Policies for Hidden Earth Payments

This page explains our policies regarding customer payments relating to Hidden Earth — the annual conference organised by volunteers from UK's caving clubs, the British Cave Research Association and the British Caving Association.

For 2025 there are some changes and additions, which are highlighted in yellow.

Click/Tap a link or scroll on down.

General Terms and Conditions

• The conference is deemed to start when the admissions desk opens on the Friday evening.
• We accept Advance Bookings for the annual Hidden Earth event, up to a specified closing date, which is usually one week in advance of the event.
• Advance bookings can only be made online via our official booking form and BCRA's Payment Service Providers (see below), which can accept a range of credit and debit cards.
• Items that can be booked online include an admission ticket, plus optional payments for camping, conference T-shirt, conference dinner, club and trade stands. Delegates may be able to pay for other items, as advertised from time to time.
• The conference dinner must be booked in advance by the advertised deadline. It cannot be booked at the admissions desk during the conference weekend.

Cancellation of Conference

• If the event is cancelled or modified by the organisers (e.g. the dinner is cancelled, or camping is not available, or the entire event is called off), then a refund of the appropriate item will be given.
• The organisers shall not be liable for any consequential losses. (e.g. if your hotel will not refund your accommodation fee, or if you decide not to travel because we withdraw a camping facility).

Advance Bookings

• All Advance bookings must be made using our online form, and paid for via our online Payment Services Provider.
• Advance bookings may be amended or cancelled by the customer at any time up to the closing date for bookings. After that date, bookings may not be added to.
• If you cancel or modify your booking before the closing date for advance bookings, we will give you a full refund.
• If you cancel all or part of your booking after the closing date for advance bookings, we will give you a 50% refund.
• If you make no cancellation but do not turn up, you will not be entitled to any refund.

Problems with Booking Form

• If you find you cannot use the online form, for whatever reason, you must pay the full admission price on the door. If you wish to receive a refund of the difference between the advance booking rate and on-the-door price you must notify us of your booking problem before the event. You will not receive your refund at the event – it will be processed after the event.
• If your lack of success with the online form affects your ability to book a dinner or T-shirt you should immediately contact our booking office. If you do nothing and just turn up on the day asking for a meal or a T-shirt, you should expect disappointment.
• If you make an advance payment by mistake, and the matter is not resolved in advance, then the same rules apply – i.e. it will be dealt with after the event via email correspondence and you will not be able to obtain a refund at the event.

Exceptions to General Rules

• Tickets bought in advance by delegates who subsequently receive discount vouchers will be refunded in full, according to the terms on the discount voucher (e.g. the voucher might only give you a discount for a single day).
• We reserve the right to make deductions to any refund where we would incur a loss due to your cancellation. For example, if you book a large club stand and we have to hire additional display boards or tables to accommodate you, then we may have to charge you for a late cancellation.
• Complaints about items we buy in, such as the conference T-shirts, and the conference dinner will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, with reference to the supplier where appropriate.

Refunds

• No handling fees will be charged on refunds.
• Except where otherwise stated, all claims for a refund must be made before the start of the conference. Refunds will be limited to the amount of the payment made to us for services provided by us. (For example, if we assist you by booking accommodation or travel for you, you must claim any refund directly from the organisation concerned and we will not accept liability for any cancellation charges associated with those bookings).
• All refunds on Advance Bookings will be issued via our Payment Service Provider to the credit or debit card account that you used to make the payment. There will be no cash refunds at the event.. In particular, regarding Advance Bookings and unused Dinner Tickets, please note the following points...
  • There will be no refunds of Advance Bookings at the event. Anyone who has a genuine case for a refund, which has not been dealt with in advance, should contact our bookings office after the event.
  • There will be no refunds on unused Dinner Tickets at the event. Anyone with a spare dinner ticket can hand it to Reception and if we subsequently sell it we can give you a refund after the event, in accordance with the other rules in this section.

Data Protection

• When you complete our online form, your data will be collected and stored by the British Cave Research Association. Your payment information will also be collected and stored by our Payment Service Providers (see below).
• The data we are collecting is the data you provide on the booking form, which allows us to fulfil your booking. This will include your contact email address, your telephone number and postal address. This information will only be used to service your booking -- e.g. to provide a receipt, or to ask for further information or to provide information about the event. In particular, it will not be used for general mailshots by the Hidden Earth team or BCRA, and it will not be passed to any third party.
• Hidden Earth is run by volunteers who are based at different locations around the country. We have no paid office staff, and no central office. Therefore, your personal data will likely be stored on more than one computer, at different locations, and may also be stored on paper.
• After the conference, electronic copies of your data will be deleted, leaving only our central booking record, which we will keep for a year, in case of enquiries or other necessary follow-up.

Payment Service Providers (PSPs)

• BCRA uses Nochex to process online payments. BCA uses PayPal. We might use either of these accounts to process your transaction. Each of our online systems is coded to use a specific PSP and it is not usually possible to offer you a choice.
• We might use other point-of-sale systems at our meetings and events.
• Please note that both PayPal and Nochex allow you to make a payment using your credit or debit card without opening an account with the provider. We receive a number of enquiries from confused customers who claim that PayPal has 'forced' them to open an account, but this is a customer misunderstanding. If you follow our instructions, and use the URLs that we issue you will not have to open an account.
• You should not make a payment to an email address at PayPal or Nochex that we have not explicitly asked you to use for your current transaction. We might do this via an web page or an email message. If you make a payment to an email address or an account name that is invalid, incorrect, or not currently in use we will not be able to collect it and your transaction will be deemed to be unpaid. It is your responsibility to recover your payment from the PSP. (Reportedly, this can take some time).

Point of Sale Systems

• We cannot guarantee the signal strength of the cellphone network, nor the operation of electronic devices in the humid conditions of a marquee. We recognise that many traders and caving clubs will want to use point-of-sale terminals to take payments at Hidden Earth. However, we cannot be held responsible for the functionality of such devices, which is beyond our control.
• We cannot guarantee to provide WiFi access although, where possible, we aim to provide such access to the Internet as a backup to the cellphone network. To obtain access to any hot-spots, repeater nodes or whatever, that we might provide, you should ask the Trade Hall Manager for advice.

Cheque Payments

• Where cheques are accepted, please note that they must be made payable to "BCRA". Cheques made payable to "Hidden Earth" cannot be accepted.

Event Management

• Hidden Earth is managed by a sub-committee of the British Cave Research Association, with assistance provided by the British Caving Association and a great many caving clubs and similar organisations throughout the UK. BCRA is a UK registered charity, number 267828. Our registered address is Old Methodist Chapel, Great Hucklow, Buxton, SK17 8RG.
• Neither BCRA nor BCA is registered for VAT. This means that we cannot issue you with a VAT receipt. Your transaction with us is "outside the scope of VAT".