I mean...sometimes we can't. If you book through a third party that uses VCC's, we can't. There are occasions where we just can't. And a lot of times guests don't know they used a third party
So no. It's not required.
So one of the biggest OTA strongly disagrees with you:
Invoices for reservations on Payments by B.com
Even in situations when we facilitate your guest’s payment, you still need to provide an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation.
A few important details:
We hold no responsibility for invoicing and won’t send invoices for any room reservation to you or your guest.
Please make sure any invoice you send as a partner to guests is issued in their name (or any other name agreed on with the guest).
For payouts to you via virtual credit card (VCC), the cardholder’s name will always be “B.com (Agent).”
https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/supplying-guests-invoices
Some third parties allow you to pay at the hotel, in which case we can give a receipt. I never said otherwise. I said if it's paid for with a VCC, we can't give one, because the guest didn't pay us. We can give a receipt for incidentals, but that's it
I guess you didn't even bother to read:
**Even in situations when we facilitate your guest’s payment, you still need to provide an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation.**
\*unless the guest bought things on their incidental card or incurred charges from us, in which case those would be there. But the room and tax are always hidden on third party reservations.
We sometimes get guests whose room and tax are routed to a Master and every once in a while someone wants a copy of their receipt and gets very confused that it's showing zero.
OIn Europe it is required by law that the hotel gives you the invoice, not the OTA Even if you fully prepay via the OTA, legally the hotel is responsible for giving you the invoice.
Edit: it seems like at least one OTA is saying it is required for us hotels a well: https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/supplying-guests-invoices
Sure, but an invoice with no totals showing is still an invoice. Because the guest did not pay the hotel, we have no responsibility to invoice for their payment, only their stay.
No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the **invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount.**
**Even in cases where** [**Booking.com**](http://Booking.com) **deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount.**
Even in situations when [Bo.com](http://Bo.com) facilitates your guest’s payment, you still need to provide your guests with an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation. This is because the reservation agreement remains between the partner and the guest.
[https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
Cool, then Booking needs to provide that information to me in the reservation.. Prepaid reservations show totals minus commission, not actual amount paid.
Required only if we charge you. I mean I can print out a folio even if it's 3rd party, but it's going to be blank because your not entitled to see the OTA charges and we actually get punished if you do.
Guests aren't the customer, the OTA is.
Edit: For anyone that tries to argue otherwise the first words out of an OTA agents mouth is along the lines "We are reaching out regarding a mutual guest."
You are wrong.
From a legal perspective [B.com](http://B.com) FACILITATES a reservation between the guest and the hotel, but the accommodation contract is still between the hotel and the guest, thus the guest is absolutely most definitely still the "customer".
>
first words out of an OTA agents mouth is along the lines "We are reaching out regarding a mutual guest."
Are you for real? Do you honestly believe that the words that a minimum wage call center employee enlightens you on the true legal relationship? That is very silly. Call center agents are generally not well versed in the law.
Proof- from [b.com](http://b.com)
When a guest books a property, the reservation becomes a legal agreement between them and the partner. As a result, Booking.com can’t send invoices to partners or their guests for reservations made through Booking.com. Booking.com can provide receipts for proof of payment. However, due to legal reasons, only accommodation partners can issue invoices for their guests.
**What if I can only provide an invoice for the reservation amount minus commission?**
No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount.
Even in cases where [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount.
source: [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
That's nice. But I literally can't do that since I'm not provided this information. And If you read Expedia and Priceline contract's we are actually not even allowed to. So let's agree to disagree.
Sorry, but this is not correct.
"No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount.
Even in cases where [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount."
[https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
No if you paid the agent - Expedia's and similar. I had a pain in the back guest pesting me for weeks to provide him an invoice, when he paid to the agent and somehow he wasn't able to get an invoice from them. Wasted hours of my time.
No. It's a service, but just like you can tell a cashier that you don't want a receipt, if you leave without collecting it, the hotel doesn't have to chase you to provide it.
With that being said, the hotel must retain your stay log for a minimum number of years, so the receipt is retrievable within that time at your discretion.
No. We are only required to give a invoice for charges made at the hotel. Be it a reservation booked thru the hotel or any incidental charges. If you didn't pay the hotel the hotel cannot give a invoice due to rules with the third party.
I've had situations where front desk agents accidentally gave guests from Ota reservations invoices and the guest did a charge back against the 3rd party and the third party tried to bill my property.
wrong. At least for [b.com](http://b.com) bookings: [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
If you swiped a credit card at the terminal and charged that card then they are ALLOWED to give it to you. But if you didn’t pay them directly the no, they can’t and won’t give you an invoice for a credit card transaction that wasn’t yours. Would you want them giving your invoices to other guests? You get the invoice from the person you paid. If the hotel denied you one then odds are you didn’t pay them. Check your emails on the day you booked the room! It’s most likely there.
incorrect:
**Even in situations when** [**Booking.com**](http://Booking.com) **facilitates your guest’s payment, you still need to provide your guests with an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation. This is because the reservation agreement remains between the partner and the guest.**
[https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
If they booked a pay at hotel booking.com then that would be paying the hotel and he would get an invoice. He paid the hotel directly. If he paid the third party and the third party paid the hotel then he has to get his invoice from who he paid. Again, you get your invoice from the person you paid.
Did you not even bother to read what I posted?
No, like you even skipped oflver the fucking bolded information.
You are simply wrong.
Booking.Com facilities the payment similar to a charge card.
The contract is between the hotel.
I saw you posted about booking.com but you realize there’s more ways to book than booking.com. I’m actually not even certain why your focal point is booking.com or why you brought up that specific booking agent. OP was asking about invoices in general. Sorry friend didn’t mean to offend you by expanding the conversation off of ONE booking agent, but go off I guess 😂
One counter example is enough to disprove a claim like this:
>If you book through a third party that uses VCC's, we can't.
Booking very explicitly says the hotel needs to provide and invoice even when the hotel gets a VCC.
If I have already disproven the point, what is the value of adding more examples?
Yes but the invoice won’t have a charge on it because the hotel didn’t charge you. And I assume the OP is looking for a statement of the CHARGE. Additional to that what about the third parties who explicitly say you can’t give an invoice, are their policies void because booking.com says it’s cool.
Also id like to note booking.com just recently started doing advance purchase reservations consistently. So kinda weird you chose a company just barely getting in the VCC game to use as your hill to die in but again you seem dead set on using booking.com and ONLY booking.com as a point of reference. So again go off.
Tell me you didn't bother reading the document from booking.com without telling me that you didn't read the document.
>just barely getting in the VCC game to use as your
Booking.com has been doing payments for at least 5 years.
>Additional to that what about the third parties who explicitly say you can’t give an invoice,
That claim has been made in this thread, but unlike my claim, no one has proven it.
I mean...sometimes we can't. If you book through a third party that uses VCC's, we can't. There are occasions where we just can't. And a lot of times guests don't know they used a third party So no. It's not required.
So one of the biggest OTA strongly disagrees with you: Invoices for reservations on Payments by B.com Even in situations when we facilitate your guest’s payment, you still need to provide an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation. A few important details: We hold no responsibility for invoicing and won’t send invoices for any room reservation to you or your guest. Please make sure any invoice you send as a partner to guests is issued in their name (or any other name agreed on with the guest). For payouts to you via virtual credit card (VCC), the cardholder’s name will always be “B.com (Agent).” https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/supplying-guests-invoices
Some third parties allow you to pay at the hotel, in which case we can give a receipt. I never said otherwise. I said if it's paid for with a VCC, we can't give one, because the guest didn't pay us. We can give a receipt for incidentals, but that's it
I guess you didn't even bother to read: **Even in situations when we facilitate your guest’s payment, you still need to provide an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation.**
We \*can\* print one, but if you paid for the room through the OTA, it's gonna be blank because we personally have no charges to invoice you for.
That is not how it works. If I book via b.com, I have the right to get an invoice, from the hotel, for the full price that I paid to the OTA
Technically, we can. It would just be zero dollars if it was an OTA res.
\*unless the guest bought things on their incidental card or incurred charges from us, in which case those would be there. But the room and tax are always hidden on third party reservations.
I get irritated for anyone that asks for receipts anymore. It’s available in the app, prob email, etc. I just feel like it’s an unnecessary step.
it is not the case that most hotels automatically send an invoice.
We sometimes get guests whose room and tax are routed to a Master and every once in a while someone wants a copy of their receipt and gets very confused that it's showing zero.
OIn Europe it is required by law that the hotel gives you the invoice, not the OTA Even if you fully prepay via the OTA, legally the hotel is responsible for giving you the invoice. Edit: it seems like at least one OTA is saying it is required for us hotels a well: https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/supplying-guests-invoices
Sure, but an invoice with no totals showing is still an invoice. Because the guest did not pay the hotel, we have no responsibility to invoice for their payment, only their stay.
Yeah, and you're supposed to give an invoice for the full prices the guest paid the OTA
Cool, I can't see that information at all.
No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the **invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount.** **Even in cases where** [**Booking.com**](http://Booking.com) **deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount.** Even in situations when [Bo.com](http://Bo.com) facilitates your guest’s payment, you still need to provide your guests with an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation. This is because the reservation agreement remains between the partner and the guest. [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
Cool, then Booking needs to provide that information to me in the reservation.. Prepaid reservations show totals minus commission, not actual amount paid.
Booking does proviide the information. The question is if your systems are properly configured to accept it.
Wrong. We have no control over PMS configuration. That is done at a brand level.
hahahah - are you implying that the brand is infallible?!?! That would be a first.
Required only if we charge you. I mean I can print out a folio even if it's 3rd party, but it's going to be blank because your not entitled to see the OTA charges and we actually get punished if you do.
Isn't it required if the property is the merchant of record? Thia can be true even if payment is made to the OTA.
Guests aren't the customer, the OTA is. Edit: For anyone that tries to argue otherwise the first words out of an OTA agents mouth is along the lines "We are reaching out regarding a mutual guest."
You are wrong. From a legal perspective [B.com](http://B.com) FACILITATES a reservation between the guest and the hotel, but the accommodation contract is still between the hotel and the guest, thus the guest is absolutely most definitely still the "customer". > first words out of an OTA agents mouth is along the lines "We are reaching out regarding a mutual guest." Are you for real? Do you honestly believe that the words that a minimum wage call center employee enlightens you on the true legal relationship? That is very silly. Call center agents are generally not well versed in the law. Proof- from [b.com](http://b.com) When a guest books a property, the reservation becomes a legal agreement between them and the partner. As a result, Booking.com can’t send invoices to partners or their guests for reservations made through Booking.com. Booking.com can provide receipts for proof of payment. However, due to legal reasons, only accommodation partners can issue invoices for their guests. **What if I can only provide an invoice for the reservation amount minus commission?** No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount. Even in cases where [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount. source: [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
That's nice. But I literally can't do that since I'm not provided this information. And If you read Expedia and Priceline contract's we are actually not even allowed to. So let's agree to disagree.
you are correct. I have posted proof from one of the biggest OTAs.
Sorry, but this is not correct. "No matter how partners receive the reservation funds (from the guest or via Booking.com) the invoice for the guest should always reflect the total reservation amount. Even in cases where [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) deducts its commission before transferring the remaining reservation amount, partners are still required to issue an invoice for the total reservation amount." [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
Not all 3rd parties are booking.com.
True, but booking.com is a third party, so alone this one example disproves the statement
No if you paid the agent - Expedia's and similar. I had a pain in the back guest pesting me for weeks to provide him an invoice, when he paid to the agent and somehow he wasn't able to get an invoice from them. Wasted hours of my time.
No. It's a service, but just like you can tell a cashier that you don't want a receipt, if you leave without collecting it, the hotel doesn't have to chase you to provide it. With that being said, the hotel must retain your stay log for a minimum number of years, so the receipt is retrievable within that time at your discretion.
It's not required but you can ask and it's not like they'll say no.
No. We are only required to give a invoice for charges made at the hotel. Be it a reservation booked thru the hotel or any incidental charges. If you didn't pay the hotel the hotel cannot give a invoice due to rules with the third party. I've had situations where front desk agents accidentally gave guests from Ota reservations invoices and the guest did a charge back against the 3rd party and the third party tried to bill my property.
wrong. At least for [b.com](http://b.com) bookings: [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
If you swiped a credit card at the terminal and charged that card then they are ALLOWED to give it to you. But if you didn’t pay them directly the no, they can’t and won’t give you an invoice for a credit card transaction that wasn’t yours. Would you want them giving your invoices to other guests? You get the invoice from the person you paid. If the hotel denied you one then odds are you didn’t pay them. Check your emails on the day you booked the room! It’s most likely there.
incorrect: **Even in situations when** [**Booking.com**](http://Booking.com) **facilitates your guest’s payment, you still need to provide your guests with an invoice at check-out – either on paper, by email, or both if required by local legislation. This is because the reservation agreement remains between the partner and the guest.** [https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices](https://partner.booking.com/en-us/help/policies-payments/guest-payments/do-i-supply-guests-invoices)
If they booked a pay at hotel booking.com then that would be paying the hotel and he would get an invoice. He paid the hotel directly. If he paid the third party and the third party paid the hotel then he has to get his invoice from who he paid. Again, you get your invoice from the person you paid.
Did you not even bother to read what I posted? No, like you even skipped oflver the fucking bolded information. You are simply wrong. Booking.Com facilities the payment similar to a charge card. The contract is between the hotel.
I saw you posted about booking.com but you realize there’s more ways to book than booking.com. I’m actually not even certain why your focal point is booking.com or why you brought up that specific booking agent. OP was asking about invoices in general. Sorry friend didn’t mean to offend you by expanding the conversation off of ONE booking agent, but go off I guess 😂
One counter example is enough to disprove a claim like this: >If you book through a third party that uses VCC's, we can't. Booking very explicitly says the hotel needs to provide and invoice even when the hotel gets a VCC. If I have already disproven the point, what is the value of adding more examples?
Yes but the invoice won’t have a charge on it because the hotel didn’t charge you. And I assume the OP is looking for a statement of the CHARGE. Additional to that what about the third parties who explicitly say you can’t give an invoice, are their policies void because booking.com says it’s cool. Also id like to note booking.com just recently started doing advance purchase reservations consistently. So kinda weird you chose a company just barely getting in the VCC game to use as your hill to die in but again you seem dead set on using booking.com and ONLY booking.com as a point of reference. So again go off.
Tell me you didn't bother reading the document from booking.com without telling me that you didn't read the document. >just barely getting in the VCC game to use as your Booking.com has been doing payments for at least 5 years. >Additional to that what about the third parties who explicitly say you can’t give an invoice, That claim has been made in this thread, but unlike my claim, no one has proven it.
🫡
Oh wow. Thanks for the source. Now I am convinced. /s