- For added control, you can now block individual reservations from accepting room charges from external systems like Lightspeed K. This feature is ideal for guests who prefer to settle POS charges separately or reservations exempt from room charges.
- Managing incidental charges is a critical aspect of property operations. With the latest update, Cloudbeds PMS allows properties to block POS room charges on specific reservations, providing greater control over guest billing.
- This feature ensures that properties can enforce their policies regarding room charges based on individual reservations, preventing unauthorized charges from being posted to a guest's folio. Here's how it works and how you can use it on your property.
What Is the POS Room Charge Blocking Feature?
The POS Room Charge blocking feature lets properties decide whether a reservation can accept room charges from external systems like a Point-of-Sale (POS) system. By updating a setting within the reservation, you can prevent charges from being posted, ensuring compliance with your property’s policies.
How It Works
- By default, all reservations allow room charges.
- A custom field, POS Room Charge, determines whether a reservation can accept charges.
- When the field is set to “No”, Cloudbeds blocks all attempts to post room charges from the POS to that reservation’s folio.
How to Use the POS Room Charge Custom Field
Accessing the Custom Field
A custom field named “POS Room Charge” with a Shortcode of “pos-room-charge” will be added to the property, configured to apply to a Reservation.
The POS Room Charge custom field will be visible in the “Show More” section on the Reservation.
Setting the Field
- Navigate to the desired reservation in Cloudbeds.
- Locate the POS Room Charge field in the “Show More” section.
- Set the field to:
- “No”: Block POS room charges for this reservation.
- Any other value (or leave it blank): Allow POS room charges.
How It Interacts with APIs and POS Systems
Integrating Cloudbeds and your POS system ensures that the POS Room Charge custom field is consistently respected during room charge operations.
Step 1: Room Lookup
When the POS performs a room lookup using the /getReservations API:
- The response will include the status of the POS Room Charge.
- Reservations marked as "No" for POS room charges will display an indicator in the POS, signaling that charges are prohibited.
Step 2: Attempting a Room Charge
If the POS attempts to post a charge for a reservation:
- Cloudbeds checks the POS Room Charge field via the /postCustomItem API.
- If the field is set to “No,” the charge will be blocked, and the API will respond with an error message:
- "Room charge is prohibited on this reservation."
This two-step verification process provides double protection, ensuring charges cannot be posted even in cases of manual override attempts in the POS system.
Technical Details for POS Integration
/getReservations API
The API response includes the POS Room Charge custom field:
- "pos-room-charge": "No": Charges are not allowed.
- Any other value: Charges are permitted.
/postCustomItem API
If a charge is attempted on a reservation where charges are prohibited:
- The response will return success = false with a message indicating the prohibition.
Why This Feature Matters
The ability to block POS room charges provides properties with:
- Enhanced control over guest billing, ensuring unauthorized charges are avoided.
- Improved compliance with property-specific policies, such as requiring upfront payment for incidentals.
- Greater transparency, with clear communication between Cloudbeds PMS and POS systems.
Comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.