Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions of
Original City Walks - ‘OCW’

c/o Beineke, Lars & Narin, Can GbR

Friedrichstraße 95
D - 10117 Berlin, Germany

Full details on OCW’s regular public walking tours (“public tours”) and private tours are described on the websites berlinwalks.com, hamburgwalks.com & potsdamwalks.com.

For public and private tours, OCW reserves the right to make changes to itineraries if the route of the tour is disrupted by events beyond OCW’s control, such as failures in the public transport system, demonstrations, state visits in central Berlin leading to road closures; or any other unforeseeable event.

OCW reserves the right to exclude clients from any tour at any time if they are showing unruly, rowdy or disruptive behaviour repeatedly on the tour. This decision is at the discretion of the guide after consulting with the office. In this case, the client will not be given any refund.

Payment

Tickets for public tours can be purchased online at berlinwalks.com, hamburgwalks.com & potsdamwalks.com. Various online payment options are being offered at no extra cost for the client unless explicitly stated otherwise. Tour prices include 19% mandatory value added tax (Mehrwertsteuer). Once the online payment process has been successful, the contract becomes binding and the client will immediately receive a confirmation e-mail including a voucher / ticket. Therefore, it is the duty of the client to provide a correctly spelled and valid e-mail address. The client needs to show the ticket, printed or electronically, to the guide at the meeting point. If the ticket has been purchased with the Berlin Welcome Card Discount, the client will need to present the valid Berlin Welcome Card together with the OCW ticket, or otherwise pay the difference to the regular rate.

Furthermore, the client has the option to buy a ticket in cash on the day of the tour from our representatives or guides at the meeting point. In either case, prices do not include the clients’ public transport costs if these are incurred.

For private tours, full payment is required one month in advance. Under certain circumstances, the client may be asked to pay a 10% deposit via credit card or bank transfer immediately, with the balance paid one month before the tour. Prices include the cost of the guide and, in the case of motorized or bus tours, all costs relating to the vehicle including insurance, driver and value added tax. Other costs, such as admission fees, refreshments, public transport, etc. are not included in the price unless explicitly stated on the invoice. The contract becomes binding with the reception of the first or single payment. After the full payment has been received, OCW will e-mail the client a few days before the tour to confirm all tour details such as guide name, start time and meeting point, and any other relevant information.

OCW reserves the right to change prices for any of its services at any time. Tickets purchased through the website prior to any changes are unaffected and remain valid.

Cancellation And Rescheduling Conditions

1.) Public tours

These tours run in all weathers and on all public holidays, and there is no minimum number of participants. In the extremely unlikely event that a public tour is cancelled by OCW, the client will receive a full refund. The refund process may take a few days depending on the booking channel and method of payment.

Up to 24 hours before the tour start the client can reschedule or cancel the tour via e-mail to OCW for any reason at no additional cost. If the booking has been made through a third party seller, the cancellation or rescheduling request needs to be sent to that third party seller. A cancellation or rescheduling will always be confirmed by OCW via e-mail. If the client has not received such confirmation, he or she must get in touch with the OCW office.

No refund is due if the cancellation is being sent later than 24 hours before the tour starts. Rescheduling a ticket for a public tour to a later date may still be possible free of charge if the rescheduling does not result in any additional costs for OCW.

2.) Private tours

The following cancellation fees will apply if the client cancels a private tour by notice via e-mail:

For groups with less than 100 participants, the following cancellation fees apply, refering to the number of booked guides:

Up to 72 hours before the tour is scheduled: Free of charge.
between 72 and 24 hours before the tour is scheduled: 50% of the tour price, plus any costs associated with canceling vehicles/museums etc booked for the tour (if any).
less than 24 hours before the tour is scheduled, or if the client does not meet the OCW guide at the agreed time and place: 100% of the tour price.

For groups with 100 or more participants, the following cancellation fees apply, refering to the number of booked guides:

Up to 30 days before the tour is scheduled: Free of charge.
between 29 days and 8 days before the tour is scheduled: 50% of the tour price, plus any costs associated with canceling vehicles/museums etc booked for the tour (if any).
less than 8 days hours before the tour is scheduled, or if the client does not meet the OCW guide at the agreed time and place: 100% of the tour price.

If, unexpectedly, events on the day of the tour make it impossible or very difficult to conduct the tour, OCW will consult the client and do all it can to provide an alternative solution. If a satisfactory alternative cannot be found, either OCW or the client may cancel the tour. In this case, OCW will charge a 10% handling fee and, if applicable, the costs associated with canceling vehicles / museum entries etc. booked for the tour, and issue the refund of the remaining balance within 2 weeks.

A cancellation or rescheduling will always be confirmed by OCW via e-mail. If the client has not received such confirmation, they must get in touch with the OCW office.

Data Privacy Protection

OCW would like to point out that private data that is necessary for business transactions will be processed and saved accordingly. OCW will not pass on this data to third parties unless it is necessary in order to fulfil the contract.