Our Terms & Conditions

Cornwall Accommodation Booking Conditions 2009/2010.

Please read these terms and conditions carefully before booking your Cornwall accommodation. When you make a booking and you receive a booking confirmation, a legally binding contract is made. Please do ensure that you take out adequate travel or cancellation insurance in accordance with our cancellation policy.

These Terms & Conditions govern all bookings through cornwallscottages.co.uk and stmawesholidays.co.uk which are trading names of Cornwalls Cottages Ltd of The Coach House, Carclew Street, Truro, Cornwall, TR2 5ER (“The Company”). Any booking made or order placed by you, whether through the Company's websites or otherwise, shall be deemed an offer by you to rent the relevant accommodation subject to these terms & conditions. All bookings through our Company and all matters arising from them are subject to English law and to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. The person who makes the booking accepts these conditions on behalf of all members of the party and is responsible for all payment due from the party. Booking services with the company are only available to persons who are at least 18 years old. By submitting a booking you warrant and confirm to us that you have read these Terms & Conditions and agree to comply with them.

Contractual Arrangements
The booking arrangements are made by Cornwalls Cottages, on behalf of the Owners and the contractual relationship is directly between the Owners of the property and the customer.

Liability
In consideration of the fact that the Company acts only as a booking agent, the Company accepts no liability whatsoever for any aspect of the arrangements and in particular, accepts no liability for any loss, personal injury/illness or death however incurred. Although the Company uses all reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy of all information provided and the quality and facilities of the properties, we cannot accept any liability whatsoever for any problems that occur while guests occupy the property of their choice. All information has been provided in good faith and no liability is accepted whatsoever by the Company for any misrepresentation of property material or accommodation.

Credit Card Payments
Your credit card statement will show that you have been billed by ‘Cornwalls Cottages'.

Deposit & Payment
A deposit payment for all properties is required at the time of booking, once a booking request has been confirmed by the Company. If the booking is made within 8 weeks of the date of arrival then full payment is required immediately. The Company will not accept responsibility for cash sent through the post. Payment can be made by cheque or by bank transfer to our bank account or by Debit Card or by Visa/Mastercard subject to a card processing fee. Booking confirmation together with arrival instructions for the property will be sent by email or if requested, by post. Where an initial deposit is paid, the balance must be paid within 8 weeks of the commencement date of the booking, whether demanded by us or not. If this is not paid within 7 days of it being due, then we reserve the right to cancel the booking without any refund.Provisional bookings will may be taken upon application and will only be held for up to 48 hours pending receipt of a cleared deposit or full payment as may be required. Bookings will not be guaranteed until we have received your full payment as required and have sent you our formal Booking Confirmation in writing.

Cancellation by you
You or any member of your party may cancel your booking at any time however no refund will be made for any monies paid unless we can re-book the period of the cancelled holiday at the same price.  If we can re-book the period of the cancelled holiday, but at a lower price, we will refund this proportion if appropriate to you.  In certain cases any loss, if incurred involuntarily, may be covered by insurance that you may have taken out. Travel Insurance is strongly recommended.

Cancellation by the property owner/s
If deemed necessary the Company reserves the right to withdraw or cancel the property booking. In this unlikely event you will be offered the choice of renting another property through the Company (subject to availability) with the price difference payable/refundable as appropriate, or of receiving a full refund of all monies paid to the property Owner. No compensation is payable by the Company.

Behaviour
It is your responsibility to ensure that you and the members of your party do not behave in a way which causes offence or danger to others or which risks damage to property belonging to others. In such circumstances the property Owner/s and the Company have the right to terminate arrangements made on your behalf, in which case the Company's responsibility to you ceases immediately and there can be no refunds, no payment of compensation and no reimbursement of any cost or expenses you may incur as a result. Further, you will be liable to reimburse the Company for any expenses whatsoever it incurs as a result of your behaviour.

Breakages & Cleanliness
A property is made available for letting on the understanding that the property will be left clean and tidy at the time of checkout and all personal waste must be removed from the property. It is not generally our policy to take any security deposits although on certain properties this is the requirement of the Owner. Whether a security deposit is taken or not, the customer will be held responsible for any damage or breakages to the property, caused by the customer and in the event of such occurrence, the incident must be reported to the property owner or their representative immediately and appropriate compensation made. Customers are not permitted to move any furniture or equipment without prior written consent from ourselves or the property owner. In the event of such permission being granted, it is the customer’s responsibility to return the same to its original position before checkout. Under no circumstances must any furniture or equipment for use inside the property, be moved outside.Where a security deposit is held on behalf of the property owner, this will normally be refunded within 7 days of the arrival date by cheque once the property owner of their representative has made a full inspection of the property. Where any damage or breakage has occurred and been left unreported, this will be informed to the customer and the security deposit or part of the security deposit will be used as payment or part payment of any appropriate compensation made.

Building Work 
Any building work which may commence in the local area is outside of our control, and we cannot be held responsible for any resulting disturbance. However, should we become aware of any building work which may reasonably be considered to aversely affect the enjoyment of your holiday we will notify you as soon as possible, and wherever possible, will offer you the opportunity to transfer to an alternative property at the advertised price. Whilst we assure you of our best endeavours to minimise any inconvenience we regret that we cannot accept any liability in this case.

Property Check-in / Check-out times 
Access to properties will be after 4pm on your day of arrival to allow time for cleaning and servicing, and must be vacated by 10am on the day of departure (unless otherwise agreed by us in writing).

Complaints
Once a property has been booked and paid for in full, clear arrival instructions will be provided which include contact details for the property Owner or their representative. Thereafter guests will be liaising directly with the property Owner or their representative upon arrival at their property. In the unlikely event of a problem with your property occurring, you must inform the property Owner or their representative so that the matter can be put right. If the property Owner or their representative cannot resolve the problem to your satisfaction at the time, you may contact Cornwalls Cottages Ltd by telephoning 01872 580589 so that the Company is given the opportunity to try to assist. All claims must be addressed directly to the property Owner/s.

Pets
Pets are only permitted with the prior consent of Cornwalls Cottages andthe Owners and where pets are permitted, they are to be kept under control and exercised off the premises.  Pets are not permitted in the bedrooms or on the furniture and neither Cornwalls Cottages nor the Owners can accept responsibility for their safety.  Pets must not be left in the property unsupervised as this can result inconsiderable damage to the property and distress to the pet.  A weekly charge may be made for each pet according to the requirements of the property Owner.  Where the description of a property states ‘Regret no pets’ or otherwisere this strictly prohibits the keeping of pets at the property, Cornwalls Cottages or the Owners cannot guarantee that there have been no pets previously kept at any property.

VAT
Many of the Owners of properties are notregistered for VAT, in which case no tax is payable.  Where VAT is payable thetax is included in the weekly rent.

Alterations by the Company
Although the Company makes every effort to ensure that advertised descriptions are correct, it does not own any of the properties and therefore cannot control or prevent changes. Although changes to properties advertised are infrequent, the Company reserves the right to change the description of any property at any time, in which case we will endeavour to notify you of all changes before commencement of the booking date, if it is practical to do so. No compensation will be payable by the Company in such cases. No claims will be accepted for costs or additional expenses incurred as a result of any changes.

Previous Web sites & Booking Conditions
The Web site and these Booking Conditions replace and supersede all previous Web sites and Booking Conditions.