TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Before booking any one of our tours please make sure you have read and understood these Terms & Conditions (and any other special conditions that may apply to selected tours).

Note: Melbourne Touring Company may be referred to as MTC throughout these T&C’s.

FARES

All fares quoted on this website are in Australian dollars and include GST (Goods and Services Tax).

Child fares apply to children aged between 4 & 14 years of age.

Adult fares apply to all persons 15 years and over.

Children aged 3 years and under are free if not occupying a seat (i.e. must sit on parents/carer’s lap). If a seat is required child fares apply.

Penalty rates apply for bus drivers on Weekends and Public Holidays. Please check with the office to confirm prices for tours on these days.

COURTESY PICK UP SERVICE

All tours normally commence with pick up from your hotel or designated address in and around the Melbourne Central Business District or City Fringe. Our driver/guides will be outside your Hotel/Accommodation 5 minutes prior to pick up time. Due to traffic, clearways, parking restrictions and other logistical issues, we request all clients please be ready to leave on time. Should you experience unforeseen delays please call 0422 257 446 (or your driver) as soon as reasonably possible so alternative arrangements can be made.

DRIVER/PASSENGER SAFETY – DRIVING HOURS LIMITS

Should there be an excessive delay on pick-up, please understand your driver/guide may be forced to miss an attraction on your tour due to Driver Safety & Fatigue rules, which exist for your safety. 

Our drivers can only drive a maximum of 11 - 11.5 hours in one day calculated from the time of pick-up to the time of return. 

If you require a pick-up outside the Melbourne Central Business District or City Fringe, please call our office on 0422 257 446 so we can make alternative arrangements (possibly at extra cost).

ITINERARIES

MTC reserves the right to alter the route or itinerary of any tour, with or without notice, due to road, weather or group conditions. We also grant our drivers/guides the same right to make any on-the-spot decisions regarding altering any aspect of a tour due to road, weather or other safety concerns.

MTC may be required to run the Great Ocean Road tour in “reverse” due to traffic conditions or major events during the summer holiday peak such as Rip Curl Surf Carnival, Lorne Pier-to-Pub Swim, Cycling Events, Car Rallies, etc. (“Reverse” means driving inland to the 12 Apostles via Colac and then along the Great Ocean Road back to Melbourne.)

CANCELLATION POLICY

All tour cancellations by customers must be received in writing via email or text message. Refunds will be applied as follows:

If cancellation is received less than 3 days (72 hours) prior to tour starting date, customer will forfeit 100% of fare.

If cancellation is received from 4 – 7 days prior to tour starting date, customer will forfeit 50% of fare.

If cancellation is received from 7 – 14 days prior to tour starting date, customer will forfeit 25% of fare.

If cancellation is received from 15 – 150 days prior to tour starting date, customer will forfeit 0% of fare less any unrecoverable expenses incurred by MTC.

MTC will make every effort to advise clients in advance which tours include unrecoverable expenses, such as booking lunch venues and hotels, etc

Should you wish to reschedule rather than cancel a booked tour, the above rules may still apply as we may need to check bus and driver/guide availability for your rescheduled date prior to confirming a new date. This may incur additional cost for your new tour date.

MTC reserves the right to cancel tours due to unforeseen circumstances, in which case customers will be entitled to a 100% refund.

WEATHER RULES

MTC will only cancel any tour for weather reasons where the conditions will be so extreme as to cause a potential safety hazard to the driver and passengers, not just because the weather may be a little uncomfortable. 

As many of our tours involve travelling distances from the city of 200-300 km, the apparent weather conditions at the beginning of the tour may not be what will be experienced at the tour destination. Weather can pass and change considerably over these distances. Therefore we empower our drivers and guides to make decisions regarding weather conditions according to their own assessment of the likely prevailing weather conditions on the day and will support their decision to proceed or not proceed with a tour. 

Additionally, should a sudden & severe weather change occur we reserve the right to amend any part of the tour, not visit a particular attraction or even cancel the tour should the safety and comfort of our passengers be at risk. 

Extreme hot weather may also affect tours. However all our tour vehicles are airconditioned for your comfort. 

BUSHFIRE SAFETY

During summer, there can be a risk of bushfires in Australia. These may lead to road closures and unsafe driving conditions which can result in tour routes being changed or tours having to be cancelled or curtailed at short notice.

MTC liaises closely with all relevant safety authorities over the bushfire season and will always plan and schedule tours with passenger safety as our number 1 priority. 

As Victoria is a very large and open state, there are often ways to tour safely away from fires.

However in all cases where any tour is affected by extreme weather or fires, no refunds will be offered.

CHILD SAFETY

MTC is not responsible for the provision, installation and securing of child booster seats, capsules or child restraints. Parents and/or guardians are required to ensure all children wear seat belts throughout the tour. All children must be accompanied by an adult on any tour.

ADULT SAFETY

Before the tour commences, please advise your driver of any medical conditions you may have or any prescription medication you are taking that may affect your health whilst on the tour. This information is required in the event of medical assistance such as first aid or CPR being required. All information provided to us will be treated in strict confidence.

SPECIAL WINE TOUR CONDITIONS

We conduct our wine tours for the purpose of sampling fine wines from a variety of outstanding wineries and enjoying local gourmet fare, all amid the spectacular scenery of the Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula. 

Our wine tours are NOT for the purpose of getting drunk and behaving in an outrageous or offensive manner. 

All wineries operate under the Responsible Serving of Alcohol Code and we conduct our tours along similar guidelines. We will cut short any tour where any passenger is clearly intoxicated, disorderly or behaving in an obnoxious manner to their fellow passengers, the public and/or the driver/guide, even if their fellow passengers are accepting of their behaviour. In such cases the tour will immediately terminate and return to the pickup point. No refunds will be offered. 

There is strictly no drinking of alcohol or any open alcohol containers allowed on the bus at ANY time.

GENERAL

MTC accepts no responsibility for any injury, illness, damages or loss of any type suffered whilst on any of our tours.

As many of our tours require you to walk along boardwalks, beaches, up and down stairs, etc, we expect you to have a reasonable level of fitness and to act responsibly for your own safety at all times. (We are NOT your mother!)

We strongly recommend all passengers take out personal travel insurance before booking a tour.

MTC reserves the right to eject any passenger/s from the vehicle who are behaving in an inappropriate, offensive, intoxicated or dangerous manner or to stop the vehicle until such behaviour ceases.

LUGGAGE RESTRICTIONS

On all our 1-day tours we expect clients to bring a small backpack or carry bag, jackets, hats or umbrellas as appropriate. (We have bottled water on our buses.) 

However, should clients wish to bring larger bags, cooler boxes or eskies, camping equipment etc, please discuss these with the office when booking the tour as there may be safety concerns with any luggage potential blocking emergency exits and/or becoming a projectile should the bus have to brake suddenly in an emergency. If excess luggage is required, we can provide a trailer, at additional cost.

RIGHT TO RESPONSIBLY SUB-CONTRACT TOURS

MTC normally operates all our tours with our own vehicles and contracted or employed drivers or guides. We may however, due to vehicle or driver availability, have to sub-contract out any tour, without notice, particularly over the summer peak touring season. We reserve the right to engage reliable, industry-accredited partners and associates to conduct any of our booked tours on our behalf. We only sub-contract to alike partners or affiliates who have a proven track record and all necessary accreditations & insurances to ensure an equally safe and enjoyable tour as if we had conducted it ourselves.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

Touring is by nature an adventure and all driving tours carry some degree of risk. By agreeing to participate in any of the experiences operated by Melbourne Touring Company Pty. Ltd. or any of its subsidiaries, all guests acknowledge there may be a reasonable degree of risk involved. 

Rest assured that Melbourne Touring Company has comprehensive $20,000,000 public liability insurance cover. We also undertake comprehensive risk assessments and have in place management policies and procedures to ensure we meet our obligations to conduct our tours with a reasonable duty of care.