Bond
SECURITY BOND / CREDIT CARD AUTHORISATION:
A credit card authorisation (pre-auth) will be asked for at time of check in and will be used to cover incidental items such as (but not limited to):
- Telephone, internet charges, minibar and breakfast charges
- Any breakages or damage incurred during your stay.
- Any excessive cleaning charges, above the normal level of cleaning due to the room being left in an unacceptable state.
- Additional servicing / cleaning charges.
We pre-authorise all credit cards upon arrival.
Please note this process validates the presented credit card, and protects both the cardholder and merchant from increasing fraud incidents. We may pre-authorise a credit card for any charges we determine that the guest may be likely to consume during their stay. This may also include an amount to cover a security bond / deposit for damages.
The pre-authorised amount is set aside by the credit card company for a period of up to 10-days. The pre-authorisation will affect your available funds and / or spending limit. For more information on this practice we suggest the cardholder contact their card issuer.
No money is taken from your credit card but it will show as a 'Pending Transaction' and you may choose to use a different payment type to pay your final bill.
The minimum amount of funds we pre-authorise is the total accommodation charge ( i.e. if you are staying for 3 nights at a nightly room rate of $150 we will pre authorise your card for $450)
Once a pre-authorisation has been made, we cannot release, remove or lower the authorised amount, until we process the final account on departure. This is a restriction placed on us by the bank and cannot be negotiated.
Upon departure the bond will be refunded to your credit card if you chose to pay with another method for domestic credit card holders this process may take up to 72 hours. If you’re an international card holder this may take longer depending on your financial institution.
EFTPOS, VISA and MASTERCARD DEBT, CASH AND ALL OTHER FORMS OF PAYMENT ACCEPTED:
Without the above mentioned credit card (pre-auth) bond, we can accept a cash security bond at time of check-in.
The minimum amount of payment is the total accommodation charge + a minimum bond of $100 ( i.e. if you are staying for 3 nights at a nightly room rate of $150 we will require a minimum payment of $550). Please note that some motels may have a higher Bond amount. Please contact the motel directly to confirm.
We reserve the right to reject bookings, evict and / or remove guests who cannot provide enough bond to cover potential damage / charges. Guests who damage property will be blacklisted from ALL Awanui Holdings locations and we may choose to involve / notify the police.
Cash bonds will NOT be refunded until a complete inspection of the vacant room by our staff has been conducted.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE:
The registered guest name is the person is responsible for the motel room and its contents for the period of registration. The registered guest will be liable for damages caused by third parties, including but not limited to visiting friends; regardless of whether the registered guest is present or not at the time the damage occurs.
BUT I HAVE PREPAID MY ACCOMMODATION.
You may have prepaid your accommodation with one of our online suppliers. In this instance you will only be asked for a credit card authorisation or bond to cover the incidentials of your stay.
If you do not have any charges on your account when you depart this authorisation or bond will be returned to your form of payment.
This is a requirement for the motel to accept your booking. The motel management team have no authority to reduce or limit the amount of bond taken.
WHY DO YOU DO THIS?
Unfortunately our industry is regularly being targeted by people who are using stolen credit cards and or just choose not to pay for their stay. We have 5-10 credit cards a month that are rejected when we go to authorise them.
The only way we have to protect ourselves is to pre authorise credit cards and or take a cash payment. If we do not take a bond as well then we have people who leave without paying. And this in turn means that everyone else has to pay.
Unfortunately it is the small number of people that can potentially cost us a lot of money that has meant this policy has been introduced.
We thank you for your understanding