Finding out more about your fruit trees

Our hire area is south Devon, between Exter and Plymouth, and south of the A30. We do not accept bookings from outside that area. A schematic map is here.

Once you have decided which equipment kit suits you best, click on the “Go to Booking Page” button on the Hire page. This will take you to our on-line booking system run by SimplyBookIt.

The link takes you to a list of the equipment available where you make your choice, then to the calendar showing the availability of that particular piece of equipment. Equipment is hired by the day: find a day that is free, select it and you will be led through the booking process. Note that you must make your booking at least two days in advance of your hire date. If you cannot select the date you want, that means it is already booked for that day.

If you want to hire equipment for more than one day, you add more and pay just once at checkout. Simply select “Add another booking”. The system then goes back to the equipment select page and you run through the booking process again. The booking system will remember your contact details for successive bookings but you will need to enter the location for each separate element.

Finally you will be transferred to our PayPal page to make a payment using your debit or credit card or using your PayPal account if you have one. When making a booking, you must complete the payment within 15 minutes, or your session will time-out.

(Note that the “Pay Later” option on the payment page is only for organisations which have agreed an invoicing arrangement with us in advance: any unauthorised booking made using “Pay Later” will be cancelled when seen).

On completion, you will receive an e-mail message confirming your booking. If you do not receive the confirmation email, your booking has not completed. Please read your confirmation email thoroughly and keep it for reference as it contains essential information which you will need at the time of hire.

Your confirmed booking, together with your email, mobile phone number and location will show up on the hire calendar. Only logged in Orchard Link members can see this information. (See our Privacy Policy).

Given the high value of the equipment hired out without deposit, members hiring for the first time will be required to provide proof of address (the membership registered address) before a booking is confirmed. Send a scan or photo of a current Council Tax bill or a recent (3 months) utility bill to presshire@orchardlink.org.uk when the booking is complete. If you omit to do this, we will remind you, but the booking will be cancelled up to a week but no less than 72 hrs before it is due if this is not received.

Our equipment is all based at our store (click here for map) outside Ugborough, near Ivybridge. But at the height of the harvest season when the equipment is in almost daily use, the equipment passes directly from one hirer to the next. So, you will EITHER need to collect your equipment from our store, OR, if another member has the equipment on hire immeditately before you, you will collect it from the previous hirer.

At the end of your hire, you will EITHER need to return the equipment to our store at Ugborough OR, if another member is using it immediately after you, that person will collect it from you.

The system only works if everyone arranges the collection, return and transfer of the equipment through good communication with the hirers before and after them, or if to/from Ugborough, with our volunteer depot manager George Arnison. The booking confirmation email contains all the information necessary to do this.

A simple flowchart to guide you can be downloaded here.

If another member has booked your equipment for use the following day, you must have it fully cleaned and ready for collection by the next person by 6.30pm at the end of your hire day.

After you have passed on the equipment to the next hirer or back to the store, you must email Presshire to inform us where the equipment is then located. Please note that if you have not done so then you will retain responsibility for any subsequent loss or damage until we are next notified of any subsequent handover.

If you simply want to change the date of your booking, and provided there are more than 7 days to go to your booked date, first check on the calendar that your preferred new date is available for that equipment, then email us requesting the change. (This avoids the need for cancellation, refund and re-booking from scratch).

If you need to cancel your booking completely, please do so as soon as possible using the unique cancellation link provided in your booking confirmation email. This will cancel your booking instantly and maximise your chance of a refund. If for some reason you cannot do this, then email your cancellation to us at Presshire.

Refunds and cancellation charges:

• If you cancel your booking within two days of hire start for any reason: no refund.
• If you cancel your booking within seven days of hire start: 50% refund.
• If you cancel your booking more than seven days before hire start: 100% refund less a £5 admin fee.

Any refunds will be made through the PayPal account that made the initial payment. However, if the inital payment was made by credit or debit card (rather than through a Paypal account) then the refund can only be done by BACS which will take longer. If you paid by card, and you cancel, please ensure you supply full bank details for BACS transfer.

We provide instructions for the safe use of the equipment on our website hire page and in paper format with each kit. Do read and follow those instructions! You are working with expensive professional equipment involving heavy weights, sharp blades, mains electricity and water. An instructional video for the Speidel 2,2kW Apple Mill is available here.
You must tell us and the next hirer straight away if there are any defects, breakages or losses.
Hiring members are responsible for ensuring all those using the equipment are fully briefed on its correct operation before use and are supervised throughout the hire period.

Care of equipment.

Hirers are required to use the equipment strictly in accordance with the instructions provided and to pass it on in clean and operable condition.

Losses and breakages or theft.

Hirers must check the equipment on receipt to ensure everything is present and working correctly. If there are any losses, breakages or malfunctions or any equipment is lost through theft, you must notify Orchard Link, the previous and the next hirer straight away. Orchard Link will not accept responsibility for loss of hired equipment time, caused by failure to notify of a known loss, break or malfunction. To be fair to all hirers, in the event of damage or loss caused by misuse, failure to follow the operating instructions, or mistreatment, or if you fail to report a loss or damage you are likely to be liable for any additional costs and you may lose your opportunity to hire the equipment again in the future. You are responsible for the safe custody and reasonable precautions against theft whilst the equipment is in your care.

You remain the hirer of the equipment, with all attendant liabilities, until you notify us that you have passed it on to the next hirer or have returned it to the depot.

Insurance.

Orchard Link has its own third party insurance, but this does not cover you for your use, loss, damage or theft of the equipment while out on hire nor, if you are organising an apple pressing event involving other people or the public generally, does it cover you for any claims against you. You must therefore ensure that you have suitable occupiers’ and public liability insurance of your own to cover your use of the equipment.