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As a member of the
Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT), an
Association approved by the Department of Trade and Industry, Equitor
has provided a Bond to meet the requirements of the Package Travel,
Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. This Bond provides
security for money paid over by customers and for the repatriation of
customers in the event of Equitor's insolvency..
1. Your Contract
When you make your booking you must complete a booking form. In signing
the booking form, you warrant that you have the authority to accept,
and are accepting on behalf of all of your party, the terms of these
booking conditions. A contract will exist as soon as Equitour issues
the confirmation invoice. This contract is made on the terms of these
booking conditions which are governed by English law and both parties
agree to submit to the jurisdiction of English courts at all times.The
contract is deemed to have been made at our office in Minstead, Hanys.
It is a condition of the
contract that you must be insured against medical and personal accident
risks, as well as cancellation charges and loss of deposits. Details of
insurance must be provided before the contract can be confirmed.
2. Payment
You must pay a deposit of £200 at the time you make the booking.
For some holidays, as in the case of tours to USA and Canada, a higher
deposit is required. The balance must be received by us 10 weeks (70
days) prior to departure. In the event that the full cost is not paid
within the time specified we reserve the right to treat this as a
cancellation and apply the appropriate cancellation charge. If a
booking is made fewer than ten weeks before departure, it must be
accompanied by full payment of the cost of the tour.
3. Surcharge Policy
We reserve the right to raise the tour price if there are exceptional
cost increases due to exchange rate fluctuations or government action.
Even in this case, we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the
holiday price excluding any amendment charges. Only amounts in excess
of this 2% will be surcharged. If this means paying more than 10% on
the holiday price, you will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a
full refund of all money paid except for any amendment charges.
Trips are budgeted for a
full or nearly full sign-up of between 4-6 paying passengers to enable
us to offer tours at the lowest possible cost. Before cancelling a
tour, we would advise you of the tier price on lower numbers than this
which is calculated on the number of full revenue passengers. Clients
will have an option of a full refund of their monies should they not
wish to pay the amended price through lack of numbers participating on
the tour. Such a decision with regard to lack of sales will be made
prior to the balance due date. Should you decide to cancel because of
this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the
issue date printed on the invoice.
Prices quoted on the final invoice are based on foreign exchange rates in effect at the time of invoicing.
4. Cancellation By Equitour Holidays
Equitour may cancel the booking at any time prior to the balance of the
cost of the booking becoming due, or if a tour does not reach a minimum
number of 4-6 participants excluding Tour Leaders.
Equitour may cancel the
booking after the balance due date for reasons of force majeure.
Examples of force majeure are war, threat of war, riot, civil strife,
industrial dispute, government action, terrorist activity, natural or
nuclear disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or other
circumstances constituting force majeure.
5. Your Rights If We Cancel
In the event of cancellation by Equitour for any reason, we will so
inform the client without delay and offer the client the choice of an
alternative holiday of at least comparable standard, if available, or a
prompt and full refund of all monies paid within ten days of the client
being informed of the cancellation. If Equitour cancels the holiday
within the balance due date, Equitour will return any monies paid and,
in addition, except in circumstances where the cancellation is due to
circumstances amounting to force majeure, pay compensation per person
as set out in section 6.
6. Amendments and Material Alterations
We do our best to provide the holiday as booked, but our tours are
planned many months in advance, and many of them are in remote places
where Western European standards and procedures do not apply. There is
always a risk that accommodation, schedules, itineraries and other
parts of the holiday will be subject to alterations beyond our control
and sometimes at short notice. Most of these changes are minor. We are
not obliged to notify you for the minor changes, nor are we obliged to
pay compensation for the minor changes. However, we will try to notify
you of any changes at the earliest possible date.
All service and
accommodation arrangements and the charges for them may be altered by
Equitour at any time prior to confirmation of the booking.We reserve
the right to substitute any named leader or other escort with an
alternative qualified person.
If, after confirmation of
booking, a major change becomes necessary such as a change of resort or
a reduction in the standard of accommodation), we will inform you as
soon as reasonably possible, if there is time before departure. In this
case you will have the choice of either accepting the change of
arrangements, taking another available holiday from us, or cancelling
your holiday and receiving a full refund. In addition we will pay
compensation per person as follows:-
70-56 days before departure £20
55-15 days before departure £30
14-8 days before departure £50
7 days or less before departure £80
Important Note : In all cases our liability to pay
compensation is limited to the amounts set out above. Compensation will
not be payable if we are forced to cancel or in any way change your
holiday due to war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, government
action, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear
disaster, fire, adverse weather conditions or other circumstances
amounting to force majeure.
7. Cancellation By You
A cancellation by the client must be in writing, signed by the person
who signed the booking form, and must be sent to Equitour, Petershold
Farm, Minstead, Lyndhurst, Hants SO43 7JG. The fees payable or, as the
case may be, not refundable on cancellation, are as follows:
more than 70 days before departure deposit
70-56 days before departure 30% of holiday cost
55-29 days before departure 45% of holiday cost
28-15 days before departure 60% of holiday cost
14 days or less before departure 100% of holiday cost
8. If you change your booking
If, after our confirmation has been issued, you wish to change your
travel arrangements, e.g. your departure date or accommodation, we will
do our utmost to make these changes, but it may not always be
possible.You will be asked to pay an administration charge of
£20, and any further cost we incur in making this
alteration.These costs could increase the closer to the departure date
that changes are made and you should contact us as soon as possible.
9. Conditions of Carriage
All arrangements made by or through Equitour in connection with the
booking are subject to conditions of carriage of the relevant carrier.
Some of these conditions limit liability. The conditions of carriage of
that carrier are incorporated into this contract.You may ask for copies
of the relevant conditions of carriage from our offices. In respect of
carriage by air, sea and rail and the provision of accommodation, our
liability in all cases will be limited in the manner provided by the
relevant International convention.You can ask for copies of these
International conventions from our office.
10. Complaints and Disputes
If you have a problem during your holiday, you must inform our tour
leader or representative and the relevant supplier (e.g. hotel)
immediately. They will endeavour to put things right. If your complaint
cannot be completely resolved locally, you must complete a written
report giving all relevant information and hand over one copy to the
supplier of the service(s) in question.You should submit a second copy
of your report to Equitour within 28 days of your return home. If you
fail to follow this simple procedure we may not be able to accept
responsibility as we have been deprived of the opportunity to
investigate and rectify the problem.
11. Our Responsibility To You
We accept responsibility (on the terms of these booking conditions) for
ensuring that the holiday which you book with us is supplied as
described in our brochure. We further accept responsibility for acts or
omissions of Employees, Agents, Sub-Contractors and Suppliers.
We also accept
responsibility should the services which we, the Operator,
contractually provide, prove deficient or are not of reasonable
standards. Claims of this nature shall be subject to English law in
respect of any question of liability or quantum and all proceedings
shall be within the exclusive domain of the English Law Courts. Under
Package Travel Regulations we are entitled to limit compensation and we
do limit compensation to twice the value of the original cost - the
limit does not apply in any way to injury illness and death.
Every assistance shall be
afforded to a client who through misadventure suffers illness, personal
injury or death during the period of the tour arising out of an
activity which does not form part of the foreign inclusive tour
arrangement or an excursion offered. Such assistance shall take the
form of advice, guidance and initial financial assistance where
appropriate up to a limit of £5,000.00 per booking form, to be
repaid from any insurance claim.
We accept liability for
death, bodily injury or illness caused to any person named on the
Booking Form by the proven negligence of our Employees, Agents,
Sub-Contractors and Suppliers. Our liability in respect of the same
shall be limited in the manner provided by relevant international
conventions in respect of air, sea and land carriage.
12. Consumer Protection
As a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organiser Trust Ltd
(ABTOT), an Association approved by the Department of Trade and
Industry, Equitour has provided a Bond to meet the requirements of the
Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tour Regulations 1992.
This Bond provides security for money paid over by customers and the
repatriation of customers in the event of Equitours insolvency.
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