FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. How easy is it to make an enquiry?
A. Very easy indeed! Contact us to let us know the attractions you'd like to hire from us, your full hire date, time of hire required (e.g., 2pm to 6pm) and venue postcode for an accurate quote and to see if we're available. We are unable to send you a quote without this information.
Q. Can you attend our event for free or give us a donation from your profits, to attend our event?
A. Sorry, we do not attend events where we are expected to provide our attractions for free or make any payments for attendance, we are a paid hire company only.
Q. Will there be any additional travel charges added to my hire costs?
A. Traditional Fairground Co. are based in SY16 4DA. If your hire venue is 20 miles or under from our base, then no additional travel charges will be incurred. If twenty-one miles and over, then yes, delivery & collection is charged at £1.45 per mile (charged one way), based on our Standard Hire Terms, using www.theaa.com/route-planner for mileage calculation. Sorry, We do not attend any standard hire or single day events, over 100 miles from our base.
Q. What kind of access do you require on the day to set up & pull down services?
A. We require a good clear access to the venue you wish us to set our attractions up at. We will be using a Nissan Elgrand or VW Transporter Van. We need our access point to be clear and parking to be close to where the attractions will be sited. We also hire attractions which require direct build up from the van itself; please ensure this can be achieved before booking said attraction; we will not be able to refund your booking charge if we find that build up from the van is impossible when arriving on site. For all hire bookings attended, a free dedicated parking space must be available throughout the unloading, hire time and pull down time, within 50 metres of the event hire venue.
Q. Do you man the stalls?
A. We man our Juvenile Hand Turned Roundabout Ride, Old Penny Amusements Arcade and Fun Food Barrows, all for the hired times indicated on their listings. Due to insurance purposes, only a trained member of our staff can man these attractions.
We do not man the Vintage Funfair Fete Games (although for an additional charge we can offer the services of an overseer to reset games, collect balls/beanbags etc (1 member of staff only) for the duration of the hire.
Q. If I book with you and only use the attractions for a couple of hours at best, can I get a discount off the full cost?
A. No, our standard hire booking terms are for 'up to 4 hours hire time' for all attractions, and in the case of fun foods are 'up to 2 hours serving hire time' OR' when portioned fun foods run out', whichever comes first. No discount is given if you wish to hire less than these hours.
Q. What are your Standard Hire Terms?
A. Standard hire term packages are available for up to 4 hours 'straight through' hire, i.e., 2pm to 6pm with any fun food serving time being 2 hours 'straight through' hire or until portioned foods run out (whichever comes first). If fun foods are ordered alongside an attraction, it must be served within the overall order hire time, i.e., if order hire time is 2pm to 6pm, fun foods could be 2pm to 4pm. No standard hire time ever ends past 8pm (hire after this time incurs a nonstandard hire time charge of £100.00).
Q. Can we add extra hours to our hire time?
A. Yes, extra hours are a nonstandard hire term and are charged at an additional rate and must run into the original hire time (i.e., 11am to 3pm becomes 11am to 4pm). Just let us know if you'd like to add additional hire time (£50.00 per additional unmanned attraction hour OR £100.00 per additional manned attraction/funfoods hour) when making your enquiry, so we can add it to your quote.
Q. What's the earliest hire can start at and what's the latest hire can finish?
A. All hire is for straight through hire (no break), and the earliest standard time we start is 8am; the latest standard time we finish is 8pm. Before and after these times a 'nonstandard time' charge of £100.00 will be added to your quote. All one day hire bookings must end strictly no later than midnight on the day of hire.
Q. Do you offer longer term hire?
A. Yes, for production work, studio, filming, theatre, company seasonal hire, we offer longer term hire with discounts applied. If this is something you'd like more information on, don't hesitate to contact us, with your venue postcode, prospective hire dates (must be continuous) and attractions required for an accurate quote.
Q. What is your Booking Process/How do we make a Booking with you?
A1. LONG NOTICE BOOKINGS: are any bookings over 3 months from enquiry to hire date.
-
To secure your date into our diary, you must reply with a 'Confirmation of Booking Intention', within 7 working days of Hire Quote email send date (after this time you will need to re-check availability).
-
Once we receive your booking intention we send you a Booking Questionnaire, which must be answered and returned to us, within 7 working days of our email send date. Failure to do so will mean your booking request is deemed no longer required and your booking intention will be automatically removed from our system.
-
After receipt of your completed Booking Questionnaire, we issue you with a Booking Invoice, which outlines your hire requirements along with our payment details. For long notice bookings we require a Booking Deposit of £49.00 to hold your date, due within 7 working days of us emailing said invoice to you. Your Final Balance Payment will then be due on or before 28 days prior to hire taking place. An email reminder approx. 2 weeks before your Balance Payment due date will be sent to you.
-
Once we receive your final balance payment, we send you a Booking Receipt, along with our Health & Safety documents and Public Liability Insurance certificate, for you to read and keep, or pass onto your hire venue.
-
Any payment not received as scheduled will constitute an automatic cancellation on the part of the client and Traditional Fairground Co. will not attend to your hire request.
A2. SHORT NOTICE BOOKINGS are any bookings less than 3 months from enquiry to date hire.
-
To secure your date into our diary, you must reply with a 'Confirmation of Booking Intention', within 5 working days of Hire Quote email send date (after this time you will need to re-check availability).
-
Once we receive your booking intention we send you a Booking Questionnaire, which must be answered and returned to us, within 5 working days of our email send date. Failure to do so will mean your booking request is deemed no longer required and your booking intention will be automatically removed from our system.
-
After receipt of your completed Booking Questionnaire, we issue you with a Booking Invoice, which outlines your hire requirements along with our payment details. For short notice bookings we require your full Balance Payment, due on or before 28 days prior to hire taking place. An email reminder approx. 2 weeks before your Balance Payment due date will be sent to you.
-
Once we receive your Balance Payment, we send you a Booking Receipt, along with our Health & Safety documents and Public Liability Insurance certificate, for you to read and keep, or pass onto your hire venue.
-
Any payment not received as scheduled will constitute an automatic cancellation on the part of the client and Traditional Fairground Co. will not attend to your hire request.
A3. VERY SHORT NOTICE BOOKINGS are any bookings less than 28 days from enquiry to hire date.
-
Terms will be made clear at the point of quote and full balance on booking is required.
-
Once we receive your full booking payment, we send you a booking receipt, along with our Health & Safety documents and Public Liability Insurance certificate, for you to read and keep, or pass onto your hire venue.
-
Any payment not received as scheduled will constitute an automatic cancellation on the part of the client and Traditional Fairground Co. will not attend to your hire request.
Q. Can I pay with a Company or Personal Visa/Mastercard Credit or Debit card?
A. Yes, we now accept payment via most Company or Personal Credit and Debit Cards by sending you an invoice via the SquareUp.com online terminal. See their website for further details here: https://squareup.com/gb/en. Please note: we do not accept card payments via phone or text.
Q. Can we pay you after the balance due date or even after the event hire date?
A. No, all balances/invoices must be strictly paid in full prior to event hire date. Any payment not received as scheduled will constitute a cancellation on the part of the client and Traditional Fairground Co. will not attend.
Q. What payment methods do you take?
A. We can accept deposit and balance payments by BACS, Bank Transfer, most Mastercard/Visa Credit or Debit Cards, and most Company Credit or Debit Cards. GBP Sterling Cheque can only be accepted for full balance on booking and must be fully cleared before hire can commence.
Q. What are your cancellation terms?
A. Our cancellation terms are fairly straightforward, if you cancel your booking with us:~
-
14 days prior to your booking hire taking place, we will give you a full refund, minus a £49.00 Administration Cancellation Fee.
-
Day 13 to day 3 we will refund 50% of your full hire charge.
-
Day 2 or on the hire date itself, no refund is given.
You must inform us of your cancellation either via phone 07985 586 069 (voice or text accepted) or contacting us using our Request to Cancel Booking link. Please ensure you include your booking reference on any message you leave. If you feel cancelling your event maybe a possibility, it is recommended you obtain an Event Cancellation Insurance Policy.
Q. Are you VAT registered or a Ltd Company?
A. No, not at this time.
Q. Do you provide prizeware with the attractions?
A. Unless specifically stated in a hire attraction's listing, attractions do not come with prizeware. If prizeware is required, do contact us for a quote, otherwise many of our clients use high street retail/discount stores or don't use prizeware at all.
Q. Do you set up the attractions on our behalf or do we have to do it ourselves?
A. You don't have to lift a finger; we come along and set your attractions up, leave you to enjoy them, then quietly and unobtrusively remove them, when booked hire time is over. It's your event and we want you to enjoy it!
Q. Can we give you a layout for where we require our attractions to go on the day of hire?
A. We strive to make your event just as you imagine it to be, so where possible, we can work to a planned layout, but where we find it is unsafe or not viable to do so (front of ponds/large drops/uneven ground etc) we reserve the right to amend these plans, sometimes at a moment's notice, with no effect to your booking hire charge.
Q. What do I do if the weather is terrible on the day and my attractions are outdoors?
A. If the worst comes to the worst and mother nature isn't on our side, all is not lost! Where we are safely able to set up inside your venue, we most certainly will do so and at all points we will remain in contact with you and/or your event co-ordinator to try and make a workable solution. In some instances, where heavy rain and wind occurs, we will make a decision with regards to safety in mind; if we cannot move all hired attractions indoors due to height restrictions etc, these attractions will be removed. It is highly recommended that you purchase adverse weather insurance if you feel this is a major concern, as we do not refund any bookings due to weather incurred on when travelling to and on arrival or the duration of the hire time if already set up.
Q. What will happen if any of your attractions are damaged by another client prior to or in transit to our event?
A. Luckily most of our attractions are built in-house and we are generally able to repair the item in time for another event, if however, the damage occurs in transit to your event, we will of course, refund the value of the attraction from your booking, and inform you as soon as we are aware this could affect your booking.
Q. What will happen if you fail to attend our event due to an unexpected incident on the day?
A. On the very rare occasion we are unable to attend your hire event due to an unexpected incident on the day of hire, we will endeavour to contact you as soon as we become aware of the issue occurring and refund your hire in full, with our many apologies.
Q. What will happen if any of our party damage any of your attractions at our event?
A. Where damage and/or loss of said attraction(s) has taken place, the named hirer will be contacted in writing, within 24 hours of event date completion, indicating what damage and/or loss occurred, with photographic evidence attached, where it is possible to do so. The hirer will then have up to 31 days to pay for repairs to be made to the attraction(s) or where loss has been incurred, payment for a complete replacement unit.
Q. Do you have risk assessment/insurance/pat testing certificates available?
A. Yes, your venue may ask you to request a risk assessment/method statement/public liability certificate for your hire. If this is the case, you can either tell your event co-ordinator to contact us directly or drop us an email and we will send them over by reply email for you. In conjunction to this information, all our staff are fully trained in the safe erection, operation and pull down of the attractions hired, we hold £5 million Public Liability insurance; our electrical machines are all in-house Nappit approved PAT Tested, our juvenile ride is ADIPS tested by Rundles, our staff are all DBS Cleared and all Fun Food staff possess Basic Hygiene Certificates 1 & 2, and we are Powys Council highest rated 5. We now also possess Certification in The Prevention of Covid-19. We're proud to say you couldn't be in safer hands!
Q. What is your phone number & why is it not listed under contact details?
A. Initial enquirers are asked to use any of our contact details to outline their query, so we are able to free up our phone for our booked clients calls/messages whilst we are out on call. If you have already booked with us and require our phone number, do contact us on 07985 586 069. Any text/phone messages received asking about dates/prices etc will be politely directed to our other contact forms.
Q. Are you members of the Showman's Guild of Great Britain?
A. No, we're Independent Showmen and are not governed by Showman's Guild rules.
Q. If you're unavailable/unable to attend our event, is there anyone else I can try?
A. Yes, where we are unavailable for hire, do contact www.traditionalfair.co.uk.
Q. Why should we hire you and no other similar companies?
A. Our company is one of a handful of British fairground hirers who specialise in providing attractions with original fairground art designs that are lovingly hand built and painted by our own genuine fairground artist with over 40 years' experience as an independent showman. Because of this our attractions are built to withstand the heavy use they receive at events; alongside the fact that you can be certain your attractions will reach you in the same condition you see them in our photographs. Our staff are DBS cleared and we also possess £5 million public liability insurance along with games, ride and fun food risk assessments, Powys 5 Star Rated and all attractions that require ADIPS/Safety tests, are tested. We take pride in our services (both prior, during and after your event), ensuring each and every concern you may have, will be answered in a timely manner, leaving you to enjoy your event without any worries. Our fun foods are displayed on carts and barrows; sympathetically painted in the traditional authentic way, and none of our catering machines are cheap copies but industry high spec models, designed to handle large quantities of production. Our business is a full-time concern; we don't make promises we cannot keep, if we can't attend your event with the attractions you want, we will tell you immediately and the reason why, even before you book us. We create our attractions, deliver and set them up on your behalf but most importantly we are not a company who are here today, gone tomorrow; basically, we care about your time having fun!