Taking Deposits

[tmdigitalart.com]

hi

in my new business idea i will need to take deposits from customers as
i will be renting out about five hundred pounds worth of equipment.
Just wondered if anyone could give any info on how to take deposits.
I got in touch with a company that rents out camera equipment to see how
they took their payments and deposits, they said "If you complete an online booking
form, then a reservation deposit of £20 is taken over the internet. We will
then ring you for your card details so we can take the balance on the day
the equipment is sent out from us. We verify with our card security company
that there is enough on your card to cover the loss/damage deposit too".

How would i go about checking to see if people have enough to cover the loss/damage deposit,
has anyone used a card security company before, what would i need to be able to register.

thanks for any help

tom

[rsvmilly]

When I was test driving cars, some of the dealers asked for a £500 deposit. They said they took it from a credit card and then returned it to the card once the car came back in one piece.

In practice, they just took a swipe of the card on one of those carbon sheets. They destroyed that (gave it to me) when I returned.

>> Edited by rsvmilly on Monday 20th February 16:39

[simpo two]

In the video hire business you'd have an insurance policy to cover loss/damage. Then you add a surcharge to the basic hire rate (eg 12.5%) to pay for it.

So if your customer drops it down a well, you don't bill him but claim for the loss.

[plasticpig]

simpo two said:

In the video hire business you'd have an insurance policy to cover loss/damage. Then you add a surcharge to the basic hire rate (eg 12.5%) to pay for it. So if your customer drops it down a well, you don't bill him but claim for the loss.

Not alway true. Some of the larger production companies carry their own insurance for hired video / camera / lighting equpment.