Once an account has been activated, the sign-up screen cannot be used for any other account updates.
Instead when updating existing accounts the folio maintenance screen should be used.
The folio maintenance screen can be used for the following transactions:
To add a credit card to an already existing account
To add cash to an already existing account
To give a partial refund to an already existing cash account. Full refunds are done elsewhere, to be explained later.
HOW ARE THE ACCOUNTS MAINTAINED?
Excluding the open authorization period on embarkation day, an account must have a positive balance in order to be kept active.
That is, the account has a cash deposit larger than the charges made or a credit card that has been approved for more than the guest’s charges.
When a guest spends more on board than what cash or credit is on his account, his card is not automatically deactivated.
Instead, periodically the accountants will run a report that lists all guests who have exceeded their balances.
This system does permit the guest to go over on their account.
For example, Mr. Rogers has placed a $100 cash deposit on his account and when the report is run at 1:00pm in the afternoon, he has $1.50 left on his account. Consequently, his name will not appear on the accountant’s list of outstanding balances. However, at 1:05pm Mr. Rogers orders a round of Pina Coladas at the bar costing $350, to celebrate his football teams’ big win. The system will allow him to make this purchase even though he has only $1.50 left on his account. He is able to make additional purchases until the report is run again at 4:00pm, which indicates Mr. Rogers has exceeded his account balance. At which time his card and any others on the account will be deactivated.
If it is a credit card account an additional request will be sent to Visanet for further approval of funds.
If approval is received the account will remain open. If not, all cards on the account will also be deactivated.
In both cases the following notice will be sent to the cabin, requesting them to attend the Purser’s desk and apply additional funds to the account.
USING THE FOLIO MAINTENANCE SCREEN
The screen is divided into three sections, credit information, cash information and account information.
In order to update information the following function keys at the bottom of the screen can be used.
F3 – New cc - Used to add a new credit card to an already existing account. It is preferred that the card is swiped but if entered manually, the expiry date must be reversed YYMM. A new Sail and Sign Application Form must be completed for each new card. If the guest wishes to split payment between more than one card a credit card preference form should be completed (see page 3-14). This is a complicated procedure and should only be offered if the guest requests.
F5 - Csh - Used to add cash or refund a partial amount from the account. When accepting cash, always verify the amount with the guest before putting the cash in your drawer. In order to process a refund, the account must have available cash already on the account as the computer will not permit a refund greater than this. The guest should always be asked to present photo identification when refunding cash.
The money should be counted out to the guest and a signature obtained on the receipt.
F6 – If a receipt is not printed the first time the transaction was saved a duplicated can be printed as long as the Purser has not cleared the current information from the screen.
