Booking the same slot every week
A five-a-side league on Tuesdays, a school every Thursday afternoon: take the whole run of dates in one go, and stop it when they stop.
Taking a weekly block
- Open the Calendar and pick a free slot, as you would for one booking.
- Tick Every week at this time and choose the last date it runs, up to a year ahead.
- Say what it’s for, then check the summary. It tells you how many bookings that makes and, if the pitch has a rate, what the whole block costs.
Every date is checked before any is booked. If one Tuesday is already taken, nothing is booked and you’re told which date is the problem, so you never end up with half a block.
If a date’s time isn’t one of the pitch’s booking slots, you can book it anyway, the same as a single booking.
Each week is its own booking
Every date in the block is an ordinary booking. It has its own price, can be paid for on its own, and can be cancelled on its own if one week is rained off. The rest of the block carries on.
Ending a block early
Open any date in the block and choose End the block from this date. That date and every later one are cancelled and the slots become free again. Earlier dates stay exactly as they were.
A later date that was already paid for is added to the refunds you owe. Nothing is refunded automatically. If the block is billed to a regular hirer and a date is on an invoice they haven’t paid yet, that date comes off the invoice with a credit note.
When somebody asks for every week
People booking on your website can ask for a slot every week too. They tick Every week, choose the last week, and see every week’s price before they ask. Each week has to be free when they ask.
The request arrives on Requests as one item: the day and time, how many weeks and the total. Answer it once for the whole run:
- Yes: untick any week you can’t give them, such as a week booked by somebody else since they asked. You can set a price per week different from the one they were quoted; leave it blank to keep theirs. They’re emailed which weeks they have, and the price if you changed it.
- No: every week is turned down and they’re emailed your reason.
Until you answer, the weeks aren’t held. They stay free for anyone else to book.
How they pay
When they ask, they can save a card on the payment page. That card is charged on the day of each week, for that week only, and they’re emailed each time it is. Nothing is taken before then, and nothing at all if you say no. The money goes into your Stripe account, as with any other booking.
If a card is refused on the day, they’re emailed a link to pay for that week, and you’re told. The booking still stands, and later weeks are charged as usual. If they didn’t save a card, they’re emailed a pay link on the day of each week instead.
If a card is refused 3 weeks in a row, we stop trying it, and you and they are told. The booking stands and each week after is paid by its link, until they save another card. You can change the number, or turn it off, in Default pitch settings under Paying for weekly bookings.
Direct Debit
You can let them pay by Direct Debit as well as by card. Turn on Offer Direct Debit? in Default pitch settings under Paying for weekly bookings. It’s offered once your Stripe account can take Direct Debit; until then they’re offered a card, and the setting says so.
A Direct Debit takes a few working days to arrive, so each week’s is started six days before the booking. If their bank turns it down, it’s handled like a refused card: they’re emailed a link to pay for that week, and it counts towards the weeks in a row.
Asking for a way to pay first
You can choose not to see a weekly request until they’ve saved a card (or set up Direct Debit, if you offer it). Turn on Need a way to pay before you see a request? in the same place.
Then a request reaches Requests only once they’ve saved one, and you’re told then. While you decide, they can replace it but not remove it; they can still withdraw the request. If they don’t save one within two days, the request lapses, its weeks are let go, and they’re emailed to say so. You never see a request that lapses.
This only applies when something is priced and your Stripe account can take payments. Otherwise there’s nothing for them to save, and requests reach you as usual.
What they can do from their link
Everyone who asks for every week gets a link to their booking, in the email that answers them. From it they can:
- withdraw the request, while you haven’t answered it yet;
- remove or replace their card or Direct Debit;
- cancel one week, or all the rest, before its day. Nothing has been charged for those, so there’s nothing to refund.
You’re told when they do. A week that’s been paid, or whose day has come, can’t be cancelled there: they ask you, and refunds are up to you, as for any booking.