A new price from the first of the month
Fuel, insurance and car costs have gone up, and you decide to increase the hourly rate from the first of next month. Some pupils have prepaid blocks at the old rate. Some were told when they started that their rate would be held until their test. Some bought vouchers. A few franchised instructors set their own prices within your range. The website still shows the old price in two places.
The first week after the rise, pupils receive payment requests at mixed rates. One pupil is charged the new price for lessons in her prepaid block. Another who was promised the old rate is charged the new one and posts about it in a local group.
Why a simple price rise is not simple
- Prices are held in several places: website, payment links, instructors' heads.
- Prepaid blocks were sold at the old price and must be honoured under your terms.
- Some pupils were promised their rate for a period.
- Vouchers were sold for lessons at old prices.
- Franchised instructors may have their own prices.
- Pupils need telling in advance, clearly, about what changes for them.
What a messy rise costs
Charging pupils the wrong rate, either way, creates refunds, disputes and bad feeling at the point you are asking them to pay more. Public complaints about a price rise handled badly do more harm than the rise itself. Instructors field the questions in the car. And some pupils end up on old rates indefinitely because nobody moved them across.
The dated price rules we build
- Every price is stored with the date it applies from, per lesson type and, if you allow it, per instructor.
- A price change is entered once with its start date, and the website, payment links and diary all use it from that date.
- Prepaid blocks carry the price they were sold at, and lessons from them are not affected.
- Pupils with a promised rate are marked, with the end of the promise, and keep their rate until then.
- Vouchers are honoured according to your terms, whether as lessons or as a value.
- Before the change, each affected pupil gets a message telling them exactly what applies to them: the new rate from a date, or that their block or promised rate is unchanged.
- The owner sees which pupils are on which rate, and when protected rates end.
| Pupil situation | Price applied |
|---|---|
| Pay as you go | New rate from the start date |
| Prepaid block | Block price until used |
| Promised rate | Old rate until the promise ends |
| Gift voucher | Honoured under your voucher terms |
| New pupil | New rate |
Your prices and what you promise pupils are your business decisions. We make sure they are applied as you decided.
A price rise pupils understand
A few weeks before the change, each pupil gets a clear message about what it means for them. On the first of the month, the website and payment links change at once. Block pupils carry on as before. Pupils with a promise keep their rate, and the office can see when it ends. Instructors are not asked awkward questions in the car, because pupils already know.
Franchised instructors benefit too. If your franchise lets them set their own prices within a range, each instructor's change is entered with its own date and applied to their pupils only. Pupils never see a price from the wrong instructor, and the franchise statements reflect the prices each instructor actually charged. And next time costs rise, the owner can look back at exactly how the last change was handled and who was on which rate.
Does a price change cause chaos?
- Prices are held in several places.
- Pupils have been charged the wrong rate after a rise.
- Promised rates are remembered, not recorded.
- Pupils find out about a rise from their instructor in the car.
- Nobody knows which pupils are still on old rates.