When managing reservations through Guesty, it is essential to have accurate credit card details to ensure smooth and secure transactions. However, there may be instances where a reservation appears without the necessary credit card information.
Why is this happening?
The primary reason for reservations arriving without credit card details is the credit card validation process conducted by the payment processors. This validation is crucial for payments processed through Merchant Warrior, Hyp, and GuestyPay, while payments via Stripe undergo a separate validation process.
Whenever a credit card is added to a reservation, whether manually or through a booking channel, Guesty performs a validation to confirm its chargeability. This validation ensures that the card has been entered correctly and that there is no fraudulent activity. If the validation fails for any reason, such as an incorrect card details or insufficient funds, the credit card will not be added to the reservation.
This could also happen if the booking channel does not send us the credit card details or if the credit card is sent to us but is marked as invalid.
As a result, you will observe the error message "Missing payment method" or "Invalid payment method" associated with the reservation.
How can I fix it?
In cases where a reservation lacks credit card details, it is necessary to promptly contact the guest to collect a new payment method. There are two primary approaches to accomplish this:
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Sending an invoice to the guest: One option is to generate and send an invoice to the guest, providing them with a convenient method to submit their payment details. The invoice can be customized to include specific payment instructions, making the process clear and straightforward for the guest.
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Manually adding a payment method to a reservation: With this approach, you have the flexibility to work with the guest directly to gather the necessary credit card information securely. Once you have obtained the updated payment details, you can input them into the reservation within the Guesty platform.
How can I be notified sooner?
You can turn on payment notifications to help you stay informed when this happens. You can read this article and decide if you want to turn on the following notifications:
- Invalid payment method received
- Invalid card received (Booking.com)
- Second invalid card (Booking.com)
- 3-D secure authentication required from guest