Frequently Asked Questions
Below is a list of the most frequently asked questions, please take a read through of the page fully. If you cant find the answer to your question then don't worry, just give us a call on: 07964035033.
Question: How do I book?
Answer: You can check the availability of a particular asset and book that asset using our simple online booking system on our site which is open 24/7. The booking system will guide you through the booking process and will ask you all the relevant questions about your booking. Please check your junk e-mail file for emails from us. Some times this is where they send to.
Question: How many children/adults are allowed on the castle?
Answer: User numbers and user height restrictions will differ between each bouncy castle. User number and user heights are determined by our PIPA inspector responsible for issuing the safety test certificates. This information is available to view on each product page and is again written on the front or near the to the front on the side of the inflatable.
Question: How much notice do I need to give for a booking?
Answer: The more notice the better. Our diary system is open to book 24-7. The sooner you book the sooner you are reserving your date and asset hire.
Question: How do I secure my booking?
Answer: We require a small booking fee of £20. This is a non-refundable booking fee covering the administrative costs we incur in processing your reservation, such as the cleaning processes and associated admin.
Question: What if I need to cancel my booking?
Answer: You may cancel any bookings by giving a minimum of 7 days notice.
In the event of a cancellation where the hirer has given at least 7 days notice, the booking fee will be retained and any payments already made towards the hiring charge will be refunded.
If less than 7 days notice is given, the hirer will be subject to 50% of the remaining balance. If your booking is outdoors and you need to cancel due to rain you will be offered to reschedule your booking. If your desired asset is not available we will offer you like for like on our assets or the opportunity to transfer your deposit to a new booking.
Question: Do I need to supply anything?
Answer: All we ask is for a 240v mains supply within 40m of where the castle is to be sited. If the supply is further than this please let us know so we can discuss alternative power options. On delivery we ask you to read and sign our hire agreement, failure to do this will mean cancellation of the booking and we will not be able to go ahead with the hire. Everything else is supplied by us at BinkyBounce.
Question: How does rain affect my bouncy castle booking?
Answer: Suppose that on the morning of your Scheduled outdoor booking its raining. If the rain is heavy and persistent, we will advise you not to go ahead with your booking. We do not offer refunds for loss of use during the hire due to rain.
If your booking is outdoors and you need to cancel due to rain under this circumstance, you will be offered to reschedule your booking to a new date, you will also have the opportunity to transfer your booking fee (£20) to other assets.
If it rains during your booking then move all people off and away from the equipment. Once the rain ceases, simply dry the equipment with a towel so it is not slippery and play can commence.
NOTE: If the weather is forecast rain we will be in contact with you working with you for the best outcome. Its the Great British weather - world famous, so we just work with it!
Question: How do wind speeds affect bouncy castle hires?
Answer: The best source of information regarding weather and wind speeds can be found via the met office. This is also the same source of information that the Health and Safety Executive uses. During the week and in the days leading up to your booking we will be monitoring the forecasts and wind speed predictions. We therefore aim to contact any customers who might have bookings affected by the weather and wind as soon as the weather information becomes available (Normally this is a week in advance). This allows our customers a contingency plan should we need to cancel the bouncy castle booking for the affected date.
If winds OR gusts exceed 24mph (38Kmph, or Force 5 on the Beaufort Scale) then we WILL cancel the outdoor hire of any bouncy castle and/or inflatable.
In this circumstance, you may change the delivery location and continue with your booking in an indoor venue, or you may wish to reschedule your booking.
If we are unsure about the wind speeds we will come out onsite and measure wind speeds.
If you cannot find an alternative indoor venue and changing your booking date is not an option then you may wish to hire soft play, This will remain unaffected by the wind speeds and is also a fantastic means of entertaining the little ones!
If you have concerns for weather related cancellations, then we advise that you book an indoor venue or seek to hire assets which can be hired indoors such as our soft play hire or our Low height bouncy castles.
During your booking
As mentioned above, the British weather is extremely unpredictable, and no weather forecast can be 100% accurate. For the purposes of safeguarding against inflatable use outdoors in what can suddenly become high winds we now provide a wind speed measurement device (an Anemometer) for all of our outdoor inflatable bookings. You will be provided a simple demonstration that comprehensively covers the use and operation of the Anemometer and a wind speed recording sheet. Your first wind speed measurement will be demonstrated and recorded for you. It is advised that you measure and record wind speeds at 30-minute intervals or if you suspect that the wind speeds might suddenly be increasing. Should the recorded wind speed exceed 38 km/h (Force 5 on the Beaufort Scale) / 24mph, you MUST quickly and safely evacuate the users and the inflatable device must be turned off.
Question: Can a bouncy castle over-inflate or pop during hot weather?
Answer: No, all our bouncy castles and inflatables comply with British Standards (BS EN 14960). The design of such castles are stitched, which means air is constantly released through the seams, which is why you might feel a light breeze if you were to cover part of the stitches with your hand. The fan blower maintains the air pressure of the castle, thus it will not over-inflate.
Question: How much space is needed for bouncy castles?
Answer: Each of our hire products show the required space on their individual asset pages. Some items such as the mobile soft play can be adapted to the available space since. Hire products such as our bouncy castles however cannot be adapted to suit the available space.
For our bouncy castles and inflatables, you will need to allow a minimum of 5ft at the front and rear of the inflatable bouncy castle and 2ft either side. This is to allow for safety mats and access onto the castle step and also to account for the blower at the rear of the castle. For example, our smallest castle measures 12x14ft, therefore the required minimum clear space for this castle would be 22x18ft.
As mentioned above each of our hire products show the required space on their individual asset pages, you may refer to each individual product page for the required space information.
Question: How much electric does the bouncy castle use?
Answer: When hiring our bouncy castles and inflatables to your home we require a 240v mains supply within 45meters of the desired set up location. This would run from one of your power sockets in your home therefore contributing towards your electricity bill.
Depending on your energy provider the average cost of running a bouncy castle from your mains is around £0.31 per hour (based on prices of 28p per kWh).
Question: What days and times are the equipment available to book within?
Answer: We hire 7days a week.
We deliver from 7am and begin garden hire collections at 6pm. Venue hires are collected according to your specified times on your booking form.
You may also check the availability of our hire items online on our website via the home page. There is a date availability checker shown in the red box.
Question: How long does it take to set up/inflate/deflate/pack up?
Answer: Depending on the equipment which you have booked the set up and pack away times can vary. As a general rule we require a minimum of 30 Minutes to allow us the time to set up and clear away. When booking our services to venues with limited access times, such as village halls this will need to be considered. For example, most children's parties last for around 2 hours, therefore when booking a village hall you would need to book for 3 hours to cover our required time plus your party time.
Question: How long do I get the equipment for?
Answer: We offer our hire services for birthday parties, weddings, christenings, schools events, family gatherings, private parties, baby showers, charity events...any occasion! Each occasion will have differing requirements for the length of time of the hire.
We charge one price whether you have the equipment for 1 hour or all day. This will be the price of which you were quoted.
If your booking is not in a venue bound to access times, such as in a private garden then you can choose delivery from 7am and collection any time until 6pm. Collection times after this will be an additional overnight charge (£30).
Question: Do you hire overnight?
Answer: Yes, some venues such as wedding venues require us to collect after midnight or the next morning. You may also wish to hire the asset overnight if your planning to keep the asset on hire late into the evening beyond our operating collection times. This is charged at £30
If you can, please turn bouncy castles and inflatables on in the morning when you wake up, this will allow us to check the condition of the inflatable and will also allow it to dry for our collection.
Question: What are your delivery and collection times?
Answer: We are able to offer our delivery and collection times from 7AM - collection up until 6PM. Any required collection times beyond our operating time of 6PM will be subject to an overnight charge of £30 and can be collected from 7AM the following morning.
Question: Why do you charge for delivery?
Answer: The Key to keeping a small business such as ours viable is to carefully manage our costs. With limited resources, we sometimes need to pay for the extra time on the road to travel outside our Cardiff area, along with added fuel and wear and tear to our vehicles. The charges for delivery have been carefully calculated to cover the extra costs to ensure that we can bring the BinkyBounce fun to as many as possible outside our local area.
Question: What vehicles do you deliver the equipment in?
Answer: We deliver in a long wheel base Luton style van which are unable to get through most height restriction barriers since they measure at 3.3 Meters. If the car park at your venue has a height restriction barrier in place, please ensure this is either removed before we arrive to deliver and collect your hired equipment.
Question: What do we need to do to the garden/field/hall/car park etc before the inflatable arrives?
Answer: We work to deliver and collect all hires according to our customers specified times. Therefore, we need clear access to every venue. Please make sure the driveway/side passage and any other access spaces are clear so that we can Immediately park up, unload and walk through to set up with minimal fuss.
If hiring outdoors then please, make sure that the grass is not too long and is free of any sharp objects, branches/twigs, stones or animal mess. The clear space where the equipment is to be hired must be ready for us, i.e trampolines and chairs already moved to clear the space.
If the desired hire site is not suitable and does not correctly reflect the details we received on our booking form i.e.you booked a bouncy castle or inflatable for grass, but then we arrive and it's on concrete or the area is covered in animal foul then we reserve the right to cancel the booking upon our arrival.
Question: Can the bouncy castle or inflatable be set up on a slope?
Answer: No, this is not safe. The required space for any bouncy castle or inflatable most be clear and level although a slight slope is ok. If your not sure then call us to discuss this.
Question: Can you put a bouncy castle on concrete or artificial grass?
Answer: This is one of our most commonly asked questions, the short answer is no. This is not an economically viable option. Outdoor safety requirements are very different to indoors requirements.
To safely secure a bouncy castle or Inflatable outdoors we use ground stakes which are the industry regulated size of at least 16mm diameter by 380mm long. These are hammered into the grass at varying angles. When this is not possible, for example on the hard standing surfaces mentioned above, then the law states that we must put at least 163 Kg on every anchor point. To put that weight into perspective, our smallest castle (12x14) has 6 anchor points, across the 6 anchor points that totals a required weight of 978 Kg. Each sandbag we use to anchor our castles weighs the standard 25 Kg. We would therefore need 7 sandbags on each of the 6 anchor points, totalling 40 sandbags to safely secure the castle!
We very much understand the appeal of having artificial grass, concrete and block paving in gardens but these are not suitable for the safe set up and installation of a bouncy castle or inflatable. As such, we would highly recommend that if you do not have grass in your garden that you look to hire a hall for your party for us to set up safely indoors. If you do wish to host a party at home without the cost of hall maybe look at using a parent or family members garden instead.
Question: Is there a minimum order value?
Answer: Yes, the minimum order value is £60.00 not including any delivery charges.
Question: What if the equipment gets dirty while in use?
Answer: All equipment hired from BinkyBounce must be returned clean. For example this means that no mud or food items should be found on any of the equipment. If any equipment is found to be returned in an unacceptable condition, i.e. If it is in a dirty or muddy condition, you will be expected to pay an additional cleaning charge of £30.
Question: Are your bouncy castles and inflatables safety tested?
Answer: Yes, the PIPA testing system is one of two inspection schemes set up by the inflatable play industry to ensure that inflatable equipment conforms to recognised safety standards. A PIPA tag caries a unique number which allows any member of public to view a particular bouncy castles inspection report online.
All of our Bouncy castles comply with British Standards (BSEN14960) and all display a numbered PIPA tag visible at the front of the castle.
Question: Do you have Public Liability Insurance?
Answer: Yes! We have a public liability policy covering us up to 5 Million. Some venues request to see copies of our policy, you can view and download a copy of our Public Liability Certificate by clicking here.
It is important that the hirer (thats you) understands what our Public Liability cover actually covers. Our policy covers the hirer against loss, damage or injury caused by inappropriate or unsafe set-up and faulty equipment. It DOES NOT protect against loss, damage or injury caused through either negligent use of the equipment, or by altering any aspect of the set-up after we have left. The hirer is responsible for ensuring that there is adult supervision of the unit, equipment and of the people using it, at all times.
Question: Do you have a privacy policy?
Answer: Yes, We make sure that your data is handled in a way which complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For full details of this please refer to our Privacy Policy page by clicking here.
Question: Where can I view your Terms & Conditions ?
We hope that we have answered your questions, if you have any other queries please don't hesitate to get in touch.