Terms and Conditions for Event Booking

1. Interpretation: In the Agreement:-

1. ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Limited, company number SC83022;
2. ‘you’ and ‘your’ refer to the person (including any natural person, partnership, company, corporation, association, organisation, trust or other entity) who is organising the Event and by whom, or on whose behalf, the acknowledgement on the Booking Form is signed;
3. ‘Booking Form’ means the letter sent by us to you, setting out details of the Event;
4. ‘Event’ means the event detailed on the Booking Form;
5. ‘Venue’ means the premises shown on the Booking Form;
6. ‘Agreement’ means the agreement between you and us, as constituted by the Booking Form and these terms and conditions.
7. The law of Scotland will govern the Agreement.

2. Confirmation and Deposit:

1. To confirm and guarantee the Event, one copy of the Booking Form should be signed and returned to us, together with the 50% deposit shown on the Booking Form, so as to arrive within 10 working days; if both do not reach us within that timescale, we will cancel the provisional booking and will be at liberty to arrange an alternative event for the same date.
2. Where an Event is to take place within 10 working days after booking, full payment will be required at the time of booking.

3. Conditions of booking:

1. The Agreement (i) sets out the whole contract between you and us, (ii) supersedes all previous written and oral communications, and (iii) can only be varied in writing, signed by you and us. You acknowledge that you are not entering into the Agreement in reliance on anything not set out in the Agreement.
2. If you want to request any amendment to the Booking Form, you should notify us without delay, to find out whether we can accommodate the change and issue a revised Booking Form for your signature.
3. Any amendment to the number of guests must be notified to us in writing at least three working days before the Event; otherwise, if you reduce the number of guests, we will be entitled to charge for the number shown on the Booking Form.
4. The final choice of menu and any special dietary requirements must be notified to us in writing at least 10 working days before the Event. We will make every effort to provide the menu of your choice but if this proves impractical for any reason, such as seasonal unavailability of produce, you will not be entitled to cancel the Event and we will discuss an alternative menu with you.
5. You and your guests are not permitted to bring any food or drink into the Venue for consumption during the Event, unless previously agreed by us in writing.
6. Use of the Venue (i) is strictly for the purpose of the Event, (ii) cannot be assigned or sub-let to a third party, (iii) will not (if held at our premises) be exclusive because our members have a right of access to the Venue and (iv) is subject to our right to change the Venue provided such change does materially affect the specifications for the Event. We reserve the right, without being liable to compensate you, to exclude from the Venue any person whose demeanour in our sole opinion indicates inebriation, rowdiness or other unsuitability for the Event.
7. Where the Venue is not at our premises, our travel costs will be charged as shown on the Booking Form.
8. The Event must finish by the time shown on the Booking Form; where none is shown, the Event must finish by the end of regular licensing hours. We will be entitled to make an appropriate charge for any period of over-run.
9. Any damage caused by you or any of your guests to any person or to the Venue or to any property or equipment or stock is your responsibility and you will indemnify us in respect of every cost, claim, loss, damage and expense thereby directly or indirectly incurred.

4. Payment:

1. The cost is shown on the Booking Form. Value added tax is chargeable where appropriate and will generally be payable in addition to quoted prices.
2. Unless a credit facility has been agreed in advance with us in writing, the full balance of the cost is required 3 working days prior to the Event, based on the numbers confirmed by you.
3. Any additional sums (e.g., for additional guests, extra drinks, etc) must be paid on the date of the Event, except any sums which cannot be established on that date must be paid strictly within seven days of the date of our subsequent invoice.
4. Any amount not paid when due will attract interest at 7% per annum from the due date until actual payment.
5. We may store (electronically or otherwise) any credit card or charge card details you give us. If any sum becomes due to us under the agreement, we may debit the credit card or charge card account in order to obtain payment, in which case we will notify you as soon as possible.

5. Cancellation:

1. If you cancel the Event, we will be entitled to retain some or all of the deposit, as follows:-
   Period of cancellation and amount of deposit of the Event retained by us
   • 60 Days prior to the Event None
   • Between 60 and 28 days before the Event 50% of deposit
   • Between 28 and 14 days before the Event 75% of deposit
2. If you cancel the Event less than 14 days before the booked date, you will pay the balance of the whole cost of the Event which is not covered by the retained deposit.
   Less than 14 days before the Event 100% full costs
3. If you cancel the Event but book another similar event to be held within one calendar month from date of cancellation, the deposit (or part) retained by us can be used as part-payment for the other event. This concession is only available for one cancellation.
4. If we cancel the Event because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control, or because we in our sole opinion consider that holding the Event could damage our reputation or the Venue or our or a third party’s property, we will refund any deposit paid but otherwise will not be liable to you in any way in relation to such cancellation.