General Sales Agreement for Travel Services
I. Contracting Parties:
Expert Multiservices Impex Ltd – Expert Tours with headquarters in 35A, Iancu de Hunedoara Ave., int 10, Bucharest, 011733 Romania, registered in the Romanian Trade Register under no. J40/25832/1993, Fiscal Code (VAT Number) RO4965500. Expert Tours is the trade name of the travel agency of Expert Multiservices Impex Ltd accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Tourism by license no. A 762 of 2011 and represented by Mrs. Sorinela Tudorache – General Manager, hereinafter referred to as the Agency, and the Tourist or the Tourist’s agent.
II. Object of the contract
The object of the hereby contract is the sale, by the Agency, of tourism services granted by the voucher or travel ticket and the issuance of travel documents.
III. Acceptance of the contract
1. The agency must request the tourist to fill-in a booking form/application in writing and send it via fax or email, when requesting tourism services that are not part of their own offer and which require booking confirmation by other providers.
2. The Contract comes into force when the services requested by the client have been confirmed by the agency, respectively the client is informed about the services have been confirmed and he/she accepts them in writing by fax or email, or accept the Terms and Conditions within the booking forms present on our websites.
3. The Contract is considered fulfilled and ends at the conclusion of the services offered.
IV. Price and payment methods
The contract price is stated on the invoice and includes the effective cost of the the offered services, agency fees and VAT. The payment shall be made prior to the consumption of services as stated on the invoice by wire transfer, credit card via personalized liks provided by our bank or cash at our headquarters. The payment can be made either in LEI, EURO or other currency as stated in the invoice.
V. Agency rights and obligations
1. If the agency is compelled to modify one of the essential provisions of the contract, the Agency will inform the clients at least 15 days before departure date.
2. Whenever the services offered include also regular transport service by air, ship, train or bus, the service providers could change departure hours without previous notification. The Agency should not be considered responsable when such events heppen. We will do everything possible to keep you informed about any changes and to provide alternatives whenever necessary.
3. The Agency may modify the contract price, in the sense of an increase or a decrease, as appropriate, only if the change occurs as a result of variations in transport cost, royalties and other service fees charged for landing, boarding/debarking in ports and airports; tourist fees or foreign exchange rates relative to the contracted tourism service(s).
4. In the event that, after the travel/holiday has started, an important part of the tourism services stipulated in the contract fails to be delivered or the Agency realizes it cannot be delivered, the Agency is liable to:
- provide appropriate alternative services in view of continuing the journey without a price increase, respectively the services provided shall have the same quality and quantity;
- refund the tourist for amounts representing the difference between the services paid and the actual services provided during the tourist trip;
5. In the event the tourist cannot be offered appropriate alternatives or does not accept them on objective grounds, the Agency must provide the tourist’s transportation back to the place of origin or elsewhere as agreed at no additional cost and, where appropriate, damages for the services not delivered.
6. The agency is responsible for the satisfactory performance of contractual obligations, except as follows:
- when failure to fulfill or defective fulfillment of the contractual obligations is due to the tourist;
- when failure to fulfill the obligations is due to force majeure or circumstances that neither the Agency nor the service providers could foresee or prevent (itinerary or schedule changes, delays in transport traffic, etc.).
- When the failure to fulfill is due to a third party not related to the services offered.
7. The Agency undertakes to communicate to the tourist in writing, 3 days before departure, the following information:
- the schedule, flight stopovers and connections, and, where appropriate, the seat to be occupied by the tourist in each means of transport included in the contract (except aircraft);
- the name, headquarters/address, telephone and fax numbers of the organizer and/or retailer’s local branch or, when these are not available, an emergency telephone number enabling to contact the organizer and/or retailer;
- in the case of minors traveling unaccompanied by parents, information allowing parents to establish direct contact with the child or with the person(s) in charge of the child’s accommodation.
8. The Agency will offer assistance to the tourist whenever there is Force Majeure event, or any other non foreseeable event that takes place during the trip.
VI. The tourist’s rights and obligations
1. In the event that the Tourist cannot participate in the travel/tourist holiday, he/she has to notify the Agency ass soon as possible and to accept the possible penalties as stated in the individual contract.
2. In the event that prices stipulated in the contract increase by over 10%, other than external causes, the tourist may terminate the contract, being entitled to reimbursement by the Agency of all amounts paid.
3. The tourist has to inform the Agency within 5 calendar days after receipt of notice provided at chapter III paragraph 1, on the decision to opt for:
- terminating the contract without paying penalties with the mention that non refundable air/train/bus tickets cannot be reinbursed;
- accepting the new contractual conditions.
4. If the tourist terminates the contract or the Agency cancels the travel/ holiday package before departure date, the tourist is entitled to:
- accept at the same cost a different package of tourism services of equivalent or superior quality, as proposed by the Agency;
- accept a travel of inferior quality proposed by the agency with immediate refund of the price difference;
- be immediately reimbursed for all amounts already paid based on the contract with the exception of non refundable air/train/bus tickets.
5. The tourist has the right to terminate at any time, in whole or in part, the contract, and if the termination is attributable to them, the Tourist is obliged to compensate the Agency for the damage created, except in the cases of Force Majeure defined by the law. If the tourist requires changing the hotel, the room structure or any of the services, this is considered as terminating the contract, subject to the legal penalties enforceable at the time, and concluding a new contract.
6. The tourist undertakes to pay the resort fees, sanitation tax and any other applicable local taxes at the hotel reception, without being able to claim any compensation or refund from the Agency.
7. The tourist is obliged to submit to hotel reception his/her identity card as well as the travel documents issued (vouchers) that grant tourist services purchased.
VII. Waiver, penalties, damages
1. If the tourist renounces by their own fault to the tourism services covered by the hereby contract, the tourist owes the Agency penalties, as follows:
- 25% of the package cost, if renunciation is announced between 15-10 days prior to departure;
- 50% of the package cost, if the renunciation is announced between 10-5 days prior to departure;
- 100% of the package cost, if the renunciation is announced in less than 5 days prior to departure or in case of no-show, or as it is stipulated in the individual contract.
2. If the tourist who concluded a tourism service contract with the agency and made an advance payment fails to pay the remaining rates in the term specified by the agency, the contract is considered terminated and the agency has the right to cancel the reservations made on benefit of the tourist, with full retention of the amounts paid by the tourist by that date.
3. In the event that an Embassy refuses to grant the entrance visa required for the holiday package, the tourist shall not be refunded for any fees paid by the agency to direct service providers as well as its own operating expenses.
4. If the tourist who entered the Romanian state refuses to return to the country of origin and therefore the Romanian authorities make expenses of any kind, that tourist must cover all expenditure incurred.
5. Penalties equivalent to the contract price apply in the event that the tourist fails to arrive on time at the airport or at the departure/destination venue, if the tourist is prevented to travel by the police border or due to problems/delays with respect to the travel documents by the tourist’s fault.
6. The Tourist shall submit the serivice renunciation request in writing, by e-mail; otherwise, the request for renunciation is not taken into account.
7. The Agency shall pay compensatory damages according to the degree of non-compliance of the contractual obligations.
8. If Expert Tours resells the tourist services of other tourism service providers, the charges/fess applied by the respective provider will be communicated to the tourist by fax or email.
VIII. Claims
1. If the tourist is dissatisfied with the services provided, he/she must draw-up a written complaint, detailing clearly and explicitly the faults encountered on site, relative to the holiday package purchased; such a complaint shall be sent promptly both to the Agency and the tourist service provider (hotel management, restaurant).
2. Both the Agency as well as the Tourism Service Provider shall act immediately to settle the claim. If the complaint is not solved or is only partially solved, the tourist shall submit to the Agency a written complaint via e-mail, no later than 5 calendar days after the end of the holiday and the Agency will, within 15 calendar days, pay the tourist the compensatory payments due.
IX. Insurance
1. The tourist is insured for the reimbursement of repatriation expenses and/or the amounts paid by him/her in case of insolvency or bankruptcy of the Agency, by Omniasig Vienna Insurance Group located in Bucharest, 51, Aleea Alexandru Str., Bucharest 1, 011822 Romania, Ph: +40 21 4057420, fax: +40 21 311 4490, by insurance no. I 43991 of 19.09.2015, effective until 18.09.2016. (http://www.expert-business-travel.com/images/licence/Insurance_2015-2016.pdf)
2. The tourist has the possibility of concluding an additional, non-compulsory insurance contract or an assistance contract (with any insurance company) in order to cover any transfer fees or repatriation charges in case of accident, illness or death.
X. Documents
The following documents are considered an integral part of this contract, as annexes:
- the voucher /ticket / purchase order/ addendum to the contract, if applicable;
- the travel program (for groups accompanied by a guide).
XI. Final Provisions
1. The hereby contract represents the entire agreement of the signatory parties.
2. The hereby contract may be concluded as a distance contract, by fax, the parties accepting the authority of this agreement in its current form.
3. The sale of tourist service packages will be made in accordance with the hereby agreement and in compliance with the provisions of Government Ordinance no. 107/1999 on the marketing of travel packages, approved with amendments and completions by Law no. 631/2001, Order no. 516/2005 of 12/04/2005 published in the Official Gazette, Part I no. 334 of 20/04/2005 with subsequent amendments.
4. The hereby contract may be presented as a catalog, brochure or any other type of document, provided the tourist is informed thereon and the document contains the information required by art. 10 paragraph (2) of G.O. 107/1999, approved with amendments and completions by Law no. 631/2001, Order no. 516/2005 of 12/04/2005 published in the Official Gazette, Part I no. 334 of 20/04/2005 with subsequent amendments.
The Romanian full length contract can be downloaded here