These Terms and Conditions form the basis on which all bookings are accepted by Big Canvas Ltd. They contain legal obligations, we encourage you to read them carefully.
Unless otherwise stated, purchases made through Big Canvas are subject to these terms & conditions; in all booking arrangements, the person making the booking (the “lead name”) shall be deemed to have accepted these conditions on behalf of all the persons named in the booking.
No variation to these terms & conditions shall be of any effect unless made in writing by and with the authority of Big Canvas.
• Booking & Payment.
Book your trek / adventure directly through our web site.
You will receive final confirmation of your booking via email after we are in receipt of your cleared deposit.
Please remember to write your booking-ID on all correspondence & communication with Big Canvas. You will find your booking-ID on the preliminary summary booking which you will receive by email after submitting your online booking at www.bigcanvasadventures.co.uk
1. Booking
To make a booking you must :-
Be over 18 years old.
Have completed a booking application form.
Paid applicable deposit, as stated on the booking form (or full payment if travel is within 60 days)
Deposits are non-returnable.
If we accept your booking, we will issue a confirmation invoice.
A contract will exist between us from the date we issue the confirmation invoice.
There is a 7 day 'cooling off’ period, if within 7 days of receipt of your tour confirmation documentation you decide you do not wish, you may cancel & receive a full refund of your deposit. Please return all documentation to us within 7 days of receiving your tour confirmation documentation. Your booking will be cancelled and your monies will be returned in full. This ‘cooling off’ period does not apply if booking within 60 days .
If you book within 60 days of departure you must pay for your holiday in full and you must provide a signed booking form or fill in the online booking form immediately.
On some tours a local payment may be payable in addition to the basic tour price (see price panel for details).
Your personal safety is of paramount importance to us and therefore it is imperative that you advise us at the time of booking of any condition, medical or otherwise, that might affect your or other people’s enjoyment of the trip.
•Travel Insurance.
It is a condition to booking all treks and tours with Big Canvas Ltd that travellers / trekkers must be protected by a travel insurance policy. Any Policy must cover at least medical expenses, injury, death, repatriation, accidents, health, emergency evacuation, cancellation and curtailment, for the entire duration of the tour. You must ensure that there are no exclusion clauses which limit cover for the type of activities included in your tour.
Travel documents will not be issued unless you provide evidence of the existence of your policy.
All costs for emergency evacuation must be paid in cash in Nepal unless an insurance company has agreed to pay the costs on your behalf. It is important that any insurance policy issued to cover emergency evacuation for trek / tour does not exclude alpinism or mountaineering.
• Health, Fitness and Safety.
We strongly recommend a visit to your doctor and dentist before your holiday. It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain proper and detailed medical advice. Where you do not do so and either are not allowed to enter any country, or suffer personal injury or death, we have no liability to you for any cost, loss or damage which you suffer nor will we refund you the cost of any unused portion of your travel arrangements.
Clients with existing medical problems, pregnant women and anyone who has recently visited other countries, should check requirements with their general practitioner. Your doctor will advise current inoculation requirements. If a doctor has recommended against travel or indicated travel may be inconvenient then inform us of the details.
On all trekking and exploratory trips our staff have been trained to strict hygiene standards. We carry extensive medical kits and, if the need should ever arise, we are able to evacuate seriously ill group members by helicopter. (the costs of any evacuation organised, must be covered in full by your insurance, or by you the client).
2. Payment.
When you receive the confirmation invoice please check the details carefully and inform us immediately if anything is incorrect.
Payment for all monies due, including any surcharge, must be paid to us no later than 60 days before tour departure. If you do not pay the balance by the due date your booking will be cancelled and you will forfeit your deposit.
Tour confirmation documentation will not be issued unless final payment has been received and any cheques have cleared. We cannot accept any liability for tickets lost in the post.
• Liability.
1) Big Canvas Ltd aims .................................... In this connection, we ................................... your experience smooth and pleasant. However, Big Canvas Ltd will not take any responsibility regarding changes and alternations in the itinerary due to unavoidable circumstances such as land-slides, road blockage, flood, snow, political unrest, cancellation of flight, delay arrival, sickness or accidents. Any extra cost incurred thereof shall be borne by the clients on the spot. It is a mandatory requirement that all clients take out their own insurance to adequately cover against medical and personal accident risk.
2) Big Canvas Ltd, while undertaking tours, transportation, hotel accommodation and other services only acts as an agent on the clear understanding that it shall not be, in any way, responsible or liable for any accident, damages, loss, delay, international flight cancellation/delays, or inconvenience caused in connection with the travel facilities arranged by the company, its employees or agents. All bookings are accepted and executed with utmost care, yet no responsibility is undertaken for any change or deviation on account of factors beyond our control. Big Canvas Ltd reserves the right to modify any arrangements required by and made on behalf of the clients and to cancel the same without prior notice.
3) The traveller / trekker understands that during the course of the trip, certain risks and dangers may occur, including, but not limited to, the hazards of travelling in mountainous terrain, accident or illness in remote places without medical facilities, and the forces of nature. The traveller/trekker agrees to assume all risks associated with the journey, and agrees that no liability will be attached to the company or its outfitters, employees or agents, or to any member of the tour group in respect to death, personal injury, illness or delay of traveller/trekker, or for any loss or damage to the property of the traveller/trekker during the course of the trip, howsoever caused.
• Delays and Itinerary Changes.
The traveller / trekker specifically agrees that Big Canvas Ltd shall not be held responsible for any delays or changes in itineraries caused by an act, omission or other circumstances on the part of domestic airlines or helicopter companies in Nepal or other destination country; the trekkers / travellers understand that such situations may occur, and that we will not be able to inform them of each possible problem.
The itinerary, highlights and excursions as set out in the itinerary's will be adhered to as far as possible, but these are to be used as a guide only. The company or trek staff may make omissions or alterations to the itinerary, highlights, and excursions as they deem it to be necessary. Some highlights or excursions may be inaccessible for any number of reasons.
Internal transport 'In Country' .
This is as indicated by the itinerary and includes domestic flights where necessary. Note that bad weather in mountainous regions can cause flight delays. If you are delayed by bad weather prior to trek departure we will meet your accommodation costs. If the delay is extended by two days it may be necessary for us to re-route the trek, perhaps to an area more accessible by road. If you are delayed by bad weather at the end of the trek we will meet your accommodation and food costs for the basic tour dates. Unfortunately we cannot accept responsibility for charges incurred as a result of missed international flight connections. However we will help you to organise your ongoing arrangements. In this situation we would recommend that you make a claim against your insurance policy.
• Responsibility.
Big Canvas Ltd reserves the right to refuse to continue to carry any client causing inconvenience or annoyance to other travellers / trekkers, or creating difficulties that would hamper the smooth running of a trip.
We shall not be liable for any loss or damage to baggage or personal possessions, or any consequential losses incurred as a result. If a traveller / trekker is injured or becomes ill, all evacuation and hospital expenses, doctors' fees and repatriation costs are the traveller / trekker's responsibility, and Big Canvas Ltd shall not be liable for any refund of the cost of the treks or tours.
It is the traveller/trekker's responsibility to have valid passports and all visas and equipment that may be required on the selected tour. We do not accept responsibility for failure to obtain these visas for any reason, and we do not accept responsibility for any passports or documents left with us for this purpose.
• General Conditions
Prices.
All prices are in UK pounds sterling, and are based on known costs in the current year.
Price changes.
The prices quoted by Big Canvas Ltd are based on airfares, exchange rates and costs in effect on the date shown. We reserve the right to alter our prices if these rates change substantially. We may also apply surcharges in the event of significant changes in airfare, government regulations and taxes. Big Canvas Ltd cannot make refunds to travellers / trekkers who are adversely affected by changes in exchange rates.
Passports & Visas.
A passport valid for all countries to be visited must be carried.
Accident or loss.
We have no liability for loss, damage, delay, inconvenience, or direct or consequential loss, however caused, unless due to our employees' negligence, in which case our liability is limited (except for death or personal injury) to a maximum of the refund of the tour cost. We do not own or manage the vehicles, accommodation, and restaurants used and we have no liability for loss or damage caused by the proprietors or operators thereof.
Extra cost.
Extra cost due to unforeseen expenses that may arise due to factors beyond our control like landslides, political unrest, personal illness are not our responsibility.
Helicopter rescue.
In the unlikely event that helicopter evacuation is required, due to accident or illness, this can be arranged at the clients own expense. Any such charges may include the costs off Helicopter charter, medical treatment expenses, additional porterage, and additional costs associated with rescue from the mountain, etc. It is for safety factors such as this that it is a condition of booking, that all clients have an adequate insurance policy.
Breaking of tours & trekking.
Any tour or trekking can be broken at the wish of our client(s) or in the case of sickness, accident, landslides, and other factors beyond our control. No refund will be made and clients should bear his / her expenses for the remaining days.
What the cost includes and excludes is specifically stated on each itinerary.
Mountain flight delays.
Bad & inclement weather in the mountains can cause flight delays. These are the ones which rely upon the use of rural airstrips where delays are not uncommon. If you are delayed beyond the printed itinerary including a set number of waiting days, Big Canvas Ltd will only meet your accommodation and food costs on a normal trek basis.
Helicopter charter flights to Kathmandu are available at your own expense.
Big Canvas Ltd accepts no responsibility for charges incurred as a result of your missing your international flight connection. However, we will help organize your arrangements and airlines are normally supportive of forced changes to your international flight.
Other.
We may, at our discretion, require any person to withdraw from any tour if we deem their acts or conduct offensive or a nuisance to other clients, and we shall have no further liability. We reserve the right to cancel any tours due to lack of demand and also to use vehicles as dictated by demand. No employee or agent of ours can vary our conditions and any such purported variation shall be of no effect unless it is in writing and has been signed by one of our Directors.
3. If you change your booking.
If, after our confirmation has been issued, you;
(i) make a change to your existing booking, we will charge an amendment fee of a minimum of £40 per booking for each change or;
(ii) wish to change to another of our tours or change departure date, we will try to make the changes, provided that notification is received in writing at our offices from the lead name at least 60 days before departure and you pay a minimum of £40 per person to cover our administration costs.
Any alteration, whether a change to an existing booking or a change to another tour or departure date, will be subject to payment by you of any costs imposed by any of our suppliers providing the component parts of the tour.
Any alteration by you within 60 days of departure will be treated as a cancellation of the original booking and will be subject to the cancellation charges set out in Clause 4 below.
3.1 Name Changes.
Where you are unable to travel you can transfer your booking to another person, subject to the following:
a) you must notify us in writing at least 35 days before departure; and
b) your request is accompanied by all original travel documents which you have received and the full name and address of the transferee; and
c) the transferee must fulfil any conditions that apply to the booking; and
d) payment by you of an administrative charge of a minimum of £40 per person.
Both the transferor and transferee will be jointly and severally liable for payment of the holiday price and other associated expenses.
4. If you cancel your trip.
You or any member of your party may cancel your tour at any time providing that the cancellation is made by the lead name in writing. As this incurs costs, we will retain your deposit and in addition will apply other cancellation charges as shown below;
Period before departure within which written cancellation is received. Amount of cancellation charge shown as percentage of the total tour price.
More than 60 days. Deposit only
Between 59 and 40 days. 30%
Between 39 and 20 days. 50%
Between 20 and 14 days. 70%
14 days or failure to arrive. 100%
5. Complaint Procedure.
If you have any complaint during your holiday, you must inform both your group leader and the relevant supplier of the service immediately. If you are not happy with their action in response to your complaint, you should notify our offices in writing within 10 days after the completion of your tour, and we shall endeavour to resolve the problem promptly. Failure on your part to notify us and our agents does not give us the opportunity to take appropriate action to put things right, and may seriously affect your legal rights. If you feel the problem has still not been dealt with, you should notify us in writing within 60 days of your scheduled return to the UK, giving us your booking reference and all other relevant information. We will acknowledge your written notification within 7 days and aim to provide a full response within 28 days. It is unlikely that you will have a complaint that cannot be settled amicably between us.
7. Surcharges.
Prices quoted for this programme are based on current exchange rates and known costs. Big Canvas will only seek to amend our pricing structure if there are significant increases to our costs. The price of your tour may be subject to surcharges on the following items:
(i) transportation costs, including the costs of fuel.
(ii) dues, taxes or fees chargeable for services such as landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports.
(iii) the exchange rates applied to the particular package.
In the case of any small variation, an amount equivalent upto 2% of the price of your tour price, will be absorbed by Big Canvas Ltd.
If this means that you have to pay an increase of more than 10% of the price of your travel arrangements, you may cancel your travel arrangements and receive a full refund of all monies paid.
Should you decide to cancel because of this, you must exercise your right to do so within 14 days from the date of issue printed on the invoice.
No surcharge will be imposed within 30 days of your departure.
Since these costs are beyond our control, we reserve the right to increase the amount of this charge at any time. We will of course inform you of any such change should that become necessary.
8. Changes to your trip.
Before you enter into a contract with us, we reserve the right to change any of the facilities, services or prices described in our brochures or website. If a change occurs you will be advised at the time of booking.
9. If we change your booking.
It is unlikely we will have to make any changes to your tour after you book. However, we plan the arrangements many months in advance and may occasionally have to make modifications to the itinery. Most changes are minor. If a significant change becomes necessary, we will advise you of the change as soon as possible.
Whether a change is ‘significant’ depends on the nature of the tour : In the rare event that a significant change occurs, you will have the choice of either accepting the change, purchasing another available tour from us, or cancelling your tour, in which case we shall refund you in full. In all cases, except where a major change arises from circumstances amounting to force majeure or consolidation (see below), we will pay you, compensation as detailed below:
Period before departure within which a major change is notified to you. Compensation per person
Before balance due date. Nil
Between balance due date and 14 days before travel. £20.00
Between 13 days and the date of travel. £30.00
Important notes: Compensation will not be payable if we are forced to cancel, or in any way change your tour for reasons of consolidation or force majeure, which includes without limitation, war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, industrial dispute, terrorist activity, health epidemics, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions or other similar events beyond our control and that of our suppliers.
Consolidation refers to the fact that the operation of the tour is dependent on a minimum number of persons booking the tour. If that number is not achieved, we reserve the right to cancel the tour. We will not however, cancel a tour for reasons of consolidation less than 6 weeks before the departure date. We strongly recommend that you make no travel arrangements to your point of departure from the UK until such time as your travel itinerary has been confirmed. If you make such arrangements which you are then unable to use due to a change in your itinerary we shall not be liable to you for the cost of those arrangements.
10. If we cancel your holiday.
Sometimes it may be necessary to cancel your tour and we reserve the right to cancel your tour in any circumstances.
However, in no circumstances will we cancel your tour less than 6 weeks before the scheduled departure date except for reasons of force majeure or failure on your part to pay the final balance.
In circumstances where we are unable to provide the tour booked, we will return to you all monies paid, or where possible offer an alternative tour of comparable or higher standard and compensation.
In case of a cancelled tour departure we strongly advise you not to book any connecting travel that is non-refundable or non-changeable or incurs penalties. We will not be liable to refund any incidental costs incurred for visas, vaccinations or other travel arrangements.
If we are forced to cancel your holiday after departure we will, wherever possible, make suitable alternative arrangements. If we are unable to make such alternative arrangements, or you reject these for good reason then we will return you to your point of departure and refund you for any unused services, if appropriate.
11. Compensation or Liability.
Our obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities and, where we or our supplier is actually providing the service or facility, to provide them and to do so with reasonable skill and care. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. Standards of, for example,
safety, hygiene and quality vary throughout the transport and destinations that your holiday may involve. Sometimes these standards will be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK. The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply (such as, for example, those of the Civil Aviation Authority), or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs. For claims which do not involve death or personal injury, we accept, and will only have, liability should we or our suppliers fail to satisfy the obligations detailed above. If we have liability we will pay you reasonable compensation (limited to 3 times the value of your holiday) if your enjoyment of the tour is adversely affected.
Any sums received by you from suppliers such as from airlines due to the Denied Boarding Regulations 1992 (in this case sums paid by the airline constitute the full amount of your entitlement to compensation for all matters flowing from the airline’s actions) will be deducted from any sum paid to you as compensation by us. For claims which involve death or personal injury as a result of an activity forming part of your holiday, we accept, and will only have liability should we or our suppliers fail to satisfy the obligations detailed above.
If we have liability, we will pay you reasonable compensation. We shall have no liability where the cause of the failure to provide, or failure in, your holiday or any death or personal injury you may suffer is not due to any fault on our part or that of our servants, agents or suppliers, because it is either attributable to you, or attributable to someone unconnected with your holiday and is unforeseeable or unavoidable, or is due to unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, or an event which neither we, nor our servants, agents or suppliers could have foreseen or forestalled. If any international convention applies to or governs any of the services or facilities included in your holiday arranged or provided by us, or provided by any of our suppliers, and you make a claim against us of any nature arising out of death, injury, loss or damage suffered during or as a result of the provision of those services or facilities, our liability to pay you compensation and/or the amount (if any) of compensation payable to you by us will be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to that provided for by the international convention concerned (in each case including in respect of the conditions of liability, the time for bringing any claim and the type and amount of any damages that can be awarded). International Conventions which may apply include: in respect of international air travel, the Warsaw Convention 1929 (including as amended by the Hague Protocol of 1955 and by any of the additional Montreal Protocol of 1975) or the Montreal Convention 1999; in respect of rail travel, the Berne Convention 1961;
in respect of carriage by sea, the Athens Convention 1974; in respect of carriage by road, the Geneva Convention 1973; and, in respect of hotels, the Paris Convention 1962. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that we are to be regarded as having all benefit of any limitations of compensation contained in any of these Conventions or any other international conventions applicable to your holiday. Other than a set out above, and as is detailed elsewhere in these booking conditions, we shall have no legal liability whatsoever to you for any loss or damage.
14. Independent arrangements/excursions.
If you purchase any optional activities that are not part of your pre-booked itinerary, the contract for the provision of that activity will be between you and the activity provider. The decision to partake in any such activity is entirely at your own discretion and at your own risk.
If you do have any complaint about, or problem with, any optional activity purchased in resort your claim should be directed to the activity provider and not Big Canvas Ltd.
15. Transport timings.
Please note that the timings of air, sea, road or rail departures are estimates only. These timings may be affected by operational difficulties, weather conditions or failure of passengers to check in on time. Carriers’ conditions of carriage which will apply to you, have clauses which limit or exclude liability. We do not make any arrangements if there is a delay at the outbound or inbound point of departure. However, most airlines usually make provision in this case.
17. Passports and visas.
You should check with the appropriate Embassy, Consulate or British Foreign Office for the exact requirements for your chosen tour and date of travel. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct passport and visas to gain access to any country / region included in the travel arrangements which you purchase from us. If you fail to do so, we have no liability to you for any cost, loss or damage which you suffer, nor will we refund you the cost of any unused portion of your travel arrangements. In some cases, countries will refuse entry to clients who have criminal records. Should you be concerned about this, please check with the embassy or consulate of the countries to which you are travelling.
19. Special requests.
We endeavour to fulfil any special requests (e.g. vegetarian meals) and will pass your request to our suppliers, however we cannot guarantee that any such request will be carried out.
20. Your contractual requirements.
Once a contract exists between us, you agree to accept the authority and decisions of our employees, group leaders, agents and suppliers while on tour. If, in the opinion of any of these, your health or conduct appears likely to endanger the progress of a tour you may be excluded from the whole of, or a part of, the tour. In the case of ill-health we may make such arrangements as we deem necessary and recover the costs thereof from you. If you commit an illegal act we shall cease to have responsibility to or for you.
21. Alterations to booking conditions.
No employee or agent of Big Canvas Ltd may vary these conditions or offer any refund or discount on the published price without the written consent of a director of Big Canvas Ltd.
22. Notices.
All communications relating to this Agreement (in particular any requests to cancel or amend your holiday arrangements) must be from the Lead Name in writing and in English and delivered by hand or sent by recorded delivery post to the address specified herein (or such other address as may be notified to you from time to time). Any such communication shall take effect when a complete and legible copy of the communication has been received at the appropriate address.
23. Dates, itineraries & pricing.
Dates, itineraries and prices for trips may be subject to change at any time and with the publication of our latest brochure. Dates, itineraries and prices in this brochure supersede details published in any previous issue. Current dates and prices are listed on our website and will be provided at the time of enquiry.
25. Contractual obligations.
These conditions apply to all tours operated by Big Canvas Ltd trading as; BigCanvasAdventures, bigcanvasadventures.co.uk, bigcanvasadventures.com. registered company number 6083903.
Your contract is with Big Canvas Ltd trading as Big Canvas, and bigcanvasadventures.co.uk. English law will govern this agreement and the English courts will deal with any disputes.
This web-site, any brochure and its booking conditions will be superseded by any subsequent edition.
26. Brochure Photography.
Any likeness or image of you secured or taken on any of our holidays may be used by the company without charge in all media (whether now existing or in the future invented) for bonafide promotional or marketing purposes, including without limitation promotional materials of any kind, such as brochures, slides, video shows and the internet.
Before completing your booking with us, take a moment to consider the challenging nature of adventure travel. Trips of this kind often require a substantial amount of flexibility from you during the journey. The itineraries outlined on our website and in any brochure must be seen as an indication of our intention, rather than a contractual obligation on our part. Unforeseen local conditions or events may sometimes necessitate changes to the itinerary, accommodation or means of transport. We accept your booking on the understanding that you realise the potential hazards involved in this kind of trip, including injury, disease or loss / damage to personal property, inconvenience and discomfort. Refunds will not be given for unused services.
Privacy Policy.
Full details of our privacy policy can be viewed here: Privacy Policy.
Web Site Usage.
Big Canvas Ltd can not take responsibility for any damages, compensatory, indirect, consequential or direct, data loss, income, profit, property loss or damage and third party claims implied or otherwise when using this website.
Information Accuracy.
We put every effort into updating website information, tour descriptions, prices, photos and other information. Though we try to ensure all information and images are correct - occasionally mistakes happen, and inaccuracies creep in. We cannot be held responsible for website errors as these are genuine mistakes. While every effort is made to ensure that accurate pricing and descriptions are maintained, we reserve the right to decline orders if they are based on inaccurate information by either party.
LANGUAGES.
Orders may be placed online in English.
SECURITY.
BigCanvas takes online security very seriously.
BigCanvas are committed to complying with the Data Protection Act 1998.
You can access our Website home page and browse our site without disclosing your personal data.
However, If you register with us you will be asked to provide certain information about yourself, such as your name, address, details of your credit card (only if you are paying by credit card), telephone number and e-mail address so that we can process and fulfil your booking, notify you of your booking status and inform you of special offers and promotions.
How do we use your information?
We use this information we collect about you to:
a) Process your booking.
b) Administer this Website.
c) Monitor customer traffic patterns and site usage to help us develop and improve the design and layout of the site.
d) Notify you about enhancement to our services, such as changes to the Website, new services and special offers that may be of interest.
If you have given us permission to send you information about our products and services by telephone, e-mail or in writing, you agree that by doing so BigCanvas are not in breach of the Telecommunications (Date Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999 or the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Code of Practice.
This means that BigCanvas operate to a high level of commercial standards which are designed to:
a) Protect your privacy.
b) Ensure that payments are secure.
c) Let you know what you have agreed to.
d) Sort out any complaints.
Monitoring Communications.
As part of our efforts to make further improvements to the service we provide to our customers, telephone calls to and from Big Canvas may be recorded or monitored and used for training purposes.
To protect the operation of our computer systems we monitor incoming and out going e-mail.
Keeping in touch with you.
We want to keep you up to date with information about new ranges, special offers and improvements to this site.
If you decide you do not want us to contact you, you can request that we stop using your information and that we stop mailing information to you.
You may continue to receive mailings which are already on route to you for a short period of time while your request is dealt with.
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