Better than refunds!

Greetings, patrons!

We find ourselves in an odd time ... and no, that's not news.

The latest situation involves tearooms receiving cancellations more often than they can count. It's understandable, given all that's going on, but it sure doesn't make things easier for either the venues or those who make reservations with them.

I've been scratching my head as to how to enable patrons to make reservations without the risk of losing their investment if they need to cancel for health reasons. We tried a reservation vs pre-payment option on our latest posted event, but I've been convinced there's a better way.

So here's what I'm proposing/offering as of today. The fictional currency exchange at the Ocademy is called The Stockpile. I am going to begin accepting funds to be put on reserve for patrons thusly:

• Any "stockpile" funds you send to the Tea Travellers PayPal account will be placed "on account" for you. If you are a $3+ patron, this money will be listed on your personal Spitspot Spreadsheet
• When you want to sign up for an event, just let me know and I'll deduct that amount from your account and send you an email detailing the transaction, your reservation, and account balance. I may very well start doing reservation forms for the bulk of our upcoming events to keep things extra organized ... We shall see
• You will be able to cancel your reservation up to 2 weeks before the event date without any sort of penalty, and the funds would remain in your account
• If within the 2-week window you find you are unable to attend, your reservation will no longer be cancellable, but (per standard protocol) you could give your spot to a family member or friend just as you would with a theatre ticket
• If you elect to participate, simply send funds via PayPal using TeaTravellersSocietea@gmail.com as the recipient. Note: if you send funds in FRIENDS/FAMILY mode, there are no fees. If you send the funds in Products/Services mode, I'll be charged a fee 
• Stockpiled funds can be put toward any event, trip, mercantile order, or activity available

I hope this will help some of you to breathe easier about reservations. And I'll do my best to adjust and adapt to each new unexpected situation and change. In any case, it's time to get 2022's event calendar underway!

All the best,

Joy