Preamble
The touristic services offered by Eluxfrance and the website www.eluxfrance.com are designed and sold by France By Freds, SAS with a capital of 100 000 € registered in Versaille’s Commercial Register under n° 838 408 359, whose headquarters are located at 11bis, rue Albert Joly - 78000 Versailles, registered in the Registre Atout France n° IM078180009.
Eluxfrance’s professional liability is ensured by the Hiscox company, contract n° 0292140 worth 1. 500.000 euros per claim and per policy year.
The financial guarantee designed to guarantee the funds received pursuant to Articles L.211-18 and R. 211-26 to R. 211-34 of the Tourism Code is provided by Groupama, 5, rue du Centre – 93199 NOISY-LE-GRAND Cedex, contract n°4000716156/1.
The Special Conditions of Sale and the following Charter define the conditions for purchasing touristic services by email or telephone, as well as the conditions for access and use of the Websites by the Users and Visitors.
They are brought to the Client’s knowledge before any commitment on their part and complete the prior information referred to in Article R.211-4 of the Tourism Code, aside from the descriptive sheets presenting the Services and in certain cases, the Special Conditions of Payment and Cancellation, in particular, specific to certain products and services. In the latter case the specific Conditions reported in the prior product description will prevail over the general text of these Special Conditions of Sale.
The prior information referred to in Article R.211-4 of the Tourism Code can be modified after their publication on the Websites and having been viewed by the Users and Visitors, in particular regarding the main features of travel services (mainly transport conditions and relating to the course of the stay and the accommodation), the price, the terms of payment, the minimum number of people potentially required to carry out the trip, the policies for cancelation by the client, in accordance with Articles R. 211-5 and L. 211-9. The client will be informed about them in a clear, comprehensible and obvious manner before concluding the travel contract.
By validating their contract, the client expressly acknowledges having taken note of these Conditions, which are downloadable or printable thanks to a dedicated link, as well as more specific descriptions of the services selected on the Website. The lack of acceptance by the User of all or part of the Conditions and the Charter will result in the renunciation by the client to any use or benefit of the Website’s Services.
These Special Conditions of Sale are up to date as soon as they are published online and replace and supersede any previous version.
1 – Definitions
> Eluxfrance: The Incoming Agency, service provider
> Client: Travel agency concluding the travel contract for its client
> Traveler: person having the right to travel on the basis of this contract
> Website: www.eluxfrance.com website
> Order/booking: Any final purchase of a Service made by a Client via the website, by email, or by telephone
> Service: service described by the website and provided to the Client like a tourist package, accommodation, airline ticket etc.
> Provider: any Service provider provided by Eluxfrance like hotels, transporters etc.
> Description: sheet describing the characteristics of each product provided on the Order date, relevant to the compulsory prior information that must be communicated to Clients according to article R.211-4 of the Tourism Code.
> Tourist package: service combining at least two different types of travel services, including transport, accommodation, vehicle leasing or any other touristic service, of more than 24h or including one overnight stay.
2. Booking
The Client accepts the use of an electronic medium as a way of concluding the service-purchase contract. The Client can place their order by email or by telephone on +33 1 39 20 17 77. The order will only be final once the down payment is made, the Special Conditions of Sale are accepted and confirmation by the Travel Agency is received.
2.1. Order
- Order procedure:
> The Client makes a request on the Website, by telephone or by email.
> The Client selects the Service of their choice and receives its prior description along with a standard information form.
> The Client takes note of the requested information and fills it in as accurately as possible and under their responsibility.
> The Client verifies the order summary and the total price (VAT included) displayed.
> The Client accepts the Special Conditions of Sale and definitively validates their order.
> The Client proceeds with the payment of their order pursuant to article X below.
> Eluxfrance sends an electronic mail to the Client with an order summary including the essential characteristics of the purchased Service and representing the travel contract. In the absence of this email, the booking is not taken into account. Pursuant to Article 1369-5 of the Civil Code, the order and order confirmation are deemed to be accepted when the parties to whom they are addressed can access them. In the event of incorrect information given by the Client, Eluxtravel will not be held responsible if the electronic mail is received incorrectly or not at all.
The deadline to definitively confirm an order is of 72 hours, the status of the reservation therefore goes from “in the process of being confirmed” to “confirmed”.
> Eluxfrance sends a summary invoice to the Client.
2.2. Specific requests made by the Client
The Client can send a specific request to Eluxfrance regarding the trip, the stay or transport: special meal, disabled person, child and baby etc. and their request will be processed on a case by case basis by Eluxfrance and can generate costs that will be communicated to the Client before confirming their request; the request will only be validated after confirmation and acceptance by Eluxfrance or the partner in question.
Any request for assistance must imperatively be reported to Eluxfrance (disability, advanced age, illness, large size etc.) at the latest 48 to 72 hours before departure and in any case, before purchasing and printing the transport tickets.
3. Price and payment terms
3.1. The price
No dispute regarding the price of the trip will be taken into consideration once the Traveler has returned, who assessed before their departure if the price suited them, by accepting, in regards to tourist packages, the fact that it is a fixed price which includes the services whose prices can’t be detailed by Eluxfrance. Any changes in price that can arise must be reported before the booking and confirmed on the invoice and/or confirmation.
- Description of the price
The total price of the Service is that which appears on the order confirmation sent by Eluxfrance. The price is expressed in Euros and includes VAT.
The prices are indivisible and any waiver of services included in the contract or any interruption of the trip by the Traveler (even in the event of hospitalization or anticipated repatriation), does not constitute grounds for a refund, except in the case of specific insurance.
- The price includes
The prices are calculated on a flat-rate basis, by number of overnight stays and not days.
They include, depending on the provided Service, anything that is registered in the travel contract: transport, accommodation, transfers, the known taxes that apply on the day of the order, application fees, visits and outings included in the program.
- The price doesn’t include
The Service prices do not include, unless otherwise indicated by the contract:
> personal expenses, dry-cleaning and room service
> tips and any other gratuities
> specific insurances
> shipping fees for travel documentation
> services (excursions, tours, sport) purchased on site
> excess baggage fees
> telephone costs
> administrative and health formality fees
> special extras like Christmas Eve or for a special occasion
> extra costs unknown at the time of booking like visitors' taxes, fees for visas or tourist cards, that the Client must most often pay upon arrival
- Derisory price
If, following a material error, the displayed price communicated to the Client by any means, is obviously derisory or ridiculously low, according to an analysis in jurisprudence, compared to the Service’s objective value, Eluxfrance can cancel the booking without fees or penalties. The Client can place another booking depending on availabilities and consistent with the correct price of the Services.
- Fees
Specific requests and additional services requested by the Client and accepted by Eluxfrance can lead to additional costs, of which the Client will be informed before confirming their order.
The Client accepts that their method of payment will also be used for paying these costs.
3.2. Payment
All ordered services are only payable in Euros.
A down payment, of which the amount will be specified in the prior description, will be requested to confirm the booking. Any promotional offers, private sales or “immediate departure” bookings and special offers (ex: Christmas Eve) are payable in full when booking.
The remaining balance must be paid by the Client 30 days before departure, without a reminder from Eluxfrance.
The obligation of carrying out the Service only becomes definitive for the Agency after the complete payment of the Service by the Client: payment default or rejection can lead to the cancellation of the booking on The Client’s part.
The following is not considered a balloon payment: communicating a credit card number before approval by the payment center, a transfer order before confirmation by the Client’s bank.
Rejection or cancelation fees following a payment default or irregular payment remain the responsibility of the Client as well as any increase in price between the payment incident and its regularization, if printing new travel documents is necessary.
Eluxfrance offers a number of payment methods, with the exception of bank checks.
- Credit card
> VISA card, EuroCard/MasterCard, American Express. Certain cards can be subjected to additional fees.
> According to Article L.132.2 of the French Monetary and Financial Code the commitment to pay given by way of a credit card is irrevocable. The payment can only be stopped in the event of the card being lost, stolen or fraudulently used. Any stopped payment for another reason or by way of withdrawal right constitutes credit card fraud. The entire order amount is charged to the Client’s credit card when confirming the booking.
> The Incoming Agency provides its clients with a modern and secure credit card payment method.
The Incoming Agency ensures that the collecting, filing and use of the data comply with the Data Protection Act. This data is only used within the framework of finalizing the Client’s travel contract (payment, potential refund, fees) and is encrypted by the Agency’s secure server.
The Client accepts that their banking data is used by the Incoming Agency to process the payment of Services ordered directly or by means of their third-party Providers.
> The Incoming Agency will never ask you to send all of your credit card information by email, fax, mail or any other unsecure communication channel. If you receive such a request, we urge you to ignore it.
The Incoming Agency declines any responsibility regarding losses resulting from sending credit card information, for which no request was made.
- Bank transfer
The transfer must be confirmed by the issuing bank, and must be sent by the Client to the accounting service by email, the address of which will be sent upon confirming the order. This transfer confirmation must mention the surname, first name and order number. The Order will be considered as approved after confirming the transfer of the corresponding funds (down payment or entire amount).
Caution: the fees related to the bank transfer remain at the Client’s expense.
- Rejection fees
The Client is informed that any bank charges related to a refusal or any other bank transaction remain at their expense.
- Refunds
Any refunds will be carried out with the same payment method as the one used for the initial payment by the Client.
Any contractual cancelation fees may be deducted from the refund.
Some air-travel documents are non-refundable once purchased by the Client.
3.3. Price adjustment
- Price variation
According to Articles L. 211-12 and R.211-8 of the Tourism Code, Eluxfrance reserves the right to modify the price of their Services, whether it be an increase or decrease, within legal limits.
- Consequences
In the event of an increase in the sale price, no matter how big, the information will be transmitted to the Client in a clear and comprehensible manner with supporting documents and the calculation on a durable medium, at the latest 20 days before the beginning of the holiday or trip.
Pursuant to Article R. 211-9 of the Code, when the increase in the amount of the package is of 8% or less, Eluxfrance will inform the client in a clear, comprehensible and obvious manner on a durable medium of the increase, of the reasonable deadline to express their acceptance or refusal with termination of the contract and a refund, without fees, under 14 days and of the consequences of not responding (application of termination fees).
4. Specific insurances
Eluxfrance doesn’t include any insurance in the prices of the offered Services and recommends that the Traveler take out, when placing their Order with their agency, an insurance and/or assistance contract which covers the consequences of some cancellation cases, and/or covers certain particular risks, namely expenses related to repatriation for medical reasons in the event of an accident or illness.
5. Responsability
> Eluxfrance will provide necessary assistance to a Traveler in need, but declines any responsibility and will not be able to stand in financially for the Traveler if the non-compliance was caused by them and particularly in the following cases:
- Fees generated by the loss of travel documents by the client (ticket reprinting fees and penalties and fees notably caused by being grounded in the country)
- Debt owed by the Client to a third-party (hotel extras, etc.)
- Loosing identity documents or any other necessary documentation for leaving the country.
> Eluxfrance is strictly liable for the correct execution of obligations arising from the travel contract under Article L. 211-16-I of the Tourism Code. The Client is informed that Eluxfrance can not, in any case, be held responsible when the damage which is of an unpredictable or inevitable nature is attributable either to the traveler, or a third-party unrelated to supplying travel services, or to exceptional and inevitable circumstances (war, terrorist attack, riot, revolution, nuclear disaster, extreme climate or natural events like a cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, tornado, clouds, sandstorms…).
In the event that they are held strictly liable as a result of their providers within the meaning of the aforementioned Article, the limits of compensation under article L. 211-17-IV of the Tourism Code, particularly when international conventions that limit the compensation owed by these providers, will apply. In other cases, the contract can limit the potential damages to three times the total price of the trip (apart from personal injury and wilful misconduct or negligence).
It can arise, for reasons related to the time of year, attendance or to the hoteliers’ decision on site, that the equipment be limited on location during the stay or that certain activities be suspended.
Eluxfrance will not, in any case, be held responsible in the event that an incident arises during services purchased outside of the contract, directly on site, by the Client, from an outside provider or as a result of a personal initiative by the Client.
6. Changes and cancelations
6.1. By the Client
> Any change or cancelation request regarding a service-order without transport must be sent to Eluxfrance by electronic mail to the following address: contact@eluxfrance.com and must include the Client’s name and travel dates or the booking number which is written in the confirmation email. Eluxfrance will confirm having received the request and will specify the policy for any changes or cancelation.
The Incoming Agency will refund the Client any pre-paid amount, after deduction of application fees, cancelation fees.
The cancelation or change of the Order doesn’t excuse the Client from paying the full amount owed to the Incoming Agency.
In the event of complex bookings (multi-companies, mix of hotels, tailor-made), a number of pricing rules regarding changes and cancelation may apply: the more restrictive conditions will apply by default.
The Incoming Agency will not be held responsible if the Client directly contacts the Provider (hotelier, transporter) for a change or cancelation without informing the Incoming Agency.
Certain products are non-voidable and non-refundable.
Applicable penalties -
> Changing the dates:
More than 30 days before departure: 30% of the total amount (including VAT)
Between 30 and 21 days before departure: 55% of the total amount (including VAT)
Between 20 and 8 days before departure: 75% of the total amount (including VAT)
Less than seven days from the departure date and after the departure: 100% of the total amount (including VAT)
> Changing the services: The changes related to other components of the service (room category, board, etc.) are subjected to the following scale (excluding potential extra costs):
More than 30 days before departure: 15 Euros per person
Between 30 and 21 days before departure: 45 Euros per person
Between 20 and 8 days before departure: 75 Euros per person
Less than seven days from the departure date and after the departure: 100 Euros per person
> Cancelation:
More than 30 days before departure: 30% of the total amount (including VAT)
Between 30 and 21 days before departure: 55% of the total amount (including VAT)
Between 20 and 8 days before departure: 75% of the total amount (including VAT)
Less than seven days from the departure date and after the departure: 100% of the total amount (including VAT)
In certain cases, specified in the Service description, the conditions for changing and canceling can be more restrictive and may result in up to 100% of non-refundable costs no matter when the request is made, apart from a specific insurance subscribed to by the Client.
6.2. By the Incoming Agency
If, before departure, an outside event is imposed on Eluxfrance, within the article L.211-13 of the Tourism Code, and forces them to change an essential element of the contract concluded with the Client, the agency will inform the Client as quickly as possible and will offer the Client a choice between a cancellation of the contract with a full refund under 14 days or accepting the changes (change in the trip or alternative trip).
If, after departure, an essential element of the contract can’t be carried out within the article L.211-16 of the Tourism Code, Eluxfrance will offer, at their own expense or with a refund of the price difference, alternative services.
When a minimum number of people is required to carry out a specific tour or trip and this number is not reached, the Agency will inform the Client:
- 20 days before the beginning of the trip when it lasts over 6 days
- 7 days before the trip when it lasts between 2 to 6 days
- 48 hours for trips not exceeding 2 days.
An alternative solution will therefore be offered to the Client at the current rate, or a full refund of the amounts paid, without any fees and under 14 days.
7. Hotels
> Single rooms are often smaller and not as well located within the hotel than others, even if extra fees are requested in that regard. In most hotels, triple rooms are double rooms with an extra bed. This option, which avoids paying extra for a single room for the third person, therefore entails some inconveniences, notably in regards to available space in the room. They are discouraged for three adults.
Quadruple rooms refer to, in most cases, a double room with two extra beds. In the event of two adults and two children, if the size of the rooms doesn’t allow for more than three people in the same room, 2 double rooms side by side or connecting will therefore be suggested (depending on availability in the hotel) and the adult price will be charged for both rooms (except when specifically stated).
Caution: extra beds can be smaller than standard sized ones.
> Rating
The classification of hotels by stars or by category presented on the Website always stems from decisions made by the Tourism Authorities or from customs in the host country, based on local regulations that can be different from French or international regulations.
> Hotel practices
The practices regarding the international hotel industry generally require that clients check-into their room after 3pm, no matter the arrival time, and check-out before 12pm at the earliest, no matter the departure time.
If the Client wishes to check-in or out of their room outside of these regular times, an extra night may be charged directly by the hotelier, without any potential refund.
> Board and equipment
Full board includes, in addition to accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner, excluding drinks.
Half board includes, in addition to accommodation, breakfast and dinner or lunch depending on the situation, excluding drinks.
Drinks vary from bottled water, alcohol, wine and spirits and are not included, unless expressly stated in the description.
Any additional food or drinks that aren’t included in the offer must be paid for on site, to the hotelier. On site, the hotelier’s rules must be followed, especially regarding the opening hours of the restaurant(s) or bar(s), the locations listed for eating meals or any other food and drinks.
In the event of a half board stay, each night spent on site includes one breakfast and dinner. Thus, in the event of late arrival and early departure, no meal will be provided on the first and last day. The same goes for a full board stay.
The “All Inclusive” package allows unlimited consumption of certain alcohols for adults. Excessive drinking is dangerous. The agency will not be held responsible for any behavior or accidents that may occur for Clients in an inebriated state.
In the event of a theft in the hotel, the Agency’s responsibility is limited in accordance with the rules of the Civil Code that govern the hotel. Generally, hotels have a safe (free or with an extra cost) which they recommend using. Access to the establishments’ night clubs is forbidden to people under 18 years old. Identification may be requested.
It is possible, during high season, that the number of parasols, deck chairs, sport equipment, etc. be insufficient for the number of clients.
