Booking Requirements, Terms and Conditions
Attachment B (General Overview)
B1. CHANGES TO ITINERARY
We reserve the right to alter or change
any component of an itinerary if
in the opinion of Group Events Pty
Ltd the service provided is deemed
unsuitable. This may occur due to
weather conditions, sub-standard
quality, operational reasons or any
other reason beyond our control.
Any cost incurred will always be
at the expense of the Group.
Amendments to an itinerary requested
by the Group are usually made at no
charge, however, should the amendments
are excessive, and we reserve the right
to charge a service fee in line with
the costs incurred.
B2. BILLETS / HOSTING / SPORTING
EXCHANGES / MUSIC EXCHANGES / EVENTS
AND FAVOURS
Groups often ask to be hosted by a
school. This is not a problem in most
areas except internationally renowned
tourist resort towns. To be hosted,
Groups must have something to exchange,
sport, music, etc. are the common ones.
No exchange, no hosting is the rule.
Should there be a breakdown in arrangements
for hosting, causing a cost for all
alternative arrangements, this will
always be at the expense of the Group,
for whatever reason.
Arrangements with non commercial organisations
are to be seen as favours which are
not charged and therefore become the
responsibility of the Group. Once billets/hosts/exchanges/matches/concert
venues and favours are arranged, addresses
will be provided so you may work direct
with the organisation to provide such
favour. Good communication will save
you cost and embarrassment. Group Events
Pty Ltd or their educational division,
Groups "R" Us and Education Active
Tours can make most arrangements for
you.
Arrangements made for sporting exchanges
are made on the basis of providing
a contact with a like organisation,
either internationally or domestically,
to compete with your Group in your
required sporting discipline/exchange.
Arrangements made for music groups
are made on the basis of providing
a contact with a like organisation,
either internationally or domestically,
to perform with or to host your Group
for a musical exchange. This company
does not imply that it is in anyway
the controller of such exchange. Its
sole responsibility is to introduce
you to a potential host as a favour.
B3. DEPOSITS
The above deposit of AUD100 per person
will be required to secure air seats
and various tour components. At times
we may require a higher deposit in
line with our supplier's requirements.
Group Events Pty Ltd / Groups‘R'Us
reserve the right to retain a portion
of your deposit to cover applicable
administration, communication and any
tour deposits which are incurred whilst
making your arrangements.
Our suppliers have varying refund
policies and our ability to refund
deposits will reflect these policies.
B4. PAYMENTS
(1) CURRENCY: All
Group tour quotations are offered with
discounts and concessions not always
obvious but included in our calculations
to provide a competitive best
value price for the tour.
The price quoted is for direct deposit,
cash, bank cheque, cleared cheque,
paid by the Group organisation in the
currency indicated at the base of your
invoice.
(2) CREDIT CARDS: MasterCard,
Visa and Bankcard are accepted to assist
individual Group members with an easy
and controlled payment method. In (1)
above there are no built in credit
card charges so that direct payment
clients can have the benefit of “Best
Price.” With card users
it is necessary for us to recover card
company transaction fees. This is charged
at 2% and will be varied should the
card company's fees vary.
(3) ALL PAYMENTS should
be made payable to Group Events
Pty Limited. If sending funds
by direct deposit we require documentation
sent to us detailing the amount sent
and exchange rate at time of transaction
and the invoice being paid. Our account
details are on the bottom of our invoices
to assist you.
(4) Unless otherwise stated, FINAL
PAYMENT is required no later
than 40 days prior to travel. An
invoice will be forwarded requesting
this payment.
CANCELLATIONS:
(A) Should a tour be cancelled prior
to 60 days before travel, deposits
will be refunded less the amount to
cover administration, booking fees
etc. This may be reduced or increased
dependant on expenses created.
(B) Within 60 days, the deposit becomes
non-refundable.
(C) Within 30 days, charges levied
by airlines, hotels, transport operators
plus $100 per person will be charged
and the remainder refunded.
(D) Within 7 days, 100% of the tour
price will be charged.
(E) After air tickets have been issued
any cancellation fee levied by the
airline will be in addition to the
above.
(F) Once the tour has commenced, no
refunds will be given, including any
unused portion of the tour.
B5. AIRLINE RESPONSIBILITY
Any airline featured in Group Events
Pty Ltd /Groups ‘R' Us brochures
or media are carriers with whom this
company regularly deals. By permitting
their names to be depicted in such publications,
those carriers do not represent themselves
as having any legal relationship with
the group/party. The services of any
IATA or NON-IATA airlines may be used
at the discretion of Group Events Pty
Ltd.
B6. OUR RESPONSIBILITY
We always do our best to make sure
your arrangements are satisfactory.
The standard of accommodation and other
services are based on various factors,
which are generally accepted as indicative
of a certain class; however, we do
not guarantee the standard, class or
fitness for purpose of that accommodation
or service. Group Events Pty Ltd does
not accept any liability of whatever
nature for the acts, omissions or default,
whether negligent or otherwise, of
any service providers in connection
with your tour pursuant to a contract
between them and yourselves (which
may be evidenced in writing by the
issue of a ticket, voucher, coupon
or the like) and over whom we have
no direct or exclusive control. We
do not accept liability in contract
or tort (actionable wrong) for any
injury, damage, loss, delay, additional
expenses or inconvenience caused directly
or indirectly by any events not limited
to, war, civil disturbance, fire, floods,
acts of God, acts of Government or
any other authorities, accident to
or failure of machinery or equipment
or industrial action.
Law of Contract: The contract is governed
in all respects by the law of the State
of New South Wales and any legal action
arising under the contract shall be
litigated only in the appropriate Court
having jurisdiction in respect thereof
in New South Wales or similar Tribunals
in other States or Territories fixed
by the place of the making of this
contract.
B7. YOU'RE RESPONSIBILITY
In these Terms and Conditions and
in related documents and invoices the
word "Group(s)" will include the principal
organiser (school, club or other body)
of all persons
travelling as one body including students,
parents, teachers, supporters and trainers
or other organisers who travel with
that principal organiser.
Where any person (infant or adult)
travelling with the Group is injured
(psychologically or physically) after
leaving his abode for the purpose of
the subject travel and before returning
to his abode is injured or killed or
his property is damaged or the Group's
property is damaged or such person
causes damage to a third party or a
third party's property then and as
to each such event the Group will indemnify
Group Events Pty Ltd for and against
all liability to such person or any
such third parties. The Group also
releases Group Events for all liability
to the Group for damages to such persons
or third parties or their property
arising from such events and agrees
that Group Events Pty Ltd can plead
this agreement as a complete defence
to any action or cross action by the
Group against Group Events Pty Ltd.
B8. BEHAVIOUR OF MEMBER/S
OF THE TOUR
In the event of a Group or associate
within the Group, behaving in a manner
judged by management of this company
and its tourism product providers involved
at the time, to be unacceptable behaviour,
be it through damage, obscenity, harassment,
theft, excessive noise, vulgarity, bad
language and activities unacceptable
and against public decency, Group Events
Pty Ltd/Groups'R'Us reserve the right
to remove such person/persons from the
tour. Should a Group or individual activity
be totally of unacceptable standard the
company may cancel the tour? No refunds
will be paid and the Group or associate
involved will be required to make good
any property damage or costs involved
to rectify the situation. Travel Agents
acting for the Group will be equally
bound by this condition.
TABS
Easy Payment Plan
Yes, we accept bankcard, Visa and MasterCard for all deposits and final payments. We offer this service to make it easier for our clients and for parents who are covering the cost of their child's educational tour commitment. Deposits paid by this method (normally $100 per person) are non-refundable. If a client cancels a tour after the full amount has been paid, there will be a cancellation and administration charge imposed to cover the reversal of the transaction.
*All tours and events are costed on a cash basis (so nobody is disadvantaged), payable by the client, school/organisation for whom we are working with. Other forms of Payment may attract administration fees.
Air Points
“There is no such thing as a free lunch” and for that matter we do not get involved with air points. Clients are welcome to redeem their own air points with the airline direct. We are happy to register any air arrangements made by us to qualify clients for further air points.
TABS
Travel Agents. Keeping things Fair with the Fare and commissions too!
Much of our business is done on a direct basis with clients. This is because we are not a normal walk-in of the street Travel Agency / Travel Wholesaler. We handle only Groups, (10 or more travelling) at both Wholesale and Retail levels. When we started more than 20 years ago, Travel Agents rarely prospected for clients requiring specialist services, eg. a school sporting or music tour, an educational tour for local farmers, a conference or incentive tour for local industry and so on.
We have invested in 'Special Interest Group Travel', particularly into and within New Zealand and Australia ex Singapore , USA , UK and Argentina . This started us doing business direct and much later with Travel Agents. 'Making Arrangements is Our Business' and for this we charge a fee which is included in our final costing.
The public probably believe that there are high commissions payable in the Tour and Travel industry. Travel Agents know this is not so. Some airlines and motels pay no commissions at all. We do not pay travel agents commission and everything we offer is at Nett Price. We are unaware of the true costs of a particular Travel Agency but if like us, it is significant. We have a defined policy:
• If the client contacts us first, direct . We will advise the agent this has occurred and suggest they seek an alternative to assist them.
• If a Travel Agent contacts us first, on behalf of a named client we will advise them if the client has had previous contact. If no contact has been established we will deal solely with the Travel Agent . In the event of the client being second to call, it is our policy to refer them to the agent with whom we have already commenced to provide client satisfaction.
• It should be realised that the elected Travel Agent will need to charge clients a fee for service. The fee they charge will be in line with their additional administration costs. Our charges to a direct client will reflect within it, charges similar to that of a licenced Travel Agent as we both have the same needs for cost recovery when finalising the booking and administration of the tour.
• Our policy, at the Agents request, is to provide a full information service regarding our prepared itinerary and the client's specific requests. This is an offer to provide added strength and satisfaction to the clients needs. Costs will not be discussed with clients dealing via a Travel Agent as this is an agent / client confidence that we will preserve at all times.
Through these simple rules, we aim to see that both agents and direct clients receive a 'fair go' with the 'fare charged'. This allows this company to maintain an open door policy with the agent and travelling client. Group Events is proud to operate their tours with one objective, “the satisfaction of the touring customer.”
