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MANAGEMENT > CORONAVIRUS > V1

Coronavirus Booking Guarantee

This page relates to the Coronavirus Booking Guarantee (Version 1) prior to 1st October 2020. For information about the current guarantee, please see here.

If you opted in to the Coronavirus Booking Guarantee prior to 1st October 2020, you committed to offering all customers the clarity of the following Guarantee Policy. This applies to your own direct Bedful bookings, as well as bookings on any of our online platforms on which you list (coolcamping.com, glampingly.co.uk, coolplaces.co.uk):

  • A low deposit of 20% to secure the booking.
  • The balance payment will not be due until 10 days before the holiday (in case of late changes to Covid restrictions)
  • No refunds, but complete flexibility to move bookings for up to 18 months from the holiday start date and therefore not lose any money.

These terms apply to all bookings made under the Coronavirus Booking Guarantee before 1st October 2020. All bookings placed with the guarantee will be clearly flagged on your system as 'Coronavirus Booking Guarantee (Version 1)'. Bookings placed after this date are bound by updated terms (Version 2), which can be found here.

Below are answers to some of the questions you may have about bookings placed before 1st October 2020, bound by Version 1:


Frequently Asked Questions


Does this guarantee apply to all my bookings or just those made via coolcamping.com?

The Coronavirus Booking Guarantee will apply to all of your new bookings from the point that you opt in. If you use Bedful as your primary booking system, then this will also include direct bookings made on your own website.

The guarantee will be promoted on the following Bedful partner websites:

  • coolcamping.com
  • glampingly.co.uk
  • coolplaces.co.uk
  • ilovethiscampsite.co.uk


Can I withdraw from this guarantee at any time?

Yes. You can withdraw from this guarantee at any time by unticking the box found under the 'COVID-19' tab on your Bedful dashboard. Please note, when you untick the box, you will be instantly removed from the scheme, but your deposit settings and balance payment settings will not be automatically changed. You will need to amend those to the new values that you wish to use.


Does the 20% deposit include commission fees?

Yes. When a customer makes a booking via one of our websites they will pay your 20% deposit and, as usual, any third party website commission fees, a Stripe fee and VAT will be deducted. The remaining money will go directly to your business. If the bookings is placed directly on your own website or via your dashboard then, as usual, a Stripe fee and VAT apply but there is no commission charged.


Will you refund your commission in the event of a cancellation?

When a customer makes a booking it will be made clear to them that, in the event of a cancellation, whether by them or, in the case of a lockdown extension, by you, that they will not be entitled to a refund of their 20% deposit, only the rebooking of their holiday within the next 18 months. Upon making their booking, the customer commits to this.

Please be aware that we are not offering to refund customer's payments under any circumstances and once you have signed up to the Coronavirus Booking Guarantee you, too, have also agreed to this criteria. It is important that both yourselves and our Bedful partnered websites, such as coolcamping.com, are giving the same message to customers.

If you opt in, please support all aspects of the policy fully, enabling us to offer confidence to customers, whilst also protecting all businesses involved. If you offer a customer who has booked with this guarantee their money back, our partner websites will not provide a refund for their commission and your business may then need to cover the cost.


What if a customer does not pay the balance due?

Customers will be sent a reminder that their balance is due 3 days before their holiday start date. If they do not pay, they will be sent a further reminder each day until the balance has been paid. Your business will also be sent a message if the customer has not paid their balance before the 10-day deadline.

If the customer fails to pay their balance 10 days prior to the holiday, it is your responsibility to contact the customer to highlight their breach of contract and offer them a final opportunity to settle the balance. If they decline, you are entitled to cancel that booking and the customer would forfeit the deposit.

Please note, bookings are not automatically cancelled if the balance is not paid.


Now that lockdown is easing, can I take balance payments earlier?

You must adhere to the original terms you offered – that is a legally binding contract with your customer. So you cannot insist balance payments should be settled early. You could offer the customer the option to settle the balance early, but it would be an option rather than a requirement.


What is the ending date for this guarantee?

We have now extended this guarantee, with some amendments, to June 31st 2021. Find out more about the new terms of the guarantee (applicable from 1st October 2020 onwards) here.


Can customers rebook their own dates?

Yes. There is a new ‘Customer Rebooking Link’ on the ‘Admin’ tab of each booking. Use this to send customers a link to choose and book new dates themselves, and pay the difference if the new dates cost more. Your seasons and rates must be set up for next year for customers to move their booking. This feature will save you time and is available for bookings made on your own website and with Cool Camping. Bookings from other third-party sales channels like Airbnb should continue to be amended on the original sales channel in the usual way.


What if I am unable to re-book a customer within the 18-month window?

In the unlikely event that no suitable alternative available accommodation can be arranged within the rebooking window, you have the choice to offer one of the following two options to your customer:

  • Alternative dates for the accommodation during an extended period of a further 12 months after the end of the rebooking window.
  • A refund, with the refunded amount due only 18 months after the original start date of the holiday.


I have more questions about the guarantee. Who can I ask?

If you have further questions about the Coronavirus Booking Guarantee you can contact a member of our support team on enquiries@bedful.com. If you have questions related to coronavirus and your business more widely, you may find our main Coronavirus FAQs For Businesses page useful, which includes information on how to easily pause bookings at your site, how to reduce your site's capacity and information on government restrictions and businesses support.