CN-TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS | chris-nicholas

Chris Nicholas Terms & Conditions

and General Information.

The Contract.

The terms and conditions set forth on this page and the written booking confirmation issued through Chris Nicholas form a contract between the client (the person named on the invoice) and Chris Nicholas (professional Santa Claus actor). When a client makes a booking, it is understood that they have read and agreed to the terms and conditions set out herein.

The person booking Chris Nicholas must be over 18 years of age.

An engagement only becomes confirmed by us in writing after the booking fee or deposit has been paid in full. Please see 'Fee and Payment' below for more details.

Enquiries and Booking.

Assuming Chris Nicholas is available for the date and time requested, details of the appearance, service provided, and a tailored price quote will be sent following an enquiry. This quote is not a booking confirmation, and the date will not be held for you. We must confirm bookings in writing (usually sent as an official booking confirmation), and the deposit or full fee (whichever is applicable) must be paid before a booking is confirmed.

Due to the overwhelming demand for Christmas dates, we can not place a hold or "pencil in" dates and times unless expressly guaranteed by us in writing.

Availability will be given upon enquiry, but any availability stated is subject to change at any point as bookings are sometimes received by our company hourly.

Bookings can only be placed and confirmed once we have received your booking form and/or details and payment for your booking has been received by us. All dates and times requested will remain open and available for other clients to place a booking until your payment has been received.

Priority is always given to clients who have confirmed bookings (complete with the deposit paid) over provisional bookings, enquiries, or temporary dates and times.

The initial contact is usually handled by one of Chris Nicholas' team, such as his secretary or assistant, who will be pleased to answer any questions you may have and facilitate the actual booking process if you wish to proceed with a booking. Once a booking is secured, Chris Nicholas himself is happy to speak directly with clients to discuss specific details and client requirements relating to the engagement.

We have a strict policy of not responding to any inappropriate or offensive contact or to individuals who we suspect are under the age of 18 or would be classed as a vulnerable adult.

We reserve the right to decline specific booking requests for reasons such as suitability, logistics, operational considerations, well-being, etc.

Our Provision.

Chris Nicholas is a sole individual Santa Claus entertainer. We are not a Santa Claus agency and do not supply any other Santa Claus entertainers. The Santa Claus on this website is solely Chris Nicholas and will be the actual Santa attending your event.

Chris Nicholas is engaged as a high-quality professional Santa Claus entertainer in full luxury costume for all bookings.

Bookings for Santa Chris Nicholas do not automatically include any services offered by Elf Made Events Ltd (EMEL), including reindeer hire, additional entertainers or services.

Elf Made Events Ltd.

Chris Nicholas offers a separate event service named Elf Made Events Ltd (EMEL), which is owned and operated by the same office of Chris Nicholas. EMEL provides additional services to complement your booking for Santa Chris Nicholas, such as reindeer hire, other entertainers and services at extra cost. EMEL has separate Terms and Conditions, which can be viewed here.

Bookings for Chris Nicholas do not automatically include any services offered by EMEL, including reindeer hire, additional entertainers or services.

Street Marketing and Street Appearances.

Chris Nicholas will not undertake any appearances as a "street performer", nor will he act as a street tout for companies and does not offer services for street marketing, including during all engagements.

Fee and Payment.

As Santa Chris Nicholas is a seasonal business and all November and December dates are very limited, a deposit or, in some instances, the full fee (subject to the type of booking) must be paid in full at least ninety days before the date of booking to secure your booking.

We require the total fee upfront if a booking is not local to us and/or the booking is for a particularly popular date and/or falls within less than ninety days of the engagement. Payments received from clients will be held in trust in our client account (a UK business bank account) until the booking is completed.

All payments are non-refundable except in the unlikely event that Chris Nicholas cannot fulfil the contract for whatever reason, such as being unwell.

Clients who choose to make a booking will be asked for their contact and event details (usually through our online booking form). After we have received this information, a provisional booking confirmation email will be sent. This email will contain a unique URL link to view the booking and make a payment using our secure payment system via our website.

If the full fee or deposit (whichever is applicable) is not received within 48 hours from the provisional booking confirmation, the date and time booked will not be held and may be given to someone else. Clients will be contacted using the contact details they have supplied to provide an opportunity to make payment before losing an unconfirmed booking.

If a booking is made less than ninety days before the engagement date(s), the full fee is required immediately to confirm your booking. Bookings made within ninety days will not be confirmed until full payment is received.

Any remaining balance due after the engagement must be paid in full within ten working days.

Chris Nicholas reserves the right to refuse a future booking(s) where an invoice from a previous booking from the same or related client is outstanding.

Unless agreed otherwise, payments can be made directly through our website using a secure payment system. The booking and subsequent payment details can be accessed from the unique URL shown in the provisional confirmation (usually sent as an email).

In some circumstances, payments may be made directly to our UK bank account, which will be detailed on the client invoice.

Variable Cost.

We understand that each client has different needs, and our flexible pricing structure reflects that. Our fees are not set at a fixed amount and vary based on a sliding scale. This means that our fees adjust according to specific circumstances, such as the complexity of the project, the duration of the booking, the travel distance to the booking (including travel time), the level of service (including administration time) required, and related costs we may incur.

All November and December weekends and key dates, such as the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 31st December, may be charged at a higher rate than regular weekdays. This is due to substantial higher client demand during these times and the additional resources required to meet our customers' needs. We strive to provide fair pricing while ensuring superb service to all of our clients.

Flexible Booking Option.

Clients can often be flexible about the date and time of booking Santa Chris Nicholas or our additional services (such as reindeer hire). This is often the case for private home bookings, for example. In some cases (but not all), we can offer a flexible booking option, usually for a reduced fee.

We can discount the flexible booking option because when a client is flexible with their booking date and time, it is often beneficial with our heavy December schedule. Therefore, we can send an avaiblity offer based on when Santa Chris Nicholas (or other applicable services) are scheduled in the same area as the client's booking address.

Clients who request a flexible booking option will be emailed an availability offer for a specific date and time for Santa Chris Nicholas at least 30 days before the proposed booking date.

When choosing a flexible booking option, all avaiblity offers are valid for 24 hours only.

If the client accepts the offer, we will then email them a link to our online booking form so they can create the booking (please see the above "Enquiries and Booking" and "Fee and Payment" sections for more information).

With a flexible option, we only guarantee at least one offer of avaiblity. If the option offered is not accepted by the cleint, we will try our best to send further availability offers as our December diary becomes more precise; however, any further avaiblity offers beyond the original are not guaranteed and will be subject to availability.

Overtime Costs and Scheduling.

Shortly after a booking has been made, a client will be issued an official booking confirmation stating the pre-agreed start time, duration and finish time of Chris Nicholas' appearance and, if applicable, our third-party reindeer hire service at the event.

If, at a later point, including during the actual engagement, additional time is required for any of our services or reasons, such as the event overrunning or a scheduling issue, overtime will be charged at £250 per additional hour for Chris Nicholas.

Granting a request for additional time from Santa Chris Nicholas will be subject to availability. Therefore extra time beyond what is stated on the booking confirmation cannot be guaranteed.

The client's responsibility is to ensure that an event runs on time and that all scheduled activities involving Santa Chris Nicholas and/or our third-party reindeer hire service fit within the agreed-upon booking time.

While Santa Chris Nicholas will try to accommodate unforeseen circumstances, such as increased crowd attendance, he will not alter the delivery of his performance in a way that might jeopardise his hallmark of quality. Santa Chris Nicholas takes pride in providing an exceptional quality Santa experience.

Bookings Outside of the UK Mainland.

Quotes for booking requests outside of the UK mainland will include, where applicable, all travel, accommodation and any associated costs (such as baggage) and will be booked by the office of Santa Chris Nicholas unless agreed otherwise. A provisional quote will be issued upon enquiry, and a confirmed quote will be given at the time of booking, as flight and accommodation costs are subject to fluctuation.

In consideration of other client bookings that fall on either side of bookings made outside the UK, we reserve the right to cancel any booking that falls outside of the UK mainland at any point, including on the day of the booking, that may cause or is likely to cause, disruption to either or both the outbound and inbound journeys, such as adverse weather, terrorist activity, airport, rail, and seaport closures, civil unrest, acts of God, etc. In such a scenario, the client will be offered an alternative booking date or a full refund, subject to circumstances and availability.

VIP, Celebrity, High Profile and High-Security Clients.

Many of Santa Chris Nicholas' engagements are for celebrity, high-profile, and high-security clients. We take the privacy of all clients, their families, and their guests very seriously. No details relating to any clients are disclosed to any third party. Security measures are taken to guard all information, particularly that of high-profile clients.

When required, Santa Chris Nicholas may consent to additional security checks and interviews before his performance and before meeting the client.

Chris Nicholas' Show / LIVE performances.

Chris Nicholas offers shows for children and adults that feature singing, comedy, and magic. The content of the show provided is solely at the discretion of Chris Nicholas and will be based on the audience present and, where possible, in consideration of client requests.

In consideration of his act's structure, repertoire, and suitability, Chris Nicholas reserves the right to decline client requests for specific content within his show.

If Chris Nicholas is booked to perform in a show capacity at a venue such as a theatre, arena, ballroom, shopping centre, open-air stage, bar, restaurant, hotel, private residence, wedding marque, function room, or any other venue provided for a public performance given from Chris Nicholas, the staging, sound equipment, lighting equipment, stage and production staff (including sound and light technicians) are the sole responsibility of the client.

The client is responsible for ensuring Chris Nicholas is put into an environment suitable for a public show appearance, which includes where the audience can clearly and easily see and hear the performance offered by Chris Nicholas. This includes removing distractions like background noise and music (such as from an in-house music system).

Where applicable, the stage, sound, and lighting equipment the client provides must be professional, high-quality, and suitable for a high-calibre performing vocal artist's appearance at a public venue.

The sound and lighting engineers provided by the client and all other stage production staff must be qualified professionals with considerable experience supporting professional singers and performers and, as such, be able to provide adequate and high-quality support in the capacity of a sound technician and lighting technician if applicable.

Before the general public is present, sufficient rehearsals with Chris Nicholas are strongly suggested and may be required, subject to the type of booking.

Unless agreed in writing beforehand, Chris Nicholas does NOT supply any staging, sound equipment, lighting equipment, stage scenery, sound and lighting technicians, nor stage and production staff for any bookings.

If Chris Nicholas is put into a position where he cannot carry out his show for any reason, such as being put into an unreasonably noisy or highly distracting environment or being provided with inferior sound and lighting equipment or sound and lighting technicians, Chris Nicholas reserves the right to refuse to perform in a show capacity and, where possible, will carry out his booking as Santa Claus in an alternative capacity, such as offering a meet and greet, one-to-one interactions with photo opportunities, etc. In such a scenario, no refund will be provided to the client as the client is responsible for providing the correct environment for a live performance and supporting staff and equipment, as detailed above.

Public Appearances.

The client must provide any supporting staff related to Chris Nicholas' appearance at all public venues (such as shopping centres, theme parks, hotels, etc.). Security personnel must be present in all public venues when Chris Nicholas interacts with the public for safety and operational considerations.

The client is responsible for appropriate marketing and promoting the event for which our services have been booked. Santa Chris Nicholas is not responsible for drawing or creating an audience or promoting the client’s event. All clients are accountable for providing the necessary audience for the event booked.

Outdoor Appearances.

Due to Chris Nicholas's expensive costumes and makeup, Chris Nicholas cannot work outdoors in adverse weather conditions. If a client wants Chris Nicholas to appear outdoors at their engagement and adverse weather occurs, it is the client's sole responsibility to relocate Chris Nicholas to a suitable indoor alternative.

Reindeer.

Our in-house company, Elf Made Events Ltd, handles all reindeer bookings. Please click here for terms and conditions relating to bookings for LIVE reindeer.

Costumes.

All of Chris Nicholas's Santa Claus costumes are professional, custom-made, and of the same quality as those used in major movies. Unless agreed beforehand in writing, Chris Nicholas may wear any one of his Santa Claus costumes to any engagement as he sees fit. The costume worn at the engagement is often based on the weather and potential heat exhaustion related to the venue's room temperature.

Gifts.

Chris Nicholas does not supply gifts/presents for any booking. All gifts clients may wish for Chris Nicholas to hand out at their event must be provided by the client.

Breaks.

For appearances lasting more than one hour, Chris Nicholas must take regular breaks for hydration, cooling down, makeup, costume adjustments, etc.

Smoking.

Chris Nicholas must work in a completely smoke-free environment. This includes private residential homes. Any area where Chris Nicholas is situated to perform must be completely smoke-free before and during his appearance.

Cancellation and Period Of Notice.

Notification of cancellation by the client must be made at the earliest opportunity. The cancellation of engagements made by the client is non-refundable. However, we may consider a refund or partial refund if the cancellation has been made more than ninety days before the engagement date. We will also review all other circumstances, but the decision on any refund is solely at our discretion and will be done on a case by
case basis.

If Chris Nicholas cannot fulfil the contract for reasons such as being unwell, the fee or deposit (whichever is applicable) will be fully refunded to the client within ten working days.

Either party may terminate the booking by giving written notice to arrive with the other party no later than ninety days before the commencement date of the engagement. Such notification must be sent to the other party in writing by either email or post.

COVID-19 Cancellation Policy.

If Chris Nicholas cannot fulfil the contract for reasons such as being unwell, being required to self-isolate or testing positive for Coronavirus, we will offer a relevant refund for the service or services you have booked. Any refunds will be paid within ten working days.

Clients may be given an optional refund if the law explicitly prohibits Santa Chris Nicholas from attending the booking address. Such a scenario may include a lock-down specific to the booking address and postcode. The refund will be minus 10% of the total booking cost (including VAT if applicable) to cover our administration costs.

If a client chooses to cancel their event because either they or any other person(s) have contracted COVID-19 or other infectious disease and have to quarantine or because they have a concern about their event being affected and impacted by a virus/contagious disease, Chris Nicholas cannot be held responsible. No refunds will be made as, in this instance, it would be the client’s liability. Therefore, no refunds will be offered due to the agreed time slot of the event being blocked out and rendered unavailable to any other potential client booking.

All other enquiries for that allotted time will have been refused as the booking payment made by the client guarantees that specific event window. Should the client choose to cancel the event, Santa Chris Nicholas and his third-party suppliers hired for the event will still require payment.

Behaviour.

Respectful behaviour is required at all times, from the initial enquiry through to the completion of
the booking. This includes telephone, email and face-to-face meetings during and after any
performance.

We have a zero-tolerance approach to threatening or abusive behaviour toward Chris Nicholas and/or any of our
team, and as such, should any threatening and/or abusive behaviour be exhibited by the cleint or anyone affiliated with the cleint, we reserve the right to terminate the booking immediately, with no refund to the client.

It is expected that all persons, including children, present at the engagement venue behave safely, courteously, and respectfully toward Chris Nicholas and his property, including his costumes, props, and makeup.

If any person, including children, present at the engagement behaves in such a way that unreasonably disrupts Chris Nicholas's performance, makes unwanted and/or inappropriate physical contact, demonstrates aggression (including verbal aggression) or abusive language towards Chris Nicholas, his performance, assistants and associates and/or property or if he and his assistants are put into any situation that would be reasonably deemed to be unsafe, which includes the failure to provide a smoke-free environment, we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate the engagement with immediate effect. In such a case, no refunds will be made, and the client is liable to pay any expenses and/or costs incurred due to such a termination.

Adult Supervision.

Suitable and responsible adults must be present during any booking for safety and practicality. If Chris Nicholas is with a large group of children (e.g., at a Christmas party), the client should adhere to official children-to-adult ratio guidelines.

Children and Vulnerable Adults With Special Needs.

In the case of a child (or children) that has special needs, we ask that we be informed of the child's needs and any other general information that would be helpful before meeting them. This is primarily to ensure we can deliver the best possible experience for them and cater to their needs accordingly.

Any children that have challenging or aggressive behaviour owing to conditions such as (but not limited to) autism must have their respective parent or guardian present at all times whilst interacting with Chris Nicholas or any other member of our team or animals present.

Request for Enhanced DBS Certificate and Public Liability Certificate.

Chris Nicholas is fully certified by The Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), formally known as the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). He is also certified as having full public liability insurance.

We are happy to send copies of these certificates to any client that has booked Chris Nicholas on request. For data protection reasons, we cannot send copies of these documents until after a booking has been made and confirmed (complete with the total fee or deposit having been received), thus ensuring the validity of the client and booking. We can guarantee that Chris Nicholas' enhanced DBS certificate confirms he has a clean record with no criminal convictions.

Clients must adhere to all data protection laws when being given copies of these documents and not disclose any personal details relating to Chris Nicholas to any third party. Please note that Chris Nicholas' Enhanced DBS Certificate is in his full legal name, not his stage/act name.

Assistants and Associates.

Chris Nicholas may need to bring one or more assistants to some engagements. This will always be a suitable and responsible adult with professional experience working with children.

Travel and Performance Start Time.

When considering travel, Chris Nicholas always makes sure to leave early, ahead of time, to get to the engagement early, and long journeys are often made to the day before venues. However, it is the client's responsibility to advise us of any significant roadworks or other potential travel disruptions near the venue before our departure that may require extra time.

In some instances, we will inform clients beforehand of previous engagements on the same day as their booking, which may factor into travel to their engagement.

When a major road or motorway is unexpectedly closed, or in the event of extreme weather conditions, protestors' actions, Chris Nicholas cannot be held liable for being late.

The client booking confirmation will state a start time for the performance. Unless we guarantee it in writing beforehand, this start time is approximate only and allows up to a 30-minute leeway window. For example, if the start time says 14:00, Chris Nicholas may arrive and start his performance between 14:00 and 14:30.

While Chris Nicholas will endeavour to start promptly at the stated start time, we cannot always foresee issues that prevent punctual arrival. In the unlikely event that Chris Nicholas arrives after the 30-minute window, the client will be contacted as soon as possible. Any late arrival will not affect the duration of the booking.

Confidentiality.

The client must not disclose details, terms or conditions about their booking with Chris Nicholas in any public capacity, such as on social media, other internet sites or any other public means. This shall include, without limitation, the revelation of the fee.

Chris Nicholas does not rent, sell, or share information about non-affiliated companies' clients.

Please click here to view our full privacy policy.

We take the protection of our copyright very seriously.

Except as expressly permitted by this notice, you must not use, copy, edit or otherwise modify any material on our website, including videos, photos, audio recordings and text, unless agreed in writing beforehand. Any material used, including images, videos and audio recordings featuring Santa Chris Nicholas, is strictly prohibited.

If anyone uses our copyright materials in contravention of the licence set out in this notice, we may bring legal proceedings against them, seeking monetary damages and/or an injunction to stop you from using those materials. You could also be ordered to pay legal costs.

Chris Nicholas, together with our licensors, owns and controls all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website; all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website are reserved.

You may only use our website for your own personal and business purposes.

You must not use our website for any other purposes, republish material from our website (including republication on another website), sell, rent or sub-license material from our website, exploit material from our website for a commercial purpose or redistribute material from our website, save to the extent expressly permitted by this notice.

You must not:

(a) use our website in any way or take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the performance, availability or accessibility of the website;

(b) use our website in any way that is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity;

(c) use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software; or

(d) conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including, without limitation, scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent.

If you learn of any unlawful material or activity on our website or any material or activity that breaches this notice, please let us know. You can let us know about any such material or activity by using the contact details published in the contact section on the website.

You may request permission to use the copyright materials on our website by writing to us by email or post, using the contact details published in the contact section on the website.

Force Majeure.

'Force Majeure means any event which we, the supplier or any third party supplier (including but not limited to our reindeer supplier) of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity or actual threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, closure of airports, an outbreak of a virus or
disease (including but not limited to Coronavirus / COVID-19), fire and all similar events outside our control.

Thank you for your interest in Chris Nicholas!

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