Bookings Terms & Conditions
Mulberry Cottages is the trading name for holiday cottage lettings of the Humberts group and is registered in England at The Granary, Bridge Street, Wye, Kent, TN25 5ED
It is possible to book your chosen cottage via the telephone, e.mail or by completing the Booking Form at the back of our brochure. If you would like us to hold your cottage while you send in the booking form and deposit or while you confirm your decision, we are happy to do this for you, at our discretion, for a short period of time. However if we are within two weeks of the holiday date a full payment is needed to secure the booking.
Bookings and offers of bookings are all subject to availability. We and the owner have the right to refuse any booking, for whatever reason, prior to issuing you with written confirmation. The party leader must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking. Please check all booking details carefully and inform us of any incorrect information immediately. When you book a property through Mulberry Cottages you enter into a contract with the owner of that property, we act only as a booking agent. By booking your holiday cottage with us you are agreeing that no liability can be accepted by the owner or Mulberry Cottages for any expenses, costs, losses, claims or other sums of any description which relate to any business suffered or loss incurred.
Non-availability of property
If for any unfortunate reason beyond the owner’s control the property becomes unavailable on the date booked, or the property is unsuitable for holiday letting at that time, all rent and charges paid in advance by the applicants will be refunded in full, but the applicants shall have no further claim against the owner or Mulberry Cottages.
Pets
Pets are only permitted with our prior consent and where permitted are to be kept under control and exercised off the premises. Pets are not permitted in bedrooms or on furniture and neither we nor the owners can accept responsibility for their safety. Please do not leave pets in the property unsupervised, as this can result in considerable damage to the property and distress to the pet. A weekly charge of £20 will be made for each pet. Customers with allergies should be aware that ‘Regret no Pets’ in a description does not always guarantee there have never been pets in the property in the past. Registered guide dogs are allowed in the properties but you should inform us at the time of booking if you wish a guide dog to accompany you.
Payment
If a booking is made more than eight weeks before the tenancy is due to start, a deposit of 30% of the rent must be paid. Once a booking is received and accepted by us, the applicants are liable to pay the full rent and any additional charges, eight weeks before the start of each holiday. No reminders will be sent out beyond the booking confirmation which advises you of the balance due date. If we do not receive payment by this date then we will treat it as a cancellation. For all credit/debit card payments, the balance will be automatically deducted from the card eight weeks prior to the holiday start date.
If you book less than eight weeks before the start of a holiday, full payment plus all additional costs must be received at the time of booking. If a booking is made by credit card, Mulberry Cottages will make a charge of 2% for each payment made in order to recover the credit card company’s charges. If any payment made to us is not honoured, a £20 administration charge will be levied. In the event of a booking not being accepted by us, all fees paid will be refunded. A booking fee of £23.50 (which includes £3.50 VAT) will be charged for each booking made.
Payment may be made by cheque, credit card, debit card or postal order and should be made payable to Mulberry Cottages. Post-dated cheques cannot be accepted. Any charges raised against us by your bank for handling dishonoured cheques, bank transfers or any other payments will be passed on to you and you will be liable to reimburse us in respect of such charges within seven days.
Overseas applicants may pay in sterling cheque. We regret that any charges incurred in handling payments from overseas will be passed on to you.
Refundable security deposits are paid with the final payment against any breakages or damage to the property. These will be refunded after the booking is complete, less any deductions for damage.
Force majeure
Both we and the holidaymakers will not be liable for our respective obligations under this agreement in circumstances amounting to Force Majeure. Force Majeure means any unusual and unforeseeable events beyond our control, including but not restricted to war, threat of war, civil strife, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, epidemics, terrorist activity, governmental action, acts of God .
Holidaymakers and Mulberry Cottages shall only be able to rely on Force Majeure after taking all practical steps to remedy the cause of Force Majeure.
Brochure details
We make every effort to ensure that the information provided by the owners is presented accurately on our website, in our brochure and in any other promotional material we may use. However, details and prices may be subject to change and errors do occasionally occur, so you must check all the details and arrangements with us at the time of booking. Sometimes changes to services or facilities at a property may occur after the booking has been made and in this instance we will let you know as soon as possible.
We make every effort to ensure that the information supplied to you is correct at the time of going to print, but cannot accept responsibility for any inaccurate or misleading information given regarding the property or its facilities, except in the case of negligence of Mulberry Cottages.
Liability
Both the owner and Mulberry Cottages shall have no liability for any death or personal injury, unless this results from the negligence of Mulberry Cottages or its employees (providing they were at the time acting in the course of their employment) or, in the case of the owner, it results from the owner or their employees (providing they were at the time acting in the course of their employment). In addition, the owner accepts no responsibility for the safety of, or the loss or damage to the tenants’ possessions whilst on the owner’s property or land. Exception to this is if damage or loss is caused by negligence by Mulberry Cottages, Mulberry Cottage’s employees, the owner or the owner’s employees. As Mulberry Cottages only acts as an agent for the owner, it cannot be held liable for any omission of the owner or the owner’s employees. Mulberry Cottages cannot accept responsibility for any defect of a property as it is within the sole control of the owner.
Booking cancellation / change of booking
If you have to cancel your holiday we need to be notified by telephone immediately and also in writing. This can only be accepted from the party leader. The amount you are liable for is set out below and depends on when you cancel.
Number of days before holiday
start date that notice is received -- Cancellation charges
more than 8 weeks -- deposit
less than 8 weeks -- 100%
If you do not pay the amount due in relation to your booking by the due date (remember, no reminder will be sent) we will assume that you wish to cancel the booking, in which case we will be entitled to keep all of the deposit already paid. If we do not cancel straight away because you have promised to make payment, you will be liable for cancellation charges as per the above table, depending on the date Mulberry Cottages treats your booking as cancelled.
The property
You may arrive at the property any time after 3.00pm but if you will be arriving after 8.00pm please let us know so that arrangements can be made for collecting a key, etc. At the end of your holiday you should depart by 10.00am. If you do not arrive at your holiday destination by 12 noon of the day following your intended arrival, and neither we nor the owner has heard from you, your holiday will be treated as cancelled. Whilst you are staying in the property it is you and your parties’ responsibility, to keep the property clean and tidy and to leave it in this condition at the end of your holiday. The property cannot be used for any commercial purposes, nor sublet or assigned to anyone not accepted by us as a party member. You are responsible for any breakages or damage caused by you and your party and for the costs of repair.
The owner is entitled not to let you into their property if he or she feels for any reason that you or any member of your party are likely to cause any damage to it and is under no obligation to find alternative accommodation for you or your party. You may not allow anyone to stay in the property not included in the booking form, nor may you change the composition of the party radically without notifying us. Pets may not be taken to the property unless they have been booked-in with us. If you breach any of these rules, the owner is entitled not to hand over the property to you, in which case the holiday will be treated as cancelled, with no refund due and the owner is not liable to provide you with alternative accommodation.
You must allow us or the owner or their employees access to the property during reasonable hours, except where an emergency problem needs to be remedied immediately and you are out of contact, in which case, they may enter the property without your prior agreement.
Losses and damages
Losses or damages incurred by any member of your party during your holiday must be paid for. Before you arrive, the property will have been thoroughly cleaned and the inventory checked and you are advised to check this again yourself upon your arrival. If you find any discrepancies with the inventory and/or the state of the property please notify the owner as soon as possible and certainly within 24 hours. Any losses or damages caused after this will be your responsibility and it may be worth checking with your own insurance company whether they will cover you in these circumstances. If a loss or damage does occur to the property while you are staying there, please inform the owner as soon as possible to agree the level of charges to be paid.
Smoking
Please note that in accordance with current legislation, smoking is not permitted at any of our properties.
Linen
Linen and towels, but not beach towels are provided in all properties unless otherwise stated. Linen is changed between tenancies and weekly during tenancies.
Complaints
All complaints must be notified to the owner or his representatives immediately so that on-the-spot investigation can be made if necessary and remedial action taken if required. In no circumstances will compensation be made for complaints raised after the holiday period has ended, or when the holidaymaker has denied us or the owner the opportunity of investigating the complaint and endeavouring to put matters right during the holiday period.
If you are unable to make contact with the owner or are unhappy with the response he gives, then you should contact us on the telephone number given to you in the booking confirmation form. If you are still dissatisfied with the way the problem has been handled, you must put your complaint in writing to us within 30 days of the end of your holiday. Any assistance provided in resolving a complaint in relation to your booking is provided on a goodwill basis.
Communication
In order to process your booking, we will need certain information from you about you and your party. Some of this will need to be passed on to other personnel involved with your holiday, such as the owner or the credit card company. It may also be used for administration purposes within Mulberry Cottages. Names and addresses may be used by us for sending you future promotional or marketing literature. We can guarantee that any information will remain confidential and is protected under the Data Protection Act 1988. You are entitled to ask us how we are using your details. We undertake to reply to any such requests in writing within 40 days and a fee will be charged for this. In some circumstances we may refuse such a request.
Law
The contract between you and the owner and Mulberry Cottages is governed by English Law. Any dispute you have with us or the owners shall be dealt with in an English or Welsh Court of Law. Your statutory rights are not affected by anything contained with these booking conditions.
+44 (0)1233 813087
info@mulberrycottages.com
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