It is important that you are happy with your Tell Tale Travel holiday, so please read through these booking conditions carefully.
Tell Tale Ltd is a UK registered company of 25a Kensington Church Street, London W8 4LL. Tell Tale Ltd trades as Tell Tale Travel and in these booking conditions is referred to as 'We', 'Our' or 'Us. In these booking conditions, 'You' and 'Your' refer to all persons on a booking, including anyone added or substituted at a later stage. This contract and all matters connected to booking with Tell Tale Travel are subject to English Law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
Your Security
Your booking is made with Tell Tale Ltd t/a Tell Tale Travel which is licensed by ATOL (licence T7248) and the Travel Trust Association (licence U3928). The ATOL scheme covers flight-inclusive holidays, originating in the UK and the Travel Trust Association is a trade association of travel companies which gives you 100% financial protection in 100% of booking scenarios.
Any payments you make to us are held in a trust account at NatWest, Piccadilly branch, London. This account is operated by an independent trustee and we do not get the money until you complete your holiday. As a condition of our membership of the Travel Trust Association, any payments you make to us by debit or credit card will be automatically paid into this account by our credit card acquirer, Streamline, and any payments you make to us by cheque must be made payable to Tell Tale Travel Trust Account.
Your Booking
To make a booking, you have to submit a booking request, along with the relevant payment. We require a deposit of 20% (in which case payment for the rest of the holiday is due 60 days before your holiday starts), although for a holiday that commences within 60 days of booking, the relevant payment is the full cost of the holiday. We reserve the right to decline any booking. We will then send you written confirmation via email, fax or post. It is at this stage that a valid contract comes into existence.
Please note that if you do not make all due payments on time, we are entitled to assume you wish to cancel your booking and keep any deposits.
Changing your Holiday
If after booking your holiday, you wish to change the length of it or any particular element, we will endeavour to do this. If we are able to make these changes at no charge we will do so, however, where we or our suppliers incur extra costs, we will charge you more for your holiday. In certain circumstances, you may be able to transfer your booking to another person, subject to the payment of any additional costs incurred by us or our suppliers, plus an administrative charge of £35. We cannot however guarantee that we will be able to make these changes.
Surcharges
We will confirm the price of your holiday at the time of booking. This price is fully guaranteed and will not be subject to any surcharges regardless of exchange rate fluctuations or increased costs to us. The only exception to this is if you yourself change elements of your holiday after booking.
Cancelling your Holiday
If you or members of your party cancel your booking after we have sent written confirmation, you must do so in writing. We reserve the right to apply the following cancellation charges, which we will calculate based on the day we receive your written notification.
60 or more days prior to departure - your deposit or 20% of the holiday cost, whichever is the higher.
31-59 days prior to departure - 50%.
15-30 days - 75%.
14 days or fewer - 100%.
We would not usually cancel your holiday unless we are forced to do so because of 'Force majeur'. Force majeur is for example, where performance and/or prompt performance is prevented by war, threat of war, trial dispute, terrorist activity, fire or adverse weather conditions. However, we do reserve the right to cancel your holiday for any reason, in which case we will refund all monies you have paid us (unless your flights have been ticketed in which case we would withhold those monies).
Feedback, Complaints and Disputes
If you have a problem whilst on your holiday and it cannot be satifactorily resolved at the point, please contact us straight away using the contact details provided in your customer pack. If you are not satisfied with our response and you feel your enjoyment of the holiday is/was significantly affected, you should contact our office in London. You should make contact as soon as is practical, and no later than 28 days after completing your holiday with us.
If you feel that the matter has not been resolved, we may (if you agree) refer the matter to an arbitrator appointed by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. This is a straightforward and inexpensive way of sorting out disputes. The Arbitration Scheme applies to claims up to £2,500 for each person or £7,500 per booking form, though not claims that mainly or solely involve physical injury or illness. If you prefer, you can also take the matter to the County Court or another suitable court.
Transport
While we attempt to ensure that all our transport complies with local standards we cannot guarantee the same standards one would expect in Western countries. If you choose to go on a Tell Tale Travel holiday, you must agree to accept the standard of transport available. For internal transport, we use scheduled airlines, trains and other public transport as well as private cars.
If you do not book your international flights with us, your holiday with us starts in the destination country and our responsibility does not start until the appointed time at the first meeting point we have agreed. If you fail to arrive at the appointed time, we cannot be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by you to start your holiday. Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient time to catch any outbound international flights
Our Responsibility
We will only accept liability if our own employees cause you or your party physical injury, illness or death and only to the extent that we are obliged to do so under English Law. We do not have direct control over our partners and suppliers, but if they cause you or your party physical injury, illness or death, we may accept liability if they were proven to be negligent. Please note if you wish to make a claim, it is your responsibility to show that person was negligent. Our liability will not exceed any limitation applicable under any international or UK convention.
Should we make any payment to you under the above circumstances, it will be on the basis that you waive any rights you may have to claim against that person and that you assign those rights to us. We cannot be held responsible for any other mishaps to yourself or your property, in particular those arising as a consequence of flight cancellations, strikes, wars, riots, robbery, sickness, quarantine, Government intervention or other such happenings.
Insurance
It is a condition of booking that you arrange personal travel insurance separately and provide the details to us. This insurance must include adequate cover for baggage, medical expenses and the cost of repatriation should you become too ill to continue your holiday, including helicopter rescue and air ambulance.
Special Requests
If you have any special requests which are essential to your booking such as specific dietary requirements or wheelchair assistance, your request will only become a term of your contract if we confirm your booking on this basis.
Warning
We only accept bookings on the understanding you agree to accept any necessary flexibility, local inadequacies or unpredictable events when they occur. Whilst our holidays are soft adventure holidays, they are still adventure holidays so you must also accept there are hazards involved in holidays of this nature. These hazards include injury, disease, loss or damage to property, inconvenience or discomfort.
You agree to abide by any instructions we or our local representatives or any local authorities give you. You agree that if you act illegally, dangerously or in a way that causes unnecessary nuisance, we have the right to terminate your holiday. As part the authenticity of the experience, you are aware that our holidays sometimes involve interactions with people who are not used to tourists. Finally, you agree to do your best to follow all guidelines we provide you.
Please note that although we carefully handpick the elements in our holidays, you cannot expect Western standards of accommodation, travel or related activities. Our holiday elements are authentic. Local conditions of efficiency or health and safety are often not up to Western standards. In some cases facilities will be basic (although we will do our best to portray this accurately). If you are taking a family holiday, you may need to supervise your children more closely than if you were taking a 'standard' holiday.
If you choose a holiday with Tell Tale Travel, you must accept that this is all part of the experience.