Cancellation Policy

1. How to cancel

Cancellations must be made in writing by the lead traveller to contact@zelenso.com. A cancellation takes effect on the working day we receive your written notice, not on the date you decided to cancel.

We will acknowledge your cancellation in writing and confirm the charges that apply. If you have not received an acknowledgement within 3 working days, please contact us, because we may not have received your message.

2. Why cancellation charges exist

When you confirm a booking we commit your money to third parties. Hotels take deposits, safari operators reserve vehicles and trackers, permits are bought, guides turn down other work and rail seats are purchased in your name. Much of that money is not returned to us when a booking is cancelled.

Cancellation charges reflect those committed costs and the work already done. They are not a penalty, and where our actual committed costs turn out to be lower than the charge quoted to you, we will say so and charge the lower amount.

3. Cancellation by you: how charges are calculated

We do not publish a single fixed cancellation scale, because the charges we face differ from one trip to the next. A December villa on the south coast, a Yala safari with permits already bought and a hill country hotel with a flexible rate all release money on different terms, and averaging them into one percentage would mean quoting you a figure that matches nobody's trip.

Instead, the cancellation terms are set out in writing for your specific booking:

• Your quotation states the cancellation charges that apply to your trip, band by band, before you pay anything.
• Your Confirmation repeats them, so you always have them in the same document as your itinerary.
• Once you accept the quotation, those are the terms. We do not change them afterwards.
• Where one element of your trip carries stricter terms than the rest, that element and its charge are shown separately rather than buried in an average.

If your quotation does not state a charge

If a cancellation charge for a service was not stated in your quotation, we will charge only the costs we have actually committed to suppliers for that service and can evidence, and we will refund the balance to you. We will not apply a charge that was never disclosed to you.

4. Services with their own cancellation terms

Some services are booked on terms that are stricter than the rest of your trip. Where that is the case, we tell you in your quotation and again in your Confirmation, before you pay.

These commonly include:

• peak season and festive period accommodation;
• villas and small properties booked exclusively;
• domestic flights and seaplane transfers;
• reserved rail seats;
• special events, private dining and photography sessions; and
• permits and park entrance fees already purchased in your name.

Where a supplier's terms are stricter than the rest of your booking, they apply to that part of it, and we show the charge separately in your quotation.

5. Partial cancellation

You may cancel part of a booking, for example one excursion or one traveller in a party.

• The cancellation charge is calculated on the cancelled portion.
• Reducing the number of travellers may increase the per person price of the remaining booking, because vehicles, guides and room rates are priced per party. We will tell you the revised price before you commit.
• Where a partial cancellation makes the remaining arrangement impractical, we will discuss the options with you rather than cancel unilaterally.

6. Changes rather than cancellation

If your plans have changed but you still want to travel, tell us before you cancel. We will always look at whether the trip can be moved instead.

• A change of dates is treated as a change, not a cancellation, where every supplier accepts the new dates.
• Where a supplier will not accept the change, that part of the booking is treated as cancelled and rebooked, and the cancellation charges in your quotation apply to it.
• Change charges are set out in section 7 of the Booking Terms.

7. No-show, late arrival and early departure

• No-show: if you do not arrive for a booked service and have not told us, no refund is due for that service.
• Late arrival: if you arrive late for a tour, transfer or activity, the supplier will do what it reasonably can, but a shortened experience does not attract a refund where the delay was not caused by us.
• Early departure: if you leave a trip early by choice, no refund is due for unused services, although we will ask suppliers whether anything can be recovered.
• Where you leave early for a medical reason or a family emergency, tell us. We will support a claim on your travel insurance, and we will ask suppliers to waive charges, although we cannot promise they will agree.

8. Cancellation by Zelenso

We will only cancel your booking where we have good reason, and we will tell you as soon as we can.

We may cancel where:

• you have not paid the balance by the due date, after we have given you written notice and a reasonable opportunity to pay;
• unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances prevent us from delivering the trip, as described in section 17 of the Booking Terms; or
• a minimum number of participants required for a scheduled departure is not reached, where that minimum was disclosed to you at the time of booking.

If we cancel for any reason other than your non-payment or your breach of the Booking Terms, you may choose:

• an alternative arrangement of comparable or higher standard at no extra cost;
• an alternative arrangement of lower standard with a price reduction; or
• a refund in accordance with our Refund Policy.

9. Cancellation by a supplier

If a supplier cancels a service after your booking is confirmed, we will look for a comparable alternative first.

• Where a comparable alternative is available, we will arrange it at no extra cost to you.
• Where only a lower standard alternative is available, we will offer it with an appropriate price reduction.
• Where no acceptable alternative exists, that part of the booking is treated as cancelled by us under section 8.

We will pursue the supplier for any refund due, and we will pass on to you what we recover, in addition to anything else you are entitled to.

10. Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances

Where unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at or near your destination, or affecting travel to it, significantly affect the trip, both you and we may need to cancel.

• We will tell you what we know, when we know it, and we will not pretend a situation is safe when it is not.
• We will not treat ordinary bad weather, an ordinary supplier failure or a change of mind as an extraordinary circumstance.
• Cancellation in these circumstances is dealt with in section 6 of our Refund Policy.

11. Cancellation for medical reasons, bereavement and visa refusal

We are sympathetic to these situations, and we handle them individually rather than by formula.

• These events do not automatically create a right to a refund beyond the terms in your quotation, because our committed costs are the same whatever the reason for the cancellation.
• They are the main reason we ask every traveller to hold travel insurance. A good policy covers cancellation for illness, injury and bereavement.
• We will provide the documentation your insurer needs, including a cancellation invoice and a breakdown of charges, at no cost to you.
• We will ask suppliers to waive or reduce their charges as a gesture, and we will pass on any reduction in full.

12. Insolvency of a supplier

If a supplier becomes insolvent before your trip, we will rearrange the affected service where we can. Where we cannot, that part of the booking is treated as cancelled by us under section 8, and we will pursue the supplier's administrators for any money paid.

13. Your statutory rights

Nothing in this policy removes rights you have under the law that applies to your booking, including mandatory consumer protection law in your country of residence where it applies. Where this policy gives you less than that law requires, that law applies.

14. Contact

To cancel or to discuss the options, contact us at contact@zelenso.com or +94 70 552 2299.