If you book an expedition or trip with The Mountain Company and your booking is accepted by The Mountain Company then a contract is deemed to exist between you and The Mountain Trekking Company Ltd. In these Booking Conditions the words 'The Mountain Company', 'we', 'us' and 'our' mean or refer to The Mountain Trekking Company Ltd. The words 'client', 'you' and 'your' mean or refer to any person who enters into a contract with The Mountain Trekking Company Ltd. The words 'expedition' or 'trip' refers to any event involving skiing, trekking or climbing or any other activity, organised by The Mountain Company.
The Mountain Company
1. All bookings made with The Mountain Company shall be deemed to be made with The Mountain Trekking Company Ltd, company number 05309471, whose registered office is at Flat 3, 190 Cedars Rd, Clapham, London SW40PP.
Booking & payment
2. To book a place on a trip or expedition you must complete and sign a booking form and post it to The Mountain Company with the required deposit or sums of money. If your booking is accepted you will be sent a Confirmation Invoice. Payment of any balance due must reach The Mountain Company no later than eight weeks before the advertised departure date whether or not you receive that invoice.
3. The contract between you and The Mountain Company will exist from the date on the Confirmation Invoice.
4. If the balance or full payment due is not received by The Mountain Company by the date specified in the Confirmation Invoice, and unless a delay in your payment has been agreed by The Mountain Company in writing, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and to retain your deposit. We also reserve the right to pursue you for the unpaid balance due.
Price changes after you have booked
5. Prices of trips may be altered after you have booked on account of UK government action, changes in exchange rates, transportation costs and dues, taxes or fees charged at ports or airports.
6. If price changes are imposed by us as a result of UK government action we will charge or refund the consequences of such changes in full.
7. If price changes are imposed by us as the result of changes in the exchange rate, transportation costs and dues, taxes or fees charged at ports or airports
- less than 30 days before the advertised departure date we will neither refund you anything or make further charge.
- more than 30 days before the advertised departure date and if the increase or decrease is
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- 2% or less than the basic trip cost, we will neither refund you anything or make a further charge
- more than 2% but less than 10% of the basic trip cost, we will refund you the difference or make an appropriate further charge an increase of more than 10% of the basic trip cost. You may cancel your booking; if you do so we will refund all money paid to us in respect of the trip and travel insurance but we will not be responsible for the cost of visas, vaccinations, connecting air flights or other expenses incurred as a result of your booking or your expectation that you would travel on the trip. Changes due to fluctuations in the exchange rate will be based on the budgeted rate of £1 to US$1.6.
Cancellation by you
8. If you wish to cancel your booking you must do so in writing. Notice of cancellation will only be effective from the day such notice is received by The Mountain Company.
Cancellation on account of significant changes
9. If we are obliged between the date of your booking and the date of departure to make an alteration to the time of departure or return to the UK exceeding 12 hours and if you do not want to proceed with the booking on account of such alterations you may either
- transfer your booking to another trip without incurring a transfer charge but subject to an appropriate adjustment up or down to the sums payable; or
- cancel your booking without penalty; if you do so we will refund all money paid to us in respect of the basic cost of the trip but we will not be responsible for other costs as described in clause 7.
Cancellation due to a price increase of 10% or more
10. If we increase the basic price of the trip by 10% or more as described in clause 7 and if you do not wish to continue with the trip, you may cancel your booking and we will refund you all money paid in respect of the basic cost of the trip but we will not be responsible for other costs as described in clause 7. In order to exercise this cancellation right you must ensure that written notice of your intention to cancel reaches the offices of The Mountain Company within fourteen days of The Mountain Company issuing notice of such a price increase.
Cancellation for any other reason
11. Should you cancel for any other reason the following charges will apply:
- more than 60 days before departure loss of deposit
- 30 to 59 days before departure 30% of total cost
- 15 to 29 days before departure 60% of total cost
- less than 15 days before departure 100% of total cost.
Cancellation by The Mountain Company
12. We will not cancel a trip unless
- We are obliged to do so by 'force majeure' such as government intervention, political or civil unrest, flight cancellations or an act of God and other unforeseeable circumstances.
- The number of fully paid-up bookings needed to operate the trip has not been reached.
13. If we cancel your trip for one of these reasons you will be given the opportunity either to
- receive a refund of the basic cost of the trip paid to The Mountain Company
- transfer to another trip without charge. If there is a difference in price between the cancelled trip and the trip to which you elect to transfer your booking, we will refund the difference if it is cheaper or invoice you for the supplement if it is more expensive. Any supplement due from you must reach us in accordance with the timetable given in clause 2. No compensation will be paid unless the reason for the cancellation is due to lack of bookings in which case compensation of £25 per properly booked person will be paid for any cancellation on these grounds which takes place less than eight weeks before the advertised departure date for the trip.
14. If we cancel your trip we will not be liable for any expenses which you may have incurred as a result of your booking or in expectation of the trip taking place such as costs relating to visas, vaccinations, connecting air flights and any other expenses.
Special requests
15. If you have any special requests you should inform The Mountain Company before booking or as early as possible before departure. We will try at our own discretion to meet these requests but cannot guarantee to do so and cannot be held liable for our failure to do so.
Special understandings
16. In booking with The Mountain Company you accept that:
- Some expeditions take place in countries where we have little control over the quality of internal travel and accommodation arrangements, which may vary in quality and the degree of comfort provided and may also differ from their description given by us in good faith in our brochures, leaflets and website
- It may be necessary for reasons beyond our control to alter advertised arrangements both before leaving the UK and once the trip has begun. The itineraries given for each expedition must therefore be seen as an indication of what you will achieve and not as a contractual obligation on our part. No refunds will be given if changes for such reasons occur.
- Our leaders, guides and representatives have the responsibility and authority to make decisions affecting the well-being and safety of the whole group and of each individual within the group; and that as a result they may require an individual to leave the group without any liability on our part for consequential supplementary expenses and without making any refund. The grounds for such a decision being made may include, but not be confined to, a belief by the leader or guide that
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- an individual's health or life is at risk
- an illegal act has been committed
- someone's behaviour has or is likely to be seriously detrimental to the enjoyment of the trip by the group or detrimental to its well-being or safety.
17. It is understood that if you decide voluntarily to leave the expedition The Mountain Company has no responsibility for your safety or well being or for any consequential expenses.
Complaints
18. If you have a complaint about the manner in which we are organising the expedition you should inform its leader or another The Mountain Company representative as soon as possible so that they have an opportunity to take appropriate action on the spot. If you feel that the matter has not been resolved satisfactorily and that your enjoyment of the expedition is likely to be significantly affected you should notify the offices of The Mountain Company in the UK from where we will do our best to resolve the situation satisfactorily. It should nevertheless be understood by you that on some expeditions it will not be possible to contact our UK offices and also that there may be occasions when the staff of The Mountain Company, wherever they are, will be unable to resolve the situation to your satisfaction.
19. If after the trip is completed you feel that your complaint has not been properly dealt with you must notify us in writing within 30 days of its scheduled completion. We will then try to reach an agreement with you.
Our liability
20. We accept liability for
- the negligence of our own employees or agents causing direct physical injury as required by English law and subject to the exclusions stated in clause 21.
- any failure on our part to ensure to the best of our ability that the trip's arrangements are as described in our advertising material and are of a reasonable standard subject to the exclusions in clause 21.
21. We do not accept liability for any claim arising out of a mishap to yourself or your property (whether insured or uninsured) or a partial or total failure to carry out the contract, which is a result of or attributable to
- robbery, sickness, wars, riots, strikes, political or civil unrest, government intervention, quarantine requirements, weather, flight cancellations, delays or other unforeseeable or unavoidable occurrences
- events beyond the control of The Mountain Company, its staff or agents
- actions taken by you or other clients of The Mountain Company
- actions by parties unconnected to The Mountain Company
- the consequences of any independent arrangements that you make.
22. Where The Mountain Company is found to be liable to damages in respect of failure to carry out its contract the maximum amount of such damages, compensation and loss of enjoyment will be limited to twice the cost of the basic trip shown in the invoice. Where the damages relate to the provision of transport by air, sea or rail or hotel accommodation any compensation payable will be limited by the relevant Conventions.
Expedition descriptions
23. While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of our advertising material and information sheets we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Advice
24. The Client acknowledges that they are responsible to make themselves aware through Foreign Office advice, State Department warnings and any other sources available to them in regard to the safety of the countries and areas in which they will be travelling and to make their decisions accordingly. Whilst we will do our best to inform clients of relevant changes to the FCO Travel Advice (www.fco.gov.uk), it is up to the Client, and not the Company, to know what the FCO travel advice to a certain country, or region of a country, is and to be adequately insured to travel there. The Company accepts no liability if the Client a) chooses to cancel a booking because of FCO advice or b) is not adequately insured to travel. The Company will not normally cancel a trip simply because the FCO advise against travel.
General information
25. We give advice and information on matters such as health, vaccinations, visas, currency, local conditions, climate, equipment, clothing and other matters in good faith and cannot be held responsible for such advice and information. You accept responsibility for all these matters and particularly for obtaining the necessary visas and advice from your own doctor on all health matters.
This contract
26. The terms and conditions of this contract will only be waived or varied if such changes are agreed in writing in a letter signed on behalf of The Mountain Company by one of the Directors of The Mountain Trekking Company Ltd.
27. The terms & conditions of all agreements made with The Mountain Company shall be subject to and governed by English law and you shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.