These Booking Terms and Conditions form the basis of your contract with Nolvix LLP, trading as Ski Sarajevo, Company Number OC435390, having its Registered Office address at 13 John Prince’s Street , 2nd Floor, United Kingdom W1G OJR (hereinafter referred to as “the Operator”). This section entitled ‘Ski Sarajevo Booking Terms and Conditions’ sets out what you are entitled to expect from us when you make a booking with us.
In these Booking Terms and Conditions, “you” and “your” refers to all passengers on the booking (including anyone who is subsequently added or substituted at a later date). “Us”, “our” and “we” refers to the Operator, namely Nolvix LLP. These Terms and Conditions, together with the General Information found on our website www.ski-sarajevo.com, govern the relationship, responsibilities and liabilities as between all persons named on the booking and the Operator, and are binding whether you have read them or not. Therefore, please read them carefully as they form the basis of your contract with the Operator.
Booking Your Trip and Acceptance
1. The Operator accepts a booking only once a deposit or full payment has been collected and held either by the Operator directly or by an authorised travel agent on the Operator’s behalf. Bookings made via the Operators’ own websites are considered as made with the operator directly.
2. To confirm a direct booking, you must complete the booking form found on our website. This must be done by the first named person on the booking (“lead passenger”). The lead passenger must be at least 18 when the booking is made. The lead passenger must be authorised to make the booking by all persons named on the booking.
3. On receipt of your booking form, subject to availability and at the Operator’s discretion, the Operator will reserve your place(s) on your selected trips and send you an initial invoice for the deposit or full payment, together with a due date for such payment. It is your (or on bookings involving more than one person, the lead passenger’s) responsibility, as the customer, to check the accuracy of your booking and travel dates. A contract is only made between you and the Operator upon your booking being confirmed and accepted through communication thereof to either you or your authorised travel agent (hereinafter referred to as “confirmation”).
4. Once we have received all appropriate payments (see clause 5), we will, subject to availability, confirm your holiday by issuing a confirmation invoice. This invoice will be sent to the lead passenger and should be checked carefully as soon as it is received. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We cannot accept any liability if we are not informed of any inaccuracy in any document within 10 days of our sending it out. We will do our best to rectify any mistake notified to us outside these time limits but you must meet any costs involved in doing so.
Payments
5. In order for your trip to be confirmed, a deposit of £100 GBP per passenger (or full payment if the reservation is within ten weeks of the date your trip is due to begin) must be paid at the time of reservation.
6. The balance of the cost of the holiday cost must be received by us not less than ten weeks prior to the date your arrangements with us are due to begin, which will be shown on the confirmation invoice. Please note, we do not send out payment reminders.
7. If all payments due are not paid in full and on time, we can assume that you wish to cancel your reservation. In this case we will be entitled to keep all deposits paid. If we do not cancel straight away because you have promised to make payment, you must pay the cancellation charges shown in clause 9 depending on the date your booking has been treated as cancelled.
Changes and Cancellation by you
8. Accommodation+Lift-pass+transfers package. If you wish to make any modifications or alterations to your confirmed accommodation + extras package, we must be notified in writing at the earliest opportunity. We will certainly do our utmost to assist with any such requests. However, there is no guarantee we will be able to fulfil any such written requests. In instances where changes are possible, an amendment fee of £15 per booking will be payable together with any costs incurred by the Operator and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. Alterations may result in the recalculation of the trip price due to a switch from higher to lower season dates or vice versa.
9. Cancellation of a booking must be notified to us immediately, in writing, by the lead passenger. A booking will not be regarded as cancelled unless written notice is received by us. Upon cancellation, the following charges will apply:
Days before trip commencement / % of trip
Over 29 days Deposit (£100 per person)
29-22 days 30%
21-15 days 50%
14-0 days 100%
10. No refunds will be issued for partly attended trips, accommodation reservations or any other services reserved but not used. You may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (minus any excess), depending on the reason for cancellation, under the terms of your own personal insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to your insurance company.
11. Ski/Snowboard lessons (with or without equipment) hire. Cancellation of a booking for ski or snowboard lessons (with or without equipment hire) must be notified to us immediately, in writing, by the original booker. A booking will not be regarded as cancelled unless written notice is received by us. Upon cancellation, the following charges will apply:
Days before lessons are due to start / % of lessons deposit
Over 6 days Refund of deposit
0-6 days Loss of deposit
Changes and cancellation by us
12. Every effort will be made to run all trips as advertised. However, we start planning our trips up to 18 months in advance and on occasion, changes and modifications have to be made to details before and after bookings have been confirmed, and, on rare occasions, confirmed bookings have to be cancelled. We always strive to avoid any such alterations and cancellations, but reserve the right to do so. We will notify you as soon as possible of any such changes.
13. It must be remembered that due to the adventurous nature of our Ski Sarajevo trips, it is not always possible for our transfer vehicels gulets to call at destinations exactly as planned or as set out in the route. This is one of the risks of transfers around a Winter destination and unfortunately we often have no control over this occurring. Of course we will attempt, within the realms of health and safety, to call at all scheduled destinations but would ask you to allow for some degree of flexibility as regards itineraries when travelling with us as minor changes may occur (see definition in clause 13) due to unforeseen circumstances such as border control issues, blocked roads, extreme weather, to name a few.
As Ski Sarajevo is a land trip, there is less risk of the itinerary changing compared to a Go Sail Turkey gulet tour for example. However, as rare as this occurrence might be, even such trips can be subject to unexpected minor changes as defined below and a degree of understanding and flexibility is also to be allowed for those tours.
14. A minor change is defined as any change which we can reasonably be expected to know as a tour operator would not have a significant effect on your confirmed trip. If calling at any particular destination on an itinerary (such as Mostar) is of particular importance to you please let us know at the time of booking and we will be happy to discuss this issue with you in more detail. Our representatives on land-based tours retain the right to deviate from or change any particular itinerary where they believe it necessary to so for example in the interests of the health and safety of passengers.
15. We are sometimes forced to make a “major change”. A major change is a change made before departure which we can reasonably be expected to know as a tour operator will have a significant effect on your trip. “Major changes” can include the following:
(a) a change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification or standard for the whole or a major part of the time you are away;
(b) a significant change of itinerary which would result in missing out on one or more key destinations.
Where a major change is made prior to departure, we will inform you as soon as we can and you will have the choice of either: accepting another tour of equivalent or closely similar standard; or a choice of specified travel arrangements of a lower standard to those previously booked together with a refund of the price difference; or cancelling the tour and obtaining a full refund. These options are not available where any change made is minor.
If we have to make a major change, we will pay you the compensation payments set out in the table below depending on the circumstances. Compensation will only be paid out provided that the major change, prior to departure, is NOT due to “Force Majeure” (see clause 9 below). No compensation will be paid if we cancel as a result of your failure to comply with any requirement of these booking conditions (such as paying on time) or if we make a minor change.
Days before trip Compensation per passenger
commencement
Over 42 days Zero
42 – 29 days £20
28 – 14 days £30
13 – 7 days £40
6 – 0 days £60
Force Majeure
16. We cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the provision of your trip with us with you is prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of “force majeure”. “Force Majeure” includes war, threat of war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, pandemics, epidemics, natural or nuclear disaster, fire or adverse weather conditions, technical or maintenance problems with transport, closures or congestion at airports or ports, or other similar events beyond the control of the Company.
Insurance
17. You must take out comprehensive travel insurance before you travel. This travel insurance MUST have adequate Wintersports cover. We consider such travel insurance to be absolutely essential and should cover for cancellation, medical and repatriation expenses, personal injury, death, loss of personal items, loss/theft of money and personal liability insurance. Evidence of such travel insurance must be produced, upon request, to Nolvix LLP. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs.
Our Liability to You
18. The tours operated or supplied by Nolvix LLP (t/a as Ski Sarajevo) have been designed to provide passengers with an exposure to the nature of the environment visited and therefore involve an element of risk and exposure to potential hazards. Skiing in itself is a risky sport with all manner of hazards. All bookings are accepted on the understanding that the Client appreciates such risks and hazards and they undertake all tours at their own volition.
19. If you participate in an activity not included as part of a trip operated by us (such as a locally-run optional excursion such as a ski mobile tour), you accept all responsibility for taking part in such an activity and also that we are indemnified against any and all claims related to such activities.
20. Where a passenger suffers death, personal injury or any other loss whatsoever as a result of an activity forming part of the tour arrangements booked with us, then we shall only accept responsibility if the death, personal injury or loss was caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of our employees, officers, agents or suppliers. We shall not be liable for such death, personal injury or any other loss suffered whatsoever if there has been no fault on the part of ourselves or our partners, or if the cause was the fault of the passenger or due to the actions of someone unconnected with the trip arrangements or due to circumstances which neither Travel talk nor its partners could have reasonably anticipated or avoided.
21. The services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract – and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred – will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided.
If the particular services which gave rise to a claim or complaint complied with local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of the UK which would have applied had those services been provided in the UK. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature which might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take the travel arrangements in question. However, we do not make any representation or commitment that all services will comply with applicable local laws and regulations and failure to comply does not automatically mean we have not exercised reasonable skill and care. It is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).
22. Where any claim (including those involving death or personal injury) concerns any travel arrangements forming part of your contract with us (including the process of getting on or off the transport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrier or any stay in accommodation, the maximum amount of compensation we would have to pay you would be limited. The most we would have to pay you for that claim if we were found liable to you on any basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concerned would have to pay under the international convention or regulation which applies to the travel arrangements in question. These conventions include but are not limited to:
In respect of carriage by sea: the Athens Convention 1974
In respect of carriage by road: the Geneva Convention 1973
Behaviour and Consideration of Others
23. When you book a trip with us, you agree that you must comply with the rules and regulations applicable to the vehicle you will be travelling on. You accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss must be paid direct at the time to the owner, driver or local agency.
24. We expect all passengers to have consideration for other people. If, in our reasonable opinion or in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member of your party behaves in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party or damage to property, we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate the travel arrangements of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) involved will be required to leave the accommodation or other service concerned. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination.
Complaints
25. In the event of any dissatisfaction with any service provided by us, you must report it immediately to our local representatives so that action can be taken to remedy the problem. Failure to notify a local representative of any problem immediately may result in your ability to claim compensation from us being extinguished or reduced. If a local representative is not immediately available then you should email or call us on the contacts provided on the pre-departure documents.
26. Any complaint made to us following the conclusion of the trip should be made in writing within 28 days of completion of the trip. In the event that you do not notify us in writing within 28 days, our ability to investigate the complaint may be prejudiced and any right to claim any compensation you may have otherwise been entitled to may be adversely affected or even lost as a result. Where we act as an agent for services, then the complaint will be passed onto the supplier and disputes will need to be taken up directly with them.
Conditions of Suppliers
27. Many of the services which make up your travel arrangements are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier’s liability to you, usually in accordance with applicable International Conventions. Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from ourselves or the supplier concerned.
Snow
28. Whilst we obviously cannot guarantee snow, Jahorina has been chosen due to its prestigious history as a mountain used during the 1984 Winter Olympics, and its mostly reliable snow records.
Snow conditions can change dramatically overnight and from week to week, and will not be accepted as a valid reason for you to complain. We have no control over the weather and booking any Winter holiday relies on a certain degree of luck as regards weather and snow conditions. Although if conditions are exceptionally poor, we will do our best to change your booking to a Sarajevo-based hostel or hotel for you to enjoy the city. This is by no means guaranteed and would only be possible upon agreement from the Jahorina accommodation.
If there is such poor snow that the lift company and ski school in Jahorina decide that you are unable to ski or snowboard, we will endeavour to arrange a refund of unused lift-pass days. Any locally-booked ski lessons are payable locally after receipt of lesson(s) which means that a cancellation of lessons due to poor snow conditions would not require refunds.
Special requests and medical problems
29. If you have any special requests, you must advise us in writing at the time of booking. Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met unless we have specifically confirmed this. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part.
30. If you have a medical condition or disability which may affect your trip, we ask that you inform us in writing at the time of booking the trip of any special arrangements required by you so that we are able to advise as to the suitability of those arrangements. If we reasonably feel we are unable to satisfactorily accommodate your particular needs, we reserve the right to decline the booking or ask for you to be accompanied by a person who is able to provide full assistance to you throughout your trip.
Excursions and Optional Activities
31. During or before your trip you may be offered the chance to purchase various optional excursions and activities. We do not own, operate or control any of the companies or individuals which provide such optional activities or excursions. Some of the optional activities and excursions could be inherently risky.
If you wish to take part in such optional activities or excursions you must be fit enough to do so and must follow all reasonable instructions. The standards of health and safety which will be adopted by the company or the individual providing the optional activity or excursion will be those of the country where the optional activity or excursion takes place. Please note that these standards may not be the same as you would find in the UK, or in your home country. If you wish to book any optional excursion or activity, you may do so subject to the operator’s terms and conditions. Your contract will be with the operator of the activity or excursion and will be governed by local law. Nolvix LLP acts only as their agent. Nolvix LLP accepts no liability for any act or omission of any operator, its employees, agents or sub-contractors.
Travel Documents
32. Please ensure you carefully read your invoice and all other pre-departure documents we send to you as soon as you receive them, and contact us immediately if any information appears to be incorrect. We will not accept any liability if you fail to notify us of any inaccuracy in any document within 14 days of us sending them to you or your agent. While we will do our best to rectify any changes made outside this time, it is your responsibility to meet any additional costs which may be involved, except in the case of an error made by Nolvix LLP and where there is reasonable justification for you not contacting us within the specified time. You are responsible for ensuring that all necessary travel documents including, but not limited to, passports, visas and vaccination certificates are valid and subsisting. We strongly recommend that you verify current documentation requirements and all other relevant protocols and procedures associated with your trip with your travel agent or us. Please note requirements change and you must check with your Consulate for the most up to date information. Passports must have an expiry date of at least six months after completion of the trip.
33. It is the party leader’s responsibility to ensure that all members of the party are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining such documentation must be paid by you. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you or any member of your party are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry correct documentation. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results to fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.
Brochure, Website and Prices
34. The information and prices shown on our website or brochure may have changed by the time you come to book your travel arrangements. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the website/brochure and prices at the time of publication, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen travel arrangements (including the price) with us at the time of booking. This website is our sole responsibility. It is not issued on behalf of and does not commit any independent organisation/carriers whose services are featured in it.
Safety Standards and Requirements
35. It is the requirements and standards of the country in which any services which make up your travel arrangements are provided which apply to those services and not those of the UK. As a general rule, these requirements and standards may not be the same as the UK and could be lower.
Privacy Policy
36. In order to process your booking, we need to collect certain personal details from you. These details will usually include the names and addresses of party members, credit/debit card or other payment details and special requirements such as those relating to any disability or medical condition that may affect the holiday arrangements. We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information.
We must pass some information on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements (hotels, transport companies etc.) in order for them to prepare the arrangements as appropriate. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, public authorities such as customs/immigration if required by them, or as required by law.
Except where expressly permitted by the Data Protection Act 1998, we will only deal with the personal details you give to us as set out above unless you agree otherwise. We may make contact with you or members of your holiday party by post, e-mail, or telephone for the purposes set out. We will also use your information to inform you of offers in the future or to send you brochures. If you do not wish to receive such approaches in the future then please let us know as soon as possible by telephone, letter or e-mail us at info@ski-sarajevo.com. If we do contact you by e-mail about our new brochures, updated website or special offers, you will also be able to unsubscribe yourself from our database at this time.
When the passenger submits the review form they accept that the feedback and all rights therein, become the sole property of Nolvix LLP and Nolvix LLP shall have the right to make it available to the public on this website and for any purpose and in any media (including for advertising or other commercial use).
Contract
37. As referred to in the opening paragraphs of these Conditions, a binding contract comes into existence between the Operator and the passengers on the confirmation invoice once the aforementioned invoice has been dispatched to the party leader. All such contracts are governed by English Law should any dispute between us not be otherwise amicably settled.