Terms & Conditions
Dotcom Safaris Booking Policy
Booking and paying your trip
When you have your trip ideas narrowed down, contact us. Do not worry if you do not have all the trip details in place such as number of participants, exact trip dates, etc. We will work together creating the ideal itinerary for you. Once we have agreed on the trip details and have come to an acceptable trip amount you can request that the trip be booked. The booking confirmed once a deposit is paid.
Deposit amounts requested
The deposits requested are relative to the amount of money that we need to put out before your trip begins. For a Mt Kilimanjaro treks or Mt Meru treks a 20% deposit is requested. For basic camping safaris the deposit percentage is 20% and a 50% deposit for lodge/tented camp safaris. For domestic flights (to Zanzibar or Serengeti for example), for balloon safaris, or for hotels outside of Moshi (Zanzibar, Arusha, etc.) 100% of that portion is requested. It does not matter to us whether one payment is made for your entire group, or if each individual makes a payment.
Payment schedule
There is no deadline for the deposit, but we will not reserve accommodations, flights or put your trip into our schedule until a payment has been received. For flights, lodges, and tented camps these often fill quickly so making a deposit as soon as possible is strongly suggested. The remaining balance is not due until you arrive in the country. Payments are refundable in the event of cancellation with some conditions. In the event of postponement/cancellation from your end, an amount can be applied to future tours through Dotcom Safaris for a period of 12 months. Payments may be applied towards others traveling through Dotcom Safaris at your request. Accommodations and flights will have more strict cancellation policies that may reduce the amount applied to future tours. 100% of amounts recoverable by Dotcom Safaris will be available for your use. Additional details are given further down this page. It would be extremely unlikely that Dotcom Safaris would need to cancel at rip. If that were so, then 100% of your payment would be refunded.
Online payment
We accept Visa/MasterCard payments. The payment web page is operated by our bank and we are never given your bank card information. To pay online, send us an email address and we will create the invoice and send you a payment link. We are not fussy about the deposits being the exact amount requested, so don’t worry too much about the math. We will work out the difference once you are in Tanzania. Please let us know if you have made an online payment so we can track it well.
Wire Transfer Payments
It is also possible to pay by direct wire transfer into our bank account. Your bank will be able to do this or you can use services such as WorldRemit or Wise. PayPal has limited services in East Africa so we cannot accept PayPal. Our bank does not add any fees to receive wire transfers but the sending bank determines the fees. This is a flat fee regardless of the transfer amount and typically ranges from $30 – $40 USD. Many times, a third bank is involved in the transfer (correspondence bank) and they will require an additional $10 fee. For bank details to make a wire transfer please contact us info@dotcomsafaris.com. A wire transfer may take up to one week before it arrives in our account. We are a local Tanzanian company, so we will only request payment be made to a Tanzanian bank with the account name The Dawn Cottage – our sister company. All tourism related fees in Tanzania use USD as their payment method, so our account is a USD account. If you want to make your final payment by wire transfer, you should do this just before you leave your county. Payments intiated from an uncommon location will most likely trigger a block on the payment which is very difficult to remedy from outside of your country.
In-person payments
For in-person card payments, in addition to Visa/MasterCard payments, we also accept American Express and Union Pay. For cash payments, USD is preferred. Only bills from the year 2013 or newer are accepted anywhere in Tanzania. Our bank account is a USD account (Tanzania uses USD for all tourism related matters – such as park fees). If you wish to pay cash with other currencies, it is best to convert to USD before you arrive. The banks here would, by law, have to convert your money into Tanzanian Shillings, then convert from Tanzanian Shillings into USD – resulting in a double commission being deducted. Payment of tips can be in any currency, but cannot be done by credit/debit card. We can take you to an ATM if you need to take a cash withdrawal.
Cancellations/Postponements
Dotcom Safaris is not in the business to make money off of cancellations or postponements. But we cannot lose money off them either. We can offer refunds of any recoverable amount , less transfer fees and a service fee of $100 USD. Otherwise, you can transfer any amount that is recoverable by Dotcom Safaris towards either future travel through Dotcom Safaris (within 1 year) or have that amount applied to another person traveling through Dotcom Safaris. Please note that hotels, lodges, and flights will have more strict cancellation policies that may reduce the amount recoverable for use. Note that if only a part of your group needs to postpone/cancel it will afffect that tour amount for the remaining travelers. For instance if there is a safari booked for 5 people and 2 people cannot participate, then the price would be changed for that of a 3 person safari.
We cannot be responsible for adapting to cancelled/delayed flights, missed connections, missing/delayed baggage. We will do our best but we cannot guarantee that we can accommodate you in all situations. This can be difficult for open group Mt Kilimanjaro treks or safari accommodations.
We strongly recommend travel insurance for your protection of your invested amount. For Mt Kilimanjaro climbs, medical, and rescue insurance is required and we suggest that you look for a policy that will handle other possible scenarios as well. Note that Zanzibar now has a policy requiring medical insurance purchased upon arrival in Zanzibar. This is regardless if you already have other health insurance. The cost of this is a flat $44USD regardless of the length of stay and is required for all non-residents. Questions will be answered by contacting us at info@dotcomsafaris.com