Terms and Conditions

Gateway Cottages Extra Information and Booking Conditions

This document contains information about how to confirm your holiday booking with us, how to make your payments, how your booking will be processed, and what to do if there is a problem.

When you book self-catering accommodation with us you are entering into a legally binding contract, so this notice also explains the nature of this contract and contains the Booking Conditions. When you sign the Booking Form you are acknowledging that you have read these Conditions and that you accept them. If there is anything that isn’t clear in this leaflet please don’t hesitate to ask us.

Contract.
This contract is for short-term holiday rental of Mallard or Partridge Cottage, Bolfornought Farm, Stirling, FK7 7LL.
It is subject to the Booking Conditions listed below and starts when we issue the Booking Confirmation Form.

Prices and Payment.
The prices quoted are fixed in sterling, payment in that currency may be made in cash, by cheque, BACS transfer or by Paypal.
Prices include VAT and all utilities (oil and electricity) used as well as the supply of bed linen and towels. A timber pack for the wood burner is included (extra can be bought for £5 from the owners).

Deposit Payment.
To confirm your reservation we need you to complete, sign, and return the Booking Form. If you are making the booking 6 weeks or more in advance this should be accompanied by a non-refundable deposit of 25% of rental. If you are booking less than 6 weeks in advance of your stay the entire rental payment is due on booking. Upon receipt of the deposit, we will send you a confirmation email and receipt.  This is our formal acceptance of the booking.  It is understood that the person making the booking will be deemed to act on behalf of all members of the party.  We recommend that you have health and holiday insurance at the time of booking, which should include loss of deposit through cancellation.

Balance Payment.
Details for the final payment will appear on your invoice and the balance must be paid in full not later than 6 weeks before the first day of the booking. We won’t get overly agitated if you are a few days late paying the balance, and we will always try to contact you to remind you if you forget, but we do reserve the right to interpret that the non-payment of the balance of the rent by the due date as a cancellation of the contract by you.

We’ll issue a receipt for the balance payment together with details of how to find Mallard Cottage and arrangements for key collection etc.

Internet Access at Gateway Cottages.
We provide a satellite internet connection, which provides excellent connection speeds which are adequate for ordinary browsing and checking emails etc. but is a bit slower for online gaming or streaming video etc.  We can provide free Internet connection during your stay for your own laptop, iPod, iPad or smartphone via WiFi. The Internet is also accessible via the smart TV.
With the coming of the Digital Economy Act, it is now essential that we protect ourselves from prosecution in the event of criminal or malicious use of the internet by guests staying at Mallard and Partridge Cottage and using our facilities. You will find Terms and Conditions for Internet Access in an Appendix at the end of these Booking Conditions. In a nutshell, this just makes it a condition that you do not use our internet connection to download copyright, obscene or offensive material, or use the service for unlawful activities.

Cancellation.
Guests cancelling up to 4 weeks before the start of the holiday will receive a refund of 50% of the balance payment.  Guests cancelling up to 2 weeks before the start of the holiday will receive a refund of 25% of the balance payment.
In case of a split payment, the booking deposit is always non-refundable.
However, if we manage to re-let your week(s) we will make a full refund of the balance payment.  In any event, please notify us by telephone and confirm the cancellation in writing, as soon as possible if you need to cancel so that we can do our best to save your money.
In the unlikely event of Gateway Cottages cancelling your booking, owing to circumstances beyond our control (e.g. fire), our financial liability to you is limited to the amount of money you have paid to us.
 
Period of Hire.
Rentals commence unless otherwise agreed at 4.00 p.m. on the day of arrival and terminate at 10.00 a.m. on the day of departure.

Number of Persons Using the Property.
The number of persons occupying the property must not exceed six in Mallard and 4 in Partridge(adults and children). We reserve the right to refuse entry to the entre party, or terminate the rental contract forthwith if this condition is not observed.

Breakage or Damage.
At the time of booking, we require a £50/£100 returnable damage deposit.  Please let us know of any breakages, damage or malfunctioning equipment as soon as you discover it – don’t wait until the end of your stay. This gives us the best chance of getting things fixed promptly, and reduces the inconvenience to you and to future guests. We don’t charge for genuine ‘wear and tear’, but the more serious damage will be charged for. We reserve the right to charge you a reimbursement fee to cover any replacement, repair or extra cleaning costs that arise from damage to the property (in excess of 4 hours cleaning time) or its contents whilst you are renting it. We are not responsible for the loss of or damage to your own possessions whilst in the rental property or the grounds. 

Care of Property.
You should take proper care of the property, its furniture, pictures, fittings and effects in or on the property and leave them in the same clean and tidy condition and state of repair and condition at the end of the rental period as at the beginning. Please ensure lights are turned off if going out for the day. We reserve the right to charge a fee to pay for extra cleaning (in excess of 4 hours cleaning time) if the property or its contents are left dirty. Any extra cleaning costs incurred will be deducted from the breakage deposit.

Dogs.
Well behaved dogs are permitted by prior arrangement in Mallard Cottage.  Please note dogs are to be kept under control at all times and not allowed on furniture or to be left alone inside the property. The property has a secure fenced off garden and any fouling by pets of this area should be cleaned up by their owners. Please note cattle graze freely in the fields near to the cottage, therefore please keep your dog on a lead when appropriate.

Smoking.
Smoking is strictly prohibited anywhere inside the building.

Right of Entry.
Whilst we would not normally enter the property whilst you are renting it, we do have the right of entry at all reasonable times for the purposes of inspection, to turn off lights left on or to carry out any necessary repairs or maintenance.

Methods of Payment:
Cheque - Drawn on a UK bank Please make your cheque payable to Gateway Cottages.
We regret that we cannot accept cheques submitted later than two weeks from the start of your holiday: other payment methods must be used in these circumstances.

Cash - Please send this securely (e.g. Next Day Special Delivery, which includes insurance cover of up to £500). We can only accept GB pounds.

Direct transfer - Transfer money into our bank account (preferred method of payment).
You will need the following information about our account to make the payment:
BIC / SWIFT CODE: RBOS GB 2L    
IBAN: GB17RBOS83203218904866

This should be sufficient information for payments from overseas accounts but UK payers may also need the following information:
Account name: Gateway Cottages;
Account number: 18904866;
Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland; Branch: Falkirk;  
Branch sort code: 83-20-32
Please let us know when you have made the transfer so that we can look out for it.

If you are using internet banking these money transfers are often free of charge. However, if there are any charges (e.g. for currency conversion) you must pay these yourself. If in doubt please slightly overestimate the required payment and we’ll either offset any extra against your balance payment or refund it in cash when you arrive.

Online payment by Credit Card or Debit Card
We use PayPal to handle online payments. This is extremely secure, and means that you do not have to pass your credit card details to us for processing or storage. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this method (though PayPal will encourage you to open one as part of the payment process!) If you wish to pay by this method simply pay via the link on the invoice.

As our farm is a working farm (250metres from cottage) and at different times of year especially mid August to mid September there will possibly be noise at any time of day form the grain drier and farm machinery etc., but this will be kept to a minimum where feasible.

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Appendix.

Internet Access Terms and Conditions

This agreement sets out the terms and conditions on which wired or wireless internet access (“the Service”) is provided to yourself and all other members of your party (“you”) by Gateway Cottages (“us”). Your signature on our Booking Form implies your acceptance of this Agreement.

Extent of the Service

We do not recommend in particular the use of any websites (or other internet related services) (“Internet Services”) and your use of Internet Services is carried out entirely at your own risk.
We have no responsibility for, or control over, the Internet Services you access and do not guarantee that any services are error or virus free. We have no responsibility for, or control over, the information you transmit or receive via the Service. Save for the purposes of network diagnostics we do not examine the use to which you put the Service or the nature of the information you send or receive.

We do not guarantee:
the availability of the Service;
the speed at which information may be transmitted or received via the Service; or
that the Service will be compatible with your equipment or any software which you use.

Whilst we take reasonable steps to ensure the security of the Service and to prevent unlawful access to information transmitted or received using the Service we do not guarantee the security of the information which you may transmit or receive using the Service or located on any equipment utilising the Service and you accept that it is your responsibility to protect your information and have adequate security (in terms of equipment and procedures) to ensure the security, integrity and confidentiality of your information and data.
We reserve the right at all times to withdraw the Service, change the specifications or manner of use of the Service, to change access codes, usernames, passwords or other security information necessary to access the service.

Your Use of the Service.
You must not use or attempt to use the Service at any times other than between 4pm on your arrival date and 10am on your departure date.
You must not use the Service to access  Internet Services, or send or receive e-mails, which:
are defamatory, threatening, intimidatory or which could be classed as harassment;
contain obscene, profane or abusive language or material;
contain pornographic material (that is text, pictures, films, video clips of a sexually explicit or arousing nature);
contain offensive or derogatory images  regarding sex, race, religion, colour, origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition or sexual orientation;
contain material which infringes third party’s rights (including intellectual property rights);
in our reasonable opinion may adversely affect the manner in which we carry out our business; or
are otherwise unlawful or inappropriate;

Music, video, pictures, text and other content on the internet are copyright works and you should not download, alter, e-mail or otherwise use such content unless certain that the owner of such works has authorised its use by you.

We may terminate or temporarily suspend the Service if we reasonably believe that you are in breach of any provisions of this agreement.

We recommend that you do not use the service to transmit or receive any confidential information or data and should you choose to do so you do so at your own risk.

Criminal Activity.
You must not use the Service to engage in any activity which constitutes or is capable of constituting a criminal offence, either in the United Kingdom or in any state throughout the world.

You agree and acknowledge that we may be required to provide assistance and information to law enforcement, governmental agencies and other authorities.
You agree and acknowledge that we may keep a log of the Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses of any devices which access the Service, the times when they have accessed the Service and the activity associated with that IP address

You further agree we are entitled to co-operate with law enforcement authorities and rights-holders in the investigation of any suspected or alleged illegal activity by you which may include, but is not limited to, disclosure of such information as we have, and are entitled to provide by law, to law enforcement authorities or rights-holders.

Other Terms
You agree to compensate us fully for any claims or legal action made or threatened against us by someone else because you have used the service in breach of these terms and conditions.

Whilst we do not seek to limit our responsibility for fraudulent misrepresentation or if you are injured or die as a result of our negligence we have no  responsibility (to the extent permitted by law) to compensate you (whether or not we are negligent) for any direct financial loss, loss of profit, revenue, time, anticipated savings or profit or revenue, opportunity, data, use, business, wasted expenditure, business interruption, loss arising from disclosure of confidential information, loss arising from or in connection with use of the service or inability to use or access the service or a failure, suspension or withdrawal of all or part of the service at any time or damage to physical property or for any other similar direct loss that may arise in relation to this agreement whether or not we were advised in advance of the possibility of such loss or damage.

This agreement is governed by the laws of the United Kingdom and is subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish courts.