CANCELLATIONS (BECAUSE SOMETIMES LIFE DOESN'T GO TO PLAN)
We get it. Flights get cancelled/delayed. People get sick. The night of drinking and dancing got the better of you and you can't handle anything except lying beside the pool.
Whatever the reason, sometimes you just need to cancel.
Up until now we haven't had a cancellation policy. We don't usually ask you to pre-pay to keep the booking. And we've dealt with cancellations with an understanding smile.
Unfortunately cancellations and no-shows do cost us. And when the booking is with our other suppliers, they actually charge us 50% of the cost of your tour/activity.
So.. we want to keep being flexible, because it's holidays afterall, and things should never be difficult on holidays .. but we need to put in place some kind of loose, negotiable cancellation policy so we're not continually out of pocket.
This is our kinda-cancellation policy.
If your tour is one of our group walking tours: food, history, graffiti, ghost etc, please cancel with as much notice as possible and there's no charge, no problems, hope you feel better. If you pre-paid, we will refund everything (less any fees that the payment company charge, if they charge them)
If your tour is a pre-arranged private tour made with us, as long as you cancel with 24 hours notice, it is usually ok. Not fantastic because we turned down other tours for that time, we turned down trips to the beach, and sometimes we arranged transport or visits to local galleries (if it was that kind of tour).. but usually we aren't actually out of pocket, so we will be internally a little peeved, but won't charge you a cancellation fee. So.. No charge. (If you pre-paid, we will refund, less any fees that the payment company charge, if they charge them)
If you pre-booked a group walking tour or private tour with us and didn't come and didn't let us know in advance, we reserve the right to keep any monies paid, but will usually be fine with refunding 50% anyway.
If you have booked a boat, we will pay (at least) a 50% deposit directly to the owner, at the time of your booking to reserve the boat for that day. If you cancel we will do our best to find someone else to take the same booking for the same day. If we (or you) find someone else, no charge. If we don't find anyone else, and the company says it's not enough notice before the cancellation (2 days will usually be the absolute minimum- most are 15 days), then we forfeit the 50% deposit. We use to pay this deposit, without asking you to reimburse us. But having been stung too many times, we now ask that you pay the 50% deposit to guarantee your booking. We will not make a profit on your cancellation. We will just pass on the costs incurred. Honestly we really try and be fair and nice.
Note: some boat owner have stricter cancellation policies.. we simply pass on the policies of each boat owner, please confirm with us at the time of booking.
Weather cancellations/force majeure: if it's raining at the time of departure, you can decide to cancel the boat, in which case you will receive a full refund. But once the boat is out on the water, if it rains later in the day, well.. there's nothing really to be done about that. By way of reassurance, very often, even if it is raining in Cartagena, there isn't a cloud in sight in the islands. Any rain seems to just burn off once you're out there. But, you know, it's the weather.. so there's never any guarantees. If the boat company decides it's unsafe for wind or weather conditions to go out, you will receive a full refund. Also if the boat your have booked is damaged or needs repairs, a replacement boat will be found with similar characteristics and the price will be substituted (ie if the boat is a lower price, the price will be adjusted). If an appropriate and agreed upon boat can not be found you can request a full refund. You may also opt to reschedule for another day.
If you have booked a mountain bike tour, la boquilla tour, island visit, chiva tour, boat tour or any other third party tour, generally if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice, these operators will charge us a 50% cancellation fee. So we will also on-charge you that fee. If we can talk our way out of it and they don't charge us, we won't charge you. We may ask you to pay the 50% deposit at the time of booking. If you cancel with more than a full day's notice, we'll refund you any money paid (as long as we're not charged anything).
Does that all make sense? Feel free to email us to discuss in more detail.. but as a general rule we will do our utmost to be fair, and ask that you do us the same courtesy.
Other than that.. we suggest bulk-buying Bonfest and coconut water and stocking up your fridge in anticipation. It's more than a little easy to get carried away in Cartagena.
Whatever the reason, sometimes you just need to cancel.
Up until now we haven't had a cancellation policy. We don't usually ask you to pre-pay to keep the booking. And we've dealt with cancellations with an understanding smile.
Unfortunately cancellations and no-shows do cost us. And when the booking is with our other suppliers, they actually charge us 50% of the cost of your tour/activity.
So.. we want to keep being flexible, because it's holidays afterall, and things should never be difficult on holidays .. but we need to put in place some kind of loose, negotiable cancellation policy so we're not continually out of pocket.
This is our kinda-cancellation policy.
If your tour is one of our group walking tours: food, history, graffiti, ghost etc, please cancel with as much notice as possible and there's no charge, no problems, hope you feel better. If you pre-paid, we will refund everything (less any fees that the payment company charge, if they charge them)
If your tour is a pre-arranged private tour made with us, as long as you cancel with 24 hours notice, it is usually ok. Not fantastic because we turned down other tours for that time, we turned down trips to the beach, and sometimes we arranged transport or visits to local galleries (if it was that kind of tour).. but usually we aren't actually out of pocket, so we will be internally a little peeved, but won't charge you a cancellation fee. So.. No charge. (If you pre-paid, we will refund, less any fees that the payment company charge, if they charge them)
If you pre-booked a group walking tour or private tour with us and didn't come and didn't let us know in advance, we reserve the right to keep any monies paid, but will usually be fine with refunding 50% anyway.
If you have booked a boat, we will pay (at least) a 50% deposit directly to the owner, at the time of your booking to reserve the boat for that day. If you cancel we will do our best to find someone else to take the same booking for the same day. If we (or you) find someone else, no charge. If we don't find anyone else, and the company says it's not enough notice before the cancellation (2 days will usually be the absolute minimum- most are 15 days), then we forfeit the 50% deposit. We use to pay this deposit, without asking you to reimburse us. But having been stung too many times, we now ask that you pay the 50% deposit to guarantee your booking. We will not make a profit on your cancellation. We will just pass on the costs incurred. Honestly we really try and be fair and nice.
Note: some boat owner have stricter cancellation policies.. we simply pass on the policies of each boat owner, please confirm with us at the time of booking.
Weather cancellations/force majeure: if it's raining at the time of departure, you can decide to cancel the boat, in which case you will receive a full refund. But once the boat is out on the water, if it rains later in the day, well.. there's nothing really to be done about that. By way of reassurance, very often, even if it is raining in Cartagena, there isn't a cloud in sight in the islands. Any rain seems to just burn off once you're out there. But, you know, it's the weather.. so there's never any guarantees. If the boat company decides it's unsafe for wind or weather conditions to go out, you will receive a full refund. Also if the boat your have booked is damaged or needs repairs, a replacement boat will be found with similar characteristics and the price will be substituted (ie if the boat is a lower price, the price will be adjusted). If an appropriate and agreed upon boat can not be found you can request a full refund. You may also opt to reschedule for another day.
If you have booked a mountain bike tour, la boquilla tour, island visit, chiva tour, boat tour or any other third party tour, generally if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice, these operators will charge us a 50% cancellation fee. So we will also on-charge you that fee. If we can talk our way out of it and they don't charge us, we won't charge you. We may ask you to pay the 50% deposit at the time of booking. If you cancel with more than a full day's notice, we'll refund you any money paid (as long as we're not charged anything).
Does that all make sense? Feel free to email us to discuss in more detail.. but as a general rule we will do our utmost to be fair, and ask that you do us the same courtesy.
Other than that.. we suggest bulk-buying Bonfest and coconut water and stocking up your fridge in anticipation. It's more than a little easy to get carried away in Cartagena.
