Conditions of Booking – Jazz and Wine
1. Your contract with us
The terms set out in these Conditions of Booking constitute the terms of the contract between you and Global Music Foundation LTD trading as Jazz and Wine. It is important for you to read these Conditions of Booking carefully before proceeding to make a booking with us so that you understand the terms of the contract. All contracts made between you and us will be subject to these Conditions of Booking.
2. How to make a Booking
To make a Booking with us you may either contact us by telephone, by fax or by e-mail.
3. The Deposit
Any Booking that you seek to make with us is subject to availability and to payment to us of a deposit of 30% of the total cost of the Arrangements made by us for you and stated in our Confirmation Invoice(s). We shall not be obliged to take any action in respect of your Booking until we receive the deposit and a booking form completed by you and the Agreement between you and us is subject to us receiving these. The deposit is payable to Global Music Foundation and this contract is made between you and that company upon confirmation of your Booking by us.
4. The Booking
Your Booking will relate to the Arrangements which you request us to book for you and which are included in the total price in our invoice to you. These may comprise any one or more of accommodation, transport, services provided we charge for these in the total price. Anything not charged for by us is not part of our contract with you and we will not be liable for it in any way. Therefore if you make arrangements with third parties you must bear this in mind. Please check that the details of your Booking have been correctly recorded and inform us in writing of any discrepancy immediately or at the latest within 24 hours of receiving confirmation of your Booking from us. If we do not receive details in writing of any discrepancy by that time we will assume that your Booking details have been fully and correctly stated. This simple procedure is essential to avoid any problems or misunderstandings between you and us and if you do not follow this procedure we shall not be liable to you for the omission of any aspect of your itinerary or arrangements which result from your failure to do so. If you subsequently seek to change your booking then this will be subject to the conditions contained in the section headed “Change of Booking” below.
5. The Balance Payable
The price payable for your Arrangements is stated in the invoice that will be sent to you upon confirmation of Booking by us. You must pay the deposit as stated above and any final balance stated in the invoice on confirmation of Booking must be paid no later than 6 weeks before the date arranged for departure of your Arrangements. If you do not pay the full balance by that time then we have the right to notify you that we have treated your booking as cancelled and to charge you a cancellation charge in accordance with the scale of cancellation charges in the section headed “Cancellation Charges” below. The date of cancellation will be deemed to be the date of our notification in writing to you and the cancellation charges will be calculated on the basis of a deemed cancellation by you at that date. If your Booking is made less than 6 weeks prior to departure for your Arrangements we shall require payment of the total sum payable for your Arrangements as stated in our Confirmation Invoice(s).
6. Method of Payment
We will accept payment by means of a credit card recognised by us or by cheque. We shall only treat payment as made when cleared funds are available to us or when payment has been made via your credit card. Payment for any part of the price of your Arrangements or any item reserved by us for you will only be accepted in UK sterling. If you are living outside of the UK please make the necessary calculation from your countries currecny into UK pounds. This can be done using the following website: http://www.x-rates.com/
7. Accommodation
We will not accept Bookings of less than 2 nights generally but at our discretion if we choose to accept a 1 night booking there is a supplementary £15.00 Booking fee. We will not accept Bookings, which provide us with less than 5 working days notice.
8. Change of Booking
If you change your Booking we will consider whether the changes required by you can be made by us but we cannot guarantee to make any changes and we will not be under any obligation to effect any change or addition to your Booking. The changes required by you may for example involve transfer to other Arrangements with us, departure on a different date or making other alterations to your original Booking. We will only consider any changes required by you if these are made to us in writing and the request is signed by you. In view of the commitments that we may have to enter into and the time that we will have to spend in processing your booking and the complexity of some Arrangements, it will generally not be possible to make changes to your Booking without charges being incurred. Please note that no refund will be made for unused accommodation or services if you make any change or addition to your booking or if you choose to depart from the Arrangements that we have booked for you in any way.
9. Administration Charge Change of Booking
If we are able to change your Booking and you require us to do so we have the right to levy an administrative charge according to the time spent by us and for the sums that we have incurred or will have to incur by way of liability to third parties resulting from the change. Please note that our third party suppliers may also charge cancellation charges. An Administration Charge of £25.00 per hour for our time spent in respect of each change of any item in the Booking will be levied in dealing with the changes in addition to any sums that we have incurred in liability to third parties or any expense that we incur. If you require changes and you do not pay the Administration Charge or if you do not adhere to the terms of your Booking without any changes your failure to do so will be deemed to be a cancellation of Booking by you and cancellation charges will be levied in accordance with the scale of cancellation charges stated below. If you have any insurance or credit card cover in respect of your booking it is your responsibility to notify the persons with whom that cover is made of any change. If you do not notify them, then your cover may be invalidated. Transfer of Booking - If you are unable to participate in the Arrangements with us, in certain circumstances it may be possible to transfer your booking to another person nominated by you. If you seek to do this you must provide us with details in writing of the name, address and any other details required by us in relation to that person. Any insurance or visa or other cover arranged by you may be affected by the name change. We reserve the right to refuse to make any name changes up to 14 days prior to departure or if we are not reasonably able to make the changes. Administration charges must be paid by you in respect of the name change as specified under the section headed “Administration Charges” above if we are able to make the change. If we are not able to make the change and you choose not to adhere to the terms of your Booking then this will amount to a deemed cancellation by you and cancellation charges will be payable in accordance with the scale of cancellation charges specified below. It is the responsibility of you and the person who is the subject of the name change to make sure that all necessary documentation, insurance or other cover and other requirements are put in place so that the person may be substituted in respect of your Booking. Please note that cancellation charges may be incurred with third parties as well as ourselves.
10. Cancellation of a Booking by you
If you choose to cancel your Arrangements with us at any time up to departure you should notify us in writing as soon as you possibly can after you make your decision to cancel. We shall require written confirmation signed by you that you wish to cancel the Arrangements and would you also please advise us of the reason for cancellation. If you have insurance or credit card cover you should approach the persons concerned with whom your cover was arranged to see whether you are entitled to any reimbursement from them. However, as between you and us, in the event of cancellation by you, cancellation charges will become payable in accordance with the scale of cancellation charges set out below.
11. Cancellation Charges
The period before departure within which we receive notice of cancellation and the amount of Cancellation Charges payable is set out below:
More than 42 days prior to departure – Loss of deposit only.
42 to 29 days before departure – 60% of the total cost of the Arrangements.
28 to 15 days before departure – 70% of the total cost of the Arrangements.
14 to 8 days before departure – 90% of the total cost of the Arrangements.
7 days or less before departure - 100% of the total cost of the Arrangements. Force Majeure. Force majeure means circumstances such as war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, or adverse weather conditions, action of government or regulatory authorities, mechanical or technical failure or other matters beyond our control. We reserve the right to make changes to your Arrangements for reason of force majeure as we consider necessary.
12. Other Changes
We reserve the right to make changes to your Arrangements at any time prior to the time when a contract is made between you and us. If we have to make such changes these will be notified to you at the time of your Booking. We also reserve the right to make changes to your Arrangements after your Booking has been made. It will normally only be necessary to make minor changes but it may be necessary to make a significant change in certain exceptional circumstances as the Arrangements are planned many months in advance and the itinerary involves future planning of numerous aspects of the itinerary. We will endeavour to provide reasonable notification in advance of any change but if we have to make minor changes we shall not be liable to pay compensation to you. A significant change may be for example a change to a lower standard of accommodation or a major change of the itinerary. A minor change will be any change other than a significant change.
13. Cancellation by us
It is not possible to envisage certain circumstances beyond our control. Sometimes it may be necessary to cancel your Arrangements because of reasons of force majeure and we must reserve the right to cancel your Arrangements in these circumstances at any time up to departure. Please refer to the section headed `Force majeure’.
14. Cancellation or Significant Alteration by Us
In the circumstances of cancellation or significant alteration of the Arrangements by us we will offer you:-
i) The choice of alternative Arrangements of equivalent or superior quality (if available) or
ii) Arrangements of a lower quality if you require it (if available) in which case we will refund to you the difference in price between the original Arrangements and the Arrangements of a lower quality; or
iii) We will make a prompt refund of any monies paid by you to us under this Agreement.
We try to avoid cancellation of your Arrangements or making any significant change to your Arrangements and therefore this will generally not be necessary. If we do have to make a significant alteration to your Arrangements or cancel your Arrangements within 8 weeks prior to departure we shall offer compensation as set out in the section headed `Scale of Compensation’ below. We are not liable to pay compensation to you where the Arrangement(s) are cancelled or altered by reason of force majeure or unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised
15. Scale of Compensation
Period prior to the date when cancellation or significant alteration is notified to you.
More than 56 days - £15.00
43 to 56 days - £20.00
29 to 42 days - £25.00
15 to 28 days - £30.00
0 to 14 days - £40.00
We specify the scale of compensation as being a reasonable amount of compensation having regard to the time at which any change or changes are made.
16. Special Requests
If you have any Special Request in relation to your intended Arrangements to be provided you may notify us of these in writing. However, we cannot be liable to you in respect of any Special Request unless we confirm that we are able to meet this request when we confirm your Booking. It is therefore your responsibility to ensure that you advise us of any special requests at the time of Booking and that you obtain written confirmation of your Special Request but if we are unable to confirm it to you in writing then we are not able to facilitate your Special Request whatever it may be and it will not form part of any contract between us.
17. Your Responsibilities
Production of relevant documents – It is your responsibility to produce all necessary vouchers, passports, visas where necessary, travel documentation, identification or other documents necessary to allow us to provide the Arrangements which we have agreed to provide to you. If you do not safely keep and produce the necessary items as referred to above either before departure or when you are travelling or at your destination or accommodation or on your return travel then you may not be able to obtain or enjoy all or any of the facilities, travel, accommodation or other items that we have agreed to provide to you under the terms of our contract with you. You may be refused entry to the country that you are visiting on the Arrangements if you do not have a valid passport and visas when applicable. If you do not have valid documents you may be liable to be immediately removed from the country that you are visiting and/or suffer other penalty. There may also be other important documents that you need to provide to third parties. If any of the documents that you are requested to provide do not meet the requirements of any person in authority, government department or other institution entitled to call upon you to produce documentation, then the failure to produce such documentation being your responsibility will therefore be your own fault. We shall not be liable to pay compensation to you in these circumstances or be liable to you in any way.
Delay – In the event that you are delayed or otherwise prevented from complying with any relevant time schedules necessary for your Arrangements you must immediately inform us. We shall need to know whether your delay is caused by illness, failure of transportation or otherwise. No refunds will be given for unused accommodation or services or other facilities in the event of such delay and it is your responsibility to obtain suitable insurance cover.
Credit Cards – If you choose to make payment for your reservation by means of a credit card a 2.5% surcharge will be made. When you provide us with credit card details this is your authority for us to make charges to your credit card to pay the sums for any part of your itinerary which you have asked us to provide and which we have booked or arranged for you. If you have provided payment by other means we shall endeavour to charge for the relevant sums in accordance with your instructions but if payment is not available by any other means then a charge will be made to your credit card. Therefore when you provide details of your credit card this will be binding on you and no refunds will be subsequently allowed. Any cancellations will incur cancellation charges as specified in the section headed “Cancellation Charges”. Provision of credit card details will be treated as an offer by the credit card holder and any other person making the Booking as an offer to accept the Arrangements.
Liability at the Destination – You are liable for all damage caused by you or by any member of the party specified in relation to your Booking. You are liable for all sums charged to you, which are not included in the price, confirmed by us for the cost of your Arrangements in our confirmation invoices. Only the person specified on your booking form may enjoy the accommodation, services, transport or other facilities, which constitute your Booking. If any name change is necessary you must follow the name change procedure specified in these Conditions of Booking. If therefore you use any other service provider who has not been arranged by us then you will be responsible to pay them and we will not be responsible for any payment to them nor will we be responsible for any loss suffered by you in this respect.
18. Insurance
We require you to obtain fully adequate travel insurance. We reserve the right to refuse to take your Booking if you have not obtained such insurance.
19. Variations in Price
The price of your Arrangements will be stated by us prior to your Booking and will be specified as accurately as reasonably possible. Up to the time that you make your Booking prices may change. If there is any change in price we will notify you. We will not be liable to you for any change in price up to the time of your Booking.
20. Price Supplements
There may be occasions following your Booking when a variation in price will occur. This may be because either you change your booking as specified in the section headed “Change of Booking” above or if there are “Transfers of Booking” or if we are required to change your arrangements. We will inform you of any variation in price of the items, which you have booked. If we are required to change the price of any item in the itinerary which you have booked and this amounts to a significant alteration then you are referred to the section headed “Cancellation or Significant Alteration by Us”. The price of your Arrangement(s) is subject to surcharges. These may be charged on transportation costs such as scheduled airfares, fuel, airline surcharges that are part of the contract between airlines and their agents, Government taxes, other charges imposed by Governments and adverse exchange rate variations. We will absorb an increase in surcharges equivalent to 2% of the price of your arrangements excluding supplements, airport taxes, passenger service charges and any amendment or booking charges. Only amounts in excess of 2% will be charged together with any agent’s commission which is payable. If you are required to pay an increase because of variation in price under this provision of more than 10% of the total price of your Arrangement(s), you will be entitled to cancel your Arrangement(s) with a full refund of all money paid except for any amendment charges. If you choose to cancel, you must exercise your right within 14 days from the date of the invoice that we send to you detailing the surcharge(s).
21. Security in respect of Price Paid
As a specialist company the Italian Connection have set up a trust account in full compliance with the Package Travel Regulations and the EC directive on package holidays. All monies are kept in trust for 7 days following your return and only after that time will the price paid for your Arrangements be released to The Italian Connection. This trust account is set up to secure you in the unlikely event of the insolvency of the company and to ensure that you will either receive the services that you have paid for or a complete refund of the price paid. The company is also covered by a professional indemnity insurance policy.
22. Literature
The depiction of any item relating to accommodation, facilities, services or other items which comprise your itinerary which are provided by us to you are by way of impression only. Pictorial images are put forward to provide certain information only and the pictorial image may not relate to the accommodation facilities services or other items, which are to be provided by us to you. These are put forward to illustrate a theme only and we cannot depict every facility offered to you.
23. Our Responsibility
(i) Where the death of, or personal injury to, any person included in the Booking occurs as a result of activity forming part of your Arrangements booked with us, we accept responsibility unless there has been no fault on our part or that of any of our suppliers, and/or the cause was your own fault, and/or the cause was by the actions of someone unconnected with your Arrangements, and/or the cause was one which neither we nor our suppliers could have foreseen or avoided even with the exercise of all due care. Where such death or personal injury arises in the course of air travel, rail travel, sea travel or hotel accommodation, the amount of compensation, which you will receive is limited in accordance with the provisions of any applicable international Conventions. Copies of these Conventions may be obtained by writing to us. Please allow at least 28 days for the provision of such information by us.
(ii) Where you do not suffer death, personal injury or illness as a result of an activity forming part of your Arrangements booked with us we accept liability should any part of your Arrangements booked with us not be of a reasonable standard. The Arrangements referred to are those as described by us in writing to you.
24. Information
It is imperative that clients read these terms and conditions and other written literature provided to them by us so as to avoid misunderstanding and to assist us in our endeavour to provide our clients with a true honest and fair description of our services.
25. Complaints
We have provided you with relevant literature to understand the Booking that you have made and our commitment to you and your commitment to us. We have endeavoured to avoid any misunderstandings. It is a condition of the contract that you must in the first instance lodge all complaints on location. It is your obligation if you are dissatisfied with the accommodation, facilities or services, which have been provided by us, to raise your complaint with the person or persons appointed by us to provide the same to you on location. Further you must notify us of your complaint within 7 days of your return. You should always seek in the first instance to seek a local remedy and it is your obligation to do so. If you do not offer us the opportunity to rectify the problem on location and if you do not comply with the complaints procedure set out herein then we shall not be liable to you in respect of any loss that you may suffer or be liable to pay compensation to you.
26. Flights
Please note that we are not ourselves a provider of flights but we can on request offer assistance in respect of contact details of any relevant flight providers. It is your responsibility to arrange the flights direct with the flight provider. Flight timings may vary from the time originally stated to you by the flight provider and we cannot be responsible for any delay caused to you. We will not be liable to you for any loss suffered by you in respect of any arrangement made by you which does not form part of your Booking with us and is not within the contract made between us. Since your flight or other travel arrangements to the starting point for the Arrangements are made independently by you we are not liable for these in any way.
27. The applicable law
The contract that you make with us is governed by and is subject to the law of England and the Courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction in respect of this contract.