Does BRM handle deposits?
The short answer is YES. But let's take a closer look.
There are really two types of deposits relevant to bike rental:
- booking / reservation deposit - when someone reserves a bike, a booking deposit ensures the show up to take the bikes they've reserved, if not you keep the money, typically around 20% of the rental fee. But lots of variation amongst operators.
- security deposit - when someone takes your bikes, a security deposit is designed to ensure they bring it back again! Furthermore, if the do bring it back and there is a problem like they have broken something, you have some 'insurance' to help ensure they pay for any damage that may have been due to their negligence.
1.Booking/Reservation Deposit - BRM currently handles booking / reservation deposits in the following way. When reservations are made, they are 'provisional' by default. They only progress to confirmed when the customer pays the booking deposit, at which stage the progression is made, and the transaction recorded. For online bookings you can set the booking deposit percentage in: Offering Control
2. Security deposits are different, however. There is no real industry standard for handling them, and approaches include:
- keeping a passport / drivers licence in the safe
- taking a copy of the above
- holding a credit card in a safe
- taking credit card details/swipe and holding
- writing down the credit card number on paper or in notes of BRM - this is likely ILLEGAL - do not do!
- taking a pre-authorisation of a card
- taking an actual payment against a card and refunding in the event of problems
- nothing - wing and a prayer
- storing credit card details securely online. (BRM fully integrates with Stripe to make this really smooth)
You can record security deposit information at any stage;
- use the add transaction button
- select Type: Security
Security Deposits will show up differently in the Transaction List page for the reservation
(to distinguish them from payment transactions)
And also can be distinguished in the global transactions list page:
To use Security Deposits first enable the feature in: Features and Customization