I don't know if this was a thread already or not, but the debate over posting the contract online got me thinking....

How many of you accept Credit Cards over the phone or online? Would you? How do you deal with the disputes? What sort of verification do you use to ensure it's not a stolen card?

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Consistency- It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup

We do not take any over the phone, part of that is because of our merchant set up.

However if it was ok, I wouldn't really see a problem taking it over the phone for current tenants. A lot would depend on the type of area you live in. If you get a lot of parole searches in your complex.....maybe not lol

Ron

It's like I joke with my tenants, I'll never turn away payment on a unit since it keeps me from selling their stuff! If a customer ever gets mad regarding a charge, I offer to reimburse the card that was used. We don't like the chargeback issue, but consider it part of the cost of doing business. For me, it's not too much of a worry. Just something that I was thinking about.

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Consistency- It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup

For years, I have taken CC payments over the phone. If you do, get the code on the back of the card as confirmation that the person has the card in their possession.

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Bob Taylor (Astro)
Blue Ridge Self Storage
Cashiers, NC

Disclaimer: What Gina said....'cause the the cheese fell of my cracker.

We have very specific guidelines for taking cards

Phone - only in you have a signed authorization in the office. Change your card, fill out a new form - no exceptions!

Our online is handled by PPI so they will take care of any issues that crop up.

In the approximately 3 years we have been taking cards we have only had one dispute (back in our early PayPal days) and after about 6 months it was settled in our favor.

In the office - if you are not the tenant you better have proper ID or I will not accept the card. You would be surprised (or maybe not ) at how many people try using someone elses card to pay their storage!!!

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Wayne
Jamestown, ND


All arguments can be resolved ... with high explosives and Humor!!!

We get so few cards that a regular account just isn't worth it so we use a virtual terminal thru Propay.com.

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ChefMichael
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J. and M.e. Self Storage

We accept them over the phone, but, like the great Astro, we get the security code on the back of the card.

We've never had a problem! *knock on wood*

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are small matters compared to what lies within us!

Shannon

After a young lady used Grandma's stolen credit card (how low can you be?) to charge her rent two months in a row, before she was discovered; we're pretty darned strict about credit cards over the phone.

For the most part, we offer every new rental the option to start auto pay when they initially sign their contract. We sign them up on the spot. If they're hesitant, we point out we have the form in the rental packet for them and encourage them to fax it to us after they determine which credit card they want to use that kicks back the most in benefits.

On new rentals, we will allow a one-time charge over the phone however, we let them know it's ONE TIME ONLY. They can do the auto pay OR we offer them the option to give us the same form however it goes with the notation & in a separate file that reads; "Charge Per Phone Call Only!"

This way, we have the info and their signature authorization on file and they are responsible for phoning in and asking us to process their payment. Our form states that it is good for one year from the date of the signing and they must inform us of any changes. People like it, they remember and it works well for us as it lowers the delinquencies. Now if we could just get EVERYONE on auto pay.

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Gina 6k
CochraneStorage dot com
Morgan Hill, California
twitter.com/CochraneStorage

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough!
I am not an attorney, just an experienced manager who is willing to share what I have learned. Your thoughts, practices or opinions may vary and neither of us may be right.

We will take emergency payments over the phone but we also ask the person to send us an email (from thier personal email address) giving us permission to put payment(s) on their card and also the expiry date of the card.

That way if there are any issues the email can at least be tracked back. And we ask that if they can come in to please do so that we can fill out the proper paper work for the pre-auth payments.

We try our best to not do any c.c payments over the phone but sometimes you have no choice.

We take many credit cards over the phone. We get the cvv2, the street address, zip code and the name on the card. We have not yet had any charge backs.

We actually have two accounts with the credit card processor, one for swipes and one for phone orders.