Own Your Cancellation Policies
Yesterday I made a video talking about private sewing lessons. In this video I shared my experiences around teaching private lessons for many, many years.
I touched on how I feel when you start teaching private and duet sewing lessons in your own studio is when you start to really have your boundaries tested. Because these are appointments made with specific clients and specific times of the day. And we all know that TIME is our biggest commodity. What I've found teaching private lessons in my studio is that people are going to immediately start trying to cancel, reschedule and not show up and if you're not smart about it, this could be at the expense of your business.
There's no reason to stress out about this and no reason to think that the experience is going to wind up being negative - as long as you have your policies in place around these things.
One my loyal students followed up after the video asking for my studio policies written out. So I thought I might write a post about it here.
So below are my class and lesson policies from my studio's website.
Hope it's helpful.
xo, megan
PS: If your policies look different from mine, I'd love to know!!
Private/Duet Lessons
- There are no monetary refunds for canceling any private or duet lesson.
- Please let us know as soon as you can if for some reason you have to cancel or reschedule a private sewing lesson.
- If you cancel or reschedule within 48 hours of your scheduled private/duet lesson or don't show up, the lesson will be deducted from your package.
- If you show up late for your private/duet lesson, the lesson will still end at the scheduled time.
- If you are more than 20 minutes late for your private/duet lesson and the instructor has not heard from you and does not have another lesson following yours, the instructor will leave the studio and your lesson will be deducted from your package.
- Anything left in our studio for more than 3 months (fabric, projects, sewing machines, tools, etc.) will be donated.
Adult Classes
- There are no monetary refunds for canceling any class.
- If you need to reschedule a class, this needs to be done at least 1 week before the class starts.
- No shows and last minute cancellations (within 1 week of the class) cannot reschedule. Due to the hands-on nature and small size of all our classes & workshops, there is very limited space in all our classes.
- Our classes fill. You must sign up for a class either online, in person, or by telephone BEFORE a class to be guaranteed a spot. It's best to sign up at least a few days before the class to ensure your spot. It also helps us properly plan for the class.
- We reserve the right to cancel a class without sufficient enrollment. If this happens to you, you'll be notified at least 2 full days before the class starts. You can choose to have the cost of the class fee fully refunded or you can apply the balance of the class to your account to be used for a future class or lesson.
- We are not able to pro-rate any weeklong classes for non-attendance one session.
- Anything left in our studio for more than 3 months (fabric, projects, sewing machines, tools, etc.) will be donated.
Kids Classes
- There are no monetary refunds for canceling any class or camp.
- If you need to reschedule a kids class or camp, this needs to be done at least 2 weeks before the class starts.
- No shows and last minute cancellations (within 2 weeks of the class) cannot reschedule. Due to the hands-on nature and small size of all our classes & workshops, there is very limited space in all our classes.
- Our classes fill. You must sign up for a class either online, in person, or by telephone BEFORE a class to be guaranteed a spot. It's best to sign up at least a few days before the class to ensure your spot. It also helps us properly plan for the class.
- We reserve the right to cancel a class without sufficient enrollment. If this happens to you, you'll be notified at least 2 full days before the class starts. You can choose to have the cost of the class fee fully refunded or you can apply the balance of the class to your account to be used for a future class or lesson.
- We are not able to pro-rate any weeklong camps or after school seasonal enrollments for non-attendance one session.
- Anything left in our studio for more than 3 months (fabric, projects, sewing machines, tools, etc.) will be donated.
Private Parties & Events
- When you book your private party, you pay a non-refundable deposit of $50. This means you are committing to the date and time you requested. Even if you cancel party, deposit is not refunded. Date and time changes can be made up to 2 weeks of your event date, if proposed changes are possible. Cancellations made within 1 week of your reservation date will be charged an additional $100 for loss of business.
