Some of you may be aware that we have been working on a new booking/payment system. Following trials in recent weeks we have decided to roll it out to all rallies/clinics from 1 July.

Booking your place on a clinic/rally will now be done by accessing the calendar on the website and selecting the clinic you want to book on to, by using the drop down menu and clicking on ‘Bookings’ under Clinics & Events, or using the quick link on the homepage. In our trials members have found it an easy system to use and there are instructions on the Bookings page of the website should you need them. Please do take time to read the instructions and especially note that it is the member’s name that needs to go in the top fields not yours.

Payment will be taken at the time of booking and will be via PayPal. Don’t worry if you don’t have a PayPal account….if you scroll down the payment screen you will see the option to 'pay by credit or debit card'. We have opted for a system which doesn’t charge an additional booking fee as we want to minimise the cost to our members. As a branch we will cover the monthly cost of the operating the system. However, we have decided to increase the cost of all our clinics by 50p to cover the additional PayPal fees that we will be charged. This is in line with other local Pony Club branches.

Once you are booked on to a clinic you are committed to attend. If you find that you can no longer come along then please let your Discipline Head know in good time as they may have a waiting list. If your place can be filled then you may be entitled to a refund. If your space cannot be filled then I’m afraid there will be no refund as we will be committed to pay the venue and instructor and we have to cover our costs.

We are planning to open new clinics for booking once the Discipline Heads have confirmed they are ready to take bookings. It is anticipated that this will be once the current month’s clinic has taken place. This is so we don’t have multiple months open at any one time. However, some clinics will have multiple dates available eg. Summer Rallies, Test Training etc. so please double check the date before paying for your booking.

Bookings will close a week before the clinic/rally. This is to enable instructors and groups to be organised. In practise you will be able to book a space for a Saturday clinic up to and including the Sunday before. And for a Wednesday clinic up to and including the Thursday before. This does mean that you need to get organised and it may take a little getting used to.

If you find that you are too late to book in online you can contact the Discipline Head and they may be able to add you to their list if they have a space. Please don’t use this as a regular way of booking in though as it creates a lot more work for both the organiser and myself and so if it becomes a regular occurrence you will be turned away. Advanced payment will still be required by PayPal.

We have to restrict the numbers on certain clinics. The number of spaces available will be clearly shown when you start the booking process. Once you select the clinic and then click on the chosen date a box will pop up stating how many spaces are left. You can then choose to continue or select a different date or clinic.

To return to the list of available clinics you can click on the arrow to the right of the photo for that clinic.

If you find that there are no spaces left on your chosen clinic please contact the Discipline Head as usual and they may offer to add you to a waiting list.

When you have booked and paid for a clinic you will receive a confirmation email. Your Discipline Head will confirm your time slot once booking has closed and the groups have been allocated. You can add your booking to your diary from this confirmation email. I also believe that the system will email you nearer the time of your clinic to remind you.

Our clinics and rallies can only go ahead if we have enough people booked on to them. In very rare instances we may have to cancel clinics or modify the number of spaces available.

In summary all clinics/rallies from 1 July will be bookable online via the website only. Some clinics before this date will also use the new system but you will have been told if this is the case.

Any questions regarding the booking/payment system itself can be directed to myself on espc.payments@gmail.com 

Queries regarding the clinics/rallies should still be directed to the Discipline Heads as usual.

Kind regards

Helen, ESPC Treasurer