Refunds...

This week, I want to talk to you about refunds - to give you more information, and some do's and don'ts.

The vast majority of our bookings work smoothly - you book, you turn up, everybody's happy. But sometimes, something happens and you can't attend. Now what?

The website says that we don't give refunds, and that's the default position - and it's there because sometimes I just can't give a refund, for instance sometimes the website back-end is down and there's really nothing I can do. So "no refunds" is the fallback position, but in practice, I want you to be able to book with confidence, so I almost always try to do something for you.

Here's how you can help me, to help you:

1. Give me as much notice as you can! If you tell me by 6pm the day before your class, I can almost always refund you. This also gives the next person on the waiting list a chance to book.

   1. (Conversely, if you only tell me there's a problem after the class has started, or with very short notice, I never refund - because no one else has the opportunity to buy that ticket. I'm sorry, folks, but there it is!)

2. Don't cancel yourself! I know, the app allows you to do this, but if you want a refund, cancelling yourself makes it really difficult to do. Why? Because you're no longer on the list of attendees - so you're not "there" to refund. To refund you if you're "not there", I have to log on to my main PC, and scroll through pages of orders (we sell 100+ tickets a week) to try to find the one where you bought your ticket. It takes ages! So please, just let me know you're not coming and ask for a refund, don't cancel yourself.

3. If the class you want to attend is full, please use the electronic waiting list system. The system will text you if someone cancels, it's very fair. You'll have ten minutes to book your ticket and then the system will text the next person waiting. (In the past, I've heard from people who were unable to book onto a class they wanted - but that class ran with empty places, due to cancellations! Oh dear :( So please use the waiting list, and the chances are, you'll be offered a place.)

4. I do have a very small number of "repeat offenders" - people who book every week, and then cancel every week. Please don't do this! I'm sympathetic to your reasons, but perhaps just wait until you know you can come to class, before you book?

5. Can I reschedule your ticket for you? For instance, you can't attend Thursday beginners but you can attend next Thursday? If you ask me to reschedule you, that's quick and easy for me to do, and it doesn't cost me the transaction fee that a refund does (it's not a lot, about 50p, but it adds up!) I can only reschedule to the same class in a later week, I can't move you from Thursday to Wednesday, for example. But if you can, please ask for a reschedule rather than a refund, that's much easier to do - thank you!

I hope this all makes sense to you, and feels fair - I am trying to be fair to everyone, and I hope that knowing some of the "why" will help you all to understand some of the "behind the scenes". If you help me to help you, things will just run more smoothly for everyone.

Finally - thank you all for booking every week - it's always appreciated.