Customer refunds are not only bad for your bottom line, but as a tour and activity operator, they also can be frustrating to dole out. Refunds dip into your profits and they also require you to invest more time into your administrative tasks. It’s important to decide how you will deal with refunds, and when you will offer them to your customers.

How to Handle Refunds when Necessary

If a customer requests a refund, and you believe that they are owed that refund, it is important to process it as quickly as possible. This helps prevent a public relations disaster in which the customer leaves negative feedback online, or shares their disappointing experience with their family members and friends.

It is important to be courteous and polite when dealing with customers during a refund. If you are at fault in the situation, the best thing you can do is acknowledge the shortcoming and take accountability for it. In the event of a dispute, you still need to treat the customer with respect. Have paperwork on file that will help you prove your point, such as proof of purchase, proof of delivered service, copies of correspondence with the customer, your cancelation policy and copies of any signed forms, such as waivers as well as your terms and conditions.

In most cases, when you processing a refund, the merchant bank will have a system in place in order to provide the customer with the money they are owed.

How to Prevent Future Refunds

As a business owner, you need to learn from each refund and determine how you can prevent these issues from occurring in the future. The best way to do this is to establish expectations for your tours and activities, and stay on top of your administrative tasks. You need to clearly outline the policies that you have in place for your tour company, including your terms and conditions, your liability release waiver, and your cancelation policy. In addition, you need to establish realistic expectations for your tours through your descriptions, photographs and other multimedia elements. You do not want to inadvertently promise your customers a particular experience or encounter that you cannot guarantee. Remind your travelers that each tour and activity is unique in its own way, and refunds will not be rewarded simply because they did not get to experience one aspect of the tour.

Managing your business with an online booking system is the best way to reduce the time you spend on administrative work, including processing refunds. Rezdy is the only booking system designed for tour and activity providers, and it makes refunding your customers as simple as possible. In addition, this program provides you with the features you need in order to describe your products, outline your policies and distribute waivers to your customers. To find out more information about Rezdy and how it can increase the efficiency of your business, begin your free trial today.





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