Partner Guide Terms

Version 2026-10-06 · English

These terms govern the professional relationship between TrekFriendly and partner Guides offering their own trips on the platform.

Scope

The Guide remains responsible for the guiding they provide and, when organising a package, for performance of the included services. TrekFriendly retains its own obligations according to its role in the offer.

Payments, mandates and publication

Invoicing and payment mandate

The Guide expressly authorises TrekFriendly to collect traveller payments in the Guide’s name and on their behalf through Stripe Connect and to issue payment receipts. The individual booking record identifies the applicable funding arrangement. For new bookings admitted to controlled logistics advances, logistics funds are not automatically transferred: documented supplier advances may be requested, and the remaining amount owed becomes eligible for release no earlier than the day after the actual end of the trip, subject to payment, refund and dispute checks. Earlier bookings retain their accepted arrangement, including logistics transfers upon collection where applicable. Guiding fees retain their separate timing: release is possible from the day after the trip starts. This is neither escrow nor a refund guarantee provided by Stripe.

SEPA direct debit mandate

The Guide signs a SEPA direct debit mandate in favour of TrekFriendly from their guide account. This mandate is separate from the payment account into which guiding fees are received: it operates in the opposite direction and is used only to recover sums the Guide owes the platform.

• Strictly limited purpose: debits may cover sums charged to the Guide following a cancellation case decided as an “avoidable cancellation”: the commission refunded to Travellers and the fixed compensation; and Stripe processing fees following failure to meet the minimum participant number for new departures created after express acceptance of that rule. After express acceptance of the new financial scope, debits may also recover established repayments of logistics advances: unused funds or supplier refunds actually received. A supplier loss, merely promised refund or missing evidence does not justify such a debit. No other amounts fall within this mandate.
• Notice and recovery order: the Guide receives an email at least 7 days before any debit is presented, stating the amount and its basis. After the applicable periods and checks, debts may be recovered through voluntary repayment, reversal of the relevant transfer or offset against guiding fees; SEPA is used only for the remainder, without double recovery. For advances, the SEPA notice is separate from the initial repayment or objection period.
• Refund right: the Guide has a right to a refund from their bank within 8 weeks of the debit date, under the terms of their banking agreement.
• Publication: An active mandate is required for new paid departures. An entirely free outing still requires dossier checks and the relevant administrative permission, without an artificially required Stripe account or financial mandate. Existing dossiers and bookings remain manageable.

Commission and the Guide’s obligations

The service commission is 10% of the total amount, with a minimum of €15 per booking. Where applicable, the “Minimum commission” supplement is shown to the Traveller before payment and does not reduce the Guide’s share.

• Evidence of liability cover suitable for the actual activity and the required qualifications or training must be supplied. An approved training dossier demonstrates an ongoing course, not a completed qualification. Permission for zero prices and eligibility for paid trips are separate decisions.
• Identify included services and their suppliers, arrange the advertised logistics and ensure suppliers are actually paid.
• When organising a package, provide evidence of the applicable insolvency protection and the information required for the travel contract before booking.

Cancellation of a departure by the Guide

Case and assessment

Every cancellation initiated by the Guide opens a case. The Guide states their reason and has 14 days to submit supporting documents through their guide account. TrekFriendly then classifies the case as force majeure or avoidable cancellation. If no evidence is submitted by the deadline, the case is closed as an avoidable cancellation.

Acceptable evidence includes an orange or red weather alert, an adverse BERA avalanche report, an order closing access, a medical certificate or an equivalent official document. Ordinary seasonal weather, participant numbers considered insufficient, unjustified unavailability, organisational mistakes and double bookings are not acceptable grounds.

Consequences and disputes

Recognised force majeure carries no cancellation penalty under this case; the separate obligation to return unused funds or supplier refunds actually received remains subject to the procedure below. For a paid offer and avoidable cancellation, the guide pays the commission refunded to travellers. Less than 15 days before departure, €25 per refunded participant is added. These monetary charges do not apply to entirely free registrations.

Recovery takes place first by set-off, then by SEPA debit after advance notice. It stops after three unsuccessful presentations, or after the first when rejection is structural (closed account, unauthorised debit). Automatic cancellation because a departure has not reached its minimum participant number and cancellation decided by TrekFriendly fall outside this procedure.

The assessment may be challenged in writing at info@trekfriendly.com. The Guide is informed when the case opens and then of the reasoned decision.

Fair dealing and ending the relationship

The Guide must not divert a booking initiated on TrekFriendly to avoid the agreed commission. This rule does not restrict contact needed to deliver the trip or the exercise of statutory rights. Closing guide activities remains subject to settling existing commitments.

Charter and scope

The Guide Charter, version 2026-10-06, accompanies these terms, version 2026-10-06. The guide accepts both after being able to read them. Travellers are not required to accept these professional obligations. The trip’s classification and organiser’s identity are separate from the guide’s training status.

Free registration and shared costs

An entirely free registration involves no payment, commission, cancellation fee or monetary compensation. Guiding with no fee but positive logistics costs remains a paid offer. Where the guide’s accommodation or meal share is spread across the group, those costs are described in the budget and included services before commitment. The price and components are frozen at booking; a later supplier price increase does not automatically amend the contract.

Fair dealing and confidentiality

A booking initiated on TrekFriendly must not be diverted, and participants’ contact details must not be used to solicit them directly in order to bypass the platform and agreed commission. Practical contacts for the outing and statutory rights remain permitted. A restriction requires established facts and a reasoned procedure; private conversations are not generally monitored.

Changes to terms and reasoned measures

Where P2B applies, changes are notified on a durable medium with a reasonable period of at least 15 days, longer where necessary adjustments require it. The guide may end the relationship during that period; waiver must meet legal conditions. Legal exceptions, including a legal obligation incompatible with notice or an unforeseen imminent threat to service security, are reasoned. A simulated email proves neither notification nor taking effect.

Restriction or suspension may address an incomplete dossier, expired cover, false information, a safety risk, unlawful conduct or established circumvention. The decision states facts, the relevant rule, its scope and effective date. Reasons are supplied on a durable medium before or when the measure takes effect. Termination of all services covered by P2B requires at least 30 days’ notice unless a reasoned legal exception applies: a legal obligation, a compelling ground under national law or established repeated breaches. The guide may submit observations and challenge the decision at info@trekfriendly.com. Existing bookings and documents remain accessible according to authorised business access; participants are not automatically cancelled.

Logistics advances and repayment

The Guide requests an advance for an identified departure, with evidence of the supplier, necessary expense, amount, due date and refund terms. Only copies expressly submitted are available to administrators and retained in the financial file; the personal preparation notebook remains private. Approval of a ceiling is neither payment nor a financing commitment: disbursement depends on collected, available logistics funds for that departure and the applicable checks. A transfer to the Guide does not prove the supplier was paid.

The Guide documents how the advance was used and any supplier refund actually received. A reasoned decision based on facts and evidence may establish a repayment of unused or returned funds. The Guide has 7 calendar days after actual notification to repay voluntarily or submit observations. No compulsory reversal or offset occurs before that deadline. An objection suspends new recovery operations pending a reasoned review; operations already initiated are reconciled. If SEPA is then needed, a separate notice at least 7 days in advance states the remaining amount and basis. Any overpayment is identified and returned once.

A deposit permanently retained by a supplier is documented separately. This mechanism does not automatically charge that loss to the Guide or waive traveller rights. A promised supplier refund is not money received. Force majeure may remove cancellation penalties without removing the obligation to return unused or actually recovered funds.

This arrangement applies prospectively after express acceptance of the terms and financial scope and satisfaction of operational prerequisites. For a Guide already in a contractual relationship, the change is notified on a durable medium and applies no earlier than 15 days after actual sending, or later if necessary adaptations require it. An old signature does not automatically extend a mandate. The individual record preserves the accepted version and funding arrangement.