Bookings

Bookings taken at site entrance

The process for taking bookings at the site entrance is mostly not one GOD is involved with, but it’s outlined here for context:

1. The gate team take a payment from someone arriving on site, and note down the player’s details as best they can.

2. The gate team send a runner from the gate to the Matt Cave on a semi-regular basis to drop off cash and paperwork. (Occasionally we get asked to send a runner ourselves, depending on who can spare the crew more easily.)

3. Graeme, in the Matt Cave, processes the paperwork and books players in.

4. The GOD heads of department do intermittent print runs of new character packs, which will get made up and put in the matrix per Player Packs- GOD.

If someone appears and tells you they’ve paid on the gate, this means their pack may be in the matrix ready for them to collect, but that relies on them having got through this entire process.

What you need to do with someone who turns up at GOD who has paid at the gate depends on a variety of details:

• Check they’ve actually paid. They should have a receipt they can show you. Sometimes players will say something like “I’m here for a gate booking”, meaning they’ve already paid and they want to pick up their pack, and sometimes they’ll say something more-or-less identical but meaning that they want to make a booking now, in which case see Front desk bookings.
• Check they have an account. Sometimes the first contact someone has with PD will be when they turn up at the gate, and we need them to have an account before we can help them. If they don’t have an account, send them to create one on the player PCs or using their own device connected to the PD Wi-Fi. Once they’ve done that, fill out a query form, add it to the HoD Player Waiting inbox, and send them to the heads of department to sort out.
• Check when they paid, and check with the heads of department how up-to-date we are with gate bookings. If we’re sufficiently up-to-date, they can just be treated like any other player coming to pick up their pack. If not, depending on the backlog, we might be able to sort their pack straight away, or we might need to tell them to come back later.

Front desk bookings

The Simple case

This should cover the majority of cases where someone wants to buy a ticket in GOD, that is: they’re an adult who needs either a crew or gate ticket for the current event, they already have an account, they’re buying the ticket for themselves, and they’re paying the balance due immediately. For more complex cases, refer to The complex case.

To create a booking, once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page:

1. Click “GOD” in the top bar, then click “Gate Booking”

2. Ask the player if they know their PID.

• If they do, put their PID in the PID box, then press Tab or Enter or click somewhere else on the page. Confirm the player’s name on your screen matches what they tell your their name is.
• If they don’t know their PID, click the “Search” button, and get some information from the player to be able to find their details; surname is normally best. Find and select the relevant player.

3. Check with the player which character they want to play, and select the character name from the “Character” drop-down menu.

4. Select the appropriate ticket type from the “Ticket” drop-down. This will normally be “Gate Booking” unless they’re crew, in which case select “Crew”.

5. If it’s a gate booking rather than a crew booking, ask the player if they’re entitled to a concession.

• If they’re not entitled to a concession, select “No” from the “Concession” drop-down.
• If they’re entitled to a concession and show you evidence of that, select “Yes” from the “Concession” drop-down.
• If they claim they’re entitled to a concession but aren’t able to show evidence, leave the Concession checkboxes blank. Tell them that you’ll need to charge full price, but that if they email in after the event, PD will refund the concession discount. More detail in Confirming concessions

6. Check how the player wants to pay:

• For cash, take the cash off them, check it’s the right amount, hand the cash off to a head of department or whoever has the cash box at the time, and select “Cash” in the Method dropdown.
• For card payments, follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments, and once the payment has been processed, select “Sumup” in the Method dropdown.
• If the player isn’t able or willing to pay for some reason, escalate to a head of department.

7. Click “Create Booking”

8. Check with the heads of department whether we’re creating packs on demand or if there’s a queue, and either have the player wait while you prepare their pack per 9.2 Making up, or come back later and collect their pack from the Matrix.

The Complex case

Bookings following this process should be relatively rare, but it allows us to sell any type of ticket (e.g. children’s tickets), to purchase multiple tickets at once, and to process tickets that one person is buying on someone else’s behalf (e.g. parents buying for their children, or traders paying for tickets for their crew).

To create bookings, once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page: 1. Click “Players” in the top bar.

2. Ask the player if they know their PID. If you have one person buying tickets for someone else, it’s the PID of the buyer we care about at this point, and since it’s their account we’re charging, their should either be present or the person you’re talking to should be an authorised proxy for them.

• If they do, put their PID in the PID box, then press Tab or Enter or click somewhere else on the page. Confirm the player’s name on your screen matches what they tell your their name is.
• If they don’t know their PID, click the “Search” button, and get some information from the player to be able to find their details; surname is normally best. Find and select the relevant player.

3. Click the “Bookings” tab, then click “Create Booking”

4. The “Purchase Details” section should already be filled out correctly, with the PID and name of the player buying the tickets, today’s date, and no introducer.

5. Change the Event drop-down if necessary (this should very rarely be necessary; we only take bookings for the current event at the event)

6. In the Ticket drop-down, select the appropriate ticket type. This will normally be “Gate Booking”, but may be “Crew” or one of the children’s tickets. Don’t select “Early Booking” or “Late Booking” without first checking with a head of department; don’t select “Crew” unless the person is actually crew.

7. In the Recipient box, select the person who is receiving the ticket. This will normally be the same person as is buying the ticket, but might be different if, for example, this is a ticket being bought by a parent for a child, or a ticket being bought by a trader for one of their staff.

8. Check with the player which character they want to be playing, and select it in the Character drop-down.

9. Never select the Complimentary checkbox unless either (a) you’ve been told to by a head of department, or (b) this is a booking for a child and all their responsible adults are crew.

10. If it’s a gate booking, ask the player if they’re entitled to a concession.

• If they’re not entitled to a concession, leave the Concession checkboxes blank.
• If they’re entitled to a concession and show you evidence, select both “Concession” and “Concession Seen”. (Acceptable concession evidence examples in Confirming concessions)
• If they claim they’re entitled to a concession but aren’t able to show evidence, leave the Concession checkboxes blank. Tell them that you’ll need to charge full price, but that if they email in after the event, PD will refund the concession discount.

Note: in GOD, you should never select one of the Concession checkboxes but not the other.

11. Check that the amount in the “Amount” box is as expected. Don’t change this without first checking with a head of department.

12. Click “Add Ticket”.

13. If the buyer wants to buy multiple tickets at the same time, go back to step 5.

14. Click “Create Booking”.

15. You should now be returned to the player bookings page; note the balance at the top of the table, then click “Take Payment”.

16. Enter the appropriate amount in the “Amount” box.

17. Ask the player how they want to pay:

• For cash: take the cash off them, check the right amount, and select “Cash” in the Method dropdown. Hand the cash to a head of department (or whoever is in charge of the real-world cash box).
• For card payments: follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments . Once the payment has been processed, select “Sumup” in the Method dropdown.
• If the player isn’t able or willing to pay for some reason, escalate to a head of department.

18. Don’t change any of the other values without first checking with a head of department: PID should already be correct, we never use any of the other payment methods, and the date and VAT rate will be automatically correct.

19. Click “Save”.

Day Tickets

Very occasionally, someone wants to attend for just one day of the event, normally turning up in the morning and leaving in the evening. They can, and they don’t have to pay full price. If someone asks for this, pass them off to one of the heads of department.

Trader Bookings

In principle, trader bookings are no different from player bookings: we expect traders to pay for tickets at the regular player prices. The two key differences are that (a) some of our traders also book and pay for trader pitches, and (b) some of our traders have their own crew, who also have regular player tickets, but which will typically be paid for by the trader.

If you have a trader wanting to make a pitch booking at GOD, they’re almost certainly far too late- Escalate to a head of department.

If you have a trader wanting to buy tickets for some of their crew, process that as a normal booking at the gate price per The Complex case. The trader may already have funds in their account to pay for the ticket, in which case there will be no need to take payment. If they don’t, they may want to leave the debt on their account rather than paying immediately; that’s probably fine, but check with a head of department (who will probably want to check with Graeme).

Caterer Bookings

Caterer bookings are always handled by Graeme. If you have someone from one of the caterers looking to make a booking or get a character pack or similar, escalate to a head of department or to Graeme directly

Converting Open Tickets

PD sell “open tickets” which aren’t tied to a particular event. Occasionally people will come to GOD saying they’re booked, but it’ll turn out they haven’t converted their open ticket to a booking for the specific event. If this happens, there’s a £10 charge for converting an open ticket to a regular booking at the event. Escalate this to a head of department, as it’s reasonably likely to become a complaint.

Price List

In case you need them, here’s the full list of prices as of 2023. PD honours prices from when bookings were first made provided they were paid for promptly, so if a player made a booking a while ago, the correct price might not be the one below:

• Adult early booking: £75 (£55 concession)
• Adult late booking: £80 (£60 concession)
• Adult gate booking: £90 (£70 concession)
• 16/17 year olds: as adult prices, but will generally be eligible for a concession
• 11–15 year olds: £20 (£10 if a responsible adult gets a concession)
• 7–10 year olds: £10 (£5 if a responsible adult gets a concession)
• Under-7s: free
• Day tickets: ask a head of department (who will probably need to ask Graeme)

Players may also have a £15 credits on their account if they were introduced by another player or have introduced another player. This doesn’t affect the ticket price directly.

For day tickets, the most common prices are:

• Adult full price for all Saturday: £60
• Adult concession for all Saturday: £45
• Adult full price for Friday or Sunday: £45
• Adult concession for Friday or Sunday: £35

The rules for working out the day ticket prices (ask one of the heads of department if you’re not sure):

1. Find out how long the player is at the event: the categories we care about are broadly “a full day” (probably all Saturday), “less than that” (e.g. Friday only, or Saturday but leaving by 6pm) or “more than that” (e.g. arriving Saturday morning and staying the full event.

2. Find out the normal gate price for the full event, e.g. £90 for adult full price, £70 adult concession.

3. For the “a full day” category, apply a 33% discount. For the “less than that” category, apply a 50% discount. For the “more than that” category, charge full price.

4. Round to £5.

Thursday Nights

There’s a £5 charge for players people staying on Thursday night. The vast majority of the time, this will be handled by the folk on the gate, but we do occasionally get people turning up at GOD to pay.

If someone wants to pay for Thursday night camping:

• If they’re paying by cash, pass the cash off to a head of department or to whoever has the cash box. Make sure it’s tallied that the money is for Thursday night camping – that cash needs to be kept (or at least counted) separately – and do not record it on the player account.
• If they’re paying by card, follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments. Again, do not record the payment on the player account.