General Terms and Conditions
What’s the scope and purpose of these general terms and conditions?
These General Terms and Conditions govern the legal relationship between Alphorn in the Alps (“we”) and its customers (“you”).
When do these general terms and conditions apply?
These General Terms and Conditions apply whenever you contract a service from us, irrespective of the distribution channel (direct contract with us, through a distribution partner, or via an agent), the form of the contract (written or oral), and the commercial conditions (e.g. if you accept an invitation, we also have a contract). If you contract a service with us for somebody else, these terms and conditions apply to you and the person for which you contract the service.
The contract is normally concluded at the moment of booking. Sometimes, we will ask for payments during the booking process; these payments are subject to the rules of these General Terms and Conditions.
What prices apply?
The price of our service is fixed at the moment of booking. All prices are quoted in Swiss francs and are not subject to VAT (we do not meet the minimum business size criteria to be subject to VAT). We will tell you what is included in the service and what expenses need to be paid extra (e.g. tickets for cable cars, restaurant expenses).
Sometimes we offer discounts subject to certain conditions. If you book a service, claiming a discount at the time of booking, and we later find out that you don’t qualify for the discount, the full price applies (without deduction of the discount). If in doubt about the applicability of a discount, you should ask us.
How can the program of a service change?
The description of our service contains information about the program, e.g. time frame, destination, hiking time. When we are forced to change the program before the start, we will inform you of the reason and suggest an alternative program as soon as possible. In the case of public tours (i.e. excursions for which you bought a ticket), you have the right to opt out of the alternative program; we will then reimburse all your payments made so far. We reserve the right to make short-term changes during the tour due to non-anticipated circumstances.
In the case of private tours, you can change the program at your discretion, as long as the time frame of service is respected; you are also required to pay for any cost related to your changes (e.g. reservations for accommodation no longer needed).
Who can you bring along?
As the space in our minivan is limited, we only accept persons with a valid ticket on our public tours; this applies to babies and infants. We may grant exceptions to this rule if you ask us at least 24 hours before the start of an excursion. In general, you need to inform us if you bring children below 12 years old (they need a children seat).
Pets are not allowed on public tours. You can bring your dog to a private tour – but we keep you liable for any damage or mess caused by the dog.
What rules apply if you cancel or don’t show?
Our cancellation & no-show policy depends on the type of service and distribution channel:
- Tickets for public tours: If you cancel up to 72 hours before the start of the tour, we re-imburse 50% of the ticket price; later cancellations and no-shows will not be reimbursed.
- Private tours booked through us: we will retain your advance payment.
Private tours booked through an agent: terms of the agreement with your agent apply - Seminars and workshops organized by us: Your subscription is final and binding; we will not re-imburse you should you not be able to attend.
What rules apply when we cancel a service?
We reserve the right to cancel a service at our free discretion. We will do so, for example, if we feel that the weather forecast is too bad for a tour. If not agreed otherwise in your contract, we will reimburse all your payments made so far. Further compensation claims are excluded.
What are your responsibilities and obligations?
You are responsible for your own health and accident insurance coverage. You must assess whether your health and fitness condition allows you to participate in the program – in doubt, you should ask us before you book a service. When under the influence of drugs, medicines, and/or excessive alcohol you are not allowed to participate in our activities.
You are responsible for bringing adequate equipment (clothing, footwear, sun protection, etc.). You must not bring a large bag as the space in our minivan is limited. In the minivan, you must wear seat belts.
You need to be on time. If you are not, we can leave without you 10 minutes after the scheduled departure time. In this case, you are neither entitled to a refund nor may you claim any damages; you must also pay for any additional costs (e.g. transportation back to the starting point) yourself.
You must follow our instructions. We have the right to exclude you from our service with immediate effect if you do not respect these terms and conditions. In case of exclusion, any and all claims for damages against us are excluded.
Some additional words on your liability for damage by you to our equipment
We normally lend you our equipment for the duration of the excursion or cours (e.g. an alphorn). We will instruct you how to treat the equipment in order to avoid any damage. You are obliged to strictly follow these instructions, and you are liable for any damage caused by you to our equipment. If you damage our equipment, we have the right to demand a deposit payment that we can retain until we know the final cost of repair of the damage.
What are the limits to our liability?
You undertake all activities with us at your own risk. Our liability is limited to the price of our service as well as any direct damages caused willfully or by our gross negligence. Our liability for slight negligence, assisting persons as well as consequential damages and lost profit is excluded. We are not liable for damages due to circumstances that are beyond our control, such as force majeure, natural events, catastrophes, or changes in the program due to non-adherence of third-party providers to their schedules, etc. We do not assume any liability in case of non-fulfillment of contractual obligations that results from omissions or contract violations by you. We do not assume any liability for the disappearance of personal items, cash, valuables, luggage, photographic equipment, etc. as well as loss, theft, damage, or misuse of checks and credit cards.
We are not liable for the offers and services of third-party providers nor do we assume any liability for damages incurred as the result of the service of the such third-party provider used in the context of a contract with us (e.g. cable cars or restaurants). You must claim any damages directly from these third-party provider.
How do we treat your personal data?
Our privacy policy is published in a separate document here: https://alphorninthealps.ch/privacy_policy/
How should we resolve a conflict?
If you feel that our service fell short of our contractual obligations, you can claim compensation by making a written complaint (by post or mail) to us within 30 days; we will reply within two weeks.
The contract between you and us is governed by Swiss law, and any conflict has to be brought to the exclusive jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of Zürich, Switzerland.
Finally, some formal stuff
In case any of the provisions of these general terms and conditions shall be held or become invalid, void, or unenforceable in any other way, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby. In case of unenforceability of a provision, such provision shall be replaced by an enforceable provision that reflects the intention and purpose of the invalid provision as closely as possible. The same procedure applies if a gap in these GTC becomes evident.
We may amend these general terms and conditions at any time. Such amendments are legally binding upon publication on our website alphorninthealps.ch.
Current status: 26th May 2023