Anglian Countryside Balloons Ltd
Terms & Conditions
Voucher Purchase
1) It is our intention that all the terms of the contract between us are contained in these terms and conditions and on the voucher, brochures and associated documents issued by us and in the information shown on our website(s). If you wish to rely on a variation in these terms you should ensure that we agree the variations in writing. If you purchase a voucher through a booking agent or a hotel you should agree any variation in these terms with us and not with the booking agent or the hotel.
2) The purchase of any voucher for a hot air balloon flight experience can be made on one of our booking forms, electronically via a website, by email, by telephone or in person. All will include or provide access to our terms and conditions.
3) Your order will be confirmed by post or email to you. You should check the details and read the terms and conditions.
4) If you do not agree with our terms and conditions you have a right to cancel your purchase within 7 working days commencing on the working day after you receive the voucher. Cancellations must be notified to us in writing within 7 working days as specified above and all documents received must be returned. For the purposes of this contract “working day” shall be taken to mean the period from 9 AM to 5 PM from Monday through to Friday inclusive.
5) Vouchers are a personalised item and will incur a £10.00 administration charge per voucher if cancelled. Other non-personalised merchandise, such as baseball caps are fully refundable if returned in a re-usable/saleable condition. A “Balloon in a Box” is fully personalised and is therefore non-refundable.
6) If within 7 working days, as specified in clause 4, you make a booking for a flight date you are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions.
7) Unless you cancel, as specified in clause 4, within the time stipulated you will be bound by all these terms and conditions.
8) This contract is made with you but you can give the flight experience (on the terms of this contract) to someone else provided you tell us in writing. These terms and conditions will still apply and “you” in these terms and conditions will refer to that person.
Our Obligations to you
9) The voucher will provide the opportunity for you to participate in one hot air balloon flight experience, to be taken within a period of 12 months from the purchase date, subject to complying with clause 24. The experience is participatory and includes the preparation and inflation of the balloon for flight, a flight in a hot air balloon, the recovery of the balloon at the end of the flight, a toast with champagne or soft drinks and a flight certificate.
10) The voucher is not redeemable for cash.
11) Launch site information will be provided with your flight confirmation. Some launch sites and areas may have practical, legal or operational limitations as to their use and so we reserve the right to change to another area, county or launch site more appropriate to the weather, legal or operational conditions prevailing and for any circumstances beyond our control.
12) It is intended that the balloon will be in the air for approximately one hour but the pilot has absolute responsibility for deciding the duration and conduct of any flight and the appropriate time and place of any landing. We cannot guarantee the duration of a flight or that it will follow any particular path or direction.
13) Hot air balloon flights are completely dependent upon the weather and are regulated by the current Air Navigation Order. It may be necessary to postpone a flight if in our judgement the conditions are not safe or the flight would not be permitted under the Air Navigation Order. If so we will give you as much notice as operational procedures allow of any postponement but in order to ensure safety we reserve the right to cancel a flight at anytime up to the moment of launch. In the event of a flight being postponed for weather, operational or any other reason we will not be liable for any costs or inconveniences incurred by you or anyone else associated with you. A range of alternative flight dates will be available from the booking office or on the company website(s).
14) If we have had to postpone your flight on five or more occasions during the period of validity we will continue to extend the validity period beyond the original 12 months by one month on from your last postponed flight date. Effectively, after the original 12 months of validity have expired you must book at least one flight date per month (and not cancel this flight date) between the months of April to October for your voucher to remain valid. Provided this criteria is met the voucher will remain valid between the intervening months of November to March without the need to book a flight date during these months.
15) If flights are suspended due to operational restrictions beyond the Company’s control, the validity period will be extended by the period of such restrictions and/ or suspensions. We cannot be held liable for any of the client’s losses or cost of whatever nature that result from the suspension of any flights in accordance with this clause. Should the need arise we reserve the right to transfer you to another licensed balloon operator for you to have your balloon flight.
16) A voucher is non-refundable save as specified in clauses 4 and 5 and in the following exceptional circumstances, provided you meet the conditions of clauses 24 and 25, we will make you a refund less our reasonable administration costs (see clause 18) in the following circumstances : -
If we agreed in writing at the time of the voucher purchase that the flight must be taken on a specified date or within a specified period of time of not more than one month from the purchase date and we were unable to provide you with the balloon flight experience.
If at least one month before the end of validity you supply a doctor’s certificate showing you are and will remain unfit to fly for the duration of the validity period.
If you die during the validity period of the voucher.
17) Refunds will not be made to the user or any third party. Refunds are always made to the person who purchased the experience, and if originally purchased by credit card, the refund will be credited to the same card.
18) All refunds will incur an administration fee of 40% of the price paid, except as specified in clauses 4 and 5. This percentage represents the costs of providing the full range of facilities needed to service the requirements of the balloon flight and the provision of these facilities is part of the contract.
19) If you are or become pregnant during the validity period you will be unable to fly. However, we will extend the validity period by twelve months provided you notify us in writing during the first four months of the pregnancy.
20) We carry insurance cover for any legal liability we may be found to have to you for any injury you may sustain, or for damage sustained by your belongings during the course of flight, during embarkation or disembarkation. However, English law in some circumstances sets maximum limits on our legal liability to you that you might regard as inadequate to compensate for any loss, whether for death or personal injury or damage to your personal belongings.
The combined single limit third party and occupant liability and passenger effects insurance cover for each of the company’s balloons is in accordance with current European Legislation covering air transport.
We can provide further details upon request if you do not consider that the amount of insurance cover would be adequate to compensate you for any loss whether for death, personal injury or damage to your belongings you should take out your own additional cover. We will not be liable for any loss or damage to equipment and effects brought with you on the flight nor for death or personal injury above the level of our insurance cover unless it has been caused by our recklessness.
21) We accept no liability for any costs or inconveniences you or anyone associated with you incurs if we postpone or cancel any flight for weather or operational reasons.
22) We cannot supervise the movement of vehicles or parking at the meeting point for a proposed balloon flight. Vehicles and their contents are left at your risk and no liability is accepted for any loss or damage to your vehicle or contents unless it is due to our negligence.
23) “Balloon in a Box” orders are sent by Royal Mail. The limit of our liability in the case of a failed or damaged delivery shall be no more than the original purchase price of the “Balloon in a Box”.
Your Obligations to Us
24) You must contact us at least six months before the expiry date shown on the voucher to discuss booking your flight. The flight date chosen must be within the validity period and within the ballooning season of April to October. If you do not do so and do not take your flight within the validity period, the voucher will expire and you will loose your entitlement to a balloon flight. We will not make any refund in these circumstances. It is the responsibility of the passenger to contact us to book a flight date or re-book a postponed flight date in order that we have the opportunity to complete the contract.
25) Your voucher is valid for a period of 12 months from the date upon which it was purchased or up until its expiry date. If your flight is not taken within this time, you will loose your entitlement to a balloon flight unless we have had to postpone your booked flight dates on at least five occasions for weather or operational reasons (see clause 14) or the validity period of the voucher has been extended for some other reason under these terms and conditions.
26) If you have not met the conditions outlined in clauses 24 & 25 your voucher will expire and we will have no further obligation to you.
27) If payment was not made in full when the voucher was purchased the balance must be paid ten days before the first flight date.
28) Before your appointed flight reservation you must telephone our flight information/weather line in accordance with our instructions to check that the flight has not been affected by adverse weather conditions or in any other way.
29) You may postpone or change your flight date with the following notice, provided that you do so by telephone during the working day:-
At least two full working days before the meeting time for the flight if your flight is booked for a day between Tuesday to Saturday inclusive;
At least three full working days before the meeting time for the flight if your flight is booked for a Sunday or Monday;
A message left on an out-of-hours answering machine, that is sent by fax, or by e-mail, is not acceptable as a method of postponement.
30) If you do not give notice of postponement in accordance with clause 29 above or do not attend in time to take part in your booked flight, you will have lost your entitlement to a balloon flight.
General
31) Ballooning activities intrinsically involve the possibility of physical risks greater than those encountered in daily life, even though they are conducted under the supervision of commercial pilots who exercise all due precautions to ensure safety. By taking part in such ballooning activities passengers are understood to be fully aware of these risks.
32) We welcome the participation of disabled people in our experiences, though we recognize that to be able to participate safely in a hot air balloon flight certain disabilities may present greater difficulties than others. We are committed to ensuring that customers with disabilities are given every opportunity to participate, so we require that you tell us about any disability or medical condition, even if YOU do not consider that it is a disability, at the time of ordering. Such information is needed to allow us to respond to our duty of care for your safety. This enables us to do our best to meet the participant's particular needs if possible. We will be happy to provide information about the disabled facilities available at specific venues on request. We are unable to fly any person who is confined to a wheelchair, as our baskets are not licensed for the carriage of passengers in wheelchairs.
33) We are not qualified to express an opinion concerning your fitness to fly and you must ensure that you are fit to fly. You must not fly if you are suffering from any significant medical condition, or have recently undergone surgery. We may ask you to provide a certificate of your fitness to fly from your doctor or specialist. It is necessary that you disclose any aspect of your medical or physical condition that could be considered to affect your safety or the safety of others. You must not fly if you are pregnant or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
34) Our paramount consideration is your safety and the safety of others participating in the flight and you must obey all requests and instructions issued by any of our representatives and take particular care to abide by any safety instructions given. The pilot has complete discretion under the Air Navigation Order as to whether to allow you to take part in the flight and will refuse to allow you to do so if in his/her opinion you would be a risk to the safe conduct of the flight, to the balloon, to other passengers or to yourself. In these circumstances you will loose your entitlement to a balloon flight.
35) We will only accept children for a balloon flight who have reached the age of 5 years or over and at the discretion of the pilot. A child under the age of 16 years must be accompanied by a responsible adult appointed by the parent(s) or guardian. If the passenger is aged 16 or 17 years and not accompanied by a responsible adult, the written consent of a parent/guardian will be required.
36) You should wear such appropriate clothing as is advised to you in advance of the flight and as further detailed in the brochures and associated literature supplied to you.
37) In the interests of safety and operational requirements any passengers whose declared weight exceeds 18 stones (114 kg) will need to contact our office to discuss appropriate arrangements.
38) Smoking is not permitted within 50 metres of any part of the balloon nor on board.
39) If we are unable to provide the experience for whatever reason then we may terminate the contract. We cannot be held liable for any of the client’s losses or cost of whatever nature that result from the cancellation.
40) Anglian Countryside Balloons Ltd reserves the right to change these Terms & Conditions from time to time without reference to customers. Current terms and conditions are always available on the company’s website: http://www.countrysideballoons.co.uk or on request.
41) Unless specifically provided for in these Terms & Conditions, no third party shall have any rights under or in connection with these Terms and Conditions.
42) You consent to us processing data provided by you and relating to you in accordance with The Data Protection Act 1998 and for this data to be held on computer files and used for the purposes of administration, accounting and marketing.
43) The provisions of these terms and conditions are separate, and if any provision or part of it is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court or other body of competent jurisdiction, that will not affect any other provisions or the remainder of the relevant provision.
44) This agreement shall be construed, interpreted and applied in accordance with the Laws of England and Wales and subject to the jurisdiction of its courts. V 10/2008.
If you have a complaint you should write to: Anglian Countryside Balloons Ltd, Woodlands, King Edward Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, CM0 8PB.
