WESTERN CANADA MOTORHOMES

BOOKING CONDITIONS 

1. Your Contract:

Your Contract will be with Ablehawk Limited trading as Western Canada Motorhomes. These booking conditions form the sole contract between Western Canada Motorhomes (the Company) and the person signing the booking form (who must be over the age of 21) and shall be deemed to sign this form on behalf of all persons named therein. The person signing the booking form (which incorporates these booking conditions) warrants that he/she has full authority to do so on behalf of all persons whose names appear thereon and confirms that he/she and all such persons are fully aware of and accept these conditions. If clients book by telephone, fax or e-mail they will be deemed to have read the Booking Conditions and signed the Booking Form. This contract is subject to English Law with English Courts having exclusive jurisdiction.

 2. Deposit Payment:

No contract shall exist until the Company has received a signed Booking Form together with the correct payment and has signified its acceptance of the booking in writing. A standard flight deposit of £95 per person plus £200/£500 per vehicle - plus £95 - £200 per person for each river-rafting expedition or Knight Inlet or Rocky Mountaineer trip is required at the time of booking and the balance 8 weeks prior to the departure date.

If the booking is made within 8 weeks of departure, the full amount is required at the time of booking. The deposit will be returned in the event of the booking not being accepted by the Company. 

3. Payment of the Balance:

The deposit will be treated as part payment of the total amount due. 10 weeks before departure you will receive a final invoice showing the total cost of your holiday and the balance you owe us. If the balance is not paid by 8 weeks (56 days) prior to the date of departure, the Company shall have the right to cancel the booking without further notice and cancellation charges as set out in Section 4 will apply.

4. If You Cancel Your Booking:

If you find it necessary to cancel your booking after it has been confirmed, you must advise Western Canada Motorhomes in writing, the letter usually being signed by the person who signed the original booking form. Cancellation charges, excluding insurance premiums, will be calculated as follows:

Period before departure date within which written notice of cancellation is received:

56 days and more                                             Deposit

55-42 days                                                       30%

41-29 days                                                       60%

Less than 29 days                                            100%

Insurance premiums will not be refundable. If cancellation falls within the terms of an insurance policy, you should be able to claim for cancellation charges. Please note that in the case of a cancellation made after receipt of tickets, no refund can be made unless all unused airline tickets are returned to the Company.

5. If You Change Your Booking:

If after acceptance of the booking you wish to alter the confirmed arrangements, an amendment fee of £30 for each and every change will be charged. If the alteration is less than 56 days prior to departure, the cancellation charges shown above may be applied. Any changes to those passengers originally booked will be treated as part cancellation and the cancellation charges shown above will apply. Any amendment to the original booking will not be effective until its received and agreed in writing by the Company. Any additional costs imposed by the Company’s suppliers will also be charged. Please note scheduled airlines may impose 100% cancellation charges for restricted fare tickets.

 6. If We Change Your Holiday:

When you have made your contract with the Company, the Company will use its best endeavours to ensure that none of the ingredients of your holiday arrangements has to be altered. However, you will appreciate that because the arrangements are planned many months in advance, sometimes changes may have to be made. Where a significant change is made, you will be informed when you book, or if you have already booked, as soon as possible, if there is time before your departure. You may then (a) accept the change or (b) book any other available vehicle from this programme (where the price is less the Company will pay you the difference but where the price is more, you will be expected to pay the difference) or cancel your booking and receive a full refund of all monies paid. In addition the company will pay compensation as follows: (save where the change is caused by Force Majeure. See Section 7 below)

Period of departure within which a                                Compensation per person

significant change is notified to you:

Before balance due date                                               Nil

56 – 15 days                                                                £15

14-0 days                                                                    £30

A significant change is, for example, a change of departure time by more than 12 hours. Should the Company have to alter your arrangements after departure, the Company will make every effort to make suitable alternative arrangements. Where these arrangements are less expensive, you will be refunded the difference. Where they are more expensive, the Company will bear the cost. If the revised arrangements are not acceptable to you, the Company will make arrangements to repatriate you. In any event the Company will compensate you as set out above.

7. Force Majeure :

Compensation payments do not apply where our contract with you cannot be carried out because of unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the control of the Company or it’s suppliers, the consequences of which could not have been avoided by the Company even with the exercise of all due care. Examples include war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, technical or maintenance problems with transport, changes imposed by rescheduling or cancellation of flights by an airline, the alteration of the airline or aircraft type or other similar events beyond the control of the Company. It is important that this section is understood particularly regarding weather conditions which can change dramatically in all seasons.

8. If We Cancel Your Holiday:

AITO members agree not to cancel a client’s holiday after the balance due date unless the reasons for the cancellation are for reasons of force majeure or the client has failed to pay the balance owing on the holiday. If however a member – for whatever reason other than force majeure or failure by the client to make the balance due date – does decide to cancel a holiday on or after the date when payment of the balance of the holiday is made, then the member shall offer the client reasonable compensation commensurate with the inconvenience suffered by the client, The Company, however, reserves the right to cancel your holiday arrangements before the balance due date. Should this happen, the Company will give you as early notification as possible and you will then be entitled

(a)  to book any other available vehicle from this programme (where the cost is less you will be paid the difference, but where the cost is more, you will be expected to pay the additional cost) or

(b) receive a full refund of all monies paid by you. In addition the Company will pay compensation as shown in clause 6 (save where the change is caused by force majeure, see clause 7 above).

The Company reserves the right to cancel, without any obligation to refund, make alternative arrangements or pay compensation where the customer fails to make payment (as in clause 3 above) or otherwise the customer’s behaviour brings the holiday to an end.

9. Prices:

Prices quoted on this website are based on currency rates as at October 2006 CA $2.05 = £1.

However, external factors beyond the Company’s control may affect holiday costs, e.g. exchange rates, transportation costs including the cost of fuel, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or airport fees. Up to 8 weeks before departure date we reserve the right to alter the price of any holiday to take account of such changes. The Company will absorb a sum equal to 2% of the tour cost excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges should a surcharge be necessary. You will have to pay any sum in excess of this 2% but if the surcharge results in an increase of more than 10% of the holiday cost, excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges, you may cancel the booking within 14 days of notification of the surcharge and obtain a full refund.

The UK Government announced in August 1992 that a levy would be imposed in the future to provide financial backup for holiday makers in the event of insolvency of travel companies. The ‘no surcharge guarantee’ in this clause does not apply to any such levy or any increase in Government or airport tax or VAT, the additional cost of which the client will be obliged to pay.

10. Dealing with complaints fairly:

In the event that you have a complaint about any of the holiday arrangements, you must tell the local suppliers at the time or telephone the Company (we will accept reverse charge calls) in order that we are given the opportunity to rectify the matter during your holiday, failure to complain at the time or to us in this manner will result in the customer’s ability to claim compensation from the Company being extinguished or at least reduced. In any event, any complain about the holiday must be made in writing not later than 28 days following the completion of the holiday. If you have a dispute with the Company which you are unable to resolve, you may call upon the low cost AITO Independent Dispute Settlement Service (details on request), Claims which exceed £2500 per person or £10000 per booking form or claims which apply principally or exclusively in respect of (or as a consequence of) illness or physical injury are not admissible for settlement under the service.

11. Our Liability to You:

The Company always does its best to make sure that your holiday arrangements are satisfactory. We accept bookings from clients on the understanding that they appreciate the possible risks in adventure travel and that they undertake river expeditions, riding trips and winter tours at their own volition.

a) Where the client does not suffer personal injury, the Company accepts liability in the event that your holiday arrangements are not supplied to you as described in this programme and are not of a reasonable standard. All descriptions are made in good faith and every care is taken to ensure their accuracy.

b) The Company accepts liability for personal injury or death which you suffer as a result of the acts or omissions of the Company, its servants or agents under its control or as a result of the acts or omissions of any supplier contracted or sub-contracted by the Company to provide services in connection with your holiday arrangements. This paragraph is subject to the terms of paragraph C, D and E below.

c)  The Company does not accept liability where there has been no fault on the part of the Company, its servants or agents under its control or of any of its suppliers and where the events complained of are due to an event which neither the Company nor its suppliers could have foreseen even if all due care had been exercised.

d) Where your holiday arrangements involve travel by air, rail or sea or hotel accommodation, the compensation which the Company is liable to pay pursuant to   Clauses 11(a) and (b) above is limited in accordance with the international Conventions which govern such services. Such responsibility shall be limited to the equivalent of such damages as you or any member of your party would be entitled to receive under English Law in an English Court.

e) The Company’s acceptance of liability in Clauses 11(a) and 11(b) above is subject to assignment by you to the Company of your rights against any agent, supplier or sub-contractor of the Company which is in any way responsible for the unsatisfactory holiday arrangements or the client’s death or personal injury.

12. Travel and Cancellation Insurance:

Travel insurance is mandatory for all clients and clients are responsible for arranging their own insurance. Clients who do not buy the Company’s Holiday Insurance are responsible for ensuring that they are in possession of Travel Insurance with protection for the full duration of the holiday in respect of medical expenses, injury, death, repatriation and cancellation and curtailment. Clients making their own arrangement must ensure that there are no exclusion clauses limiting protection for the type of activities included in their holiday. Clients should be certain that any travel arrangements made through the Company are sufficient for their requirements and should arrange supplementary insurance if necessary.