Are they getting desperate

[woodsieboy]

Recently booked a commercial site for four nights as they were offering 15% discount in November, paid the deposit and got confirmation e mail saying balance due 12 October, all good so far, then today they sent an e mail saying' your balance is now due'

I have noticed this with other companies too, like my caravan insurance, is it that they try to creep the payment date forward to help cashflow, or is it an AI system generated reminder?

Either way as far as I am concerned a due by date is just that and I will pay on that date.

 

[Sam Vimes]

We've had similar with some AirBnB bookings. Some we made months ago wanted the full amount almost immediately and others just a deposit and balance a week or so in advance.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Sam
I get that some want payment at different times, but if their terms and conditions say that I think it is fair enough, I object to the ones that tell you payment will be due at a certain time, and then creep it forward, the other one that winds me up is the reminder that payment is due soon. I think this is to do with the invoicing software that a company uses. Xero is the worst, you order something and are told due in 30 days, then every 10 days an e mail arrives 'your invoice is due soon' as a result I buy less from those suppplers than I otherwise would have done.

 

[Beachball]

We've had similar with some AirBnB bookings. Some we made months ago wanted the full amount almost immediately and others just a deposit and balance a week or so in advance.

That was the same with me with Airbnb we had to pay it in full but we were going in about a week time but the other time was a deposit and pay the balance a week before we arrive .

 

[toad a caravan]

Perhaps they've got desperate !🙂

 

[Andy Norfolk]

We run a holiday let. It's standard practice to take a deposit when a booking is made and require the balance 6 weeks before the arrival date. We send a reminder 1 week before the 6 weeks as a lot of people forget.

I don't consider any of this an issue as it's clear when a booking is made. The later people pay puts us at risk of them cancelling at a point that we are unlikely to relet the dates. I agree it's wrong to try and bring due dates forward, but there's nothing wrong with a reminder when many people forget to pay on time. A big issue for small business and their cash flow.