RRSAC Trip Booking Rules
1) As in previous years, to book on a trip you need to pay a deposit as defined on the booking sheet. No payment = no booking!
2) Until the published “hand-over date” for a trip, all bookings shall be made through the Dive Programme Officer (DPO) or assistant (ADPO). After the hand-over date the appointed Dive Manager will manage any additional bookings, who in turn will ensure the DPO is informed of any changes to the bookings.
3) The blue booking file will be at the club every Tuesday (with the DPO or ADPO or someone else if they are not there that week) – generally between 7pm and 9pm, occasionally until 10pm.
4) Following the 2008 AGM decision on “first come first served” bookings for all trips. The 2012 AGM voted to allow a proxy booking to be made to enable club members who are unable to make the trip booking opening night to make a booking via another club member, * the agreed process for this is…..
a) Each club member is allowed to bring ONE proxy booking on behalf of another club member.
b) Any member who wishes to make a proxy booking must inform the DPO in writing (e-mail or paper) before 9.00am on the Monday prior to the trip booking opening night, stating the reason why the member cannot attend in person. Any requests received after this time will only be considered in line with rule 5e) below.
c) The first available booking will be taken by the member in attendance; the proxy member will be taken as the next booking.
5) For 2013 the committee has agreed some more specific rules to clarify the process for trip booking
as follows….
a) An e-mail will be issued to confirm when the bookings will be opened to the membership
b) Bookings will take place in the Sports Bar of the Pavilion
c) A numbered ticket will be issued to club members on arrival (from 6.30pm) to determine the order for which bookings will be taken.
d) Bookings made in person (or by proxy – see * above) on that evening will take priority.
e) Any postal bookings received on or before the opening date will be dealt with, in order of receipt, on the day after the trip booking opening night. After that, bookings will be dealt with in the order they are received by the DPO, regardless of how they are made.
6) Those organising the dive programme (DPO, ADPO and identified trip organisers for their specific trip) will be allowed to book prior to opening.
7) If a trip is over subscribed, bookings will be reviewed ASAP to ensure an adequate skill mix, e.g. tow drivers, boat handlers, dive leaders or instructors for training trips. If any adjustments are needed, they will be made recognising the booking order as far as possible (i.e. first reserve with required skill replaces last booker without).
8) The DPO also reserves the right to reject the last booking, if the numbers mean we’d have to take the second boat for one person only. That would not happen until after the handover date.
9) Cheques are payable to RRSAC, please write on the back which trips it is for. Electronic BACS transfers can be made but must be supported by a confirmation e-mail when the payment has been made. Please do not make your own entries in the file nor make any amendments whatsoever, leave it to the DPO or whoever is standing in for them.
10) Each trip has a minimum qualification level, this you need to have reached by the start of the trip. Bookings from under-qualified divers will be taken provided the DPO & DO think you can get qualified before the trip.
11) If a trip is full, names will be taken to form a reserve list, but without taking further deposits.
12) If you want to book on a trip where the “hand-over date” has passed, talk to the allocated Dive Manager first. He/she should do their best to fit you in, but cannot guarantee anything.
13) You will be expected to pay your RRSAC membership renewal in a timely manner once you have made a trip booking and no later than end of February.
Deposit rules
The following were agreed at the 1999 AGM, and not changed since:
The ‘holding’ part of a deposit is the first £10 (or the full deposit, if this is set at less than £10). The ‘holding’ part of the deposit is refundable only under the following circumstances:
a) If the trip is cancelled by the club - the refund is then dependent on expenses incurred by the trip before cancellation.
b) If the cancelling diver is replaced on the trip by another diver, booking after the cancellation. (This goes for all divers regardless of their skills).
c) If the cancellation is due to unforeseen, exceptional circumstances, which would otherwise result in a number of deposits being lost. This is at the discretion of the Committee.
Deposits that are lost will be included in the trip accounts, whether or not the trip has incurred any expenses.
Any external facilities - e.g. accommodation, hard boat or ferry- will be booked by the Trip Marshall at whatever date he/she sees fit, based on the number of divers on the trip booking list at that date. Any diver who subsequently cancels, will be liable to ensure that the remaining divers will not have to pay any extra costs for those items. If no replacement is found, this may mean payment of a full share of the expenses. This applies regardless of whether the ‘holding’ deposit would be refunded under the rules above.
Club boat operating costs are not considered external costs, and will simply be split between those divers actually on the trip.
One point of clarification on the above – the type of accommodation listed under “Likely Accom” on the dive plan is generally only the most likely guess at the time of publishing. Marshalls are free to make different arrangements as they see fit, and the above rules will still apply unless you make clear at the time of booking that you have particular requirements (e.g. not wanting to camp, budget limit etc). If this is the case you should not expect the Marshall to make any such alternate arrangements.
Training Members
The rules are that you are only allowed to book on training trips – e.g. the start of season training trip, and the St Abbs trip. You are of course welcome to upgrade to Full membership at any time.
Training Trips
On the start of season training trip, priority will be given to trainees and instructors. We will accept bookings from others, but on the basis that they may be replaced at any time before the hand-over date by a trainee (if sufficient instructors are also available) or an instructor (if more are needed). This does not apply to St Abbs, as numbers are not limited there.
Andy Williams
2013 Dive Programme Officer, RRSAC
