Booking Office FAQs

- Booking office processes SOP

Customer FAQ's

What is Coasteering? 

Travelling/exploring the coastline at sea level. We swim around coves, scramble across the rocks while checking out the wildlife, jump off rocks, climb back up, jump off again, get washed around in the swell, or just float about and take it all in! We will cater your Coasteer to the ability and desires of the group.

Nothing is mandatory apart from getting in at the start and getting out at the end.

We won't ever make you do anything, but we will certainly encourage you to push your comfortable boundaries.


How old do you have to be? 

We dont like to say no and we dont think someones age should determine what someone can or cannot do. So, if you fit in the kit and the weatehr is appropriate we will take you on an adventure!

If on the day of the activity the conditions are unsuitable then we will have to look at rearranging the activity date or activity.


What shoes to wear?

Coasteering - Old lace-up trainers, NO water shoes with pull cords or elastic or velcro!

Must be closed-toe! Crocs don't count!

Surfing - water shoes or wetsuit boots

Kayaking - No Crocs! water shoes are OK but old trainers are advised as with Coasteering.

SUP - Old Trainers

Climbing - Lace-up Trainers, we also have climbing shoes available.


Why old trainers and not water shoes?

The best shoes for Coasteering, Kayaking and SUPing are lace up trainers.

This is because they offer a nice thick cushioned sole to keep your feet comfy when scrambling over rocks along the coast. (More so with Coasteering but there is always a chance when Kayaking and SUPing along the coast!)

They also lace up so we have less chance of losing a shoe or two!

And finally trainers, especially running trainers, have ample water drainage so that you aren't walking around in puddles!



Age restrictions

Participants over the age of 16 are classified as an adult

If the participant is 13 or older they do not need to be accompanied by an adult 

Must be accompanied by an adult. Adult does not need to participate if surfing or climbing

Check kit size and water confidence. Conditions dependent.


Cameras & photos

Take a picture of the completed session record form before the guide takes the camera so that it is clear which session the pictures are from.


Create a photo album on the play@tyf.com's Google Photos. Use the following format for the photo  name: 01/01/2020 - 09:00 - Coasteering - John Doe.


Good quality photos should be copied to the appropriate activity folder in the marketing section of Google Drive and named accordingly (e.g. Coasteering 12). You should also tag these photos with guide name and location to do this go to the folder where the image is stored > press D > in the details pain enter the tags in the description e.g. #John Doe


When the guide returns from session remove the memory card from the camera, insert into computer and upload the photo and video files into the appropriate album. If internal memory was used then use the USB cable to connect to computer. 


To share the file you should: hover over the folder > three dots > share album > create link > copy > BCC email link to customers.  


Delete photos from card / internal memory before disconnecting from the computer. Albums should be deleted from Google Photos after 30 days. 

Groups and pricing

Adventure bookings through Peek

- These include: friends, families, stag and hen, 

- 4 or more tickets = 10% off (automatic discount applied) 


Large group bookings receive a higher discount and will be booked through the education team at learn@tyf.com

- These groups include: schools, corporates, scouts, brownies, community groups

- Bookings staff can direct clients to our online enquiry form here

- The pricing structure for schools can be found on the website here. 

- Corporate booking info can be found here

Closed and Bespoke sessions or single bookings

Minimum bookings

Ideally we would have more than one person on a session but we can take single bookings with over 18's (please note, we do not run 121 activities with under 18's due to safeguarding)  The Adventure Hub Coordinator should advertise any spaces daily using the A-frames outside the hub and the Marketing and Content Creator should put social media posts up where possible.


Closed Sessions

A customer may require to close a session for a more personal experience 


Pricing

Single bookings and bespoke sessions are handled in the same way as a closed session and should be charged the cost of an additional person based on current pricing. Overnight bespoke sessions will also incur a charge of Ā£120 per night. Food and drink is charged at cost + 10%. Closed sessions should not impact TYF's operational capacity so will not always be approved, if in doubt speak to a manager.  

Hire

Check if hire has been permitted on the Daily Briefing Form or ask a senior guide and confirm hire availability on Peek Pro (Calendar > Rental Bookings). Tip you can filter the availabilty by product type.


If the booking is made in the adventure hub then call the hire centre to give them the heads up

 

Select the item of equipment that you wish to hire and confirm the date, time and customer details using the on screen prompts. 


Ask customer to read and sign the Hire Waiver against their booking on Peek using an iPad. Submit by clicking 'save and close' Please note that only one waiver is needed per booking.


Hold customers card details (Enter payment information > Pay Later > Add a card to charge later). Complete the reservation and issue the equipment to the customer. 


Status: Mark the item as collected

Returned: When equipment has been returned, update the status on Peek 

Returned equipment should be checked for damage and missing parts (Leashes etc) and any charges added to the booking accordingly. It must also all be washed down before putting away. The card on file can then be charged or if the customer prefers they can pay cash and have the card details cleared from the system. All items must be marked as returned at the end of the day before the bookings and hire/stores assistant leave. You can find a snapshot of items still out on the hire manifest on Peek by checking the status column.


Customer questions:

- Do you do an hourly rate as we won't use it all day?

- Do you do a 24hr hire? If I pick it up at 12pm today, can I bring it back at 12pm tomorrow?

- What if I bring it back before 9am tomorrow?


A. We only offer a full day booking as a minimum, with a pick up slot that is available 30 minutes after opening and must be returned 30 minutes before the hire shift ends. We can be flexible out of season and allow customers to return their equipment the next morning, but we cannot offer this during Peek season. If this is agreed, then we will need to extend the booking for another day but edit the price to the single day rate.

Ratios

Logistics

- Check that each session running has a vehicle

- Check that the sessions are staffed appropriately based on sign offs and include a 1hr lunch         break in their day (is there enough space in the vehicle for any additional guides?)

- Check that the ratios are accurate (the ratios are added per vehicle which is set to 8, therefore the climbing sessions will need manually editing.


Tip: every activity created on Peek has the person 'No Staff' automatically applied as the staff member to the session. You can select the filter 'No Staff' combined with 'Hide Activities Without Bookings' to view any staffing gaps. You can also filter by each vehicle in turn to check for missing vehicles on the logistics. 


All group bookings information is stored on the SOS. When creating a new session double check if there are any conflicts on the SOS Logistics page.

TYF Membership and discount codes

TYF offer 10% for local accommodation providers to share with their customers who will have their own unique codes, these include for example: Bunk Barns, Celtic camping, Pencarnan Shepherds hut


TYF membership

- You can purchase a TYF membership here for an annual fee of Ā£20, offering 10% off all TYF products and experiences. This promo code is 'tyfmembership'

- Check that the customer has membership applied to their profile in Shopify here before redeeming.


Applying a discount / promo code to a booking

- When making a booking, you will see the basket on the right hand side of the page, enter the code as it is written in the box where it says 'enter promo code' and click apply

- A full list of discount codes can be viewed here if you are unsure of the spelling

Gift Vouchers

Vouchers are handled using Shopify and can be redeemed against adventure or retail products. TYF vouchers are valid for one year from date of issue and are non-refundable. 

Customers wishing to use a voucher to buy an adventure online will have to request it is transferred on to Peek system first or alternatively book their adventure over the phone with a member of staff.

  • On Shopify back end click Products > Gift Cards 

  • Find the relevant gift card from the list and then click it to bring up the voucher details. 

  • Add a note and initials confirming what it is being used for: "JM: PM Coasteer 28/10/22"

  • Disable the voucher in Shopify.

  • Mark the activity as paid with Voucher on Peek and add the voucher code

  •  

We accept Buy A Gift and Red Letter Day vouchers as payment for our adventures. Buy A Gift recently bought Red Letter Day so the processing instructions are the same for both origin of vouchers.

  • Go to the backend of Buy A Gift and login. Login details are saved on TeamsID

  • Select 'Add booking'

  • Enter Voucher number

  • In the voucher details box check all the information, and confirm the pricing and validity.

  • If all is correct, validate voucherand complete: customer name, phone number and date of activity then add booking to account.

  • Buy A Gift is automoatically invoiced and reconciles the balance on the 20th of the following month. 

  • Helpline: 020 8275 5220

  • On Peek select 'Voucher' as payment method and enter the voucher number. 


TYF are routinely approached to provide raffle prizes and giveaways. Our standard give away is an adventure only gift card. These can only be approved by a member of the management team. 

  • Click here to create a voucher code on Peek and use the code CODECODE on the checkout screen to discount the price by 100%. The voucher code will be sent to play@tyf.com

  • You can either send this voucher code onto the customer or alternatively write it into one of the TYF cards under the shop desk. 

Refunds

Refunds should only be issued with manager approval. Please note that all refunds must be processed as they were originally purchased. 
- Card: Payments go directly through Peek following the process below
- Cash: Can be issued back from the till but please add a note
- Vouchers: These can be reconciled on Peek as below but a new voucher will need reissuing through Shopify here and go to 'issue a gift card'
If we have to cancel you should try to issue a gift card in the first instance or a refund if circumstances dictate. Full terms and conditions can be seen here. If a customer cancels then charges apply as follows: 

  • Up to 15 days - 100% Refund 

  • 14 days to 8 days - 50% Refund 

  • Less than 7 days before - 0% Refund

If a refund has been approved by a manager then follow this process:

  • Find the customer's booking in Peek (Customers > Search)

  • Select 'Cancel / Refund' 

  • Enter the refund policy or custom refund amount

  • Press 'Refund Only' or 'Cancel without refund' as appropriate.


Schools T's and C's can be found here
Months before first Adventure        Charge
6+                                                        40%
4-6                                                       60%
2-4                                                       80%
0-2                                                      100%

TYF reserve the right to charge an Admin fee for late payment at the rate of Ā£25. Interest will be charged at Bank of England base rate at the time of the charge accrued. 


Adventure club cancellation policy
*For our Adventure Club we allow a 100% refund if you cancel 48hrs before the session is due to begin

Registration Forms

Customers are emailed a registration form with their booking confirmation email. They should be encouraged to complete this online before arrival. 

If a customer has not yet completed their registration form they can do so on the ipads. 

Back up forms should be on hand for group bookings and in case technology fails. Registration forms can be found here.

When a booking has been handled through the SOS the lead contact will have distributed a google form which in turn completes the spreadsheet on the SOS. For more information on this process see 'Group FAQs' wiki page. 

If a guest tries to register more than one person with the same email address then Peek will show an error message. To get around this they should click the box 'I am the guardian' on the waiver form and then proceed to complete the participant information. Full instructions can be found here.

Sea Kayaking Enquiries

Quite often a customer will ask to go Sea Kayaking, Most of TYF Kayak sessions are kayaking on the sea but in sit on top kayaks. TYF do have sit in sea kayaks but unless customers are wanting to book onto the beginners sea kayak skills session we generally don't hire out our sea kayaks as we would like to know that they ae experienced enough to be able to look after themselves. If they still wish to use sea kayaks, we would ask the following questions to gage their experience and determine whether we would hire them to them or not.


- Where are you wanting to go?

- What is the aim of your trip?

- Are you paddling with other sea kayakers or are you going alone?

- Do you have any of your own equipment?

- Can you comfortably use a spray deck?

- Are you able to get yourself out of the kayak if anything goes wrong?

- Can you roll a kayak? 

- How many months or years have you been paddling?

- Do you have any kayak qualifications?


Once we have this information, we would check in with the most senior guide or member of staff who will make the call. 

Third Party Providers

St. Davids Bug Farm (Correct as of March 2020)

8 ā€“ 19 people: Ā£10 per person

20 - 49 people: Ā£9 per person 

50+ people : Ā£8.50 per person 


All prices are subject to VAT 

Surcharges apply for groups under 8 people.

All groups must be booked in advance.

PDF


Grub Kitchen (Correct as of March 2020)

PDF


Accommodation

We have agreed rates with Celtic Camping and St. Davids Bunk Barns for group accommodation. For 2020 both charge us Ā£20+VAT for room only and Ā£40+VAT for full board accommodation. They are willing to negotiate on a case by case basis. Our preferred suppliers of accommodation are found here

Scanning / File storage

The following paper work needs to be scanned in and saved on the google drive and then shredded at the end of each day.


- Registration forms

- Session record forms

- Daily briefings

- Accident and near miss forms

- Vehicle logs


Please save all documents HERE in the relevant year and document folder.

Email and phones: Use and etiquette

Phones

- TYF phones are set up with an automated dial call in order to put customers through to the correct department.

- When you answer the phone, please be polite, start with a hello, say who you are and ask how you can help. e.g.

'Good morning / afternoon'

TYF adventure, this is X speaking, how can I help?'

- The full training for the phones can be found here... How To: Yealink Phones šŸ— ā€“ TYF 


Email etiquette:

It is important that the following points are considered when composing emails with external contacts.

- Tone (professional but friendly and personal)

- Spacing and paragraph structure of an email

- Spelling, punctuation, capital letters and general grammar

- Using the correct To / CC / BCC

TYF Style Guide_2022.pdf

Also please find the electronic communication policy on the wiki under staff policies for reference.


TYF welcome all, and appreciate that some staff may be neurodiverse and therefore need additional support. Etiquette is important to us at TYF and we are open to supporting our staff however is needed whether that is more time spent on training or looking into additional technology support. Please communicate with your line manager if there is any concern with this and we will work with you in creating a solution.


Tidal / Weather constraints

- Kayak sessions - generally 2 hours either side of high tide.

- Surf sessions - 2 hours either side of high tide but no high tide during the session

- SUP half days - 1 hour before high tide.

- SUP/Kayak- Within 2.5 hours of high and not after 2 hours from high

- Coastal Explorer- Any tidal state


N.B These can be run at different times/tides but will need approving by the head guides or the Adventure Manager.

Waivers


Transferring waivers onto different bookings

Unfortunately this isn't currently an available function on Peek. See Rescheduling a session to move a customer and their booking to a different session. 


Editing a booking on Peek

How to cancel a booking and not the session 

Navigate to the primary guest you'd like to cancel and press the 'delete/rubbish bin' icon on the top right of the pop out. 


How to move a booking: 

Order>Edit>Scroll down to Date/Time and select 'reschedule' on the right hand side. You can only move a booking on to a session of the same type. Alternatively, add a new product and delete the old. E.g. you accidentally book on a Discovery instead of an Explore. You cannot reschedule the guest's booking but you can add the Explorer Session and then delete the Discovery Session.


Creating sessions: What to consider?

Booking Principles for creating sessions

- Lunch breaks (ensure that the guide gets 1hr lunch break between sessions)

- Ensure the guide session times match their rota times allowing time before and after session

- Van availability (adding a form of transport to Peek adds the ratio of 9, you will need to manually edit to 6 for climbing)

- Changing room availability (staggers)

- Tidal conditions (as above)


Overnight Sea Kayak trips

1. Meet n greet - Names, past exp, aims and dreams of the weekend (balancing expectations)


2. Run through plan for the weekend, kit needed and the weather


3. Issue personal kit to clients - B.As, Helmets, Summer Wetsuit, Spray deck, paddles, wet shoes, Rash     vests, Cags, Dry bags, Tents/Bivvy, Roll Mats, Waterproof phone case.


4. Issue group kit to divvy up- Cooking equipment, toiletries, Lunch, Dinners, Breakfast, Snacks, Water


5. Aim to start from Porthclais or Newgale (depending on wind direction) Unload all boats and kit at the starting point, If shuttle is needed then both vans will be left with a hub assistant to run the shuttle later that day.


6. Guide will talk group through setting up their boats, with storing dry bags, adjusting footrests etc.


7. Guide will do a dry land capsize brief , paddle brief and chat about the actual conditions and the plan for getting on the water


8. Once everyone is afloat, we will recap the paddling, and introduce edging/turning the kayaks, then getting the group to follow the leader, doing some drills to consolidate the skills before heading out on the journey


9. We will then head along the coastline , checking out caves, channels and interesting features along the way.


10. Lunch will be on a suitable beach/cove we find , where we can have a look at the rockpools, seeing what we can find, some things edible and some things cool


11. Heading off along the coast, towards our campsite, 


12. If the conditions allow we will stop for some fishing.


13. Reaching our camping location, pull the boats up and unpack them, and a chance for a swim before heading to set up the camp.


14. Once camp is set up, we will reheat the food that was prepared for us and sit around a campfire.


15. After dinner, go for a night swim in the cove before nestling into your sleeping bag for the night


16. Wake up with the sun, enjoy an early morning walk and cook up some porridge for breakfast


17. Re pack the kayaks before re capping the relevant safety information and plan for the day


18. Set off for another day paddle.


19. At the end of the trip, all kayaks to be unpacked and kit stored in the boxes in the vans. 


20. kayaks loaded onto trailers/roof then head back.