Our cancellation policy

We hate red tape as much as the next person but here’s the small print that you really do need to know. Thanks for your understanding… In making a booking a Dialect retreat, workshop or course, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

GROW Mentoring Sessions

Recent last minute cancellations and no-shows to mentoring sessions have prompted us to do this to protect our writers. Late cancellations have a big impact on people who rely on a freelance income to pay their bills. Cancellations of sessions within 72 hours of the planned meeting which cannot be rearranged within a week will incur a 50% charge. Sessions cancelled less than 48 hours before the session which cannot be rearranged within a week will incur a 100% charge and cannot be refunded.

Workshop, Course and Retreat Bookings

All bookings must be accompanied by payment in full or your deposit. You should not consider your booking as definite until we have confirmed it in writing (usually by email). The balance of your fee is payable no later than six weeks before the course or retreat starts (or, if your booking is made less than six weeks before the tuition starts, then payment will be required in full). If we do not receive your balance when it’s due, we reserve the right to treat this as a cancellation by you and offer the place to someone else.

Workshop, Course and Retreat Cancellations

You may cancel your booking and have all fees paid returned to you for the first 14 days after we have confirmed your booking in writing (except where the course or retreat begins within this period, in which case we can only offer a complete refund of fees up until two days before the start of the course or retreat).

Following this initial 14-day period, cancellations of bookings will be accepted up to six weeks before the course or retreat begins and your deposit (or any amount above this level which you have paid) will be returned less a £50 cancellation charge.

If you cancel your booking less than six weeks before the course or retreat begins (but before the first day of the course or retreat), the following cancellation conditions apply:

  • If you cancel less than six weeks but more than two weeks before the course/retreat begins, we will retain your deposit and return to you any amount above this level which you have paid.

  • If you cancel less than two weeks before the start of the course/retreat, 80% of your full fee will be payable to Dialect and we will return to you any amount above this level which you have paid.

  • However, if following your cancellation all available places on the course/retreat are ultimately sold (so that the course/retreat is fully occupied), then after the course/retreat has taken place we will refund to you all fees paid less a £50 cancellation charge.

Please note that if you leave the course or retreat after it has begun or if you fail to attend all or any part of the course (without reasonable cause such as illness, bereavement or family emergency), no refund will be made and we will retain 100% of your fee. Any refunds made in these circumstances due to illness, bereavement, family emergency or similar events will be at the sole discretion of Dialect.

Of course, we hope that none of this will be necessary and you’ll have a wonderful time on all of our courses, workshops and retreats! We look forward to welcoming you to Dialect.