Terms and Conditions

RIVERSIDE SITES AND BITES TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Terms & Conditions

These terms and conditions contain legal obligations, waivers of liability and express

assumptions of risk. You should read this entire document carefully. Any purchases made through rivsitesandbites.com (the website) are subject to these terms and conditions.

1. Contract

These terms and conditions represent an agreement between the tourist (“You”, “Traveler”) and Riverside Sites and Bites (“Riverside Sites and Bites”, “we”, “us” “our”). By making a booking and in consideration for the opportunity to participate in a Riverside Sites and Bites tour, You agree to these terms and conditions on behalf of You and all individuals included in Your booking. The lead participant assumes the responsibility of sharing these Terms and Conditions with each tour participant, including payment of all amounts when due.  In the case the booking is made by a travel agent the agent is responsible to provide all customers with a copy of our terms and conditions.   It is the responsibility of each participant to read our Terms and Conditions in its entirety. The services to be provided are those in your booking confirmation. No alterations or variations to these terms and conditions are effective unless made in writing by and under the authority of Riverside Sites and Bites. You agree to be bound by the terms and conditions that are in effect at the time of your tour or cancellation, whichever applies.  You agree that is your responsibility to be familiar with these terms and conditions and to check back from time to time for any changes.

2. Advance Waiver of Liability and Assumption of Risk

On behalf of You and Your next of kin, heirs and representatives, You release from all liability

and promise not to sue Riverside Sites and Bites, including its employees, officers, directors, volunteers and agents (collectively “Released Parties”), from any and all claims, including claims of the Released Parties’ negligence, resulting in any physical or psychological injury (including paralysis and death), illness, damages, or economic or emotional loss suffered because of Your participation in Your tour, including travel to, from and during the tour, and Your and other tourists’ use of alcohol during the tour. You acknowledge that You are voluntarily participating in this tour. You acknowledge that You are aware of the risks associated with traveling to and from and participating in this tour, which include but are not limited to physical or psychological injury, pain, suffering, illness, disfigurement, temporary or permanent disability (including paralysis), economic or emotional loss, and/or death. You acknowledge that You understand that these injuries or outcomes may arise from Your own or other’s actions, inaction, or negligence; conditions related to travel; use of alcohol, or the condition of the tour location(s). Nonetheless, You acknowledge that You assume all related risks, both known or unknown to You, of Your participation in this tour, including travel to, from and during the tour.

Covid 19:  You expressly acknowledge that naturally occurring diseases and viruses (including, but not limited to, the currently widespread COVID-19) may be present and actively occurring in all environments in which this tour will take place.  You acknowledge the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has been declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization. COVID-19 is extremely contagious and is believed to spread mainly from person-to-person contact (however the exact method of spread remains unknown). You also understand that if you are older or have underlying conditions, you may be more prone to serious infection and death due to COVID-19.  As a result of the highly infectious nature of this disease, federal, state, and local governments and federal and state health agencies recommend social distancing, wearing of PPE (including masks), and have, in many locations, prohibited the congregation of groups of people. you acknowledge that, Riverside Sites and Bites, its agents, owners, officers, employees, affiliates, and suppliers, and all other persons or entities acting in any capacity on their behalf (hereinafter collectively “Riverside Sites and Bites”), has taken steps to mitigate the potential for transmittal of, and exposure to COVID 19 during the tour, but that exposure to such viruses or disease is an inherent risk of participating in the tour, one that cannot be eliminated by Riverside Sites and Bites.

By booking your tour with us, you acknowledge the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 and voluntarily assume the risk for myself and any minors traveling with me, that you or they may be exposed to or infected by COVID-19 by participating in the tour and that such exposure or infection may result in personal injury, illness, permanent disability, and death. you understand that the risk of becoming exposed to or infected by COVID-19 while on the tour, may result from the actions, omissions, or negligence of myself and others, including, but not limited to, Riverside Sites and Bites employees, agents, affiliates, suppliers, and other participants in the tour.  You understand the description of the risks due to COVID-19 is not complete and that unknown or unanticipated risks may result in injury, illness, death or any other loss. You agree that having considered these risks, you, for yourself and any minors traveling with you, desire to participate in the tour and  you freely and voluntarily assume complete personal responsibility for the risk of exposure, illness and death due to COVID-19, for yourself and any minors traveling with you, even if such injuries or death occur in a manner that is not foreseeable at the time this agreement is signed.

You agree to hold the Released Parties harmless from any and all claims, injury, disability, death, or loss or damage to person, including attorney’s fees or damage to Your personal property, that may occur as a result of Your participation in this tour, including travel to, from and during the tour whether caused by negligence or otherwise, Riverside Sites and Bites, its employees, employees, agents, affiliates, suppliers (collectively Riverside Sites and Bites). Furthermore, without limitation, Riverside Sites and Bites is not responsible for any injury, loss, or damage to person or property, death, delay or inconvenience in connection with the provision of any goods or services occasioned by or resulting from, but not limited to, acts of God or force majeure, acts of war or civil unrest, insurrection or revolt, strikes or other labor activities, criminal or terrorist activities of any kind, epidemics, pandemics, acts of government, quarantine. You agree that this release shall be legally binding upon you personally, all members of your family and all minors traveling with you, yours and their heirs, successors, assigns, and legal representatives, it being your intention fully to assume all the risks associated with this trip and to release Riverside Sites and Bites from any and all liabilities to the maximum extent permitted by law.

You agree to indemnify Riverside Sites and Bites from any and all claims made against it based on your actions, omissions, and/or breach of its’ Terms and Conditions. If You need medical treatment, You agree to be financially responsible for any costs incurred as a result of such treatment. You acknowledge that You are aware and understand that You should carry Your own health insurance. You understand that Riverside Sites and Bites has no responsibility to provide medical care to participants, and has made no offer or promise to do so. You authorize Riverside Sites and Bites to obtain medical care on your behalf and/or to transport you to a medical facility, if necessary, and you hereby release Riverside Sites and Bites from any and all liability arising from its obtaining medical care on your behalf or transporting you to a medical facility.

You acknowledge that You understand the legal consequences of this document, including: (a)

releasing the Released Parties from all liability; (b) promising not to sue the Released Parties; (c)

and assuming all risks of participating in this tour, including travel to, from and during the tour.

This Waiver of Liability and Express Assumption of Risk is written to be as broad and inclusive

as legally permitted by the State of California.

3. Indemnification

You agree to defend and indemnify Riverside Sites and Bites, our affiliates, and distributors, and any of their officers, directors, employees, and agents (“Indemnified Parties”), from and against any claims, causes of action, demands, recoveries, losses, damages, fines, penalties, and other costs or expenses of any kind or nature, including but not limited to reasonable legal and accounting fees and costs brought by third parties arising out of or resulting from:

4. No liability for Acts or Omissions of Third Parties

Riverside Sites and Bites coordinates with various service providers and companies to create

walking tours. Examples include transportation companies, tour guides, restaurants, admission

ticket vendors and other service providers and vendors. The persons or companies engaged in

conducting those services are not employees or agents of Riverside Sites and Bites. All such persons and entities are independent contractors.  All tickets, receipts, coupons, and vouchers are issued subject to the terms and conditions specified by each service provider, and by accepting the coupons, vouchers, and tickets, or utilizing the services, all customers agree that Riverside Sites and Bites assumes no liability for any loss, accident, property damage, delay, inconvenience, expense or injury to You or any persons traveling with You owing to any act of default or negligence caused by any person or company engaged in providing those services. You agree that if a service provider causes damage or loss to you, that such service provider is solely responsible for compensation and you waive all rights, causes or action and claims for indemnity against Riverside Sites and Bites.  You agree to hold harmless Riverside Sites and Bites from liability caused by any act or omission of yourself or any employee, member, guest, invitee, or of any third party of yourself, or arising from the use of any facility, equipment, transportation or other instrumentation used or provided to you.

5. Pricing

Prices for Guided Tours. The prices appearing on the website are the current rates and can change without

notice. Once a traveler has booked a Riverside Sites and Bites tour, the traveler will not be required to pay any difference in the event of a price increase. Riverside Sites and Bites will not refund the balance of any price reduction.

Child rate. Our child rates apply at the time of the tour, not the time of booking. Proof of age

must be available for inspection on the day of travel. If a traveler is identified as not qualifying for a child price (if a child price is available for the tour), the traveler will be required to provide the balance of difference between the adult rate and child rate for the tour before being permitted to start the trip.

Per person. All prices listed are on a per traveler basis unless otherwise stated.

Inclusions. Prices include only the items indicated on the tour description on the website.

Exclusions. Prices do not include:

though not compulsory — is appropriate. While it may not be customary to you, it is of

great significance to the people who will take care of you during your travels, inspires

excellent service, and is an entrenched feature of the tourism industry across the United

States. Please consider this when budgeting for your extra expenses on your tour.

and drinks not specifically indicated in the inclusions section of the tour description.

Prices for Custom Tours. Riverside Sites and Bites also offers custom tour planning.  Our team will assess your needs and preferences and then create a tour for you and your group. 

Our custom tours take hours to plan. Thus, we require a non-refundable Planning Fee of $_____, in order to commence the custom tour planning process. This payment goes towards the overall cost of your itinerary. After receipt of the Planning Fee we will provide you with a preliminary tour itinerary.  We allow for one round of changes free of charge.  Further amendments will be charged a $50 non-refundable administrative fee per change.  After any changes are completed a you will be provided an invoice indicating the final payment amount and due date.  We reserve the right to cancel your tour if we do not receive payment, or if your payment is declined.  Should you choose to cancel a custom tour, the planning fee is non-refundable.

6. Payment

Credit cards. Riverside Sites and Bites accepts all major credit cards.  While we do accept major credit cards, you must provide a click and/or signed authorization for every payment.  Your authorization is a binding agreement for us to charge your card and as such you waive any right to chargeback in the case of cancellation for any cause (excepting fraud), including a Force Majeure event, as defined herein, and agree to refund policies and procedures as outlined in these Terms and Conditions. In the event you attempt to chargeback, reverse, or recollect a booking payment already made without the authorization of Riverside Sites and Bites, we reserve the right to collect all additional costs, fees and expenses associated with such chargeback, reversal or recollection, including, without limitation, attorney fees.  Travel Agents assume financial responsibility for any chargebacks initiated by their clients.

Payment due. Full payment is required at the time of booking.

7. Cancellations/no-shows and amendments to bookings

Cancellation fees. Cancellation fees may apply to any cancellations by the traveler of a service

provided by Riverside Sites and Bites. Unless otherwise specified, the cancellation policy is

as follows:

in full, and no refund will be issued.

If the cancellation is for a custom tour in addition to the policy above, any refund will be less the planning fee.

Unused portions of tours. No refund is provided for any unused portion of a tour, including the

entire tour in the event a traveler does not commence at the designated start point of the tour.

Cancellations by Riverside Sites and Bites. We may cancel a tour at any time prior to

departure. If we cancel your tour for any reason other than a “force majeure” event, you can transfer amounts paid to an alternate departure date or, alternatively, receive a full refund. In the event Your booking is cancelled, we are not responsible for any expenses You may have incurred as a result of Your booking, including but not limited to visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, transportation costs, lodging costs, fees, and taxes.

Force Majeure. Riverside Sites and Bites may be forced to cancel a tour where circumstances amounting to ‘force majeure: rise’. In this situation Riverside Sites and Bites will not make any refunds or pay any compensation or be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by You as a result and our cancellation terms above will apply. “Force majeure” means any event or circumstances which we or the supplier of the services in question could not foresee or avoid. Such events and circumstances may include, acts of God, actual or threatened, war, insurrection, riots, strikes, civil action, decisions by governments or governing authority, technical or maintenance problems with transport, changes of schedules or operational decisions of air carriers, terrorist activity or the threat thereof, industrial action, natural or nuclear activity, epidemics/pandemics or the threat thereof, quarantine, medical or customs or immigration regulation, delay, or cancellation, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events outside our control.

Amendments to itineraries by Riverside Sites and Bites. While we endeavor to operate

all tours as described; we reserve the right to change the tour itinerary. The itinerary provided for

each tour is representative of the activities planned; however, the route, amenities, stops, and

modes of transport may be subject to change without prior notice due to local circumstances or

events. If we make a major change before departure, we will inform you as soon as reasonably

possible. We reserve the right to change an itinerary after departure due to local circumstances or

events outside of our control. Such changes will not be considered as material and no refund will be available.

8. Confirmation and vouchers

Confirmation. Upon receipt of full payment, you will receive a voucher via email for the

booked tour.

Voucher. The lead traveler must present the original voucher issued by Riverside Sites and Bites or the booking entity at the start of the tour. Riverside Sites and Bites reserves the right to

refuse service to any traveler not able to provide their voucher to their guide at the beginning of

the tour.

9. Your Tour

Timeliness. Travelers must adhere to the start time set out in the product information on their

voucher. In the event a traveler is not at the designated starting point within 15 minutes of the

start time provided, Riverside Sites and Bites will consider the traveler to be a “no show”

and the tour will start without them and no refund will be provided. It is recommended that you

arrive at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the tour.

Your responsibility. The traveler making the booking is responsible for their own and their

party’s actions. If Riverside Sites and Bites deems you or your party’s actions to cause

danger to other travelers or our staff, to intervene with other clients’ enjoyment of the trip, or to

be offensive to the local communities and cultures, Riverside Sites and Bites reserves the

right to remove you from the tour effectively immediately. No refund will be supplied. You must

at all times comply with the laws and customs of all places visited.

Rain or Shine. All scheduled tours will operate rain or shine unless the main attraction of a tour

is canceled by the service provider, in which case you will be notified as soon as possible and

issued a full refund, transfer, or credit.

10. Age/Health/Dietary Restrictions

Age requirements. All travelers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a legal guardian,

or in lieu of a legal guardian, by an escort over the age of 18, appointed by their legal guardian.

The legal guardian or their designee will be responsible for the traveler under the age of 18.

Please see the tour description on the website to check whether a tour is child friendly. For tours featuring alcohol, travelers may be required to show proof of age of majority.

Health requirements. Some of our trips can be physically demanding and travelers must

ensure that they are suitably fit to allow participation. Most tours involve walking, step-climbing

or other physical activities during the course of the tour, and travelers should be in good mental

and physical health to fully participate. Travelers are responsible for making a determination of

the appropriateness of a tour in consideration of their personal limitations prior to making a

reservation. We are able to provide details on mandatory health requirements; however, we are

not medical experts. For the safety or our guests, we reserve the right to request health information prior to the tour and to exclude any traveler we deem unfit for the tour at our sole discretion.

Dietary Restrictions: For safety and liability reasons, Riverside Sites and Bites and its representatives cannot be responsible for directly accommodating any food allergies, or dietary requirements and restrictions, and is not responsible for any issues or problems associated with the same. All special dietary requests regarding food and drink, including allergies, or dietary requirements and restrictions, are the sole responsibility of the participant. While most meal establishments can offer general options, Riverside Sites and Bites cannot guarantee that options will be available. Should a participant have special dietary requirements, that participant shall be solely responsible for any additional expense to their meal plan

11. Persons with Disabilities

Riverside Sites and Bites is happy to make reasonable accommodations to our disabled

guests with adequate advance notice. We are unable to provide personalized assistance;

therefore, persons with special needs should be accompanied by an individual who will take full

responsibility for any personalized assistance needs during the tour and in the event of an

emergency.

12. Travel Protection

Riverside Sites and Bites cannot be held responsible for any liability, expenses, or losses you incur as a result of being inadequately insured. We strongly recommend that at the time of booking a comprehensive travel insurance policy is purchased. If you choose to travel without adequate coverage, we will not be liable for any of your losses howsoever arising, for which trip protection plan coverage would otherwise have been available.  

13. Complaints

Should you have a complaint about your tour experience, we urge you to promptly notify Riverside Sites and Bites or your tour guide so the matter can be resolved if possible. If

satisfaction is not reached through this notice procedure during your tour, you must submit

further complaint in writing to Riverside Sites and Bites within 30 days or travel. Complaints received outside this timeframe will not be considered and shall be considered waived and barred.

14. Photos and marketing

You consent to us using images of you taken during the tour for advertising and promotional

purposes in any medium we choose. You grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide,

irrevocable license to use such images for publicity and promotional purposes.

15. Terms of use

By using the website or purchasing and/or using our services, the traveler agrees to be bound by the conditions outlined in these terms and conditions. When engaging with Riverside Sites and Bites, the traveler agrees to do so for personal purposes and not for their own personal commercial gain and will not enter into or provide fraudulent requests or information to Riverside Sites and Bites.

By engaging with Riverside Sites and Bites, the traveler agrees to do so for lawful purposes

only.

16. Privacy policy

Any personal information that we collect about you may be used for any purpose associated with

the operation of your Riverside Sites and Bites or to send you marketing material in relation to our events and special offers, unless you opt out. The information may be disclosed to our agents, service providers, or other suppliers to enable us to operate your tour. We will otherwise treat your details in accordance with our privacy policy.

17. Disclaimers

Riverside Sites and Bites maintains information that is accurate to the best of our knowledge; however, does not warrant that content and information provided on our website will be without error and that functionality of the website will be uninterrupted or without error.  We reserve the right to correct any errors, including errors in pricing.

18. Interpretation

This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of California and that any disputes arising out of this agreement will heard in a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California and be determined under California law without regard to conflict of law principles. You agree that you will only bring claims against Riverside Sites and Bites in your individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in and purported class action or representative proceeding. Riverside Sites and Bites shall not in any case be liable for other than compensatory damages, and your payment on a tour means that you agree to these conditions of sale and expressly waive any right to punitive damages. You understand and agree that no claims will be considered and that you will not bring suit against Riverside Sites and Bites unless you have first provided a written notice of claim to Riverside Sites and Bites within 30 days after the tour or cancellation of the tour.

19. Severability

In the event that any term or condition contained here is unenforceable or void by operation of

law or as being against public policy or for any other reason, then such term or condition shall be

deemed to be severed from this contract or amended accordingly only to such extent necessary to

allow all remaining terms and conditions to survive and continue as binding.

20. Updating of terms and conditions

Riverside Sites and Bites reserves the right to update and/or alter these terms and conditions

at any time. The latest terms and conditions can always be found on our website and will supersede any previous versions.