Terms and Conditions

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Definitions In these Terms and Conditions

The Company means Mountain Skills Training Ltd.

The customer means any person, firm, company or other legal entity which places an order or buys any products or services from the company and includes the employees, servants, agents or sub-contractors of any such person, firm company or other legal entity.

Service means any course, activity or equipment rental offered by the company.

Contract means a contract between the company and the customer for the provision of products or services.

Statutory Interest means statutory interest for the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Terms and Conditions means these terms and conditions of provision.

Applicability of Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions shall be incorporated into the contract and shall apply in place of and prevail over any terms and conditions contained or referred to in any communication from the customer or implied by custom or practice. Other terms and conditions are expressly rejected by the company.

Booking Conditions

The contract shall be formed when the company acknowledges acceptance of the customer’s booking form and required payment.

Participation in adventurous activities entails some risk of injury. All staff employed by the company are trained and appropriately qualified to run activity sessions and will at all times proceed in a manner to limit the risk of injury. However, customers need to accept that accidents and injuries can happen.

Any participant under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by his/her parent/guardian during any activity/course offered by the company. The parent/guardian with legal responsibility needs to be aware and accept the risks involved in adventure activities and satisfy themselves accordingly.

The minimum age for course participation is 14 years.

The customer is responsible for the safekeeping of all equipment issued or rented for use during the activity/course. With the exception of fair wear and tear the company reserves the right to charge for equipment that has been lost, misused or unreasonably damaged.

All bookings are on the basis that the customer will, at all times, observe the safety regulations set by the company.

The contract is subject to availability of a course place/date and the acceptance by the customer of these terms and conditions.

All information is produced in good faith that it is accurate at the time of publishing.

All Fees

If payment is not made in accordance with these conditions, the Company reserves the right to charge statutory interest on the overdue/outstanding balance for the period from the date on which payment became due until the date on which payment is made including any period after the date of judgement or decree against the customer.

Fees – Scheduled and Private Courses

Places can only be reserved by the company upon receiving a completed booking form and a 25% non-refundable deposit (where applicable), or full course fee.

The outstanding balance for any booking is due 6 weeks before the commencement of the course.

We will notify you by email when the outstanding balance is due. Our booking system will collect the outstanding balance from the card you used to pay the deposit. This will happen automatically 6 weeks before the start of your course. You will receive notification by email when this has been processed.

Please contact us as soon as possible by phone or email if you do not want our booking system to automatically collect your outstanding balance.

The whole course fee is required to reserve a place for any booking made within 6 weeks of the commencement of the course.

A completed booking form plus an official purchase order issued by a recognised buying authority confirming acceptance of our terms and conditions upon which we will issue an invoice for the full amount of the course.

Amendments by the Customer

Substitution of the original customer for another can be made provided the substituting customer satisfies the requirement of the course. All substitutions must be made with the consent of the company with both the substituted and substituting customer being jointly and severally liable for the total course fee as well as an administrative cost of £25.00 per course/substitution.

A customer may apply, by email, to change course or course dates as long as the original booking is more than 6 weeks from the date of the request. The new course must be one that appears on our website. An administrative charge of £25.00 is payable at the time of change. Any requests to change course or course dates within the 6-week period will be dealt with under the terms and conditions relating to cancellation by the customer.

Group bookings only: Variations in numbers must be agreed in writing and may incur additional charges. No variations may be accepted within 6 weeks of the booked date.

Cancellations

Deposits (where applicable) are non-refundable. You are advised to take out your own travel insurance when you book. This may allow you to recover prior payments (usually less an excess) if you must cancel and the circumstances of your cancellation are covered by the insurance contract.)

Course sizes described on the website are target sizes and may be increased or decreased at the discretion of the Company. The Company gives no undertaking as to the minimum or maximum size of a course but do undertake to ensure that Leaders, Guides, Instructors and support staff are supplied in appropriate numbers to ensure the principle objectives of the course can be achieved. Similarly, Leaders, Guides, Instructors and support staff named in course descriptions, anywhere in the literature or on the website, may be changed at any time.

The Company reserves the right to cancel any course which does not have sufficient people taking part to make it financially viable, or to cancel your participation alone if not to do so would result in a financial penalty. By the same token, the Company will endeavour to ensure that a course runs if at all possible. If your booking is likely to be cancelled under such circumstances, the Company undertakes to inform you as soon as possible; this may occur after the balance due date but will not occur less than 7 days before the course.

Anyone booked onto a course which is cancelled by the Company will be entitled to a full refund or entitled to transfer to another course and no transfer fee will be payable. Should you transfer to another course any difference in price will be invoiced or credited accordingly.

Similar cancellation terms are adopted throughout the travel industry and cover the costs of advance payments made by the Company, and the effect of your booking having prevented others from taking your place. Cancellation charges may be covered, in part, by your travel insurance provided the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of the policy.

Cancellation by the Customer 

All cancellations must be in writing and sent either by post or email. The company will acknowledge a cancellation within 5 days of receiving it. Until the customer has received confirmation the original booking remains valid.

The customer will be charged on the following basis:

• Deposits are non-refundable.
• 50% of the total course fee where cancellation takes place less than 4 weeks but more than 2 weeks before the commencement of the course; or
• 100% of the total course fee where cancellation takes place within the period of 2 weeks before the commencement date of the course or commencement date of the course.

Cancellation by the Company

Whilst every attempt is made to ensure that courses/activities actually run, the company will notify the customer of cancellation as soon as practicable where it believes on reasonable grounds that cancellation is necessary due to dangerous and/or unsuitable conditions for the course/activity.

The company shall notify the customer of cancellation not less than seven days prior to the commencement of the course where numbers as a result of either customer(s) cancellation or booked numbers have failed to reach a workable minimum.

In the event of cancellation, customers will be offered the choice of the following options:

• Full refund of the fee paid; or
• Transfer to another course on a different date that is published on the website.

Gift Vouchers

Vouchers are valid for a period of 12 months from the date selected during the online purchase process. 

Vouchers cannot be redeemed, transferred or refunded after the voucher expiry date.

There is no limit to the number of gift vouchers that can be redeemed against a single booking.

Promotional codes and seasonal discounts cannot be used in conjunction with gift vouchers.

Gift vouchers shall be delivered to the email address provided at during the purchase process.

Vouchers can be redeemed by phone or email only. There is no option for online redemption. 

Redemption contact details are provided at the time of purchase.

Vouchers are non-refundable other than within the 14 day cancellation period as per the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. 

Gift voucher credit will be given if the voucher value exceeds the total cost of the course – for example where a £200 voucher is used to purchase a £130 course. The gift voucher credit will be valid for the remainder of the original gift voucher 12 month period.

Mountain Skills Training does not guarantee that spaces will be available on courses. Spaces are only secured once a course has been booked, so it is recommended that you book as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Gift vouchers cannot be exchanged for cash.

In the unlikely event that a course needs to be cancelled by Mountain Skills Training, an alternative course date will be offered. 

If a course is cancelled by a gift voucher holder the voucher will be debited with an amount according to the following conditions:

• 25% of the total course fee where cancellation takes place less than 6 weeks but more than 4 weeks before the commencement of the course; or
• 50% of the total course fee where cancellation takes place less than 4 weeks but more than 2 weeks before the commencement of the course; or
• 100% of the total course fee where cancellation takes place within the period of 2 weeks before the commencement date of the course or after the commencement date of the course.

Health

Customers participating in courses/activities must expect to be involved in adventurous and sometimes strenuous activities. Although prior experience and/or training is not necessary on all the courses/activities customers are expected to be of good general health. The medical section on the Acknowledgment Of Risk form must be completed before the commencement of the course. All prior injuries and/or serious illnesses must be declared. The customer must satisfy him/herself that taking part in the course is within his/her own capabilities. The company reserves the right to refuse a booking on medical grounds if it is considered to be detrimental to the safety and smooth running of the course.

Equipment

The Company may provide some equipment for a course (such as ropes, avalanche-transceivers, tents and camping equipment) and are responsible for the maintenance of such equipment. Where you deliberately or recklessly cause damage to any such equipment, whether during the trip or during any pre-trip training, you shall indemnify the Company and keep the Company indemnified from all losses arising from any such wilful or reckless damage so caused including legal costs of making a recovery against you.

Safety Regulations

Outdoor adventurous activities take place in varied natural environments where there are natural hazards and risks to manage. Every effort will be made by the Mountain Skills Training staff to provide realistic training in a safe manner. Customers participating in courses are expected to comply with all safety guidance and instructions given by the Company and its staff.

Unruly Behaviour

Behaviour that disrupts the smooth running of an event may result in the disruptive customer(s) being excluded.  Any damage caused to property or equipment as a result of unruly behaviour will be charged for.

Personal Property

Property belonging to the customer is at all times the responsibility of the customer unless any loss or damage is due to any negligence by the company or its representatives.

Complaints

If the customer encounters any problem or difficulty the company will try and resolve them as soon as is possible. In the first instance report anything either to the instructor, the course director or the management at the centre. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction please write to the Mountain Skills Training Ltd. Director by email to info@mountainskillstraining.co.ukor by post to 1 Churchill Way, Acklington, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE65 9DB. Your concerns will be dealt with within 28 days of writing.

Force Majeure

The company shall have no liability whatsoever in respect of any delay or failure in delivery of any of the courses or of any of the company’s other obligations due directly or indirectly to any cause whatsoever outside the reasonable control of the company including but not limited to act of God, war, invasion, rebellion, riot, civil commotion, disorder, malicious damage, fire, flood, epidemic, pandemic, quarantine restriction, strikes or other industrial disputes, severe weather or energy supplies.

Liability

The Company will not be liable where any failure in the performance of the Contract is due to: you; or a third party unconnected with the provision of the course and where the failure is unforeseeable or unavoidable; or any other unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond the Company’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or an event which the Company or its suppliers, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall. The Company shall not be liable for any illness, injury or loss of life sustained on any course, except where such illness, injury or loss of life is caused by the negligence of the Company or its employees, nor will the Company be liable for any uninsured loss of personal property.

For all courses, you are advised to have insurance that covers you for all the activities.

Intellectual Property

Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the products and services shown in the company’s price lists, website and any literature shall remain at all time the property of the Company. The customer shall acquire no rights in the products and services except as expressly provided for in these terms and conditions.

Photographs

From time to time photographs taken on the Company’s courses may appear in the Company’s website, promotional material and distributed on the company’s social media channels. If customers do not wish to be photographed please raise this with the course instructor at the time.

Data Protection

The personal information requested by the Company at the time of booking plus any subsequent information is held digitally. The information is required to assist the company, employees, agents and sub-contractors to deliver the course and in maintaining the company’s high standards of delivery. By providing us with the information to process your booking you are agreeing that the information can be kept and accessed by authorised company personnel. Contact details will be used to advise you of future offers by post, email, SMS or phone ONLY if you have given us your permission to do so. 

Applicable Law

The contract will be governed by the laws of England any dispute will be dealt under the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

The statutory rights of the customer are not affected by the above.

General

Only the Company’s Director may promise a refund or offer compensation. The Company’s Leaders, Course Directors, Guides, Instructors, Agents, Representatives or Employees are not entitled to promise a refund nor to offer compensation and the Company will not be bound by any such promise or offer.

When making your booking it is implied and accepted that you have read and understood all these booking conditions and agree to abide by them.

The Company shall ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to protect your personal data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 and to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation). When you make a booking, you consent to all the information you provide being passed on to the Company’s subcontractors, employees or volunteers for the purposes of our providing you with the course.