In making a booking for Writers’ Retreat UK retreat, by phone or online, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
Bookings
All bookings must be accompanied by the appropriate deposit and your booking will not be confirmed until you have received written confirmation by email from us. The balance of your retreat fee is payable no later than eight weeks before the retreat starts and we do not send reminders. Unpaid or late balances may be treated as a cancellation. If we do not receive your balance when it’s due, we reserve the right to offer the place to someone else.
Travel insurance
We cannot reimburse travel costs or other losses incurred by you in the event of cancellation by us or you. You are strongly advised to take out travel insurance to cover potential loss arising from cancellation or other eventuality affecting your booking, including retreat fees and travel costs. You should check that any policy you take meets your needs.
Cancellations
Cancellations of bookings will be accepted up to eight weeks before the course takes place and your deposit (or full fee if paid) will be returned less a £50 cancellation charge. If you cancel your booking after this time, we will retain the full deposit. In this case, we will do our best to find someone else to take your place and, if we succeed, the balance of your fee (less the full deposit) will be returned to you. If we cannot re-fill your place, we will retain the full payment.
Transfers
At our discretion, you may be able to transfer your booking to another retreat to take place at a later date, subject to availability and payment of any differences in the fees due. Where we agree to the transfer and the fee for the new booking is less than the fee for the original booking, we will refund you the difference less an administration charge of £50. We will normally accept transfers up to six weeks before the course takes place, and all of the fee paid will be allocated to the new retreat. If we receive a request to transfer a booking after this time, we will do so only if we have already received the full retreat payment from you and we are able to re-fill your place on the original retreat. If either of these conditions is not met, we regret we are unable to transfer the booking. Our cancellation terms will apply to the new booking. Please note that we can only transfer a booking to a retreat within the same year, and that once a booking is transferred we are unable to offer any refunds for any subsequent cancellation, or further transfer.
Changes to a Retreat
Writers’ Retreat UK reserves the right to make changes to the advertised programme and instructors for taught retreats but, if necessary, we always strive to replace instructors with someone of similar experience, and will give you as much notice as possible. On very rare occasions we may need to cancel a retreat and, in the event of this, we will offer you an alternative retreat or we will return your fee in its entirety. We cannot pay travel or other costs, which you may have booked in advance. You may be able, however to reclaim from your travel insurance policy, and our liability to you in all cases is limited to the retreat fee you have paid. Please note that where we have to change instructors, our standard terms and cancellation policy still apply.
Conduct
Writers’ Retreat UK retreats rely on a supportive environment amongst our staff and attendees, with understanding and tolerance being paramount. Writer’ Retreat UK reserves the right to refuse a place and/or to exclude from a retreat any person who, in the opinion of the Retreat Manager, behaves in an abusive or disruptive manner or engages in any discriminatory conduct. No refund will be given if exclusion is made for these reasons.
Pets
Please note that with the exception of guide dogs, pets are not permitted at Writers’ Retreat UK, without prior agreement.
Smoking
Smoking is not permitted anywhere inside the Writers’ Retreat UK buildings, and only in designated smoking areas outside.
Guests
A place on a Writers’ Retreat UK retreat must be attended by the person named on the booking. Bookings may be transferred to another person by prior arrangement with Writers’ Retreat UK. Please note that you are not permitted to have guests or visitors on site during your stay, unless by prior booking and the appropriate visitor fee has been paid.
Members’ Site
Writers’ Retreat UK reserves the right to do any of the following, at any time, without notice: (1) to modify, suspend or terminate operation of or access to the Site, or any portion of the Site, for any reason; (2) to modify or change the Site, or any portion of the Site, and any applicable policies or terms; and (3) to interrupt the operation of the Site, or any portion of the Site, as necessary to perform routine or non-routine maintenance, error correction, or other changes.
Privacy and Data
By booking, you agree that we may collect and store personal information about you and your interactions with Writers’ Retreat UK. This includes: your personal contact details; gender; details of your booking and booking history, including any access and dietary needs you have informed us of, records of payments (although we do not store credit/debit cards numbers), any correspondence and any other information we need to keep in order to administer your booking. All personal information is kept securely on our computer systems. We will use this information to communicate with you about your booking and we may, unless you tell us otherwise, communicate with you occasionally about other retreats and services we offer. We will never share or
sell information about our customers with any third party.
Loss
Writers’ Retreat UK cannot accept responsibility for any loss, damage or expense sustained by retreat participants as a result of an event or circumstance whether arising from natural cause, human agency, or beyond its control otherwise.
Comments and Complaints
While Writers’ Retreat UK makes every effort to maintain the highest of standards, participants may, occasionally, choose to offer comments or make a complaint. At the end of every retreat, participants are given the opportunity to provide feedback using our evaluation form.
All complaints should be made in writing, within ten working days of the end of your retreat, to [email protected], detailing the exact nature of your complaint. Writers’ Retreat UK offers a full, no-quibble guarantee and, if you feel it is justified, we will return your fee in full.