Terms and Conditions for Birthday Parties and Other Events For ‘The Trekking Company Limited’, referred to as ‘TrekCo’ Bookings and Contracts A contract will only exist when we have received your deposit, and you have completed and returned your Course Agreement. The person signing the Course Agreement accepts the following conditions on behalf of the group, institution or family and all party members, and will be our sole point of contact for correspondence. The contract between us is governed by the Law of England and Wales. Your contract is with ‘The Trekking Company Limited’. Deposits Before a booking can be considered firm, the Party Leader must sign the Course Agreement and forward the initial deposit of: Parties: £50 for up to 12 persons; £100 for 12 or over Where numbers are not known, we will accept a temporary deposit to hold dates of £50 but cannot guarantee that we will be able to cater for a larger party without a larger deposit. No contract is entered into until the deposit has been paid and the Course Agreement has been received. The person signing the agreement shall accept the Terms and Conditions on behalf of the group and all members of the group. It is therefore vital that the Party Leader inform every parent/guardian/carer of every child in the party of the full and detailed nature of the activities in which their child will take part, in order that the parent may make an informed decision as to participation. This deposit is not refundable under any circumstances. Please make cheques payable to ‘The Trekking Company Ltd’, or call us for bank details to make a BACS or Internet payment. No insurance is included in your price and therefore you should arrange for travel or equivalent insurance to be in place from the date of booking. Cancelled courses will only lose the deposit until 2 months prior to the course. After this, all monies are non-refundable; in the event of insufficient children wishing to participate you are still liable for payment for the number of children booked. We cannot refund as a result of family decisions, disinclination to take part, reduction in numbers or any other matters out of our control. We again advise for your own protection that you ensure that you take out insurance as soon as you book any trip. Trip cost and Payment TrekCo reserves the right to change the price of trips at any time up until the contract has been signed and returned, and the deposit paid. After this point TrekCo will only change the price of the trip under these circumstances: If unavoidable prices or costs to TrekCo related to the trip change by more than 2% after the trip is booked, this may be passed on to the client by way of a surcharge – for example ferries, fuel, accommodation fees. If this surcharge (and not including any amendments to the trip after the original specifications) should be greater than 10% of the cost of your trip, you will be entitled to cancel and claim a full refund. This must be done within 14 days of notice of the increase being given. Additional requests are made which were not included in the original price quoted – for example requests for extra activities; changes in accommodation location, layout or facilities; extra people joining the course; changes to the itinerary or any other factor causing extra expense. We require the final balance to be settled no later than two months prior to your visit or by return of post where a booking is made closer than two months. If any interim payments or final balances are not received by the due dates, this will be a breach of the contract between us, entitling us to treat the booking as cancelled by you. In these circumstances, the contract between us will remain in force until you receive our written advice and cancellation invoice. 4. Cancellation Group cancellation TrekCo ask for a non-refundable deposit for every visit. Please note that this is not returned under any circumstances. We may also request other non-refundable amounts for special circumstances; for example to reserve accommodation a long time in advance when numbers might be unknown. These amounts too are non-refundable under any circumstances. In the event of cancellation of a visit more than two months prior to the visit, any non-refundable deposit is forfeit. Any monies paid in addition to this will be refunded in full. After this two month cutoff, the group/organisation is liable for the full amount of all monies had the trip gone ahead with the anticipated number of participants. This number shall be that indicated on the Course Agreement; if the organiser has not indicated a number on the Course Agreement then the number will be taken as that indicated in previous correspondence with the course organiser. In the event of individual cancellation any non-recoverable monies paid to TrekCo as detailed above should be claimed on your insurance if they are for medical or emergency reasons. Please do not ask for refunds from TrekCo for individual cancellations; TrekCo cannot act an insurer and claims must be made with the insurers. The date of effective cancellation is calculated on the day of receipt by TrekCo of written advice. This may be by letter, email or fax. TrekCo cannot be liable for non-receipt of communications for whatever reason – please ask for confirmation of receipt if you do not receive a reply within 2 working days. If any cancellation brings the number of participants below the minimum number required to qualify for a particular price, then the price will be adjusted accordingly. We do not make any administrative charge for amendments. Insurance You should take out insurance for your course when you book. This should insure you against cancellation etc. from that date. Any participants withdrawing from the trip with good reason will therefore have the facility to claim for this. We are not permitted to take out insurance for you. We have £10 million Public Liability Insurance cover. This does not cover any travel policy type claims such as injury, cancellation, loss of baggage etc., but is cover in the case of, for example, a negligence claim in case of accident. Your personal property, including baggage, is your own responsibility at all times unless any loss or damage is due to our negligence. Please note that items left in any vehicles are not insured under vehicle insurances and must be covered by your own policy as normal. Belongings left at party locations are similarly not insured. Activities The activities agreed, or general type of activities, are listed on your course agreement. We make every effort to ensure that the activities you prefer are on your timetable; however, when the site is busy it is sometimes impossible to organise every one of your preferences. The time to agree this is when you book, as nearer to the date all timetables will have been finalised. We cannot undertake to give you an exact timetable for your course, as these may change with circumstances, participant numbers and other factors – we are happy to supply timetables on a provisional basis, but please don’t make definite, inflexible plans based on these. The Trekking Company reserve the right to alter, suspend, cancel or curtail sessions for safety reasons. This may include the weather, participant behaviour or other factors. We will always try to replace cancelled activities with other activities but if we do need to modify a timetable there will be no refunds. The decision of the Instructor on the spot will be final – you employ us to ensure safety in the instruction of outdoor activities and this is an essential safeguard for that provision. The arrangements on our website or when quoted to you are given in good faith. Occasionally we have to make organisational changes and we reserve the right to do so at any time. Most changes will be minor and all will be advised at the earliest possible date. In the unlikely event of it proving necessary to alter significantly or cancel your visit, we will offer a suitable alternative if available or 100% refund (within 14 clear days) if we are not able, in our opinion, to offer an alternative that is sufficiently comparable. No employee of TrekCo has the authority to alter or amend any terms or change any visit or activities or any part of the itinerary, cost or conditions, and no agreement with any employee without the express written agreement of one of the Directors shall be binding. Your communications with Parents and Participants It is essential that you relay correct information to parents/guardians/carers regarding the trip, the company (TrekCo), the activities undertaken, transport arrangements, facilities available, and any special arrangements such as dietary or medical issues. You are responsible also for correctly relaying to us any dietary or medical information regarding participants (including adults if they are on site or participating in activities). Participants’ medical forms must be available to us during the visit. Please ensure that in your communications with parents you list all of the activities to be undertaken, explain what they involve, and mention that in some circumstances (e.g. bad weather) alternative activities might be undertaken. Force Majeure We cannot accept liability where the performance of our obligations is prevented or affected by, or you suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature whatsoever, as a result of ‘force majeure’. This means any event which we could not foresee or avoid. Such events may include war, threat of war, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire, human or agricultural diseases, and all similar events outside of our control. Liability We will only accept responsibility for any personal illness, injury or death which results from the negligent (as the word is understood in English law) acts or omissions of any servant or agent, or any supplier working on our behalf in the provision of services or facilities to you and whilst acting within the scope of their employment.We can only be liable for the provision of special requests where we have confirmed their availability in writing beforehand.We cannot be held responsible for the failure of any computer or communication equipment or computer programme for any reason. TrekCo does not accept liability or responsibility for personal injury to, or the death of any participant howsoever cause unless by the proven negligence of TrekCo, employees, suppliers or subcontractors. In addition, TrekCo is not liable for death, injury or illness caused by an activity outside of the company’s activities. Complaints Procedure If there is any problem with your visit, we want to be the first to hear about it. It is essential that you contact your Course Leader as soon as possible so that we can try to rectify the situation on the spot. In the unlikely event that the matter remains unresolved, please write to us immediately on your return. Notice in writing of any complaint or dispute must be received by us within 28 days of the date on which the visit ended.11. Personal Property Your personal property, including baggage, is your own responsibility at all times, unless any loss or damage is due to our negligence or failure to carry out our responsibility.12. Supervision Adults accompanying the party agree to act ‘in loco parentis’ at all times and will adequately supervise all members of the party. We cannot provide the pastoral supervision of participants at any time; all pastoral, health and disciplinary matters must be supervised by the Party Leader. It is the Party Leader’s responsibility to ensure that: a) No group member under 18 (or the local legal age limit) consumes alcoholic beverages or any drugs. b) No group member smokes on coaches, in any accommodation, in any smoke free places or behaves in any other way which may cause a fire hazard. c) All party members wear the seat belts provided for all journeys by coach and minibus. d) No party member breaks a UK or local law. These matters must be discussed with party members prior to your visit. Health Matters The Party Leader signing the Booking Form is entirely responsible for passing on any health information to TrekCo. It is the Party Leader’s responsibility to ensure that all members of their party are capable of taking part in all aspects of the visit. If it is felt that any member of the party is either not sufficiently fit, healthy or able to participate in or complete a visit without the health or safety of that person or any other person (including other group members) being endangered, the Course Leader at any stage has the right to require them to leave the visit under the supervision of the Party Leader or other nominated adult member of the party.16. Special Requests Any special requests must be clearly notified to us in writing. We do our best to meet any special requests made by you and ensure that these are forwarded to the appropriate persons. We cannot guarantee, however, that special requests will be fulfilled and failure to do so does not constitute a breach of contract. Special requests will only be held to form part of the contract between you and the Company when they have been confirmed in writing to be guaranteed by the Company.17. Ages & Additional Adults a) Prices are valid for participants aged up to 18 years on the day of departure unless otherwise specified. b) Accompanying adults may join and take part in the activity subject to discussion beforehand and the approval of the management. It is highly recommended for most parties that one or a maximum or two adults accompany the group; however more than this can detract from the enjoyment of the Accompanying adults normally incur no charge for the visit or facilities (e.g. bike hire), unless special requests are made.18. Additional Requirements We are continually working to enable all young people to enjoy the many benefits of our visits. If members of your party have additional requirements, relating for example to disability, culture, diet etc, please provide full details at the time of booking. We will be pleased to undertake a fair assessment of service provision and identify appropriate resources with reference to such considerations as access, successful participation and health and safety. 19. Data Protection We have measures in place to protect the personal booking information held by us. The contact details supplied, including postal address, telephone and email address, will only be used to fulfil visit administration and to communicate details of TREKCO’s and our associated companies products and services.20. Photography We occasionally employ a photographer to take pictures for use in TREKCO promotional material. If any member of your group wishes NOT to appear in any such photography, please let us know prior to your visit. You agree that we may use such images in promotional, advertising or publicity material in any form whatsoever. You further agree that copyright rests with TrekCo. 21. Marketing TREKCO may use your written feedback in promotional materials whether it reaches us in letters or on our feedback forms. If you do not wish to be quoted, please could you inform us on any written material you send us. 22. Website & Brochure Information The information contained in our website and any information sent is accurate and correct as far as can be reasonably ascertained on the publication date. If we ascertain ourselves or are notified of any subsequent changes to the details contained herein, we will advise you as soon as is reasonably possible.
