The Legal Stuff 

Definitions

• 'we', 'our', and ‘us’ means, Compassionate Self, ‘Nic Burnand and/or Sarah Dekker’;

• 'Retreat' means any workshop, event, course or personal coaching of any kind booked with Compassionate Self (Nic Burnand and /or Sarah Dekker) by you or any person on your behalf.

• 'Force Majeure' means any circumstances which are unusual and/or unforeseeable which are beyond the control of Nic Burnand and/or Sarah Dekker the consequence of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised, including (but not limited to) war or threat of war; riot; civil strife; hostilities; political unrest; government action; industrial dispute; natural or other disasters; nuclear incident; terrorist activity; weather conditions; closure of airports; fire; flood; drought; re-scheduling or cancellation of flights or alteration of the airline or aircraft type by an airline and technical problems with transportation and all similar events outside our control.

• 'Major Change' includes one or more of the following when made before the first day of the Retreat: (a). A change of venue for the whole or a major part of your Retreat, (b). A change of accommodation to that of a lower official classification for the whole or a major part of your Retreat; (c) Cancellation of the Retreat due to the minimum number of participants not being met.

• 'Website' means either www.compassionate-self.com or www.retreat.guru or any website connected with Compassionate Self.

• 'Lead name' refers to the person who made the booking.

• 'Retreat fee' refers to the total payable amount minus the deposit.

 

THESE CONDITIONS APPLY TO ALL RETREATS, WORKSHOPS, COURSES AND EVENTS ORGANISED OR HOSTED BY NIC BURNAND AND SARAH DEKKER. PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY BEFORE MAKING A BOOKING.

 

1. Your Retreat Agreement

When a booking is made, the 'lead name' on the booking request guarantees that he or she has the authority to accept and does accept on behalf of the party the terms of these booking conditions. After all appropriate payments have been made, we will send you an email confirming receipt of the payment and a binding agreement will come into existence between you and us. It is important to check the email confirmation when you get it, or if booking late at the time of booking, that all the details are exactly as you requested. In the event of any discrepancy, please contact us immediately as it may not be possible to make changes later.

 

2. Paying for your Retreat

• In order to secure your place and bed in the retreat of your choice we require a non-refundable deposit. (We take a risk in organizing retreats by committing to renting the retreat venue and paying non-refundable deposits. We would like to share that risk by requiring a non-refundable deposit)

• The balance of your retreat fees is payable in accordance with how you chose to pay when registering.

• We reserve the right to cancel your participation if payments of the balance due are not made on the agreed-upon date (Please contact us if you are unable to keep to the agreed payment dates and we will happily search with you for alternative payment options).

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Upon special request, we accept payment by Paypal or bank transfer (account details provided on request). If you do not supply the correct credit or debit card billing address and/or cardholder information through Paypal, we reserve the right to cancel your Retreat if payment is declined or if you have supplied incorrect credit card information. (We will, of course, check in with you first to see if we can resolve the problem).

 

3. Surcharges

Unless stated otherwise, transportation costs including, but not limited to, flights, transfers and taxis, are not included in the price of the retreat. Any prices of these are shown as an estimate only and we will not be liable for any differences to what was originally estimated.

 

4. If you Change Your Booking

If after our confirming receipt of payment by email you wish to change your Retreat in any way, we will do our utmost to make these changes, but it may not always be possible.

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Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

 

5. If you Cancel your Retreat

You, or any member of your party, may cancel your Retreat at any time. Written notification by email to info@compassionate-self.com from the 'lead name' on the booking must be received. We regret we cannot pay any expenses, costs or losses incurred by you as a result of any change or cancellation if you cancel the Retreat.

The following Retreat cancellation charges apply:

• For all retreat cancellations – 100% of the deposit will be retained.

Deposits are refundable in the following situations:

• You find someone to take your place in the same room type and for the same retreat which you have booked. In this case, we will retain a €60 admin fee and will return the balance of your deposit within one week of your replacement registering and paying a full deposit.

• We fill the retreat and sell your room to another participant. In this case, we will retain a €60 admin fee and will return the balance of your deposit within one week of filling the retreat and where all registrants have paid a full deposit.

• For cancellations, up to 60 days before the first day of the Retreat – 30% of the ‘retreat fee’ will be required to be paid or will be retained by us.

• For cancellations, 21-60 days before the first day of the Retreat– 60% of the ‘retreat fee’ will be required to be paid or will be retained by us.

• For cancellations, 0-21 days before the first day of the Retreat– 100% of the full fee will be required to be paid or will be retained by us.

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Retreat fees are refundable in the following situations:

• You find someone to take your place in the same room type and for the same retreat which you have booked. In this case, we will retain a €60 admin fee and will return the balance of your deposit within one week of your replacement registering and paying a full deposit.

• We fill the retreat and sell your room to another participant. In this case, we will retain a €60 admin fee and will return the balance of your deposit within one week of filling the retreat and where all registrants have paid a full deposit.

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Note: ‘Retreat fee’ refers to the total payable amount minus the deposit.

 

6. Prices and website accuracy

The information and prices shown on the website may have changed by the time you come to book your arrangements. Although we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the website information and prices at the time of loading, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check the price and all other details of your chosen arrangements with us at the time of booking.

 

7. Passports, Visas and Health Documents

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in possession of all necessary travel and health documents before departure. We regret we cannot accept liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry necessary documentation. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.

 

8. Insurance and health

A) It is your responsibility to ensure that you obtain the relevant insurance cover once your booking has been confirmed by us. Please bring any relevant documentation with you to your retreat. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs.

B) It is your responsibility to inform us of any health condition or relevant injuries before the start of the retreat.

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9. If We Change or Cancel Your Retreat

We begin planning the retreats we offer many months/years in advance and so we reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in retreat details both before and after bookings have been confirmed. We must also reserve the right to cancel confirmed bookings at any time. For example, if the minimum number of clients required for a particular retreat is not reached we may have to cancel it. Most changes are minor but occasionally, we may have to make a major change. If we have to make a major change or cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible and we will offer you the choice of the following options:

 

• (for major changes) accepting the changed arrangements

or

• Purchasing alternative arrangements from us, of a similar standard to those originally booked if available (if the chosen alternative is less expensive than your original one, we will refund the difference but if it is more expensive, we will ask you to pay the difference)

or

• Cancelling or accepting the cancellation in which case you will receive a full and quick refund of all monies you have paid to us.

 

Flights must not be booked before a deposit or full payment is confirmed by us by standard email message.  If flights have been booked and the Retreat is cancelled due to a major change or a force majeure, you will need to claim the cost of the flights from your insurer. 

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Very rarely, we may be forced by force majeure to cancel the retreat whilst you are en route to the retreat. If this situation does occur, we regret we will be unable to make any refunds (unless we obtain any from our suppliers), pay you compensation or meet any costs or expenses you incur as a result.

 

10. Behaviour

When you book a retreat with us you accept responsibility for the proper conduct of yourself and your party whilst on retreat. If we or any other person in authority is of the reasonable opinion that you or any member of your party is behaving in such a way as to cause or be likely to cause danger or upset to any other person on the Retreat or damage to property, we will be entitled to terminate the Retreat of the person(s) concerned. The person(s) concerned will be required to leave the accommodation and the Retreat and we will have no further responsibility to them including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination. You will be responsible for making full payment for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party during your retreat. Payment must be paid direct at the time to the service supplier concerned failing which, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us (together with our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions.

 

11. If You Have a Complaint

If you have a problem during your retreat, please inform a member of our team immediately, who will endeavour to explore how we can contribute to supporting the resolution of the problem.

 

12. Photography
Please check with other participants if they are ok being photographed before taking photos. If we choose to take photos, we will check with the group before doing so. We will only take photos of people who agree to be photographed. If we choose to use any photos for the promotion of further retreats, we will get the consent of all participants in the photo before doing so.

 

13. Descriptions and imagery
All photographs, images and descriptions used by us online and within promotional documentation have been included with the intention of presenting a true and accurate reflection of your room and of the retreats. Whilst all reasonable attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of information, descriptions and photographs provided by us, we cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy of such material.
 

14. Our Liability to You

(a) In respect of the Retreat: Our intention is that all arrangements and preparations for the retreat will be made, performed or provided with reasonable skill and care. Further, we will be responsible for what our employees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment or carrying out work we had asked them to do.

(b) In respect of the Retreat: We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or another claim of any description whatsoever which results from (a)  The act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or (b) The act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your arrangements and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or (c) ’Force Majeure’ as defined above.

(c) We limit the maximum amount we may have to pay you for any claims you may make against us. The maximum amount we will have to pay you where we are found liable for loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions (including money) is €50 per person affected unless a lower limitation applies to your claim under this clause.

(d) Local Excursions/Activities/Events: We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised on our website. For example any excursion you book whilst on the Retreat or any service or facility which your retreat venue or any other supplier agrees to provide for you. Excursions, tours, activities or other events that you may choose to book or pay for through our service or whilst you are on Retreat ("Local Events") are not part of your Retreat program provided by us and these terms and conditions do not apply. For any Local Event, your contract will be with the supplier of that Local Event and not with us. We are not responsible for the provision of the Local Event or for anything that happens during the course of its provision by the supplier. Please note that this position also includes all hazardous activities

(e) If you are dissatisfied in any way with the Retreat, you must inform our representative as soon as possible and s/he will endeavour to meet your requirements although we are neither obliged to provide another Retreat nor provide any refund under any circumstances.

 

15. Data Protection/Privacy

In order to process your booking and meet your requirements, we may have to pass your personal details on to the relevant suppliers of your travel arrangements. We would also like to hold your information (including any email address), where collected by us, for our own future marketing purposes (for example, to inform you of promotional/competition offers or to send you our brochure). If you do not wish to receive such approaches in future, please inform us as soon as possible.

 

16. Special Requests

If you wish to make a special request, you must do so at the time of booking. We will try to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier but we cannot guarantee that requests will be met. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation email or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed. We are happy to advise and assist you in choosing a suitable Retreat. As some of the accommodations and venues featured may lack even the simplest facilities, such as ramps for wheelchairs, lifts etc., it is important that, when booking, you advise us of any disabilities and special requirements to make sure the Retreat meets your specific needs. If we reasonably feel unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm the booking or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel when we become aware of these details.

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