Mothers Who Write, Earthed Retreats and mentoring: Booking Terms and Conditions
Please read these carefully before booking, then screenshot this page and save a copy for your records. These terms and conditions may change periodically. Your booking is made on the basis of the terms and conditions active at the time of your booking.
When booking please know that we understand that life is unpredictable and have tried to be as flexible as possible with our booking policy. However, our retreats are very small, our margins are very tight and significant costs are incurred well in advance of the retreat. We simply can’t run a retreat that isn’t fully booked. Short notice cancellations can and do lead to us having to postpone the entire retreat and refund other participants. We are a very small operation and we can’t do this often without having to shut up shop.
Read below for full details but know that, though we’ll always try to be accommodating and look after you, we now have to stick strictly to our booking terms and conditions. If you have to cancel we won’t always have time to find a replacement on your behalf - we’ll need you to lead on that. And though transferring your place to a future retreat might seem like an elegant solution to short notice cancellation, it is something we can only do in the circumstances set out below as it can mean the loss of hundreds of pounds of income.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you think you may need to cancel or change dates. We’ll always try our best to help.
Retreat Bookings
Your place is secured with a payment in full. Some retreats are able to be booked with a 50% deposit, if agreed with us in advance.
Payments are accepted by BACS and/or online payment only.
If you have paid a 50% deposit your balance is due no less than twelve weeks in advance of the first day of your retreat stay. We reserve the right to offer your place to another writer if the balance is not paid on time.
The first 50% of your full payment is non-refundable and non-transferable apart from in circumstances as set out below.
You are encouraged to check your travel insurance covers you in the event that you have to cancel for illness, weather, caregiving or other emergency.
NON-COVID-RELATED TERMS AND CONDITIONS
In the unlikely event that we have to cancel the retreat for any non-Covid-related personal or business reason, a full refund will be issued you within 30 days of cancellation. Subject to availability, you can also choose to transfer to a future retreat (to be held within twelve months of the original retreat) or can have a voucher issued to the value of your payment. This voucher can be used against any Mothers Who Write or Rebecca Schiller goods and services within twenty four months of the cancelled retreat.
In the event that we have to cancel the retreat because of extreme weather, or other major event outside our control, then the event will be rescheduled. We will coordinate with you to ensure the new date is convenient or will offer a voucher to the value of your retreat place to be used against any Mothers Who Write or Rebecca Schiller retreats, courses, writing support, membership, coaching or attendance at virtual retreats/masterclasses to be used within 24 months of issue.
In the event that you need to cancel for personal reasons up to twelve weeks before the retreat deposits are non-refundable apart from in the circumstances set out below. We are able to offer one of the following options:
Transfer of your place and payment to date on to a future retreat within twelve months. Subject to availability. There may be a room upgrade supplement to pay depending on room availability.
A full refund of your payment to date if you can fill your place before the retreat day and the replacement writers/attendees covers the cost of your place in full.
A part refund of your payment if you can fill your place at a discounted cost. Any shortfall between the cost of the place, the amount you have paid and what the replacement writer can pay will be deducted from your refund.
If you are unable to fill your place and we find a replacement writer/attendee before the retreat starts, we may be able to offer a part refund of your payment to date within 30 days of receiving the replacement writers’ payment. The amount refunded will be contingent on: how much the replacement writer/attendee can pay, how much work we have had to do to fill the place and any additional costs related to accommodating the new attendee.
A Mothers Who Write or Rebecca Schiller voucher to the value of your payment to date, to be used against any Mothers Who Write or Rebecca Schiller goods or services to be used within 24 months of issue.
In the event that you need to cancel for personal reasons less than twelve weeks before the retreat we cannot issue a refund against the payment made to date – apart from in the circumstances below. Our retreats are small, margins are very tight and costs are incurred in advance of the retreat. Cancellations can lead to us having to postpone the entire retreat – mothers who write aren’t often available at short notice. If you are unable to find a replacement writer it can take a significant amount of work to fill your place, often at a discounted cost.
If you can fill your place before the retreat starts, and the replacement attendee covers the cost of your place in full, we will issue a full refund of your payment to date within 30 days of receiving their payment.
If you can fill your place before the retreat starts, and the replacement attendee covers the cost of your place in part, we will issue a part refund of your payment to date within 30 days of receiving their payment. Any shortfall between the cost of the place, the amount you have paid and what the replacement attendee can pay will be deducted from the amount refunded.
If you are unable to fill your place and we find a replacement attendee before the retreat starts, we may be able to offer a part refund of your payment to date within 30 days of receiving their payment. The amount refunded will be contingent on: how much the replacement can pay, how much work we have had to do to fill the place and any additional costs related to accommodating the new person. If we are unable to fill the place we may offer it, with no charge, to an attendee who would not normally be able to afford to attend one of our retreats or someone who has had to cancel at the last minute in the past and forfeiting their own place.
COVID-RELATED TERMS AND CONDITIONS
If we have to cancel the retreat because of national Covid-19 or other pandemic restrictions we will offer:
a voucher for goods and services (including retreats) to the value of your payment to date to be used within twenty four months of the retreat date
Please note that rescheduled retreats may require additional payments if the costs have risen in the interim or different room options are available.
If you are affected by a local lockdown or self-isolation we will offer:
a voucher for goods and services (including retreats) to the value of your payment to date to be used within twenty four months of the retreat date
If you can fill your place before the retreat starts we will offer a refund of the amount the substitute person has paid. If you are unable to fill your place and we fill it for you we will we will offer a refund of the amount the substitute person has paid minus an administration fee. This is sometimes less than the full balance as last minute places are often only booked at a significant discount.
If a host is unwell or has to self-isolate before or during the retreat, we will provide replacement hosting to the best of our ability to ensure the retreat can go ahead. As a minimum we will always ensure your meals are delivered and you have regular housekeeping and a contact person to help with any issues. We are not able to provide part or full refunds as long as the retreat goes ahead, but will offer additional support after the retreat instead - such as post-retreat mentoring sessions and places on online or in-person workshops.
Monthly Mentoring, Manuscript reading and other one-to-one
Bookings
Your session is secured with a payment in full.
If you ‘pay-as-you-go’, paying for each session individually with no commitment to future sessions, this payment is due two weeks before an online session or six weeks before an in-person session.
If you pay for a block of sessions in advance, this payment is due immediately and your mentoring slot secured on receipt of payment in full.
Payments are accepted by BACS and/or online payment only.
MENTORING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Payments for mentoring are non-refundable apart from in the circumstances set out below.
We try to be very flexible about rearranging sessions even at the last minute and always aim to be more accommodating than our policy allows for on a case-by-case basis.
Rescheduling
In the event that you need to reschedule an online session we will honour your booking and reschedule your session without additional charge, even if the cancellation is short notice. Rearranged sessions must be taken within six months of your original session.
In the event that we need to rearrange the day/time of an online session for personal reasons we will offer a range of days and times for rescheduling rather than a refund. In the unlikely event that a mutually agreeable time cannot be found for a future session a full refund will be offered, payable within 30 days.
In the event that you need to reschedule an in-person session more than 2 weeks in advance of the session, we will honour your booking and reschedule your session without additional charge, even if the cancellation is short notice. Rearranged sessions must be taken within six months of your original session.
In the event that you need to reschedule an in-person session less than 2 weeks in advance of the session, we will honour your booking and reschedule your session. We reserve the right to charge an additional fee of up to £75/session for rearranging in-person sessions with less than two weeks notice, depending on the upheaval the rearranging causes. Rearranged sessions must be taken within six months of your original session.
In the event that you need to reschedule an in-person session less than 1 weeks in advance of the session, we will honour your booking and reschedule your session. We reserve the right to charge an additional fee of up to 50% of the session for rearranging in-person sessions with less than one weeks’ notice, depending on the upheaval the rearranging causes. Rearranged sessions must be taken within six months of your original session.
In the unlikely event that we need to reschedule an in-person session for personal reasons we will do our best to offer you an mutually convenient rescheduled session. If this is not possible you will be offered the choice between a voucher for goods and services (including retreats) to the value of your payment to date to be used within twelve months of the cancellation, or a full refund payable within 30 days.
Please note that we cannot be liable for any travel, accommodation or other costs associated with travelling to or attending in-person sessions and encourage you to take appropriate travel insurance to cover these costs in the unlikely event that either party needs to cancel or reschedule for personal reasons.
Cancelling
In the unlikely event that we need to permanently cancel any paid for sessions (online or in-person), we will offer a full refund payable within 30 days.
In the event that you need to permanently cancel any paid for sessions (online or in-person), we are unable to offer a refund. Depending on circumstances we may be able to offer a voucher for goods and services (including retreats) to the value of your payment to date to be used within twelve months of the cancellation.
COVID, ACT OF GOD AND OTHER NATIONAL/LOCAL EMERGENCIES
In the event that pandemic, national emergency or other act of god makes our planned mentoring too challenging or unlawful we will offer online sessions, rescheduled timings and other adapted solutions as appropriate. We do not offer refunds in the event of national emergencies but will work hard to make sure you receive equivalent time and energy from us to the value of your payments to date, even if the way we deliver the sessions needs to adapt. If preferred, it may be possible to postpone our sessions until after the situation has passed and reschedule them at no additional cost - though this cannot be guaranteed as it is dependent on the length of the situation and there volume of rescheduling that could be required.