LEGAL NOTICES / T&Cs

Legal Notices

 

Bookings Terms & Conditions

The terms and conditions below detail the agreement of temporary property rental between you and us.
Where we say ‘Client/client’ we mean the lead person under who’s name the booking is made.
Where we say ‘Guest/guest’ or ‘Guests/guests’ we mean all members of the booked group.
Where  we say ‘Us/us’ ‘We/we’ or ‘the Owners/owners’ we mean the business of Gites Villeblanche.
‘Property’ refers to the estate and ‘Accommodation’ refers specifically to the gites/holiday cottages.

Bookings

  • The client accepts that this contractual agreement becomes binding upon acceptance of the booking and payment of the first fee (deposit or full payment).
  • The client acknowledges that the property is a private accommodation being let solely for a self-catering holiday.
  • All information and terms specific to the property are incorporated in this agreement.
  • Unless otherwise stated or agreed, the rental period starts at 16:00 on the Arrival Date and ends at the latest at 09:00 on the Departure Date.
  • Arrival and Departure dates run Saturday to Saturday.
  • The minimum stay per booking is 7 nights.
  • The client may rent one or both accommodations.
  • Unless otherwise stated, rental of the property includes all local taxes, utilities, linen and towels (incl. swimming pool towels) and firewood.
  • For rentals of 2 weeks or longer, clean linen and towels are provided on a weekly basis or when requested.
  • Where stated, the owner is required to collect and remit local tourism taxes. These taxes are calculated and collected from guests at the time of booking and remitted to the applicable tax authority.
  • The guests residing in the accommodation during the rental period, must be those stated at the time of booking, and must not exceed the maximum number stated on the website for the property.
  • Guests must permit the Owner or Owner’s representative reasonable access to the accommodation during the rental period; whether to inspect, carry out essential repairs or for any other reasonable purpose.
  • The Client and Guests residing in the property during the rental period shall have no rights whatsoever in respect of the property except to occupy as holiday accommodation for the period booked.
  • The Client shall not sublet any part of the property or accommodation to a third party, or allow anyone on the property not explicitly included in the booking.
  • The Client shall report any breakages and / or defects in the property or its contents to the Owner or the Owner’s representative without delay.
  • The Owners do not currently accept pet dogs or any other pet animal on the property.
  • The accommodation(s) must be kept locked at night and whenever unattended.
  • All Guests are expected to act in a manner that would not cause unacceptable disturbance to residents in neighbouring properties.
  • The Owner reserves the right to terminate the stay if the Client or Guests are believed to be causing a nuisance or are not treating the property with due respect. In this event, no refund will be made for the unused portion of the stay.
  • If it is reasonably suspected that the Client or Guests is/are breaking the law then the rental agreement will be terminated with no refund.

 

Payments

Rental rates are advertised, and are to be paid, in Euros (€). We can also accept payment in £ Sterling – please ask when booking.

Rental payments are to be made via direct bank transfer, or via payment processor in the case of third party bookings (eg Holiday Lettings, AirBnB).

A 30% non-refundable deposit payment is due immediately to secure your reservation. Your booking is not confirmed until the Owner has acknowledged receipt of your payment. It is strongly recommended that flights or other travel arrangements are not booked until you have received this confirmation.

The final balance is due no less than 8 weeks prior to arrival.

If the final balance is not received by the due date, the Owner reserves the right to give notice in writing that the reservation is cancelled.

The total balance is payable within 8 weeks of the Arrival Date.

 

Security Deposit

A security deposit of €250 is payable in cash on arrival to the Owner. This is to cover property damage and breakages. Please note – we will not charge for minor breakages, they are part of life and to be expected – so please let us know, so we can make sure all is in order for the next guests!

The security deposit (or part thereof) will be returned to the Client on the day of departure from the property.

Any breakages, damage or loss caused to the property or its contents during the rental period may result in the forfeit of some or the entire security bond.

Notwithstanding the security bond, the Client remains liable to the Owner for the full cost of any repairs or replacements required or other losses incurred by the Owner due to accidental or negligent breakage, loss, damage or otherwise injury to the property and/or the contents therein.

The Owner has the right to deduct supplementary charges from the security bond if the property is not vacated at the stated time or in the event of any other breach of this agreement by the Client, but this shall not prevent the Owner from receiving such charges from the Client by other means.

 

Cancellations

Only written notification of cancellation will be accepted – please email here. The following refund policy applies:

The deposit is non-refundable.

A 50% refund of the balance is eligible between 4 and 8 weeks of the booking arrival date.

Cancellations 4 weeks or less are not eligible for a refund.

The Owner reserves the right to modify or withdraw any booking due to circumstances arising which are beyond their control.

Should the property become unavailable for the reserved dates, the Client will be notified as soon as possible and a full refund of all payments will be made.

The Client agrees to take out holiday insurance cover to ensure any losses incurred due to Client or Owner cancellation are fully covered.

Insurance

It is strongly recommended that the Client takes out:

  • A comprehensive travel insurance policy, which will include cancellation cover and full cover for the party’s personal belongings, as no such cover is provided by the Owner. Accordingly, such loses are the responsibility of the Client.
  • Personal liability and accidental damage insurance for all members of the party to cover against accidental or negligent damage to the property, and protect against loss in the event of a deduction from the security bond (this is often included as part of a comprehensive travel insurance policy).
  • The Client is advised to take out additional breakdown and motor insurance if on a self-drive holiday.

 

General House Rules

The Owner shall not be liable to the Client or held responsible:

  • For any injury, loss or damage to the Client personally, their belongings, or vehicles.
  • For any temporary defect or stoppage in the supply of public services to the property such as water, electricity, gas, telephone or internet, or in respect of any equipment, machinery, or appliances in the property or garden, which are not caused by the Owner.
  • For the Client’s use of the property, amenities and facilities. These are used entirely at the own risk of the Client, including the pool and sun terrace, car parking area, gardens and wooded areas, and outdoor games (eg table tennis).
  • If the Client is dissatisfied with the cleanliness or presentation of the property, they should let the Owner know as soon as possible so that any issues can be quickly resolved.
  • If any issue is not resolved at the time to the satisfaction of the Client, any dispute is to be addressed to the Owner as soon as possible.
  • If the Client fails to notify the Owner of any problem or dissatisfaction prior to departure from the property, it may affect the ability to investigate later complaints and impact the way that any complaint is handled.
  • The Owner accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any accident in the property, except for personal injury or death arising from the Owner’s negligence.
  • Smoking including e-cigarettes is not permitted inside any area of the accommodation.
  • Clients are requested to be aware that the property waste is treated via a septic tank, and to therefore only dispose of toilet paper in the WCs. Any other items should be disposed in the bathroom bins provided.
  • Only use appliances for their intended use.
  • There is no facility to charge electric cars/vehicles. The nearest points are 5 and 10 mins drive away.
  • Wi-Fi/Internet connections are complimentary and are not part of the rental agreement. While all efforts to ensure connections are maintained, this cannot be guaranteed.
  • The rental includes electricity. However, any excessive use will be charged extra – so please ensure that lights or heating are switched off when not needed.
  • The Owner cannot be held responsible for any noise or disturbance originating from outside the boundaries of the property or noise which is beyond their control, or wild animals and insects that may enter the property.
  • The use of the swimming pool is at the risk of the Client and precautions have been put in place to ensure maximum safety. The swimming pool and all facilities are strictly for the use of the Client only. No third parties will be granted access to the facilities.
  • The pool opening hours are 9.00am-9.00pm, and is alarmed outside of these times in accordance with French law.
  • The Client is requested to keep suncream and oils to a minimum when using the pool, and avoid glass or sharp objects in the pool area.
  • The Owner reserves the right to temporarily suspend the use of the pool for essential or emergency maintenance.

 

Contract Clauses

The Client and Owner agree that if any one of the clauses or part of a clause of this agreement is held to be against the public interest or unlawful or in any way unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this agreement shall remain in full force and effect and bind the Client and Owner.

This contract is governed by French law in every particular, including formation and interpretation, and shall be deemed to have been made in France. Any proceedings arising out of, or in connection with this contract, may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in France.

Privacy Policy

 

We are Gites Villeblanche of 2 Route du Logis, Villeblanche, La Chapelle-Pouilloux 79190, France.

This is our Privacy Policy, which sets out how we handle your personal information if you’re a Gites Villeblanche client or visitor to our website, in accordance with the latest EU General Data Protection Regulations.

When we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘Gites Villeblanche’ it’s because that’s who we are and we own and run this business and website.

If we say ‘policy’ we’re talking about this Privacy Policy. If we say ‘user terms’ we’re talking about the rules for using this website. If we say ‘client’, we mean any person or company who makes, or has made a booking with us. Our ‘services’ means the rental of dwellings on our property as holiday accommodation, and the related access to other amenities, namely outside areas.

 

The type of personal information we collect

We collect certain personal information about visitors and users of our site and services.
The most common types of information we collect include things like:

Names, telephone numbers and email addresses, when someone makes an enquiry by phone, email or via our website contact form.

IP addresses, location (by country), browser type and other web analytics data when someone visits our website.

Bank details when a client requests a refund.

 

How we collect personal information

We collect personal information directly when you provide it to us, automatically as you navigate through the website, or when you interact with a social media posting.

 

Personal information we collect about you from others

Although we generally collect personal information directly from you, on occasion we also collect certain categories of personal information about you from other sources. In particular:
Third party service providers (like Google and Facebook) who are located in the US, which may provide basic browsing information as you navigate through our site, or other information when you interact with our social media profiles. This information varies and is controlled by that service provider or as authorized by you via your privacy settings at that service provider.

 

How we use personal information

We will use your personal information:

To fulfil a contract, or take steps linked to a contract: in particular, in carrying out Gites Villeblanche services.

To create and send invoices for contracted rentals and deposits.

Where this is necessary for purposes which are in our legitimate interests. These interests include:

  • operating our website;
  • providing you with services described on the website;
  • updating you with operational news and information about our website and services e.g. to notify you about changes to our website or services, website disruptions or security updates;
  • carrying out technical analysis to determine how to improve our website and the services we provide;
  • monitoring activity on our website, in order to identify potential fraudulent activity and prevent spam and ‘hacking’, and to ensure compliance with the user terms that apply to this website;
  • managing our relationship with you, e.g. by responding to your comments or queries submitted to us on our website or asking for your feedback.
  • managing our legal and operational affairs (including, managing risks relating to content and fraud matters);
  • improving our products and services; and providing general administrative and performance functions and activities.
  • Where you provide your consent – for such purposes as emergency contact procedures.
  • Purposes which are required by French or EU law.
  • For the purpose of responding to requests by government, a court of law, or law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation.

When we disclose your personal information

We do not usually need to disclose your personal information to any third party in order to deliver our services.
There may be certain circumstances in which we need to disclose your personal information, for example:

  • To regulators and government authorities in connection with our compliance procedures and obligations;
  • a purchaser or prospective purchaser of all or part of our assets or our business, and their professional advisers, in connection with the purchase;
  • a third party to respond to requests relating to a criminal investigation or alleged or suspected illegal activity;
  • a third party, in order to enforce or defend our rights, or to address financial or reputational risks;
  • a rights holder in relation to an allegation of intellectual property infringement or any other infringement; and other recipients where we are authorised or required by law to do so.

Where we transfer and/or store your personal information

We are based in France, and your online data is stored either on our servers (located in the UK) or locally in hard copy or digital form locally at our address in France.

How we keep your personal information secure

Most of our information is kept in digital form. All digital personal information (including names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses) submitted via our website is stored on UK servers. All emails via our domain are stored on UK servers (please see below – Third Party Services).

Any information stored in hard-copy form is kept in a locked filing cabinet onsite at our address, to which only the owners of Gites Villeblanche have access.

Hard copy records are destroyed after 7 years.

How we try to protect your data

This website is protected by an SSL Certificate which uses end to end encryption on every page and a website security package which includes a firewall, ‘brute force’ attack protection, file system and database enhanced security and reCaptcha fields to minimise automated spam.

We also use a Cookies Declaration to ensure browsing privacy and GDPR compliance.

Third Party services

We use some third party services, some of which have access to your personal information – either provided by us or by you.
These third parties include:

Baloogi Studio – web developer. Personal data submitted via the website may be used for technical troubleshooting, or prevention of attack. You can read the Baloogi Studio Privacy Policy here.

20i.com – Hosting provider and domain registrar. We may collect, process and store our clients’ personal information on our 20i servers, which are located in the UK. You can read the 20i Privacy Policy here.

Holiday Lettings – We use this online listings service to advertise our properties, and take bookings and payments.  You can read their Privacy Policy here.

Google Business – We use Google Business Listings to advertise our properties and enable navigation. You can read their Privacy Policy here.

AwStats – website analytics application. AwStats is an open source log file analyser, which operates on the website server, collecting and logging website traffic information. It does not use cookies, or any kind of tracking code, and collects anonymous data which helps us to monitor visitor traffic to our website, such as:

      • your IP address or proxy server IP address
      • the domain name you requested
      • the name of your internet service provider is sometimes captured depending on the configuration of your ISP connection;
      • the date and time of your visit to the website;
      • the length of your session;
      • the pages which you have accessed;
      • the number of times you access our site within any month;
      • the file URL you look at and information relating to it;
      • the website which referred you to our Sites; and
      • the operating system which your computer uses.

How you can access your personal information

You have the right to:

  • request access to the personal data we hold about you.
  • request corrections of any errors in that data.
  • request erasure of the personal data we hold about you.
  • To make any of these requests, please contact us by email here or by post at the above address.

Communications choices regarding your personal information

Where we have your consent to do so (ie. if you have subscribed to one of our e-mail newsletter lists or have indicated that you are interested in receiving offers or information from us), we send you marketing communications by email about products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. You can ‘opt-out’ of such communications if you would prefer not to receive them in the future by using the “unsubscribe” facility provided at the bottom of the communication itself.

You also have choices about cookies, as described below. By modifying your browser preferences, you have the choice to accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set, or to reject all cookies. If you choose to reject cookies some parts of our sites may not work properly in your case.

Cookies and web analytics

We currently use any cookies on our website or may do so in the future. We therefore include of a ‘Cookies Declaration’ (in accordance with the GDPR).

Information about children

Our website and services are not suitable for children under the age of 16 years, so if you are under 16 we ask that you do not use our website or give us your personal information.

If you are from 16 to 18 years, you can browse our site but you’ll need the supervision of a parent or guardian to request a quotation or become a client. It’s the responsibility of parents or guardians to monitor their children’s use of our website.

Information you make public or give to others

If you make your personal information available to other people, we can’t control or accept responsibility for the way they will use or manage that data. There are lots of ways that you can find yourself providing information to other people, like when you post a public message on a forum thread, share information via social media, or make contact with another user (such as a third party author) whether via our website or directly via email. Before making your information publicly available or giving your information to anyone else, think carefully. If you’re sharing information via another website, check the privacy policy for that site to understand its information management practices as this privacy policy will not apply.

How long we keep your personal information

We retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to provide the services to you and others, and to comply with our legal obligations. If you no longer want us to use your personal information or to provide you with our services, you can request that we erase your personal information and close your Gites Villeblanche account. Please note that if you request the erasure of your personal information we will retain information from deleted accounts as necessary for our legitimate business interests, to comply with the law, prevent fraud, collect fees, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with investigations, enforce the terms of service and take other actions permitted by law. The information we retain will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

When we need to update this policy

We will need to change this policy from time to time in order to make sure it stays up to date with the latest legal requirements and any changes to our privacy management practices.
When we do change the policy, we’ll make sure to notify you about such changes, where required. A copy of the latest version of this policy will always be available on this page.

How you can contact us

If you have any questions about our privacy practices or the way in which we have been managing your personal information, please contact us.

If you’re a user or visitor in the European Economic Area these rights also apply to you:

For the purposes of applicable EU data protection law (including the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the “GDPR”), we are a ‘data controller’ of your personal information.

How you can access your personal information

You are also entitled to ask us to port your personal information (i.e. to transfer in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, to you), to erase it, or restrict its processing. You also have rights to object to some processing that is based on our legitimate interests, and, where we have asked for your consent to process your data, to withdraw this consent.

Where we require your personal information to comply with legal or contractual obligations, then provision of such data is mandatory: if such data is not provided, then we will not be able to manage our contractual relationship with you, or to meet obligations placed on us. In all other cases, provision of requested personal information is optional.

If you have unresolved concerns you also have the right to complain to data protection authorities. In the UK, the relevant authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Both personal information and personal data have the same meaning in the context of this Privacy Policy.

Website Terms Of Use

(1) Introduction

These terms of use govern your use of our website; by using our website, you accept these terms of use in full. If you disagree with these terms of use or any part of these terms of use, you must not use our website.

(2) Licence to use website

Unless otherwise stated, we or our licensors own the intellectual property rights in the website and material on the website. Subject to the licence below, all these intellectual property rights are reserved.

You may view, download for caching purposes only, and print pages from the website for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out below and elsewhere in these terms of use.

You must not:

(a) republish material from this website (including republication on another website);

(b) sell, rent or sub-license material from the website;

(c) show any material from the website in public;

(d) reproduce, duplicate, copy or otherwise exploit material on our website for a commercial purpose;

(e) edit or otherwise modify any material on the website;

(3) Acceptable use

You must not use our website in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the availability or accessibility of the website; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity.

You must not use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software.

You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent.

You must not use our website to transmit or send unsolicited commercial communications.

You must not use our website for any purposes related to marketing without our express written consent.

(4) Restricted access

We reserve the right to restrict access to areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion.

(5) Limited warranties

We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information published on this website; nor do we commit to ensuring that the website remains available or that the material on the website is kept up-to-date.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law we exclude all representations, warranties and conditions relating to this website and the use of this website (including, without limitation, any warranties implied by law of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and/or the use of reasonable care and skill).

(6) Limitations and exclusions of liability

Nothing in these terms of use will: (a) limit or exclude our or your liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence; (b) limit or exclude our or your liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) limit any of our or your liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or (d) exclude any of our or your liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.

The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this Section and elsewhere in these terms of use: (a) are subject to the preceding paragraph; and (b) govern all liabilities arising under the terms of use or in relation to the subject matter of the terms of use, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty.

To the extent that the website and the information and services on the website are provided free-of-charge, we will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.

We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control.

We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill.

We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software.

We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.

(7) Indemnity

You hereby indemnify us and undertake to keep us indemnified against any losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including without limitation legal expenses and any amounts paid by us to a third party in settlement of a claim or dispute on the advice of our legal advisers) incurred or suffered by us arising out of any breach by you of any provision of these terms of use, or arising out of any claim that you have breached any provision of these terms of use.

(8) Breaches of these terms of use

Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms of use, if you breach these terms of use in any way, we may take such action as we deem appropriate to deal with the breach, including suspending your access to the website, prohibiting you from accessing the website, blocking computers using your IP address from accessing the website, contacting your internet service provider to request that they block your access to the website and/or bringing court proceedings against you.

(9) Variation

We may revise these terms of use from time-to-time. Revised terms of use will apply to the use of our website from the date of the publication of the revised terms of use on our website. Please check this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with the current version.

(10) Assignment

We may transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with our rights and/or obligations under these terms of use without notifying you or obtaining your consent.

You may not transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with your rights and/or obligations under these terms of use.

(11) Severability

If a provision of these terms of use is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.

(12) Exclusion of third party rights

These terms of use are for the benefit of you and us, and are not intended to benefit any third party or be enforceable by any third party. The exercise of our and your rights in relation to these terms of use is not subject to the consent of any third party.

(13) Entire agreement

These terms of use, together with our privacy policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your use of our website, and supersede all previous agreements in respect of your use of this website.

(14) Law and jurisdiction

These terms of use will be governed by and construed in accordance with French/EU law, and any disputes relating to these terms of use will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of France.

(15) Our details

The full name of our business is Gites Villeblanche.

We are registered in France as an auto-enterprise (sole trader), and our address is 2 Route du Logis, Villeblanche
La Chapelle-Pouilloux
79190, France.

The business owner is Graham Dickinson.

You can contact us by email here.