For bookings made with one of the local tour operators of the platform, please refer to the their own Terms & Conditions (to be provided before you book)
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Sumak Sustainable Travel – User Terms of Service (for bookings made directly with us)
PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY. IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS. IT ALSO CONTAINS A DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND A LIMITATION OF LIABILITY CLAUSE.
1. ABOUT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1.1 These Terms of Service (as may be amended from time to time) set out the terms on which we provide all our services to you (whether directly or indirectly). By accessing, browsing, and using any website maintained by us including without limitation the website at www.sumak-travel.org and our social networking pages (together the “Website”) or communicating with us either by telephone, electronically and/or by completing a reservation, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service.
1.2 Sumak may at any time without notice modify these Terms of Service. We will notify you of any changes to these Terms of Service either by emailing you (at the email address notified by you to us on the Website) or via posting a notice on the Website.
1.3 By continuing to use the Website after changes to these Terms of Service are made and notified to you, you agree to be bound by such changes.
1.4 You can review the most current version of our Terms of Service at any time by visiting www.sumak-travel.org/terms The most current version displayed on this page will supersede all previous versions.
1.5 You accept that we may have selected and/or assembled your travel arrangements for you.
2. INFORMATION ABOUT US
2.1 We operate the Website. We are Sumak Sustainable Travel SRL, a limited company incorporated in Costa Rica with registered number 3-102-781737 and registered address Avenida 12, Los Yoses, San José, Costa Rica.
2.2 References to “Sumak”, “we” and “us” are references to Sumak Sustainable Travel SRL. References to “you” are to the person accessing, downloading or using the Website, or the company or organization on whose behalf such person accesses, downloads or uses the Website.
3. SCOPE OF OUR SERVICE
3.1 The Website is an online platform through which you can search for, book and review packages for sustainable tourism in Latin America.
3.2 Occasionally, Sumak acts as an organiser and/or retailer. If you purchase a package from Sumak using the Website or otherwise, you enter into a contract with Sumak. We may sub-contract the provision of certain elements of the package to third parties.
3.3 In the event that there is a problem with any element of any package you have purchased from Sumak whether through the Website or otherwise, we will use all reasonable endeavours to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and where any party to whom we have sub-contracted any element of the package becomes unable to perform that element, we will use all reasonable endeavours to provide you with (in our sole and absolute discretion) either an alternative equivalent or better element (at no extra cost to you) or a full refund for that element.
3.4 You appreciate and acknowledge that the nature of this type of travel requires considerable flexibility and you should allow for alternatives. The itinerary provided for each package is representative of the types of activities contemplated, but it is understood that the route, schedules, itineraries, amenities and mode of transport may be subject to alteration without prior notice due to local circumstances or events.
3.5 We may provide currency conversions on the Website for your convenience. All prices converted into a currency other than the currency of payment for the relevant package are for guidance only and may be subject to variation between the date of booking and the date of payment (if such dates are not the same). Please check the information on the relevant package to discover what the applicable currency of payment for the offer is. We will not be responsible for any errors in relation to currency conversions.
3.6 In order to purchase a package you must be at least 18 years of age at the time of travel.
3.7 There is no upper age limit on travel though we remind you that our trips can be physically demanding. We require that travellers aged 80 years or over complete a self-assessment form.
4. BROCHURES
4.1 We provide information in relation to each package offered (whether through the Website or otherwise).
4.2 If you choose to order a package we will send you a confirmation of your booking which will also contain the information set out in paragraph 4.1 above.
4.3 We use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that any information on the Website is correct and not misleading. However, some information is provided by our local partners and/or in the case of user reviews, our users. To the extent permitted by law, we are not and will not be responsible for any inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, untrue or incorrect information displayed on the Website (including manifest and typographical errors) or for any interruptions (whether due to scheduled or unscheduled repair, upgrade or maintenance) or any failure of the Website (whether or not our fault). The Website (and in particular any reviews by users) does not represent a recommendation, endorsement or guarantee as to quality, experience or value for money by us or any user.
5. BEFORE YOU TRAVEL
5.1 Sumak is not liable for damages or losses for which we are not directly responsible that may result from travel to any particular destination. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the United States Department of State help travellers stay safe when travelling internationally. Check the websites of the FCO at www.fco.gov.uk/ or the US Department of State at www.travel.state.gov/ (or the local equivalent in your country) for the latest advice on conditions and general information concerning specific countries.
5.2 It is your responsibility to ensure you have the relevant travel and health documents before departure for the country you are visiting, which shall include, but is not limited to, any inoculations that may be required, IDs and passport. Sumak shall not be liable for any expense incurred resulting from your missing, incomplete or incorrect documentation or any non-compliance with requirements.
5.3 We require all persons travelling on one of our packages to purchase travel insurance. We require travel insurance to be purchased before your travel. Travel insurance must provide coverage against personal accident, death, medical expenses and emergency repatriation with a recommended minimum coverage of US$200,000 for each of the heads of cover. We recommend that travel insurance also covers cancellation, curtailment, personal liability and loss of luggage and personal effects.
5.4 You must carry a valid passport and have obtained all of the appropriate visas, permits and certificates for the countries you will visit during your trip. Your passport must be valid for 6 months beyond the duration of the trip. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of the correct visas, permits and certificates for your trip. We are not responsible if you are refused entry to a country because you lack the correct passport, visa or other travel documentation.
6. CONFIRMATION
6.1 To confirm a booking, you must be authorised to make the booking by all persons named on the booking. By making the booking, you are confirming that all persons named on the booking accept these Terms of Service and that you will inform the other persons named on the booking of the confirmation details and any other appropriate information. By making the booking you also become responsible for making all payments due under the booking.
6.2 A booking is confirmed when we receive payment from you for the deposit or entire cost of any package purchased by you.
6.3 In the event that you call Sumak by telephone, or are called by Sumak regarding your booking, calls may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes. In the event of a dispute regarding a booking, Sumak reserves the right to review any call information.
6.4 In order for us to confirm your travel arrangements you must provide all requested details when booking. Necessary details include full name as per passport, date of birth, nationality, passport number, passport expiry date and any pre-existing medical conditions you have which may affect your ability to complete your travel arrangements. If you are 80 years of age or over we also require you to complete and forward a Self-Assessment form. Your booking can be cancelled if you fail to provide these details for all travellers in which case the cancellation provisions sent out in 7 below will apply.
7. CANCELLATION
7.1 In order to cancel a package for which you have made a booking, please email us at enquiries@sumak-travel.org stating your order reference and “Cancellation” in the subject of the email. You may telephone us to discuss your desire to cancel the package but cancellation will only be effective when we have received from the person who purchased the package a written confirmation of his or her decision to cancel the package. An email to us stating that you desire to cancel a package is an irrevocable notice and you cannot subsequently change your mind even if we have not yet acknowledged the cancellation in writing.
7.2 If you cancel your tour:
(a) We will apply the airline’s cancellation policy to any flights in your package and reimburse your ground arrangements in accordance with the penalty timeline
7. 3 For cancellation of ground-only arrangements:
(a) 90 days or more prior to the stated departure date, we will retain an administrative fee of £100 / $120 per traveller (or equivalent in other currencies) and reimburse the remaining amount. If you have booked a spot in a retreat or small-group tour with fixed departure, the deposit is not refundable;
(b) between 30 and 89 days prior to the stated departure date, we will retain 50% of the total booking cost and reimburse the remaining amount;
(c) less than 30 days prior to departure, we will retain 100% of the price paid by you for the package.
7.4 If you leave a trip for any reason after it has commenced we are not obliged to make any refunds for unused services.
7.5 We may cancel a package at any time prior to departure by giving you notice by email, letter or (if very close to departure) by telephoning you, if due to terrorism, natural disasters, political instability or other external events it is not viable or safe to operate the planned itinerary. If we cancel a package prior to departure, in your sole and absolute discretion you may choose between (i) us applying the amounts paid towards an alternative trip, or (ii) receiving a full refund. We are not responsible for any incidental expenses that you may have incurred as a result of your booking such as visas, vaccinations or non-refundable flights.
8. AMENDMENTS TO BOOKED PACKAGES
8.1 If you wish to change the date of one trip there is a fee of
(a) £100 / $120 per traveller (or equivalent in other currencies) if done at least 90 days prior to the scheduled date of departure, subject to availability; and
(b) £300 / $360 per traveller (or equivalent in other currencies) if done between 30 and 89 days prior to the scheduled date of departure, subject to availability.
8.2 If you wish to change the name of one or several travellers of the trip, there is a fee of £100 / $120 per passenger (or equivalent in other currencies) if done at least 90 days prior to the scheduled date of departure. No name changes are permitted within 89 days prior to the scheduled date of departure.
8.3 No amendments are permitted to your booking within 29 days of departure.
9. TAXES
9.1 Unless stated otherwise on the Website or in any confirmation email, all prices on the Website are displayed including VAT tax and all other applicable taxes (subject to change of such taxes). For the avoidance of doubt, Sumak shall not be liable if the rate of any taxes change or if a partner subsequently charges taxes in addition to quoted price. For the avoidance of doubt, Sumak will never require any Customer to pay an increased amount once such Customer has paid the full price for any package.
10. PRIVACY
10.1 We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy when you visit the Website and/or use our services. We draw your attention to our Privacy Policy, which you are advised to read to understand how we will collect and use your personal data.
10.2 Except for disclosures required by law, by any governmental body or by any court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, and other than providing certain information provided by you (such as your name, address and email address) to our suppliers to facilitate a booking that you have made on the Website or via telephone or email, we will not disclose your personal information without your prior permission.
11. REVIEWING A PACKAGE
11.1 After you have travelled on a package, we may invite you to review the trip. Completing this review is optional.
11.2 The review may give you the opportunity to comment on matters including without limitation the quality, location and value for money of any accommodation, trip or experience.
11.3 You agree that Sumak is free to use any comments, information or ideas contained in any review you submit to Sumak (either by email or through the Website) without compensation, acknowledgement or payment to you for any purpose whatsoever. For the avoidance of doubt, all such information will be deemed by Sumak to be non-confidential and non-proprietary, and you agree that such information may be used by us without any limitation whatsoever including publishing such information on the Website as a review of the relevant package, using such review (or any part of it) in any marketing or publicity for the Website and improving the services we offer through the Website and/or the operation of the Website itself.
11.4 Reviews are published in our sole and absolute discretion and we reserve the right to remove, amend or paraphrase any review without notice and without giving any reason.
12. YOUR CONDUCT
12.1 By using the Website and/or making a booking, you agree not to upload, post, e-mail or otherwise send or transmit any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment associated with the Website.
12.2 You also agree not to interfere with the servers or networks connected to the Website or to violate any of the procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Website, including these Terms of Service. You also agree not to:
(a) conduct or promote any illegal activities while using the Website or use the Website for any unlawful purpose;
(b) conduct or promote any commercial activities while using the Website or use the Website for any commercial purpose;
(c) upload, distribute or print anything that may be harmful to minors;
(d) attempt to reverse engineer or sell, export, license, modify, copy, distribute or transmit the Website to any third party, or jeopardize the correct functioning of the Website, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code of the software (including the tools, methods, processes and infrastructure) that enables or underlies the Website;
(e) attempt to gain access to secured portions of the Website to which you do not possess access rights;
(f) impersonate any other person while using the Website;
(g) conduct yourself in a vulgar, offensive, harassing or objectionable manner while using the Website;
(h) resell or export the software associated with the Website;
(i) use the Website to generate unsolicited advertisements or spam; or
(j) use any automatic or manual process to search or harvest information from the Website, or to interfere in any way with the proper functioning of the Website.
13. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
13.1 Sumak and/or its licensor(s) are the sole owners of the Website, which includes any software, domains, and content made available through them. The Website is protected by international copyright and other intellectual property laws.
13.2 We permit you to use the Website for your own personal and non-commercial use only and Sumak grants you a limited license solely for that purpose. You are therefore not permitted to re-sell, re-publish, export, modify, reverse engineer, scrape, copy, display for commercial purposes, download, distribute, transmit or reproduce, any content, information, software, products, or services for any purpose or activity.
13.3 Any unauthorized use of the Website will result in the automatic termination of the limited license granted by us. Sumak reserve the right to terminate the limited license without notice at any time following an unauthorized use by you of the Website.
13.4 Sumak and its graphics, logos, icons and service names related to the Website are registered and unregistered trademarks or trade dress of Sumak. They may not be used without Sumak’s prior express written permission.
13.5 All other trademarks not owned by Sumak that appear in connection with the Website are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to or sponsored by Sumak.
14. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
15.1 By using the Website and in particular in booking any package, you consent to receiving electronic communications and notices from Sumak and any Partner with whom you booked any offer.
14.2 You agree that any notice, agreement, disclosure or other communications that we or any Partner send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.
15. NO WARRANTY & LIABILITY LIMIT
15.1 Sumak provides the Website “as is” and without any warranty or condition, whether express, implied or statutory. Sumak specifically disclaims any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Sumak assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the Website or offers or promotions made available to you or on your behalf through the Website; any failures, delays or interruptions in the Website; any losses or damages arising from the use of the Website, including, without limitation, any damage to your mobile device; or any conduct by users of the Website. We reserve the right to deliver the Website in our sole and absolute discretion.
15.2 In no event shall Sumak, its shareholders, directors, officers, employees or agents be liable (jointly or severally) to you for loss of use or any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages arising out of or in connection with the Website or these Terms of Service, on any theory of liability, and whether or not advised of the possibility of damage. Sumak does not seek to exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by any negligence, or fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of Sumak. If any applicable authority holds any portion of this section to be unenforceable, then liability will be limited to the fullest possible extent permitted by applicable law.
16. INDEMNITY
16.1 You agree to indemnify and hold Sumak, and each of its respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents and Partners harmless from and against any third-party claim or cause of action, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs, arising, directly or indirectly, out of your violation of any law or the rights of any third party or these Terms of Service.
17. DISPUTES
17.1 You agree that these Terms of Service and any claim, dispute or controversy arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Service or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims), the Website, Sumak’s advertising or any related transaction between you and Sumak shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Costa Rican law.
17.2 Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with such matters (including non-contractual disputes or claims) will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Costa Rica.
18. TERMINATION
18.1 Sumak may change, discontinue, suspend or cease to provide the Website at any time without prior notice. We reserve the right to terminate these Terms of Service for any reason, without notice, and these Terms of Service shall automatically terminate in the event that you violate any of the terms and conditions set forth herein (with prejudice to our accumulated rights against you). In the event of any termination, you will immediately cease access to the Website.
19. GENERAL
19.1 These Terms of Service are agreed between Sumak and you. No other person shall have any rights under or connection with these Terms of Service.
19.2 If any court or competent authority decides that any term of these Terms of Service is held to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term shall, to that extent only, be severed from the remaining terms, which shall continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.
19.3 Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the extent or scope of such section.
19.4 Sumak will not be liable for any changes, cancellation, effect on your booking, loss or damage suffered by you or for any failure by any supplier or Sumak to perform or properly perform any of our respective obligations to you which is due to any event(s) or circumstance(s) if the non performance is caused by force majeure. By way of example force majeure includes, but is not limited to, war, revolution, terrorist act, closure of borders, epidemic, natural catastrophe or other causes that seriously affect both parties and other unforeseeable causes beyond Sumak’s control.
19.5 Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision and will not relieve you from the obligation to comply with such provision.
19.6 You are not permitted to assign, transfer, charge, sub-contract or deal in any other manner with all or any of your rights under these Terms of Service without our prior express written consent.
19.7 These Terms of Service set forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and Sumak with respect to the subject matter hereof.
20. CONTACT US
20.1 If you have any questions about these Terms of Service or the use of the Website, please contact us at: enquiries@sumak-travel.org
