Full Terms and Conditions for Maison Bize in Bize-Minervois, France 17/04/2020

Terms used

In these terms and conditions ‘you/yours’ refers to the hirer and his/her party and ‘we/us’ means Maison Bize. The term ‘gite’ refers to the gite building, the terrace and any services provided by us.

Booking and Deposit

When booking direct with us, a non-returnable deposit of €300 is required at the time of booking.  Full payment for late bookings (ie less than 4 weeks before the date of arrival) is required when booking. Your booking deposit is payable and accepted under the French ‘arrhes’ legal definition of a deposit.  Unlike the alternative and stricter ‘acompte’ legal definition, paying the deposit does NOT oblige you to complete the booking, but is lost if you cancel unless the contract provides for the possibility of recovering some of the deposit in the event of cancellation (see below * )

The balance including payment of a returnable €300 security deposit must be paid 2 weeks prior to your arrival.

We strongly advise guests to obtain full and comprehensive travel/holiday insurance, including cancellation cover, personal accident, cover for use of our property, and any cover if required for vehicle breakdown cover. You can no longer use an EHIC card for medical emergencies if you are a UK resident.  Any claims must be made direct to your insurers and we are absolved of any responsibility for loss or incident.

For direct bookings we accept direct bank transfer or Paypal as deposit/payment.

Your booking is secure once we have received a completed booking form and deposit or full payment for late bookings.  This constitutes a legally binding contract between us and the person booking.   No reservation will be made until the completed booking form and deposit has been received.

When booking through a third party site, eg AirBNB etc, the exact amount payable at booking will depend on the terms and conditions of the site.

Non Payment of the Outstanding Balance

* Failure to pay the outstanding balance 4 weeks prior to your rental start date will result in your rental being suspended and the gite will be re-advertised. Should the gite be re-let and your balance subsequently received, your payment, minus the deposit will be refunded.  We therefore recommend that you contact us as soon as possible if you have a problem getting the payment to us in time.

Cancellation by You

If you cancel your booking after 24 hrs after making your reservation but before 4 weeks before your rental start date we will retain your full deposit, but no further charges will be made.  If you cancel less than 4 weeks prior to your rental start date after making full payment we will retain the full payment.  If you are cancelling because one or more of your party have Covid 19 we refer you to your insurance company, as any bookings made since March 2020 were made in full knowledge of the risk of Covid 19.

Cancellation must be made in writing, including email, and must be clear and unequivocal. The effective date is the date we receive this written notification.  We will, on request provide an attestation confirming your booking was ratified, has been cancelled and the reason given, the dates of your booking and the sums invoiced, paid and retained.

Cancellation by Us

No liability can be accepted or compensation paid as a result of us canceling your holiday due to events which could not have reasonably been foreseen or avoided such as war, threat of war, riots, civil unrest, industrial action, acts of terrorism, natural or nuclear disasters, power failure, fire, adverse weather conditions, closure of international borders, disease, non-availability of transport services and all similar events outside our control.

In the unlikely event that we have to cancel your stay then we will do the following:

1. Attempt to make alternative arrangements for you in similar accommodation near-by. In this case you will be refunded in full.
2. Attempt to arrange an alternative date for your stay.
3. If no alternative can be made we will refund your payment and deposit in full.

Our rights include, but are not limited to

Declining to accept any booking at our sole discretion.
Obtaining the names and ages of your party before accepting a booking.    Entering the accommodation at any reasonable time (eg for safety reasons or essential immediate maintenance). We will try to let you know if we need to do this.
Refusing entry to your friends/visitors.
Charging for non trivial damage howsoever caused.
Claiming from you for any loss of future business as a result of damage resulting from your stay here, by you or your guests/visitors, howsoever this is caused.

Terminating the rental agreement immediately and without compensation or refund if:

• You damage the accommodation, are excessively noisy or disturb others;

• We reasonably suspect you are breaking the law;

• You allow anyone extra to stay in the gite without our permission;

• You do not comply with these full terms and conditions.

Our Liability

We shall not be liable for any death or injury or for damage to or loss to your personal property occurring whilst you rent Maison Bize. Please ensure all your valuables are covered under your household insurance. Your vehicles and contents are left at your own risk. We do not allow charging of electric vehicles at the gite.

In the event of circumstances beyond our reasonable control e.g. (but not limited to) fire, flood, exceptional weather conditions, loss of electricity/internet connection, disease outbreaks, industrial disputes etc. we shall not be liable for any resulting costs, losses or damages suffered by you (including the cost of securing alternative accommodation), nor for our failure to undertake our obligations to you. However, in appropriate cases, we will refund your payments to you.

Security

During your stay you are responsible for the keys to the gite and therefore you are responsible for ensuring all doors and windows are closed and/or locked when you are not in residence. We do not accept any responsibility for damage or loss to your possessions or property during your stay. Shutters on the ground floor should be closed if away for more than 12 hours.

What is included in the Price

Rental of the gite for the time specified and for the people specified on the booking form.
Up to 10 kW of electricity per day. Any amount above this will be charged at the current tariff.
Logs for off season bookings free.
Bed linen and towels for the number of people booked, 2 tea towels and a bath mat.
Free Wifi.
Deep Cleaning & sanitizing after your stay.

 

Arriving & Leaving

Your accommodation is available from 16.00 on your rental start date.
You MUST vacate the gite by 10.00 on the final day.

The gite is for holiday use only – Neither you, nor any person allowed into the property by you, has the right to remain in the accommodation beyond the agreed departure date. You will be liable for any losses incurred as a result of delayed departure and will be charged 50 euros per hour delay in leaving the gite.

Your responsibilities

Your general responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Ensuring only the people named on the booking form stay in the gite.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions we cannot allow visitors at any time in the gite. The gite cannot be used as a base for a party.

Reporting to us any breakages or missing items (you will not be charged for minor damage or breakages under 10 euros).
Keeping all furniture, fittings and effects in the same good condition as they were found.
Ensuring the BBQ is safely extinguished at the end of the evening and cleaned.
There should be no smoking within the gite but you are welcome to use the terrace to smoke if you wish.

Email Contact

Please read our new GPDR and Privacy Policy at the bottom of these terms & Conditions.

PETS

We may accept pets on request, please contact us before hand if you would like to bring your pet.

GDPR & Privacy Policy

The European regulation No. 2016/679 of 27 April 2016, or General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into force on 25 May 2018.  Basically this replaces the Data Protection Act.  This is a European wide law and as such affects how we use and store information we receive from guests and enquirers.  It covers all data, whether electronic or paper based.

We use cookies on our website.  Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information.  This information is used to track visitors use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity.  You can set your browser not to accept cookies. See www.aboutcookies.org for more information).

What information we collect from you.

When you make a booking with us we collect the names of all the guests who will be staying, the home address, email address and telephone number of the person making the booking.

How we use the information you give us.

We use your email to communicate with you, to send you booking confirmation and answer any queries you email us, and to thank you after your visit and ask you for a review.  We will also add details of how you can keep in touch with us on social media, should you wish to do this.

We will not use your telephone number unless we need to contact you urgently or if we cannot reach you by email.

Marketing

We now use Mailchimp to send occasional marketing newsletters.  You have to actively subscribe to these and can unsubscribe at any time.  We use Instagram and Facebook to market our gite and our own website.  We never pass your details to any third party.

Access to your Information

You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you.  If you would like a copy of this please contact us.

Right to be Forgotten

All customers have the right to ask us to remove their details from our records.  However, this does not override the legislative requirements (eg the Fiche Identite Individuelle form – see below).

Legally, we ask non-French guests to complete the French Fiche Identite Individuelle police aliens form, which we have to legally keep for 6 months from date of arrival.  Only the local police can ask for the details on this form.  This form and the information contained on it are then destroyed by us.

We are also required by law to keep financial records for 7 years, so guests cannot ask to be erased from these financial records.

If you book to stay direct with us and complete a booking form, then be assured that your details are kept secure on our system via password controlled entry and are not used for any other purpose or shared with any other person or business.  We need your email address to send through booking forms, answer any queries you have regarding the property or to send you terms & conditions, booking confirmation etc.  We will send you a follow up email after your stay to thank you for staying, asking you to leave a review or feedback and details of how to stay in contact with us.  We don’t need explicit consent for this.

If you book via one of our booking partners, for example AirBNB, they have also to comply with GDPR regulations and have their own safeguards and policies.

Similarly, if you choose to follow us on social media (eg Facebook or Instagram), we don’t need consent as you have already accepted the terms & conditions on that platform.  Again, we will not ask you for your email address in order to send you newsletters etc.

Notification of Data Breaches

The GDPR will require us to notify the Information Commissioner’s’ Office within 72 hours of first having become aware of the breach where that breach is likely to “result in a risk for the rights and freedoms of individuals”. For any breach, we are required to notify the customers “without undue delay” after first becoming aware of a data breach.