General terms and conditions of business for city tours and tour guides 2020

§1 Contract signing:

  1. Bookings can be made via e-mail or online. The receipt of a written booking confirmation concludes a contract between the guest and Claudia E. Dobler.
  2. In the case of guided tours booked at short notice, for which a written confirmation can no longer be given, the verbal confirmation is binding.
  3. The booking confirmation contains the schedule (date and time) of the city tour, the meeting point, the size of the group, the language as well as the price of the city tour. The prices are not binding until the booking confirmation is received.
  4. Upon receiving the booking confirmation, the guest accepts the general terms and conditions of business listed here.

§2 Group size and headphone requirement:

  1. The maximum group size for city tours is 30 persons.
  2. The maximum group size for guided tours of monuments or museums varies between 14 and 30 persons, depending upon the building or the museum. The maximum number is 30 persons for Real Alcázar and the cathedral. Before booking, the customer informs himself about the maximum number of visitors allowed per group.
  3. In case of larger groups, the guests are divided in several small groups. At the customer’s request, Claudia E. Dobler will put you in touch with a competent colleague with an official tour guide licence, who will work on his/her own account.
  4. Starting from 8 guests per group, a headphone system is mandatory in most buildings, so that the noise level in the buildings is kept within limits. For a fee of € 1.00 + 21% VAT, the headphones can be booked directly with Claudia E. Dobler or reserved through another supplier.

§3 Cancellation conditions:

  1. A cancellation can be done free of charge up to 30 days before the start of the event. If the cancellation is done 29 – 7 days before the planned city tour, 50% of the total amount will be charged. In case of less than 7 days, the whole amount will be charged.
  2. If the guest fails to appear without prior cancellation and its confirmation by the contractor, 100% of the fee agreed upon will be charged.
  3. In case of illness of the guide, the booked tour can be cancelled, if Claudia E. Dobler cannot find a suitable replacement despite intensive search.

§4 Waiting time and downtime fees

  1. The guide will wait at the agreed upon meeting point for maximum 20 minutes longer than the time agreed upon, if the delay has not been reported directly via phone or text message. After this waiting period and the non-appearance of the guest, the city tour is regarded as cancelled without notice i.e., the total fee is charged.
  2. If the guest comes late, he can no longer claim that the full service be provided. If the availability of the guide does not allow to adhere to the planned tour duration, it will be reduced by the delay time. The claim for fee remains unaffected by this.

§5 Payment & entry tickets

  1. Payment for the guided tour is made through an invoice. Please send the following data to Claudia E. Dobler for issuing the invoice: First name, surname, address, your ID card number, passport number or VAT identification number (VAT ID No.).
  2. The total amount is payable 7 days before the event.
  3. The amount agreed upon is to be transferred to the account mentioned in the invoice.
  4. The prices of the city tours are inclusive of the applicable statutory value-added tax.
  5. Entrance fees are generally not included in the price of the guided tour, these must be paid separately. Entrance tickets for Real Alcázar and the Cathedral can be purchased online by the customer. Tickets for other tourist attractions and museums can be purchased on the day of visit directly at the respective ticket office.
  6. Headphone sets are generally not included in the price of the guided tour, but instead are charged separately.
  7. The personal data provided are subject to European data privacy.

§6 Instructions for conducting guided tours

  1. Participation in the guided tour is at your own risk.
  2. In the case of under-age participants, the customer must ensure that these are accompanied by an appropriate supervisor. If, in the case of groups of children and young people, at least one appropriate supervisor is not present during the tour, the guide may refuse to provide the service, in which case s/he still remains entitled to the fee for the guided tour.
  3. The tour guide reserves the right to end the tour, if conducting the tour becomes unreasonable (e.g., if the guests have consumed alcohol). This does not imply a reduction of the fee for the guided tour.
  4. The guest is not entitled to compensation if, due to force majeure, there are short-term changes in the programme components or if a monument changes its opening hours at short notice without any without prior announcement.