Equestrian Escapes Limited t/a Music Festival Holidays
Booking Conditions
1. Making Your Booking & Contract
In order to make your booking, the booking form must be completed by the party leader (‘the Client’) who must be age eighteen or over. This can be done by:
i. Sending a signed booking form to us; or
ii. Completing a booking form over the telephone with us; or
iii. Completing a booking form via our website.
Upon completion of this form the Client confirms that all members of the party agree to bide by the Terms and Conditions set out in this document. A contract will exist between the Client and Equestrian Escapes Limited t/a Music Festival Holidays (“MFH”) as soon as the confirmation invoice has been issued. This contract is governed by English law and in the unlikely event of a dispute both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts at all times.
On completion of the booking form the Client declares that the information provided is accurate.
2. Payment
In order to secure your booking, the deposit as stated on the website must be paid at the time of booking. MFH must receive the balance including any additional costs no later than six weeks before departure. If full payment is not received on the due date MFH reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled and, therefore, apply cancellation charges as set out in clause 7 below. Should you make your booking within six weeks of departure then the full cost of the holiday will be due immediately.
3. The Cost of Your Trip Arrangements
MFH reserves the right to increase the price of your trip in the event of exceptional cost increases which are out of our control. In the event of this occurring, we will absorb an amount equivalent to 2% of the price of the trip excluding any charges for alterations requested by you. Only amounts in excess of 2% will be surcharged. If this equates to more than 10% of the total price of the trip, you will automatically be entitled to cancel your booking with the payment of a full refund of all money paid excluding alteration charges. Exceptional cost increases will include increases in transportation costs including fuel, taxes, (including VAT) or other fees payable for services such as passenger taxes or charges at airports or ports.
All itineraries clearly state what is included and excluded in the price of each trip. In signing the booking form, the Client agrees to the itinerary and the price of the holiday.
4. Cancellation by MFH
In the unlikely event that we have to cancel your trip for reasons other than
a) Fault of the client
b) Force majeure
c) Insufficient numbers to proceed
we will endeavour to offer you an alternative trip of at least comparable standard if available.
5. Alterations & Changes by MFH
MFH do the very best to ensure the services are provided as booked.
However, our itineraries are planned months in advance of promotion and, therefore, are occasionally subject to changes. In the unlikely event that a ‘significant’ change is made, then subject to clause 6 below you will be given the option (to be exercised by giving notice to us in writing within 14 days notification of a significant change) of
a) accepting the change; or
b) cancelling your booking, whereupon you will receive a full refund.
A ‘significant’ change is a change in dates, a lower standard of accommodation for the whole or significant proportion of the holiday or a change to the whole or significant proportion of the programme.
In the event of minor alterations and changes made by MFH, no refund or compensation will be given and if you cancel the trip the provisions of clause 7 will apply.
A minor change or alteration includes any change which is not a significant change.
MFH is not liable for any changes to scheduled flight times that are made by an airline after a booking has been made.
If we are aware of changes prior to booking, we will inform the Client before a booking is made.
6. Force Majeure
MFH regret we cannot offer refunds or compensation in the event of cancellation or alterations as a result of force majeure. Force majeure is defined as war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, strike, lock-out, government action, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, flood and adverse weather conditions.
7. Cancellation by You
Bookings may be cancelled at any time prior to the departure date by written notification by the Client. The cancellation date will be taken as the date that written confirmation is received by MFH. For this reason, MFH recommend recorded delivery. Cancellation charges are expressed as a percentage of the total holiday price and are payable to MFH. Cancellation charges are as follows
a) 65 days or less before departure 100% cancellation charge
b) 65 – 77 days before departure 50% cancellation charge
c) The deposit payment of 25% is non-refundable after a holiday has been confirmed by us
8. Alterations & Changes by You
Should you wish to make changes to your itinerary after confirmation, MFH will use our best endeavours to make the requested alterations, although we provide no guarantee that this will be possible.
Should you or a member of your travelling group be unable to travel, we can reduce the number in your party for no extra cost provided the change is made three calendar months before travel. If your group number is reduced within three calendar months of travel you/your group may still be liable for the full cost of the accommodation aspect of your trip that you initally booked.
An administration charge of £20 per person may be implemented at the discretion of MFH on each occasion when an alteration is made at your request.
Further, all additional costs incurred by either MFH or our suppliers are payable by the client.
9. Liability
Please note that the laws, requirements and standards of the country in which any services which make up your holiday are provided, apply to those services and not the laws, requirements and services in the United Kingdom. As a general rule, these laws, requirements and standards will not be the same as in the United Kingdom and may sometimes be lower.
On completing the booking form, you accept that our suppliers may require you to sign separate acknowledgment and personal liability forms before you are allowed to participate in any activity. Refusal to sign such forms may result in your not being allowed to participate in activities. In those circumstances you will not be entitled to a refund or compensation from MFH.
We accept responsibility for ensuring that all parts of our contract with you are properly performed except where failure or improper performance was due to:
a) your own acts or omissions.
b) the acts or omissions of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements and which are unforeseeable or unavoidable.
c) Any event which either we or the suppliers of the services in question could not have foreseen or forestalled even with all due care.
d) Force majeure
Although MFH will honour our contract with you in accordance with the above exceptions, it should be noted that accommodation, transport and other services we arrange on your behalf belong to and are managed by independent suppliers for whom we act as an agent and, therefore, we do not have direct control over these components.
The liability of MFH is limited as follows:
Liability other than for death and personal injury is limited to such amount as is reasonable taking into account the cost of the trip booked with us and the extent to which your enjoyment of the trip has been affected but (without prejudice to that) will not in any event exceed twice the cost of the trip booked for the person affected (excluding any alteration charges). In the case of lost and/or damaged luggage or personal possessions (including money), our liability is limited to £25 per person as you are assumed to have taken out adequate insurance at the time of booking.
MFH will not have any liability to you for any damage, loss, expense or other sums of any description which
a) on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking, prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you.
b) did not result from any breach of contract or other fault by us or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers.
Additionally MFH will not have any liability to you for any business losses.
In all cases, the liability of MFH in relation to any service is limited or excluded in accordance with the provisions of all international conventions relating to the provision of such services as if MFH was a supplier of the services in question, for the purpose of the relevant convention.
10. Travel Documents & Arrangements
MFH will do their utmost to provide assistance in finding and booking suitable travel and accommodation for your trip. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have all the necessary documentation for your holiday and MFH will not have any responsibility or liability towards you for any failure on your part to comply with requirements current/at the time of your departure or any losses or costs incurred by reason of any omission on your part. Departure/pick up times and locations are subject to change, determined by airline times and the appropriate transfers required. Details of any such changes will be made available to you and your MFH representative can also be contacted to confirm such information.
11. Delays
MFH will not offer any financial assistance in the event of a transport delay, however, everything will be done in our power to make your journey as comfortable as possible.
12. Behaviour
On completing the booking form, the Client accepts responsibility for loss and damage caused by the Client or any member of the party. Full payment for any such loss or damage must be paid directly to the appropriate party immediately. If you fail to do so you must indemnify us against any claims including legal costs subsequently made as a result of your acts or omission.
We expect all clients to behave with consideration to other people. If, in the opinion of MFH, or in the opinion of any other person in authority, the Client or any member of the party behaves in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause distress, danger, or annoyance to any third party or damage to property, we reserve the right to terminate the holiday arrangements of that person without notice. In this situation, our responsibility towards that person (including any return transfer arrangements) will immediately cease and we will not be responsible for meeting any costs or expenses that that person may incur as a result. We will not make any refunds or pay any compensation,
13. Special Request or Medical Problems
Although MFH will use our best endeavours to forward any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot promise that any request will be complied with unless we have expressly confirmed this to the Client in writing. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed onto a supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Unless and until expressly confirmed in writing, all special requests are subject to availability.
14. Complaints
If you have a complaint or are unhappy about any aspect of your trip, you must immediately inform the guide or operator of your holiday so that they can endeavour to put it right. If the matter cannot be resolved locally to your satisfaction and you wish to make a complaint you must contact MFH by telephone (we will accept reverse charge calls) at that time so that we may try and resolve the situation.
If you are still not satisfied, you are required to notify us in writing to our office address; Rose Cottage, Common Lane, Duddon, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 0HG, within 14 days of your holiday giving full details of the complaint. We will acknowledge receipt of your letter within 14 days and then begin any investigation we feel is necessary. After a further period of up to 21 days we will contact you with the outcome of our investigation. If you do not comply with this requirement, we will not accept any responsibility for the matter giving rise to your grievance, having been unable to put it right immediately or to investigate it at the relevant time. It should also be noted that the complaint must be made by the customer who travelled and not by a third party.
15. Data Protection Policy
So that we may process your booking and ensure your travel arrangements run smoothly, we need to use the information you provide such as name, address and any specific requirements.
We take full responsibility for ensuring proper security measures are in place to protect your booking.
We will not pass your details onto third parties not connected with your holiday. It is necessary to pass information provided by you onto the relevant suppliers. The information may also be received by security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs, immigration, if required by them or as required by law. Unless informed otherwise by you, we may use your information to provide you with future offers and information.
16. Financial Security
As a member of the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT), MFH has provided a bond to meet the requirements of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992.
In the event of insolvency, protection is provided for non-flight packages commencing in and returning to the UK and other non-flight packages excluding pre-arranged travel to and from your destination. Please note that packages booked outside the UK are only protected when purchased directly with MFH.
In the above circumstances, if you have not yet travelled you may claim a refund, or if you have already travelled, you may claim repatriation to the starting point of your non-flight package.
17. Conditions of Suppliers
Please note that all services are provided subject to the conditions of the relevant supplier. Some of these conditions may exclude or limit the suppliers’ liability to you, usually in accordance with the appropriate international conventions which apply to the services provided by such suppliers.
Flights are booked many months in advance of the festival and in line with the conditions of the various airlines we work with, flight times are subject to change. Any changes in flight times will be confirmed with you.
