For general terms of service and conditions of private hire...

Please read our Terms and Conditions* carefully
*For the purposes of these terms and conditions, Once Upon a Bus will be known as the owner's and the persons hiring (or using the services of) Once Upon a Bus will be known as the Hirer's. All the following terms and conditions are subject to and will be interpreted through English law. When you make a booking to hire Once Upon a Bus  you are agreeing to these terms and conditions...

• Once Upon a Bus  can be booked by contacting the owners by telephone. Please note that a booking becomes a contractual obligation only when it has been confirmed to you by the owners.

• All hire charges for Once Upon a Bus are agreed when you book us prior to the bus attending your event. We reserve the right to ask for the entire hire charge to be paid in advance when the booking is done. We may also require that any remaining balance of the hire charge be paid in full 2 weeks prior to the event. If full payment is not received prior to the commencement of your event, we reserve the right to decline to provide the service (and where applicable, to leave the site). 

• Schedules for services, including arrival and departure times, are agreed at the time of booking, prior to charges, including deposits, being paid. Alterations to the schedule after this time may incur additional charges, or may result in us not being able to fulfil the booking. Deposits are non-refundable where alterations to the schedule agreed at the time of booking result in us not being able to provide the service.

• All reasonable measures are taken to ensure that the Bus arrives in time to provide the agreed service for your event. We ensure that the Bus leaves it's base in good time and in good mechanical order and with sufficient fuel to reach its destination. On arrival at your event, we require you to provide access for the Bus to your event and adequate parking for the bus to include the required safety zone.  There are, in very few instances, occasions where we get detained by forces outside of our control. We cannot be held responsible for unknown and unforeseen events such as traffic accidents causing road hold up's, road works causing hold up's and other unforeseen events. If we are delayed in attending your event, we will always make up any time lost by staying later than the original booking stipulated until you have received the amount of time agreed in the original booking. Any refunds negotiated will only be agreed if the Bus is more than 60 minutes late for your event. Late periods do not include where we arrive on time at your event but the hire time cannot commence because you have not provided adequate parking space or reasonable access for the Bus.
  
  
• Once Upon a Bus will not be liable for any damage caused to private or public property whilst parking the bus or attempting to park the bus at locations requested by, and/or under the direction of, the hirer. Our qualified driving staff will make an on-the-day assessment and may refuse to park or operate the bus according to the hirers' specific request if they see necessary. 
  
  

• The Bus requires a separate power source when parked up. We therefore need you to provide a source of power for us to plug into at your or the venue's address and to do this, we carry the necessary extension leads with a reach of c.15meters. Where we are unable to access a power source, we can by prior arrangement use a generator for power but you must flag up that generator use is required when booking the bus, where charges will apply. 

• The Bus must be treated with respect by those using it. If there are any instances of the Bus being deliberately damaged, we reserve the right to seek compensation from the Hirer or the parent/guardian of any child or children seen causing any damage. Food, drinks and sweets cannot be consumed on the Bus. Any drinks or ices provided by the hirer can only be consumed outside of the bus. 

• Guests  are not allowed to wear footwear in the Bus and a shoe rack is provided near the entrance to the bus for their shoes. For health and safety reasons, children need to wear socks in the Bus and it is your responsibility to ensure that all the guests attending your event are told that they must bring socks with them and that they must be worn on the bus. 

• We can provide a driver, a conductor (helper), storytellers, performers, face painters etc. to staff your event. Those staff will ensure the Bus is set up properly and that all the systems being used on the bus are in good order. They will observe the children and intervene if they see any unsafe behaviour taking place. They are not responsible for the discipline of the children and are not substitutes for parents of the children. There should always be one responsible adult who they can contact immediately in the event that they need to do so.

• It is the responsibility of the hirer to ensure that if you require us to attend an event in a restricted parking zone, you must obtain the necessary permits and authorisations for the bus to park in that zone. This includes restricted parking zones on the public highway and similar zones on private property. Once Upon a Bus will accept no responsibility whatsoever for any penalties issued for the bus being parked in a zone where we have been directed to park by the hirer for their event. Any parking enforcement notices and parking tickets issued to any of our buses under these circumstances must be paid for by the hirer. At present we do not operate inside of the London Low Emissions zone.

• All mechanical vehicles can break down suddenly without notice. If on a rare occasion, we are unable to attend your event due to a sudden mechanical failure, we will notify you as soon as we are aware of any problem. We will pursue all avenues open to us to rectify mechanical problems so that we are able to attend. If it proves to be impossible to attend, we will offer you a complete refund of any monies that you have paid to us. We will also consider alternative times and dates that we can offer you when the mechanical problems with the vehicle are repaired and the vehicle is in good working order.

• Occasionally, the weather takes a turn for the worse such as snow, freezing conditions or flooding etc. and we have to make a decision to withdraw the service, sometimes at very short or even with no notice. Should we have to withdraw our service and we are unable to attend your event, we undertake, where possible, to provide you with as much notice as we are able, to advise you that we cannot attend. We cannot however be held responsible for non-attendance at your event because of adverse weather conditions whether we are able to contact you and advise that we will not be attending or whether we are unable to contact you to give you such advice. If adverse weather conditions cause non-attendance to happen, we will make every effort to re-book a mutually convenient time and date so that you are able re-host your event.