Invoicing FAQ's

Lesson continuation

Our program works in a gradual, progressive nature based on age, comfort and skills. This means that all enrolments are year-round in the same class and same teacher unless discussed otherwise. There is never a need to rebook, and your children’s graduations will occur alongside their peers in their class, meaning no schedule changes unless requested. Swimming is a lifelong investment that cannot be mastered in irregular or sporadic lessons; continuity is the key.

Because we run a system of continuous enrolment this means your spot remains yours guaranteed on an ongoing basis, as long as the class is operating and is suitable for your child. There is no week-by-week enrolment, so no hustling for spots. This maintains a secure income for all our teachers and staff, and gives you continued lessons to ensure progress. Swimming all year round is the best gift you can give your child. It helps with their development, confidence, physical and mental health, fitness, social skills and more. And it will benefit the parents, with happier kids, safer kids, it is an investment that keeps on giving.

 

AM I CHARGED FOR PUBLICS HOLIDAYS?

No, we do not charge for public holidays. As all of our venues are closed on Public Holidays and classes do not run, as such you are not charged for these days and your invoice is automatically adjusted to reflect this. However, we do advocate for year-round swimming so, with the exception of our Xmas closure period of around 2 weeks, our classes run continually, even in the school holidays.

 

WHY ARE PRICES DIFFERENT FOR CERTAIN CLASSES

All of our class prices are based on student to teacher ratios, our Learn 2 Swim lessons range in price from $24.00 - $26.00 class prices are based on ratios:

BabySteps $24.00

SwimSteps 1:4 ratio $26.00

StrokeSteps 1:5 Stingray/Marlin & 1:6 Dolphin/Hammerhead- $24.00

Team Accelerate (Red/White) 1 lesson per week $21.00

Team Accelerate 2 or more lessons (including all Silver and Black Swimmers) $32.70 per week. Silver & Black swimmers are automatically charged this rate as our Silver swimmers have a minimum commitment of 2 sessions per week and Black Squad swimmers a minimum 3 session commitment.

 

WHY DO MY INVOICES DIFFER IN PRICE? 

We invoice in Billing Periods rather than whole months that start on the 1^st and finish on the 31^st.

Our billing periods work in whole weeks Monday – Sunday, we do this as many of our squad swimmers pay a weekly price and billing wouldn’t be clear if a swimmer swam once on Tuesday and once on Thursday and the month finished on a Wednesday.

You can find the dates of each billing period at the bottom of your invoice; this can be cross checked against a calendar or the below table provides an overview of weeks in each billing period.

 

Month	Weeks in Billing period
January	6/01/2024 - 4/02/2024 4 weeks for weekday swimmers & 5 wks for WE swimmers due to Christmas closure
February	4 weeks 5/2/2024 - 3/3/2024
March	4 weeks (4/3/2024 - 31/3/2024)
April	5 weeks 1/4/2024 – 5/5/2024
May	4 weeks 6/5/2024 – 2/6/2024
June	4 weeks 3/6/2024 – 30/6/2024
July	4 weeks 1/7/2024 – 28/7/2024
August	5 weeks 29/7/2024 – 1/9/2024
September	5 weeks 2/9/2024 – 6/10/2024
October	4 weeks 7/10/2024 – 3/11/2024
November	4 weeks 4/11/2024 – 1/12/2024
December	Christmas closure TBA 2/12/2024 – 29/12/2024

 

AM I CHARGED WHEN I DON'T ATTEND?

Yes, you are charged when you don’t attend as your swimmer has a place secured. As we bill on the 28^th of each month (where the 28^th falls on a business day or the closest date if it falls on a weekend) for the subsequent BP, you have paid in advance for your lessons. However, we do offer a very flexible Make up policy which means that if you are away for whatever reason – holiday or child is sick – you can schedule alternate classes. We require notified absence prior to the missed class, via the Classes menu within your Customer Portal/App.

Our Make-up lessons have a 3-month expiry and can be booked at any time using our Thinksmart customer portal. Makeups are an additional, complimentary service and have an expiry date of 3 months. Makeups cannot be replaced with credits or refunds and there is no makeup for a missed makeup. Make up lessons can only be booked by actively enrolled customers. This means if you cease lessons, you cannot book make up lessons in.

 

Please note, we do also offer a 50% hold option for absences of 2 or more consecutive lessons where absence is due to holiday/away. All requests are to be made in writing to support@hamptonswimschool.com.au and will be applied automatically to any subsequent invoices.

 

DO YOU OFFER CREDITS / REFUNDS?

As we invoice monthly, and customers can cease lessons at any stage by notifying us by the 25^th of the month we do not offer refunds.

Credits (not refunds) will only be given, at our discretion, in extreme circumstances i.e. major incident/illness, hospitalization or broken limbs requiring absence from the program for a minimum period of 3 consecutive weeks.

Credits will not be granted for any other reason including absences due to holidays, general illness or for absences for less than 3 weeks. Credits are valid for 6 months from date of issue.

All credit requests are to be in writing to support@hamptonswimschool.com.au. Any request for credit must be completed within the month the missed classes occurred, otherwise the credit will not be considered.

 

WHAT ARE THE DEBIT DATES

Your proforma invoice will be emailed on the 25^th of each month, so you are aware of the exact amount of your direct debit. Ongoing payments are processed using Worldpay on a monthly basis, on the 28th of each month for the subsequent Billing Period. Each billing period is charged at either 3, 4 or 5 full weeks, minus any Public Holidays. At enrolment you will be provided with a link to our Customer Portal/App, where you can set up your account details with Worldpay. Upon activation, you are authorising us to debit your monthly payment using the card or account details provided. Please ensure there are sufficient funds available, and the details are kept up to date, including the expiry date if necessary, as each declined payment will incur a dishonour fee of $4.40 per transaction.

 

WHY DO I NEED TO HAVE AN ACTIVE PAYRIX ACCOUNT TO BE ENROLLED IN LESSONS?

As a small family business, we use Worldpay to administer our payment system as we do not have the facilities to do this in house. We use Worldpay as it affords us the highest possible data compliance with the PCI council (mandated globally), which is the authority for storing information between banks, processors and businesses, to minimize security breaches.

Worldpay also allows us to debit with ease, without seeing increased wages to administer, which in turn gets passed on to customers as fee increases. Without Worldpay, we would struggle with the administration wages of tracing and tracking payments, when we have over 850 invoices to process monthly.

 

WHY IS THERE A PROCESSING FEE? 

Worldpay offers a reduction in fees for many of our families with lower CC and dishonour fees. Worldpay charges a one-off setup fee of $2.20 and an ongoing $0.33 transaction fee (all transactions) and 1.76% credit card fee per transaction. Bank accounts incur an $0.88 transaction fee. We do not accept AMEX. Note that ‘Worldpay Hampton Swim School’ shall appear as the Merchant for all payments.

 

WHY CAN'T I PAY PER LESSON?

Because we run a system of continuous enrolment which means your spot remains yours guaranteed on an ongoing basis, as long as the class is operating and is suitable for your child. There is no week-by-week enrolment, so no hustling for spots. This maintains a secure income for all our teachers and staff, and gives you continued lessons to ensure progress. Swimming all year round is the best gift you can give your child. It helps with their development, confidence, physical and mental health, fitness, social skills and more. And it will benefit the parents, with happier kids, safer kids, it is an investment that keeps on giving.

If you wish, you can Stop Lessons at any time by notifying us via our Customer Portal ‘Contact Us’ section before the 25th of each month to cancel your enrolment and Direct Debit for the following month. There are no refunds or credits for remaining lessons in the current month. You are most welcome and encouraged to continue swimming to the end of the current month and payment period.

 

WHAT DISCOUNTS DO YOU OFFER?

• 3^rd or more children: 25% discount (on lower priced enrolment).
• Add 2nd lesson per week (excluding Squad): 50% discount on 2nd lesson.
• TEAM ACCELERATE Red/White: 1 lesson $21 / 2 or more lessons (unlimited) $32.70 per week.
• TEAM ACCELERATE Silver/Black: $32.70 per week for unlimited sessions.
• 2-4-1 Promotion (June-July): FREE weekly second lesson for 2 months to cement progress.