Booking conditions - 2002

1. Booking Contract | 2. Prices | 3. Booking and Payment | 4. Accommodation | 5.Number of persons | 6.Minumum period of rent | 7.Tidiness and cleanliness | 8. Cancellation by you | 9. Cancellation or alteration by us | 10. Alterations to your booking | 11. Insurance | 12. Swimming pools | 13. Breakdown of equipment | 14. Liability | 15. Force Majeure | 16. Complaints | 17. Alterations of holidays | 18. Breakage and damamge | 19. Pets | 20. Noise | 21. Insurance Car Hire and other ancillary arrangements | 22. Suppliers terms and conditions | 23. Acceptance of booking conditions |

Please note that any reservations and bookings made with us are subject to our BOOKING CONDITIONS. Please read these carefully. You should also note that these standard terms and conditions themselves incorporate the terms and conditions imposed by those organizations which provide the ferries, trains, car hire services and other facilities mentioned in this brochure and price list.
We have taken care in selecting organizations which are competent and reliable in providing the arrangements which make up your holiday. Properties are privately owned and letting is arranged in the name of and on behalf of the owners.
1. BOOKING CONTRACT
The advertisements contained in our brochure and price list are not to be treated as an offer to contract and until a confirmation invoice is issued no firm booking will have been made. Contracts for holidays are made between you the client and the Company Invitation To Tuscany Ltd.
Authorized agents and representatives of Invitation To Tuscany Ltd cannot be held personally responsible for the descriptions contained in this brochure and price list, for which each and every responsibility rests with the Company, subject to these booking conditions.
2. PRICES
Prices are in sterling based on the rate of exchange between English Sterling pounds and Euro at the time of going to press: October 2001 £I.00 =Euro 1,5815. We very much hope that no surcharges will be made after booking, and in any case we guarantee to absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price which excludes insurance premiums and any amendment charges.
Once your booking is confirmed we guarantee that the price of your holiday will not be subject to any surcharges except for those resulting from the following possibilities: governmental action; variations in transportation costs, including the cost of fuel; any variations in dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes, embarkation and disembarkation fees at ports and airports; variations in the exchange rate such that Euro gains more than 5% against Sterling pounds.
You will be notified in writing if these circumstances arise and if this means paying more than 10% on your holiday price you will be entitled to choose either to accept the charges or to cancel and to have a full refund of all money paid except for any premium paid to us for insurance and amendment charges. Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 20 days of the date of our written communication to you. After this date you will be deemed to have accepted the revised contract between us. No surcharge will be applicable within 30 days of the start of your holiday.
Please note that if you are booking your holiday from a non-sterling area, such as the USA, you may find enclosed with this brochure a list of comparable prices in your own currency, based on the exchange rate between Sterling pounds and that currency. Any such price list in a currency other than sterling is for guidance only and the sterling price, including any possible surcharges rendered necessary by the conditions above, remains the valid one. Credit card payments by non-British residents will be debited by the credit card authorities to customers’ accounts at the exchange rate on the day of the debit. Foreign currency cheques are only accepted for payment on the understanding that if a foreign currency has gained more than 2% against sterling at the time of encashment of the cheque the customer will pay the difference upon notification. Payments made directly to our bankers MUST bear your Booking Reference number and be transferred stating ‘without charge to the recipient’. Our bankers are: Barclays Bank plc, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands (GB), Invitation To Tuscany Ltd, Premium Account Nº 90127108.
3. BOOKING AND PAYMENT
Availability of a property must be confirmed by an authorized agent of Invitation To Tuscany Ltd, by telephone or in writing. Upon receipt of a BOOKING REFERENCE NUMBER, a deposit of 30% of the holiday cost, together with the whole of the Personal Travel Insurance Premium, should be sent within EIGHT DAYS to the agent from whom you obtained your brochure (stamped on the Price List), enclosing a completed Booking Form, which must bear your Booking Reference Number. If the Company accepts your booking, which is confirmation of the contract between you the client and Invitation To Tuscany the Company, you will receive a receipt and invoice by return of post. The balance, to be sent to the same address, is due ten weeks before your holiday begins. Bookings made within ten weeks of the start of your holiday must be accompanied by the whole cost. You may pay by credit card or, if you prefer, by cheque. Cheques must be made payable to Invitation To Tuscany Ltd. The Company reserves the right to treat the booking as cancelled if the balance of the price remains unpaid ten weeks before the start of the holiday and the cancellation terms as per Booking Condition no. 8 will apply. Receipts will be sent upon receipt of the balance. Directions to the property together with any relevant vouchers and documents will be sent no later than two weeks before the start of the holiday.
4. ACCOMMODATION
The descriptions in our brochure of the properties to let are made very carefully and in good faith. Should any significant changes arise, these will be communicated to the client before a contract is concluded. Please see also conditions no. 9 and 16. Properties are let fully furnished and equipped, including crockery, cutlery, bed and bath linen, but excluding beach towels. Fuel for lighting, cooking, refrigeration and hot water is normally included in the rent, but not, except in some houses identified in the price list, fuel for air conditioning or heating, the cost of which must be paid directly to the owner or his representative during the holiday. Bath and bed linen is laundered once a week.
Cots are often available, but customers are asked to bring their own bedding for these. There is a charge of £20 per booking for cots.
5. NUMBER OF PERSONS
The number of persons who can be accommodated in each property is clearly indicated in each description. ‘Sleeps 4–6’ means that the property can accommodate 4 people in double or single bedrooms and 2 more people in additional beds in bedrooms or living rooms. This is further clarified in the text. This number may not be exceeded in any circumstances except by prior consent of the owner, either directly or through the Company’s agents. Often local bylaws or water supplies etc. preclude the possibility of any increase in accommodation, so PLEASE ask before inviting friends! Tents are NOT allowed without permission.
6. MINIMUM PERIOD OF RENT
Except in the case of pension or hotel bookings the minimum period of rent is one week (in some properties two weeks), and renting starts and finishes on a Saturday, unless otherwise specified in the description of each property. Rentals start at 5 p.m. on the first day and end at 10 a.m. on the last day of the holiday. Guests are asked to arrive between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., and to leave before 10 a.m. in order to allow the property to be prepared for the next guests. The owner has the right to refuse arrivals outside the above times if he or she finds the alternatives inconvenient. If you find your journey taking longer than you expected, please contact the owner or our representatives in Tuscany and they will contact the owner. This is a very personal business and we do worry about the possibility of accidents!
7. TIDINESS AND CLEANLINESS
Properties will be assigned clean and in good order and should be left upon departure in the same condition. Please note that especially during a dry summer, dust collects quickly in old country houses. While guests are not expected to scrub floors, a general sweep and tidy-up is expected. Many owners will arrange for a cleaner if you ask.
8. CANCELLATION BY YOU
Cancellation takes effect only when written notification is received by the Company or its agents from the person who signed the booking form. Such cancellation notice should be made by recorded delivery, cable or facsimile. Cancellation applies from the date of receipt of cancellation notification and we cannot be held responsible if a letter is not received within the cancellation period if there is no proof of posting.
The following cancellation terms apply. More than ten weeks before the start of the holiday: forfeiture of the deposit and insurance premium. Less than ten weeks before the start of the holiday: total cost.
The above cancellation charges shall also apply to holidays which are foreshortened after they have been booked. In the event of a cancellation charge arising under this clause the amount due must be paid by you the client to the Company, within 7 days of the charge arising, notwithstanding the fact that the client’s holiday insurance policy may cover the cancellation charge. It is your responsibility to claim the monies due and the Company cannot claim on behalf of the Client.
If you are prevented from proceeding with your holiday, you may transfer your booking to a person who satisfies all the conditions required to be satisfied by you under the terms of the contract with the Company, provided that the Company receives reasonable notice in writing of your intention to transfer your booking to such other person, together with all relevant details required in the Booking Form. If you choose to transfer your contract in this way, you as transferor, and the transferee shall be jointly and severally liable to the Company for payment of the price of the holiday (or, if part of the price has been paid, for the payment of the balance) and for any additional costs incurred by the Company or any of its carriers as a result of the transfer. You should note that flight bookings very often are not transferable in this way. Please also note that this Company does not book flights but only passes on your requests to a licensed Travel Agency. Any flight arrangements you make will not form part of our contract with you.
9. CANCELLATION OR ALTERATION BY US
(a) The Company reserves the right to treat the booking as cancelled if the balance of the price remains unpaid ten weeks before the start of the holiday in accordance with Booking Condition Nº 3, in which case the Company shall retain the deposit.
(b) It is unlikely that we will have to make any changes to confirmed arrangements once your deposit has been accepted, but it could happen, and we will advise you at the earliest possible date of any alterations. You will have the choice of accepting the changed arrangements as notified, or of cancelling the holiday and having your money reimbursed. If for any reason beyond our control we are unable to provide you with the property you have booked we reserve the right to assign another property with similar characteristics or if there is no alternative property available or if you do not wish to accept the change, to cancel the booking. If you choose to cancel your holiday for any of these reasons the Company will reimburse you with all the monies paid. If alterations or cancellations are made due to major changes, for instance if your first property was unavailable and no other property having at least as good characteristics as the first was available as alternative, in addition we will pay you compensation on the following scale:
Period before start of holiday within which a major change is notified:
Compensation per week per property booked:
More than 70 days Nil
69–56 days £25
56–28 days £35
27 days or less £50
In no case shall compensation be paid if the alteration is a result of Force Majeure. For the avoidance of doubt, flight, ferry or railway delays are not considered to be alterations by the Company, but if you purchase our holiday insurance, flight delay insurance is automatically included.
Provided that the Company complies with the Terms and Conditions of the Booking Conditions to the best of its ability, the Company will not be liable for any breach of contract or claim that may arise as a result of any inconvenience suffered.
10. ALTERATIONS TO YOUR BOOKING
If after booking, but more than ten weeks before the start of your holiday, you decide to transfer to another date or change the accommodation or make any other alterations, an amendment fee of £40 will be charged. Any changes to a booking date made within ten weeks of the original holiday starting date will be treated as a cancellation and the charges in Cancellation Charges above (Nº 8) will apply. However, if you are prevented from taking your holiday within these terms you may transfer your contract to a third party, who then becomes the customer and subject to the conditions of the contract in your stead (see Condition Nº 8).
11. INSURANCE
Insurance cover is essential for your peace of mind on holiday. We have arranged special cancellation, travel and health cover for Invitation To Tuscany customers, underwritten on behalf of UKI, part of the Green Flag group and member of both ABI and IOB, by AGENCY UNDERWRITING LIMITED to give you what is, in our opinion, the best possible assistance in the event of an emergency abroad. Details of this cover are found in the Price List and Booking Form, which form an integral part of our brochure. Personal insurance is a condition of hire. If you choose a policy different from the one which we offer we must receive full details of this cover when you pay the deposit for your holiday. Every member of your party will be insured with the policy we offer, and the premiums will be added to your invoice if we do not receive confirmation from you that you hold a policy which gives you at least equivalent cover to the policy which we offer. For more details please refer to insurance conditions on the Price List.
12. SWIMMING POOLS
Most private swimming pools are not heated and most are open from mid May until the end of September depending upon the weather and the owner’s discretion. Some public pools are open only for June, July and August.
13. BREAKDOWN OF EQUIPMENT
In the event of breakdown of mechanical equipment such as pumps, boilers, swimming pool equipment etc. we shall make every endeavour to correct the fault as soon as possible. We are often able to get things repaired even at difficult times, such as Sundays and holidays; however, please remember that with the best of intentions things can and do break down occasionally and we cannot be held responsible for such breakdowns. Neither, of course, can we be held responsible for failure of public utilities such as water and electricity, both of which public utilities have their own special little ways in Italy.
14. LIABILITY
We undertake to exercise all due diligence to ensure that the holiday booked by you is provided in accordance with the contract between us, and we accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused to you as a result of negligence or default of ourselves or any person or persons directly employed by us. Please note however that we limit our liability in respect of air, land or sea carriers to the limits imposed by international conventions.
(1) Injury, death or illness
(a) arising out of the holiday package. Whilst we have no direct control over the providers of services we do accept responsibility for any personal illness, injury or death which results from negligent acts or omissions of any servant or agent or any supplier, contracted or sub-contracted, working on our behalf in the provision of services or facilities to our customers. Please note however that we do not accept any liability whatsoever for any air, land or sea carriers forming any domestic or international carriage. It is however part of this agreement that if any payment is made to you or any member of your party by us in the circumstances referred to in this section, you must agree to assign your rights to us to claim in your place against the person or organization responsible for causing the illness, injury or death and we will be subrogated to those rights; and that you will cooperate fully with us if we wish to enforce those rights.
(b) not arising out of the holiday package. Should you or any member of your party have the misfortune to suffer illness, injury or death during the period of your holiday by misadventure arising out of an activity which does not form part of the holiday arrangements made by us, we shall give you every help that we can in the way of advice, guidance and initial financial assistance, where appropriate.
15. FORCE MAJEURE
We accept no liability whatsoever in respect of any alteration, delay or cancellation or any other loss or damage of any kind caused by wars, revolutions, terrorist activities, riots, civil commotions, strikes, lockouts, industrial disputes, natural disaster, fire, floods, storms, failure of public utilities, mechanical breakdown, acts of any Government or Public Authority, changes imposed by rescheduling or cancellation of ferries, railways, airlines which are beyond our control or any other circumstances or events amounting to ‘force majeure’ and/or acts of God.
16. COMPLAINTS
Our properties and owners are well known to our representatives personally, and the descriptions in the brochure are presented in good faith. Nevertheless, we decline all responsibility for any modifications introduced by the proprietors without our knowledge.
Our owners are responsible people who warrant that their houses are in reasonable condition at the beginning of the season, and that they will take all reasonable care to maintain them in such condition throughout the season. We have taken care to ensure the accuracy of descriptions of properties in the brochure, but all statements as to the condition or quality of any property, facility or service contained in the brochure shall not be treated as statements of fact but statements of opinion only and the Company shall not be liable therefore.
Guests are asked to tell the owner, custodian, or our representatives, about any damage or breakdown AS SOON AS IT OCCURS, so that replacements or repairs can be effected as soon as possible. We consider it part of the contract to be given the opportunity to put right any grievances you may have. In the unlikely event you are dissatisfied you must in the first instance contact the owner or the keyholder of the property, together with the local representative or UK office. If, after doing so, you still feel that the problem has not been resolved to your satisfaction, then you must put your complaint in writing to us within 28 days of your return from holiday. Failure to follow this procedure will make it impossible for both us and our supplier/property owner to put matters right. Accordingly, we regret we cannot accept any liability in relation to any complaint or claim which is not notified entirely within this clause.
If, despite our best efforts and having followed the procedure for reporting and resolving your complaint, as described in Booking Condition n° 16 in this brochure, you feel that it has not been satisfactorily settled, we recommend that it is referred for arbitration under the ABTOT Travel Industry Arbitration Service. An independent Arbitrator will review the documents relating to any complaint and deliver a binding decision to bring the matter to a close. Details of this scheme are available from either The Travel Industry Arbitration Service (ABTOT), Old Exchange House, Marford Road, Weathamstead, Herts, AL4 8AY or from ABTOT, 86 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6JD. This scheme cannot however decide in cases where the sums claimed exceed £1,500 per person or £7,500 per booking form, or for claims which are solely or mainly in respect of physical injury or illness or the consequences thereof.
17. ALTERATIONS OF HOLIDAYS
If, without contacting Invitation To Tuscany Ltd, you move independently to other accommodation or alter the duration of your stay without discussing the situation with us or allowing reasonable time for us to offer rectification, then you will be deemed to be breaking your contract with the Company. The Company cannot therefore accept liability for any loss, damage or additional expense and no refunds will be made.
18. BREAKAGE AND DAMAGE
It is your responsibility to leave the property rented with all its furniture and effects clean and in good condition, and you must undertake to inform the owner or his representative, or Invitation To Tuscany Ltd, of any damage to accommodation or its contents and to pay for any damage or missing items or for any extra cleaning made necessary by the property being left in a dirty condition. These are private homes. Please respect the trust which owners have afforded to you: look after the property while you are there as you would your own home, and please do not remove books or any other private items.
A cautionary deposit is required, to protect owners against breakages, damage and extra costs including extra cleaning, not paid for before departure. Some owners prefer to handle the cautionary deposit themselves and in this case you should hand a cheque or cash to the owner on arrival. In other cases this deposit is handled by an authorisation from the client to charge such costs against his credit card. If you prefer you may send a separate cheque with the balance of your rental to your agent to be held for such an eventuality. This cheque MUST be made payable to Invitation To Tuscany Ltd., and crossed. Your agent will inform you to which properties this applies.
19. PETS
No pets are allowed without the express permission of the owner of the property concerned. There may be a charge for pets and this should be paid directly to the owner of the property concerned.
20. NOISE
Almost all our properties are in quiet, peaceful country situations. However, in the country you are likely to hear birds, nightingales, owls, dogs, sheep bells, poultry, insects, frogs, tractors etc. all making sounds which are different from those in the city and which may disturb unaccustomed ears. We suggest that you take earplugs if you feel that these country sounds may disturb your sleep. The Company is not responsible for noise or disturbance beyond the boundaries of properties and which is beyond the Company’s control, including road works and construction noise.
21. INSURANCE, CAR HIRE AND OTHER ANCILLARY ARRANGEMENTS
When insurance, car hire or any ancillary service is arranged through us, while we act as agents for the companies concerned, we are not responsible for any alterations, including prices, surcharges etc. which those companies may make.
22. SUPPLIERS’ TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These carriers have no legal responsibility about their services and charges printed in this brochure.
(1) The Company does not arrange air travel, but we are happy to assist those clients who so choose by passing on their requests to a fully bonded air travel agent. All such air travel through them is subject to International conventions and other international laws applicable to international carriage by air. Moreover, please note that if your holiday arrangements involve travel by air the contract for that part of your holiday is between you and the Travel Agency concerned and we will neither accept any money for nor enter into any contracts involving air travel.
(2) All ferry travel from the British Isles is by P & O Stena European Ferries. All ferry travel is subject to such international laws and international conventions as shall apply to international carriage by sea. Further, without prejudice to the foregoing, all such carriage is subject to the standard terms and conditions of the ferry company engaged which terms and conditions are incorporated into this contact.
(3) All rail travel from the British Isles is subject to such international laws and international conventions as shall apply to international travel by rail.
(4) All car hire services shall be subject to the standard terms and conditions of the vehicle rental agency which terms and conditions are incorporated into this contract.
(5) All other services or facilities provided as part of the holiday are subject to the standard terms and conditions of the party engaged by Invitation To Tuscany to supply such services which terms and conditions are incorporated into this contract.
23. ACCEPTANCE OF BOOKING CONDITIONS
The signing of the Booking Form and therefore the booking itself implies acquaintance with these present conditions and compromises their acceptance without reservation or exception by the signatory and all those people named on the Booking Form. This contract shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
Invitation To Tuscany Ltd
P. O. Box 527, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3AA, C.I. (GB)
Tel. 01481-727298, fax 01481-713473
Incorporated in Guernsey Registration Nº 18299