1. Why should I read this?
Because it is important. This Trading Charter, forms the
basis of a legally binding contract between you the
person making the booking and everyone else named)
and us (Shearings Hotels Ltd, Miry Lane, Wigan,
Lancashire, WN3 4AG). If you take a few moments to
study them you will see that they set out in simple terms
what responsibilities we each have under the contract.
Reading it now may help to avoid problems later.
2. How do I make a contract with you?
You canmake the contract in a number of ways - through
your travel agent, by writing to us or by phoning us. The
contract between us ismade when your booking is
entered on our computer and a booking reference
number is produced. At thatmoment the contract
between us begins.We will send you a confirmation usually
within 24 hours; please check it carefully to ensure all the
details are correct.
3. What if I have any special requests?
If you have any special requests for services which are
not included in the price of your holiday - such as a low
floor or special meals - you must tell us this when you
book and check that the invoice issued to you confirms
that your request has been made; if it does not, please
contact us immediately. We will do our best to provide
what you want but we cannot guarantee it. Some
special requests may involve extra charges which may
have to be paid for locally at your hotel.
4. Do I have to buy your insurance?
We strongly advise all our customers to take out travel
insurance to covermedical and repatriation costs,
personal injury, loss of baggage and cancellation
charges. You do not need to take out our travel
insurance but you should have insurance which is at least
as good as or better than the insurance we offer. If you
do not have adequate insurance and require our
assistance whilst on holiday, we reserve the right to
reclaimfromyou anymedical repatriation or other
expenses which wemay incur on your behalf which
would otherwise have beenmet by insurers.
5. What do I have to pay and when?
When youmake your booking youmust pay a deposit
for every person named on the booking. Deposits per
person and balance due dates (the period before
departure date on which your full balance normally
becomes due) are:
Holiday Type Balance
and Duration Deposit due Date
Air-inclusive holidays
All durations £110 8 weeks
British Isles
2-4 days £40 4 weeks
5 days + & 4 day
New Year & Easter £60 8 weeks
If you book within the balance due date youmust pay
the total price of the holiday (including any insurance
premiums) at the time you book. In other cases, you
must pay the balance of the price of the holiday on or
before the balance due date. If you do not, we will
cancel your booking and you will have to pay the
cancellation charges set out in section 9. Deposit and
balance paymentsmade by credit cardmay be
subject to a handling charge.
6. When I pay my money to my travel agent who
does it belong to?
Until we have a contract with you, your travel agent
holds your deposit on your behalf. After that he holds it
for us. Any money you pay him for the balance of your
holiday he holds for you until the due date on your
invoice. After that date he holds it for us.
7. Can you change the price after the contract has
been made?
All prices quoted are correct at the time of printing
(December 2008). We reserve the right to change our
prices fromtime to time. This couldmean that when you
book your chosen holiday the actual price quoted may
have gone up or down. The correct price will always be
confirmed at the time of booking. The price of your
travel arrangements is subject to change for an increase
or decrease on the following items: transportation costs
including ferry operator fares; dues and taxes (including
the rate of VAT). In these cases we will absorb an
amount equivalent to 2% of the holiday price which
excludes insurance premiums and any amendment
charges. Only amounts in excess of this 2% will be
surcharged or refunded, but if a surcharge is payable
there will be an administration charge of 50p together
with an amount to cover agents’ commission. If this
means payingmore than 10% of the holiday price you
will be entitled to cancel your holiday with a full refund of
allmonies paid. Should you decide to cancel because
of this youmust exercise your right to do so within 14
days fromthe issue date printed on the invoice. We will
not surcharge you within 30 days of your departure.
8. Can I change my holiday arrangements once
I have made them?
If you want tomake any changes to your booking such
as changing the date or roomtype, we will do our best
to help but we cannot guarantee tomake the changes
that you want. If we domanage tomake the changes
we reserve the right to charge a fee to cover our
administration costs - plus any extra charges if you are
buying amore expensive holiday. However, some
changes are so significant that we will treat them as
cancellations and youmust pay the cancellation
charges set out in section 9. Significant changes include
(i) transfer to a different holiday or start date within the
balance due date, (ii) transfer to a late availability offer or
other special offer holiday. A transfer of a booking to
someone else is not a significant change; if you wish to
transfer your booking please see Section 10.
9. Can I cancel my holiday?
Yes, you may cancel your holiday at any time, but if you
do so you will have to pay us cancellation charges
based on the scale below. These charges are to
compensate us for the risk of not being able to re-sell
your holiday. When you cancel you must inform us or
your travel agent in writing and your cancellation only
takes effect from the date we or your travel agent
receive your notice in writing, signed by the person who
made the booking, together with any travel tickets or
vouchers we may already have sent you. Please note
that if only part of a booking is cancelled this may
mean that the accommodation booked will be underoccupied
and may result in the remaining guests
having to pay any applicable supplements, e.g.
changing a twin room to a single. Cancellation charges
are based on the following scale.
Period before Amount you must pay
departure within
which written
cancellation
is received
More than 56 days Deposit
56 to 49 days Deposit
48 to 29 days Deposit
28 to 22 days 50% of total holiday cost or deposit
if greater
21 to 8 days 70% of total holiday cost or deposit
if greater
7 to 1 days 90% of total holiday cost or deposit
if greater
Departure day Total cost of holiday
or later
If administration fees have been added to the booking,
these remain due in addition to the minimum
cancellation fee.
Please note that your insurance policy may cover you
against the cost of cancellation or you may be able to
transfer your booking to another person in some
circumstances.
10. Can I transfer my booking to someone else?
If it is impossible for you to go on holiday then, in some
circumstances, you may transfer your booking to
someone else (a transferee) if you give us reasonable
notice. The transferee must be someone who satisfies
all the conditions for the holiday. We will make an
administration charge of £20 per person for every
transfer we make. We will also charge you for any extra
costs caused by the transfer. Both you and the
transferee remain responsible for paying for the holiday.
11. What if I misbehave?
If you or any member of your party are abusive or
disruptive or behaves in a way which, in our reasonable
opinion, could cause damage or injury to others or
affect their enjoyment of their holiday, or which could
damage property, we have the right, after reasonable
consideration, to terminate your contract with us. In
such circumstances we will have no further obligations
or liability to you. The coach driver, ship captain, aircraft
captain or authorized official of other means of
transport is entitled to refuse boarding to you if, in their
reasonable opinion, you are unacceptably under the
influence of drink or drugs or being violent or disruptive. If
you are refused boarding on the outbound journey or
flight for this reason we will regard this as a cancellation
of the contract by you and cancellation charges will be
levied according to the scale in section 9. If the refusal
is on the return journey or flight we have the right to
terminate the contract. In such circumstances we will
have no further obligations or liability to you. If you are
disruptive during the journey or flight the coach driver,
captain or other authorized official may have to divert, to off-load you. In those circumstances you will also beliable to us and/or the shipping, airline or other transport provider for the costs incurred by the diversion.
12. What if things go wrong?
We accept responsibility if any part of your holiday arrangements, booked with us, is not as described in the brochure or not of a reasonable standard; or if you or any
of your party suffer death or injury as a result of an activity forming part of your holiday arrangements which you booked with us before your departure; if the failure in the
holiday arrangements or any death or personal injury is due to any fault on our part or that of our agents orsuppliers whilst acting in the course of their employment.
We do not accept responsibility if the failure, death orpersonal injury is not caused by any fault of ours or of our agents or suppliers or is caused by you or someone not
connected with your holiday arrangements; or if the
failure, death or personal injury is due to unusual or
unforeseen circumstances which, even with all due care,
we, or our agents or suppliers, could not have anticipated
or avoided. For claims, which do not involve personal
injury, illness or death, themost we will have to pay if we
are liable to you, is twice the price per person affected
paid for their holiday (not including insurance premiums
and amendment charges). We will only have to pay this
maximumamount if everything has gone wrong and you
have received no benefit from your holiday.
(a) Personal injury
Some of the services we provide for you are covered
by international conventions - such as the Athens
Convention on Carriage by Sea. Whenever there is
such a convention in force we limit our liability to you for
death, personal injury or illness as if we were covered by
the convention. Copies of these are available on
request at www.admiraltylawguide.com.
(b) Changes before departure
If we have tomake a significant change to your holiday
after you have booked, you will have the option of
withdrawing fromthe holiday without penalty or youmay
accept the changes with a variation in the price to take
account of the changes. A significant change is one
that involves changing your start date; resort area; or
reducing the quality of yourmain hotel. Compensation
for such changes is payable on the scale in (c) below.
(c) Cancellation and withdrawal
If you withdraw from the holiday because of a
significant change made by us or if we have to cancel
the holiday for any reason (except where it is your fault)
you will be offered the choice of:
1. a replacement holiday of equivalent or superior
quality where available, or
2. a replacement holiday of lower quality where
available and a refund of the price difference, or
3. a full refund.
Once we have notified you of the changes and the
options available, youmust notify us as soon as possible
of your decision. We will pay you compensation for
significant changes on the following scale unless the
holiday is changed or cancelled by reason of unusual
and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control,
the consequences of which could not have been
avoided even if all due care had been exercised. These
circumstances include war or threat of war, riot, civil strife,
terrorist activity, industrial disputes, fire, quarantine,
epidemic or health risks, natural or nuclear disasters, port
or terminal closures and adverse weather conditions.
Holiday Duration
Period before departure
in which a significant 2-4 days 5 days &
change is notified to you longer
or your travel agent
More than 56 days Nil Nil
29 to 56 days Nil £10
15 to 28 days Nil £15
8 to 14 days £15 £20
0 to 7 days £20 £25
Payment of compensation according to the scale set
out below will not affect your statutory right to claim
further compensation if, in all circumstances, you
remain dissatisfied.
(d) Changes after arrival
If after arrival a significant proportion of your holiday
cannot be provided we will make suitable alternative
arrangements for you to continue the holiday at no
extra cost to you.
13. What is my position in relation to sea carriers?
When you travel by sea, your journeymay be subject to
certain international conventions, such as the Warsaw
Convention, Montreal Convention or Athens Convention.
You agree that the transport company’s own ‘Conditions
of Carriage’ will apply to you on that journey. When
arranging this transportation for you, we rely on the terms
and conditions contained within these international
conventions and those ‘Conditions of Carriage’. You
acknowledge that all of these terms and conditions form
part of your contract with us as well as with the transport
company. You can ask us or the travel agent booking
your holiday to provide you with a copy of any of the
conditions applicable to your journey.
14. How do I complain?
If you have any complaint at all about the holiday you
should tell our Hotel Manager immediately so that they
can have the opportunity of putting things right. If the
problemis not resolved to your satisfaction you should
write within 28 days to: Customer Care - UK, Shearings
Holidays, Miry Lane, Wigan, Lancashire, WN3 4AG. In your
letter you should quote your booking reference number,
holiday code, arrival date.
15. Data Protection Act
We would like to keep you informed about the
promotional events, products and services we offer by
mail, email or telephone. Wemay also sometimes share
customer information with other carefully selected third
parties or our associated companies whomay contact
you bymail, email or telephone to offer you their products
and services direct.
Please notify us in writing if you do not wish to receive
information about products and services of either
a) Shearings or b) third parties and associated companies.
Write to: Data Manager, Shearings Holidays, Miry Lane,
Wigan, Lancashire, WN3 4AG (stating ‘a’, ‘b’ or both).
16. When can I check into my hotel?
You may check into your hotel after 3.00pm on your
selected arrival date. On the morning of departure, you
are requested to vacate your room by 10.00am.
17. What about car parking at my hotel?
Although details of car parking facilities are available at
the time of booking, unfortunately we cannot
guarantee that car parking facilities will always meet the
demands of all our guests. Further to this Shearings
Hotels cannot be deemed liable for any charges that
may be incurred for parking or for loss or damage to
motor vehicles and/or their contents whilst parked at
your hotel.
18. What type of accommodation can I expect?
Every effort will be made to provide precisely the kind
of room you have booked but this cannot be
guaranteed. Please note: pets are not permitted within
any of our hotels.
(a) Room type
When booking a double roomyou should clearly request
either double or twin beds, otherwise we shall assume
that either is acceptable. Three and four-bedded rooms
are normally twins or doubles with extra beds and space
will inevitably be limited.
(b) Additional features
Our liability for the provision of additional facilities for
which a supplement has been paid is limited to the
published price of that supplement. Rooms with private
facilities will include either bath and WC or shower and
WC. Where you specify a preference for either a bath
and WC or a shower and WC we will make every effort
to accommodate your request, but this cannot be
guaranteed.
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