Online Reservation Handling

Once a reservation from Hercules is imported into Campground Master, whether through the manual or automatic mode, you generally work with that reservation in Campground Master the same way you would any other reservation.  If you change the site or dates, those changes will automatically be reflected on Hercules.  So there is no need to go through Hercules to adjust the reservations or your "holds".

However, there are a couple things that require special handling and explanation:

Transactions

Reservations imported from Hercules will include only the Deposit transaction paid online, and a series of Memos to show the rate used and any add-ons calculated.  Therefore the reservation will initially show a negative balance (only the credit of the Deposit payment).

Keep in mind that the actual Charge transactions are not imported.  Just like reservations that you add manually in Campground Master, the charges must be added at the appropriate time.  As explained in the Recommended Transaction and Reporting Procedures, this should normally be done when they check in, not when the reservation is made.  If you are using Auto-Rates, this will be done automatically at the time specified in the Auto-Rates options.  Otherwise, you will need to add them manually.  Therefore if you usually add the charges when a reservation is made, then you should regularly View Recent Online Reservations so you can make sure the charges are added.

Cancellations

When you cancel an online-originated reservation in Campground Master, it will automatically be removed from the Hercules grid appropriately (assuming the 2-way interface is enabled and in automatic mode).  However, it does not cause any refund transaction to be processed in Hercules.  You must manually process any refund due the customer, as described below.

Refunds

Whether due to a cancellation, a shortened stay or any other reason that some refund needs to be given to a customer, refund transactions done in Campground Master do not automatically go through Hercules.  If you're giving the refund in cash or some other form of credit, you can do that in Campground Master and not worry about Hercules.  However, we recommend that you process the refund on Hercules so the refund is credited to the original credit card that the customer used.  There are two important reasons for this:

1. It will reduce charge-backs and other customer confusion by ensuring that the credit will show the same business name on their statement as the original charge, and of course will go to the same credit card.

2. It will reduce your costs by crediting the Hercules booking fee for the original reservation back to your account.

To handle the refund in both Campground Master and Hercules, you will need to follow these steps:

1. As with any refund in Campground Master, you will enter appropriate "reversed" (negative) Charge transactions to show that the service or product is not to be charged for.  To do this, Manager access will likely be required.  For details, see Working with Transactions.

2. Enter a Refund transaction in Campground Master for the amount to be refunded, and select the Payment Method you're using for the online reservations (as defined in Hercules Setup / Reservations).  It's important to use this same payment method so that the refund comes out of the correct reporting account.

3. Log on to Hercules (through their web interface), and locate the reservation to be refunded.  If it was a cancellation, it will no longer be on the grid so you will need to look it up.  it will help to have the Online Order ID for it -- when you do the Refund in Campground Master, a message will appear with that ID -- otherwise, you can find it on the Reservation Details dialog in Campground Master.

4. Process the cancellation and/or refund in Hercules.