Solan Sunbeds FAQS

A. Yes, We supply the Sunquest Zenith Lie Down sunbed £195 pcm + VAT, Sunquest Aurora Vertical Sunbed £195 pcm + VAT and the Topaz Vertical sunbed £195 pcm + VAT on rental contracts. The standard rental term is for a 12 months minimum period, with a £250 – £350 installation fee. A £250 deposit is payable, which is returned after your 12th monthly payment has been made. All other Terms and conditions are similar to the Northwest rentals that we do in-house. All prices quoted above are plus Vat. Please call Solan Sunbeds on: 01925 24 23 22 for more information.

A. This is a contribution towards our actual costs of fitting the sunbed in your premises. It takes a full day for two engineers with a van to install each sunbed, and prior to this we will have refurbished the sunbed and re-tubed it. Bearing in mind that your minimum rental period is only 6 months, it allows us to keep the weekly rental figure down to only £39. No installation fee is payable when purchasing our sunbeds.

A. The installation fee must be paid by cheque or credit/debit card approx 2 to 4 weeks prior to delivery. The first month’s rental payment must be paid on the day of installation and the next and subsequent month’s rental is paid by standing order from your bank one month from that date.

A. No. We only accept monthly payments by standing order from your bank, this reduces our admin costs and is one reason why we can provide this service for only £39 per week.

A. Monthly. For example £39/week = 39×52/12 = £169 per calendar month, ie the same date each month.We can accept weekly payments by Standing Order from your bank, but prefer monthy to reduce admin costs. Total price including Vat =£169 + Vat = £202 per calendar month

A. This is not possible. It is not a Direct Debit, it is a Standing Order, ie a fixed monthly amount, requested by you to your bank to pay us the same amount each month. Only you can end it or change the amount.

A. Yes,we are Vat registered and it is a legal requirement that we charge you VAT. You can of course claim this back if you are VAT registered. If you register in the future (mandatory when your annual turnover exceeds £72,000) then you can claim back the VAT you paid on the previous 6 months rental. Incidentally you can also claim back VAT you have paid during the previous 3 years on any products or equipment that you still own.

A. Nothing! Unless you choose to hand the sunbed(s) back, you simply carry on renting, and carry on keeping the takings. The vast majority of our customers do this.

A. We do. This includes repalcing any faulty tubes, replacing acrylics (Perspex’s) etc. Simply call us if the sunbed develops a fault, and we strive to attend your premises the following working day to carry out any repairs required. Faults are rare, so we attend your site anyway when the sunbed has done 250 hours to carry out a free service.

A. You do. After the sunbed has done 500 hours we replace all tubes with new. We charge you half the wholesale cost price (to us) of the tubes, with no mark up, and fit them free. For a 40 tube sunbed this is around £200. Bear in mind that at £1 per 3 minutes (£20 per hour) you will have taken £10,000 per sunbed, so this is less than 2.5% of your takings. It is absolutely crucial to replace the tubes at approximately 500 hour intervals to give your customers the level of satisfaction that they have become used to, and ensures you are always ahead of your competitors.

A. Around .20 pence (ie one unit per 6 minute session. This is also less than 10% of your takings. The more your electricity bill increases, then the more your sunbed is getting used. For every £20 in electricity used, you have taken £200.

A. No. A one-off Installation fee of £250, rental £39+ Vat/week. A retube (approx £400) after every 500 hours (£10,000 takings) Thats it, we pay for all repairs, servicing and manitenance. So for every £10,000 you take, you pay your weekly/Monthly rental, around £400 for a retube, and around £500 in electricity, the rest is profit. You only need 25 customers per week (5 per day), each paying you £2 for 6 imutes to cover your rental costs.

A. A busy salon may do 500 every 4 months (taking £30,000 per annum per sunbed). Quieter premises (eg hairdressers with one sunbed) may take 12 months to do 500 hours (taking £10,000 per annum) So the more frequently you have to re-tube the more money you are taking.

A. Yes, mounted on the wall in the sunbed room. You keep the tokens and cash drawer keys, and sell tokens for £1 each to your customers. Most salons choose to charge £1 per 3 minutes, ie £2 for 6 mins or £3 for 9 minutes. The sunbeds and tubes we provide are very powerful,and 9 minutes is the maximum session time allowed. The meter will be set by us to give 3 minutes per token unless you request otherwise. Takings: £1 per 3 minutes = £20/hour = £10,000 every 500 hours). You may request the meter be set to the higher rate of 2 minutes per token if you wish, this rate is common in hotels. (Takings: £30/hour, £15,000 every 500 hours)

A. We provide 50 tokens per sunbed on installation. Replacements can be purchased from us in bags of 50 at £50p per token i.e. £25.

A. Yes. Your electrician must run a separate single-phase 10mm (shower/cooker) cable from your fuseboard to each sunbed room.The fuseboard must have a separate 63 Amp Circuit Breaker for each sunbed room. The 10mm cable in the sunbed room must be terminated with a 63Amp Rotary Isolator (Switch) positioned at the right-hand end of the sunbed, around 5feet high.We will connect the flex on the sunbed into this switch when we install the sunbed.

If you have a 3 phase electrical supply into your premises (Mandatory for more than two sunbeds) then the circuit breaker in your fuseboard must be 3 x 20 Amp for Lie-Down sunbeds and 3 x 32 Amp for Vertical sunbeds. The 3 Phase cable from the Fusebox to the rotary isolator in the sunbed room should be 4mm per phase for Lie-Down sunbeds and 6mm for vertical sunbeds.

If your electrician fits a RCD/RCB/RCBO it must be 100mA trip, NOT the standard 30mA trip.

See our free downloadable guide for more details on your electrical installation, which contains technical details for your electrician

A. Depending on how far your fusebox is from the sunbed room, most electricians would charge you around £125 – £200 per sunbed. Paul (Liverpool and Wirrall) 07772 761452

A. This is optional, but any RCD MUST be 100mA trip, and NOT the standard 30mA trip supplied as standard. Tell your electrician that the sunbed will not run on a standard 30mA RCD/RCB. See our downloadable guide on the homepage for more details, which provides additional information for your electrician

A. Not unless you require more than 2 sunbeds. A standard domestic single-phase supply can carry up to 100 Amps, enough for 2 sunbeds. If you require 3 or more sunbeds, then you will have to apply to your Utility Company to provide a 3 phase supply to your premises.

Utilities are currently charging around £3000 for this upgrade, and taking at least 8 weeks. Your own electrician cannot do this, it must be done by the utilities.

A. Lie down sunbeds require a minimum 8ft long and 6 ft wide. (8 1/2 feet for the Hapro Lumina) Sunshowers need minimum 6ft x 6ft, with 8 1/2 feet ceiling height. These are minimum sizes, larger is better (9ft x 8ft for a lie-down and 7ft x 7ft for a vertical), as the room will be cooler and more comfortable for your customers. Also the sunbed will also be more reliable. In addition, the UV tanning rays from a sunbed tube actually decrease the hotter it gets, so the cooler the room, the higher the tanning power of your sunbeds!

A. Our 40 tube “Shadow” sunbed will fit in a slightly smaller room, absolute minimum 7 1/2 feet by 6ft. It is slightly narrower and shorter than the other models. It actually tans better than the other models too, because it has the same amount of tubes crammed into a narrower width, so they are spaced very close to each other, with around only 2mm space between each tube. This gives more intense tanning rays. The “Shade” sunbed, similar to the shadow but with 32 tubes, will fit into a room only 5ft wide.

A. Yes, unless you have a very large room. A 12 inch extractor fan should be fitted to an outside wall. The standard 4 inch and 6 inch fans are no use as they can only extract a small amount of air per minute. You should also fit large plastic louvred vents to the door of the sunbed room, to allow the cool air in, to replace the warm ai extracted by the wall fan. (Available from B&Q and other DIY shops) If you do not have an outside wall in the sunbed room, your joiner can fit ducting from the sunbed room to a room that does have an outside wall.

A. Simply call us and we will take your details, and discuss which sunbeds/sunshowers you require/prefer. Once you have paid the installation fee (usually paid by card over the phone) We reserve the chosen sunbed for you.

We will send you a pre-filled in rental agreement which you check, sign and return to us in an S.A.E. provided. With it you include 2 forms of ID (one copy of photo ID, one original Utility bill). On receipt of this we will contact you to agree a delivery date.

A. Yes. Your shop policy will have a sum insured for fixtures and fittings/equipment, and you must ensure that the sunbeds are covered under this figure. (approx value £3,300 per sunbed) You must tell your insurance company that the sunbeds are on hire, and must be covered for fire, theft, flood and malicious damage. You also need cover for “Treatment Risk” in case any of your clients attempt to claim from you for overexposure or injury.

NB. we do not carry this cover ourselves. Our insurers cannot cover us for injury caused to persons using our equipment that is not on our own premises, because the use of the equipment is then not under our control. A claim made by one of your customers cannot be passed onto ourselves or the manufacturer, or the tube supplier, and you agree to this when you sign the rental agreement.

Very few Insurers now offer this cover, and currently we can only recommend one company, BLS Insurance Services Ltd:

Lesley
01204 881002
Email: lesley@blsis.co.uk
www.blsis.co.uk

BLS Insurance Services Ltd
Bank Chambers, 26 Market St, Tottington, Bury, BL8 4AD

A. yes we supply free of charge an official HSE disclaimer poster for the sunbed room, goggles, headrest for lie down sunbeds, and tokens for the token meter and a key fro the cash drawer. We also provide a free A3 or A4 colour window poster.

A. we stock a large range of tanning lotions protan, Australian gold and power tan and starter packs are available starting from £75 plus vat upwards, and can offer competitive rates ongoing with discount for our customers.