Terms and conditions

 

Booking confirmation

Your booking will be effective on receipt of your (part) payment of the project fee. Up until this time we will deem your booking as unconfirmed.

We will confirm receipt of your (part) payment as soon as we have received it. From that moment onwards your booking is considered confirmed and all terms & conditions below apply.

Refunds & cancellations

We only accept cancellations received in writing (e-mail or letter). The cancellation is effective from the day we receive this notification.

We will attempt to find a participant to replace you as quickly as possible, but cancellations may have an adverse effect (financially and otherwise) on the project. For this reason the project fee will be refunded to you on a sliding scale:

Number of days between your cancellation and booked project date:

Fees refunded:

31 days or more

Project fee in EURO minus 25% to cover our costs

30 days or less

No refund

Please note that due to fluctuations in the exchange rate the total amount refunded may differ from what you paid in your local currency.


Should you arrive later than 1 hour after the starting time of the activity, as can be seen on the website, or leave early after you have started the project we will not refund or cover any costs or losses suffered due to your late arrival/early departure / termination whatsoever, and you will not receive any refund of your project fee. We and affiliated parties do not accept any responsibility for you.

Changes to your booking

We will endeavour to arrange for changes to your booking on receipt of a written request (e-mail or letter) from you and provided that there is sufficient time to do so. We will let you know what the additional charges are in advance and if you wish to continue with the revised booking you agree to pay these.

The following minimum administration fees will apply where we receive your written change request within the following periods before your booked project date and where a suitable alternative date can be found. You will in addition be responsible for any costs and charges we incur or any costs and charges any 3rd party organisation imposes as a result of the change:

Number of days before your booked project date:

Type of change:

Fee:

31 days or more
(fees may be waived at our discretion)

Extending your stay

Free

Any other changes

25% of the project fee in EURO

30 days or less

(fee may be waived at our discretion)

Extending your stay

Free

Any other changes

Cancellation conditions apply

Liability

By booking your visit to the Elephant Freedom project you acknowledge that in visiting there exists a risk of injury including physical harm or death, and that participation will be at your own risk.

Therefore, on behalf of yourself, your heirs, and your personal representatives, you agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless, Volunteers at Work, The Sanctuary (TS), the Sanctuary in the Netherlands B.V., the Elephant Freedom Project B.V.  and the Elephant Freedom Project and Ananda Restaurant, its assigns, successors, agents, staff, officers, committee members, employees, contractors and representatives from any and all claims, causes of action, or demands of any nature of cause whatsoever, including any costs, arising out of or relating to your visit to the project, including, but not limited to, attorney fees, animal bites, accidents, loss of property or injuries.

Insurance

You will ensure that you have adequate cover by suitable travel insurance whilst at the project. Your cover should include as a minimum:

  • The cost of cancellation of your booking by you

  • Lost / damaged / delayed baggage and personal possessions.

  • Medical expenses and the cost of repatriation in the event of serious illness, injury or death

  • Legal expenses and liabilities

  • Liability arising due to personal injury to you or a third party

  • Cancellation of your booking for any other reason including our liquidation or any other reason beyond our control

Changes to these terms & conditions

We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time, and you agree to abide by the most recent version of these terms and conditions.

Nullity and invalidity of the clauses

If any of the clauses provided within these Terms and Conditions were declared totally or partially nullified or void, such nullity or invalidity shall only affect such provisions or part of them that is nullified or invalid. The remainder of the Terms and Conditions remains in force in all other aspects.

 

 

 

Privacy Policy

Our privacy policy apply to you, our "users", as part of a contract that allows you to browse our website, contact us, make a booking and otherwise interact with our websites.

 

 

 

We only collect as much information about you as is reasonably necessary for us to provide you our services.

What is your lawful basis for using my personal information?

There are a couple of reasons we believe we are allowed to collect, use, and store your personal information under the GDPR.

With your consent. When you directly give us personal information for a certain purpose or otherwise express your consent, we can use that personal information for that certain purpose. If you consent for us to do so, we will use your personal information to, for example:

  • respond to your inquiry

  • make a booking to visit the project

You can withdraw your consent at any time. Please contact us if you would like to revoke your prior consent to any of these uses.

For our legitimate interests. However, we do not always need your express consent to use your information. We can use your personal information as needed for our legitimate interests, so long as those interests do not conflict with your fundamental privacy rights and freedoms. These legitimate interests include:

  • improving the presentation, operation, and experience of our services;

  • evaluating and updating our technical infrastructure; and

  • monitoring and improving the information security of our websites.

By contract. A contract also creates a basis for using your information. By accepting our Terms and Conditions, a contract is formed between us and you so that we may provide you our services. We can use your personal information as needed to provide our services to you under that contract.

Law, protection, or the public good. We can also use your personal information to comply with our legal obligations, protect the vital interests of our users, and as needed for the public good. This may include using your personal information to prevent and handle potential fraud, security breaches or other prohibited activities.

How long do you store my information?

We will store your personal information as long as needed in the interest of rendering our services to you ( regarding your booking or inquiry) or other legitimate interests.

Will you use my personal information to contact me?

As needed, we will contact you by email about your inquiry or booking. We will not pass on your personal information to others that want to market to you.

Who else do you share my personal information with?

Our partners

Our "partners" are the organizations and people that we work with to better provide our services. As needed, we may send your information to our partners to help us communicate with you, provide customer support, or process your payments to us. Your information may be stored on our partners’ servers.

Google sheets

We use Google sheets to store your booking details as you have entered in our booking form. You can see how Google sheets handles your information by reviewing their privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy/update.

Our payment processors

You may provide some financial information as part of the payment process, such as credit card numbers, but we are not able to access any of those numbers. We use WebXpay to handle user payment services. See their privacy policy (available at https://webxpay.co/privacy) for how they handle your information.

We also use Mollie to handle user payment services. See their privacy policy (available at https://www.mollie.com/privacy) for how they handle your information.

Our email processor

We use Gmail for our emails. You can see how Gmail handles your information by reviewing their privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy/update.

Our analytics

We may use Google Analytics, to collect and analyze the information discussed above. The information (including your IP address) collected by various analytics technologies described above will be disclosed to or collected directly by these service providers, who use the information to evaluate your use of the Services, including by noting the third-party website from which you arrive, analyzing usage trends, assisting with fraud prevention, and providing certain features to you. You can find more about Google's privacy policy here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. To opt out of Google Analytics, see https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

When we need to for legal or security reasons

We may have to share your information with the police, the government, a court, or another person as required by law. Similarly, as allowed by applicable law, we may share your information with third parties as needed to:

  • prevent or take action if we suspect someone is:

    • breaking the law,

    • committing fraud,

    • threatening to harm someone, or

    • violating our Terms of Service;

  • protect the rights, property, or safety of ourselves, our users, or a child;

  • protect the safety and security of our website; or

  • enable us to take reasonable precautions against liability.

To a new owner of our company

If our business is sold, whether through merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, reorganization, or other transaction or proceeding, your personal information may be shared with the acquiring company and their representatives. If so, we will post a notice on this page and the Terms of Service.

With your permission

We will always ask for your permission before sharing your information with third parties for purposes other than those described in our privacy policy.

Does my personal information leave my home country?

The Elephant Freedom project is located in Sri Lanka. If you are outside of Sri Lanka, we will transfer your personal information into Sri Lanka.

Can I see what information you have on me?

Yes. You may review your personal information maintained by us. We can provide you with a copy of our information on you—just ask us.

As required by your applicable state, national, or international law, you may also have the right require us to change or delete your personal information, and/or refuse to permit us from further collecting or using your information.

How do I change or delete my information?

Please contact us and we will attempt to make the required changes. To protect your privacy and security, we may require you to take certain steps or provide additional information to verify your identity before we provide any information or make corrections. It’s important to remember that if you delete or limit the use of your information, our services may not function properly.

I'm under the age of 16. Can I use your website?

No. Our website is not intended for anyone younger than 16 years old. You may not create book, message, give us any information, or interact with us or our website in any way.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If we learn we have received personal information from a child under 16, we will remove it (although we may not be able to fully remove the information from our backup system). If you believe we might have a child’s personal information, please contact us.

Who can I contact with questions?

If you have any questions about your information or our privacy policy, or if you would like to make a complaint about how the Elephant Freedom project processes your information, please contact us.

If you are located within the European Economic Area, you may also contact a supervisory authority in your home country to report violations of the GDPR.