Question to freelance instructors/trainers and those who pay them

viola

viola

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Could you please share your views on your cancellations policy?
Do you charge cancellation fee if you are cancelled on the day?
If you work at a Centre/RS - do you think it's OK for the Centre to just cancel half of your day, on the day, after you've already gotten there/paid the travel expense?
Is it just something self-employed instructors have to account for or a 'bad practice' on a Centre's side?

And the Centres - what are your views? Do you have any policy in place for freelance instructors?

I've been freelancing both at various centres and teaching private clients and the situation vary greatly: from very good to very bad.
I know the times aren't great and everybody worries about the finances but would be really interested in your thoughts on this?
AND RIDERS - Do you pay your instructor if you cancel the lesson at short notice (too short for them to arrange for another client?)

Thank you!
 
I do not work for any centres I just freelance although I do take clinics at some well known centres the riders come to the centre for a lesson they are not clients of the centre if that makes sense.

I do not charge a cancellation fee, mainly because I teach the same people every week or fortnight etc throughout the year and on the hole they only cancel if something has gone wrong.

I feel that if they are loyal to me all year round I have to swallow it if they cant come.

Also a bit of good will goes a long way to how your clients see you and they are more likely to stay with you if you are fair with them.

However I would think it depends on how busy you are and if you can afford to have them cancel at last minute and how often they do it, repeat offenders might need to be treated differently.
 
i work a bit of freelance and a lot of teaching where i work. it isn't a Riding school as everyone has to bring their own horse but we teach XC/SJ/JX/Dress but no cancellation fee. unless it a pre-paid clinic or a deposit put down.
would be difficult to enforce in our situation.
 
Thank you for your reply. Yes it makes sense.
I personally have had very good experiences most of the time but a couple of recent situations has got me thinking. I also witnessed some "interesting" way some other freelance instructors are treated.

Just to clarify: when I said freelancing for the Centres I meant when the Centre employs self-employed instructors to teach their clients (which seems to be quite popular in the SE).

Would have to agree with you on the loyalty bit. I don't ask for cancellation fee either but was talking to someone who does and they seemed to think I was foolish not to!

I should add I am not a well known trainer in any shape or form so although I have some regular and committed clients it could be a question of a "we can always replace this instructor" approach.
 
..and what about if the instructor cancels? I think there has to be a bit of give and take on both sides. A client may well have out of pocket expenses - taking time off work, child minders...- which they have incurred due to cancelled lesson..
 
If a large riding centre has employed you and then cancelled, due to their error, after you had arrived, then IMO they should have paid you for the time you were booked as you could have been working elsewhere. Having seen the rates some instructors are paid at a big centre not too far from here, it would not have broken the bank!
 
Slightly different situation, but I organise clinics with an ex olympic rider. She will travel 3 hours to drive down to me, teach the day and then drive back.

My policy on the clinic is that once times have been issued (normally 3 or 4 days before clinic) it is up to you to either fill your slot if necessary to pull out or you still have to pay for the session. If you need to pull out before times are issued then not a problem.

The reason behind my policy is that once I have issued times then the trainer has been made aware of how many hours of teaching she has. The travel fee that she charges in no way covers her travel costs down here and so to make it worth her while she must have a set number of hours teaching.

Plus I believe there has to be some responsiblity. When you make a booking you commit to do something. It should not be left to the organiser or the trainer to suffer a loss that is not their fault.
 
Also would like to add if my instructor turns up and for some reason the lesson cant go ahead ie. horse gone lame that morning, then I offer to pay for the lesson.
 
Not quite the same thing, but I work as a freelance ecologist. When I give people a quote for doing a job, one of the Ts&Cs stated is that if I incur costs due to circumstances beyond my control - for example if the client tells me they have arranged site access and it turns out they have not and I travel to site but can't do the work - then I reserve the right to charge an additional fee. I would and have used this - I charge 40p/mile plus my standard hourly rate for travel time. The client then pays this on top of what we have agreed for me to do the work when I do actually get on site.

So for the centres who employ you on a daily rate, I suggest you draw up a contract stating that with less than 48hrs notice (or whatever time you think it will take to fill the rest of your day) you will charge a fee of X, and if your travel rate requires you to do X number of hourse work for them, I would also add in a sliding scale of travel fees if they contract you for fewer than X hours. So for example, Xhrs = 0 travel fee, half X = y travel fee, quarter X = 2y travel fee etc etc.

If you work for yourself you have to make it work financially and cancellation at that short notice is unacceptable. I have never lost any clients by doing this, what usually happens is it makes them sharpen up their game with respect to organisation!

FWIW if I have booked a lesson with someone and I have to cancel with fewer than 24hrs to go, I always offer to pay them - never had anyone say yes yet, but I would not be at all offended/more likely to go somewhere else if they did - they are a business not a charity!
 
Thank you for your replies, it's reassuring that some people see the side of freelancers too!
Just to give you an example, it costs me about £22 to get to one of the yards I teach at. I am normally there for full day which works fine. If they cancel my work after 2 hours I don't even get that amount returned...

Vrin - valid point and of course I agree that some sort of give should be in place. I would never argue 1-2 hours as it's just one of those things. But whole day of work it's a bit of a different matter I think.

Dozzie - my thoughts exactly.

Taylored Equestrian - that sounds fair. I really must look into something of this sort.

Spotted Cat - that's an interesting idea, wish our industry was more professional.
I think it's a bit easier once you are well known and have great show/coaching results but when you are just starting out it's rather difficult...
 
Our instructor is flexible as we only have grass to school on, and can often get rained off. We book next lesson at the end of a lesson, but this is often subject to firming up based on the weather and her other work commitments.

I would look at the riding schools terms for their pupils. Most charge pupils for a full lesson if cancelled with less than 24 hours notice. I'd suggest draw up a contract with them that states your fee, with a minimum charge for a day's booking so that you get your travel expenses covered. I don't think that's unreasonable as you've commited the time to them.
 
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