How to charge a credit card guarantee?

In this article, you'll find instructions on how to charge a credit card guarantee for a reservation.

 

Summary

  1. Charging the credit card guarantee in case of a no-show

  2. Charging the credit card guarantee in case of a late cancellation

  3. Common cases & FAQs

  4. Support & Related Articles

 

What You Need to Know

A charge can only be made if a credit card guarantee was provided by the customer when making the reservation.
The amount charged will be the one initially authorized when the reservation was created. It is not possible to modify this amount at the time of charging.
Charging a credit card guarantee is a manual action and is not done automatically by the software.

 

1. Charging the Credit Card Guarantee in Case of a No-Show

If a customer doesn't show up for their reservation, you can charge the credit card guarantee if you wish to do so.

  • Log in to your Zenchef account and go to the Reservations tab.

  • Open the relevant reservation.

  • Click on the reservation to open the detailed view.

  • Make sure a credit card guarantee is available. The credit card icon should be green.

  • Click on the reservation status and change it to No-show. This step is crucial for the rest of the process.

  • The Charge the customer button will now be available. Click it.

  • Your customer will receive an informational email or SMS (depending on your client notification settings).

 

2. Charging the Credit Card Guarantee in Case of a Late Cancellation

You can charge the credit card guarantee if your customer canceled the reservation after the allowed deadline. This deadline is configured in your service settings. To check your configured deadline, refer to this article: How to enable the credit card guarantee for my services?

  • Log in to your Zenchef account and go to the Reservations tab.

  • Open the relevant reservation. Late cancellations are listed under the filter: Others > Canceled Late.

  • Click on the reservation to open the detailed view.

  • Make sure a credit card guarantee is available. The credit card icon should be green.

  • Click on the reservation status button.

  • The Charge the customer button will now be available. Click it.

  • Your customer will receive an informational email or SMS (depending on your client notification settings).

 

3. Common Cases & FAQs

Common Cases

  • The credit card guarantee is not available at the time of charging.
    Check the credit card icon to confirm the guarantee is available for the reservation. Depending on your account settings, some customers may have been able to book without providing a credit card guarantee.

  • The “Charge” button doesn’t appear on the reservation.
    Make sure the reservation status is either No-show or Canceled Late.

FAQs

  • How do I know if a credit card guarantee was provided by my customer?
    On the reservation, a dedicated icon will indicate the presence of a credit card guarantee. It should appear in green.

  • I get an error message when trying to charge a customer.
    There may be several reasons for this. Check this article for more info: Everything you need to know about credit card guarantees & prepayments

 

4. Support & Related Articles

Contact our support team

For further assistance, feel free to contact Zenchef support via the Chatbot available in your customer area or by visiting our help center.