'll reflect that.
Yes, but how does that look when pushed out to the OTA?
It would look like a 97%/47% refund policy -- that's what it is. You could shave it a bit and say 98.5%/47% because you've only taken half payment up front, perhaps, but if you're charging a percentage cancellation fee it's no longer a 100% refund policy.
Just be careful with this. If you do not refund in full, vrbo will keep their booking fee. Expect customer service calls and chargebacks.
True - but the Vrbo booking fee was charged by Vrbo, not you, so if the guest does a chargeback on that one, it's not on you.
So where exactly does this information go? Just to our direct booking site or to the OTA's connected via API? If to the OTA's, where does it show up in the listing?
To your direct booking site, and to Vrbo if it's a Vrbo API booking.
In the past I've explained to our guests the fact that VRBO won't refund their service fee unless we refund their payment in full and have offered them the option to make an outside payment to me for the cancellation fee (through my PayPal account). If they do, then I initiate the full refund for the cancellation so that VRBO will also refund their service fee.
I record the cancellation fee in the charges and the payment for the cancellation fee as a payment in transactions.
