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General Terms and Conditions of Sale

These terms and conditions of sale are agreed between, on the one hand, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, whose registered office is at Mairie, 19500 Collonges-la-Rouge, registered under numbers 333.531.929.000.11 (SIREN/SIRET) and 913 (APE), hereinafter referred to as “the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association” or “the seller”, and, on the other hand, by any natural or legal person wishing to make a purchase via the website www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org, hereinafter referred to as “the customer”.
 

Article 1: Introduction to the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

  • Registered name: Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

  • Legal form: association under the 1901 Act

  • Registered office address: Town Hall, 19500 COLLONGES-LA-ROUGE

  • Relevant branch: General Delegation, 21 bd Berthelot - 63400 CHAMALIERES

  • SIREN number: 333 531 929

  • Prefecture registration: W191000371

  • Intra-Community VAT number: FR59333531929

  • Telephone number: +33 (0)4 73 29 39 96

  • Insurance:

  • Contact details of the guarantors under the statutory guarantee of conformity: Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France

Article 2: Definitions

The following terms shall have the meanings set out below:

  • “GTC”: refers to these general terms and conditions of sale and service governing the sale of Products and the provision of Services carried out via the Website by Customers.

  • “Order”: refers to any purchase of Products made on the Website (distance selling).

  • “Voluntary contribution”: this refers to the contribution made by the Customer to HelloAsso. The HelloAsso platform is completely free of charge for associations and operates on the basis of Customers’ generosity. The term is referred to as “Tip” in HelloAsso’s GTC.

  • "Customer(s)": means any natural person, with the capacity to enter into contracts, resident in mainland France (including Corsica), placing an Order for Products and/or Services via the Website and acting for purposes that do not fall within the scope of their commercial, industrial, craft, professional or agricultural activity within the meaning of the introductory article of the Consumer Code.

  • “Promotional code”: means a price reduction granted by the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association to the Customer, the characteristics of which are defined herein.

  • "Personal Data": refers to all personal data, within the meaning of the Personal Data Regulations, provided by the Customer to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and necessary for the proper fulfilment of the Order and these Terms and Conditions, and for the use of the Website.

  • "Book": this term refers to all printed editorial content sold on the Website, including, but not limited to, Guides and Maps, which are protected by copyright.

  • "Parties": refers to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and/or the Customer.

  • “Product(s)”: refers to the products presented and sold by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France on its Website.

  • "Service(s)": refers to all editorial content provided free of charge, including, but not limited to, the presentation and search function for the VILLAGES, the provision of editorial content, and links to hotel bookings.

  • "Website": refers to the website accessible via the link https://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/fr/, published and operated by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, and more specifically the "Shop" pages accessible at https://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/fr/fr/boutique/.

  • “The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”, “the Association”: refers to the Association whose contact details appear at the top of this document.

  • “HelloAsso”: refers to the company providing the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France with the payment technologies for the online shop offered on the website.

Article 3: Application of the General Terms and Conditions of Sale

Placing an Order for Products or Services via the Website implies the Customer’s full and unreserved acceptance of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale, to the exclusion of any other document. No specific terms and conditions put forward by the Customer may, unless formally accepted in writing by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, take precedence over these General Terms and Conditions of Sale. Any contrary terms and conditions put forward by the Customer shall therefore, in the absence of express acceptance, be unenforceable against the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. These General Terms and Conditions of Sale are available on request or on the Website.

It is hereby clarified that the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is not responsible for bookings relating to catering and/or accommodation services, nor for the leisure activities featured on its website. Such services are offered and sold directly by their providers in accordance with their own terms and conditions.

The fact that the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France does not, at any given time, rely on any of these General Terms and Conditions shall not be construed as a waiver of its right to rely on any of said conditions at a later date.

The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France reserves the right to amend these General Terms and Conditions at any time. It is the Customer’s responsibility to familiarise themselves with any new provisions by consulting the General Terms and Conditions on the Website.

Orders are subject to the T&Cs in force at the time the Order is confirmed, unless otherwise required by mandatory provisions or public policy.

Article 4: Online orders for products

4.2. Ordering procedures

To place an Order for a Product, the Customer selects one or more Products from those displayed on the Website, via the platform provided by the association’s partner, HelloAsso. Every Order involves the following steps:

  • Step 1 – Select the Product and the desired quantity by clicking on the ‘Add to basket’ button; the Customer must also select the delivery method (France or outside the EU). Any order placed without selecting a delivery method will be rejected, without Les Plus Beaux Villages de France being held liable. Please note that one order must be placed per delivery address. The user confirms this step by clicking on ‘Place order’. The step is confirmed by clicking on ‘Next’.

  • Step 2 – Personal details. At this stage, the Customer is asked to enter certain personal data required for the conclusion, performance and monitoring of the Contract (order, invoice, delivery and disputes). Mandatory information is marked with an asterisk. This includes, in particular, the Customer’s first name, surname and postal address. Other information is provided voluntarily and at the Customer’s discretion, but helps to facilitate deliveries (e.g. specific delivery details). Delivery times are determined according to the chosen delivery method and the delivery address.

  • Step 3 – Payment details. At this stage, the Customer is asked to either 1) log in to their HelloAsso account, if they have one, or 2) enter the personal details required by HelloAsso, namely first name, surname, email address and email confirmation for individuals, or company name, first name, surname, email address, email confirmation, address, postcode and town/city for legal entities. This step is confirmed by clicking on “Next”.

  • Step 4 – Order summary and terms and conditions. An order summary is displayed if the Customer is logged into their HelloAsso account and after the previous step has been confirmed. The summary includes all the details of the selected Products, the price excluding VAT and including VAT, and information regarding the obligation to pay the full amount online at the time of placing the Order. Where a Product is eligible, the Customer is required to check that the Order meets their expectations in terms of the description, price and quantity of the selected Products. At this stage, the Customer may make a contribution and/or amend their HelloAsso Voluntary Contribution by clicking on the button provided for this purpose. Any change to the Voluntary Contribution will result in a change to the total Order amount. Please note that this Voluntary Contribution is not compulsory but is recommended. The Voluntary Contribution is collected exclusively by HelloAsso, the company that provides our payment module.

    To confirm the Order, the Customer is asked to read the contractual documents of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy) and HelloAsso (Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy), as well as to tick ‘I understand…’ if the Voluntary Contribution is greater than zero euros.

    At this stage, the Customer may amend or cancel their Order, or confirm it by clicking on the “PAY” button.

  • Step 5 – Payment. The Customer will then be redirected to HelloAsso’s secure payment interface to complete the payment.

  • Step 6 – Order receipt. The Customer is informed that the payment has been successfully processed and that the Order is confirmed. An Order number is assigned to them, along with the option to download the receipt directly in PDF format. An Order confirmation will be sent by email once payment has been processed. The Order confirmed by the Customer will be considered firm and final once the authorised partner establishments have given their acceptance. In the event of refusal on their part, the Order will be automatically cancelled. The Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association reserves the right, in particular, to refuse to confirm any Order placed by a Customer who has not paid for a previous Order in full or in part, or with whom a payment dispute is currently being resolved.

4.2: Use of a promotional code

When placing an Order, the Customer may use a Promotional Code on certain Products:

  • Distribution of promotional codes: only promotional codes issued by the LES PLUS BEAUX VILLAGES Association are valid on the Website and may entitle the Customer to a discount on the purchase price of certain Products sold on the Website. The LES PLUS BEAUX VILLAGES Association is free to exclude certain Products from the scope of a Promotional Code (specific conditions will be set out in the promotional campaign for the code). For each Promotional Code, the following details will be specified when it is issued to beneficiaries (non-exhaustive list): the code’s validity period; the products or product categories to which the Promotional Code applies; the discount on the purchase price, expressed as an absolute amount or a percentage; and, where applicable, the minimum purchase amount required to use the code. A Promotional Code does not accrue interest. The Promotional Code is for one-time use only. A Promotional Code is personal, non-transferable, cannot be passed on to third parties and cannot give rise to any financial refund or consideration of any kind. In the event of a full or partial return of an Order, the portion of the price paid using a Promotional Code will not be refunded.

  • Using a promotional code: the code must be applied at the time of placing the Order by filling in the relevant field. No Promotional Code may be applied once the Order has been finalised. A single Order may not benefit from more than one Promotional Code: only one Promotional Code is applicable per Order. A Promotional Code cannot be combined with other current promotions and is valid whilst stocks last. The Promotional Code does not apply to delivery charges.

  • Exclusion: Under no circumstances may Promotional Codes be applied if doing so would result in a sale at a loss or a discount exceeding that permitted by law. In the event of the promotional code being applied in error to such Products or Services, the order may be cancelled by the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association, without this giving rise to any liability on its part and without entitling the Customer to any compensation.

Article 5: Product information – stock availability

The fulfilment of Orders is subject to sufficient stock of Products being available. The Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association has a system that allows it to update the quantity of available stock of Products almost instantly. Where it is not possible to restock from the publisher and/or supplier within a reasonable timeframe, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France may be required to cancel an Order on the grounds that the Product is unavailable, without this constituting a breach on the part of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, in which case a full refund will be issued, excluding the voluntary contribution.

The Customer is informed that the photographs illustrating the Products are not contractually binding. Only the Order, which sets out the characteristics of the Product ordered, shall be taken into account.

Article 6: Delivery of products

Products are delivered to the address specified by the Customer in the Order summary.

Delivery of the Products is available only within France and in European Union countries.

The information provided by the Customer when placing the Order is binding on the Customer; any error in the fulfilment of the Order resulting from incorrect or incomplete information entered by the Customer shall in no circumstances be attributable to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Any additional costs arising from the Customer’s errors shall be borne exclusively by the Customer. The Customer may track their Order using their Order number, by contacting Les Plus Beaux Villages de France or via their Customer Account, if they have created one. No Product will be dispatched until full payment has been received. Products can only be delivered on time if the Customer is up to date with their obligations to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association, for whatever reason, including in respect of previous and/or concurrent and/or subsequent orders.

The Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association undertakes to exercise the utmost diligence in meeting delivery deadlines and undertakes to inform the Customer as soon as possible of any change to the delivery time. In any event, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall not be liable for delays caused by force majeure, by the actions of third parties and/or the Customer, in particular due to the late or incorrect provision of information. The following events, in particular, are considered to be force majeure events releasing the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France from its obligation to deliver: war, riots, fire, adverse weather conditions, strikes, accidents, the inability to obtain supplies or delays in their supply, operational accidents, transport blockages, interruptions or delays in transport, shortages of raw materials, adverse weather conditions, pandemics, health crises, widespread internet outages, major disruptions to telecommunications networks or large-scale cyber-attacks, any emergency legislation or decisions, and any lockdown or requisition measures.

Delivery times are stated as precisely as possible in the Orders. In the event of a delay attributable to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, the Customer may serve formal notice on the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, requiring it to make the delivery within a reasonable additional period. If, within this period, the Association fails to comply, the Customer may terminate the Contract by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt or by a written notice on another durable medium. In such a case, the Order shall be deemed to have been terminated upon receipt by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France of the letter or written notice informing it of such termination, unless the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France has fulfilled its obligation in the meantime. In the event of termination of the Contract in accordance with the conditions set out above, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France undertakes to refund the Customer any sums already paid, excluding the HelloAsso Voluntary Contribution, no later than fourteen (14) calendar days following the date on which the Contract was terminated.

Article 7: Receipt of products and transfer of ownership

Once an Order has been confirmed and paid for, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France does not authorise any exchanges and/or returns of Products, other than the exercise of the statutory guarantee referred to below and/or the right of withdrawal.

Upon receipt of the Products, the Customer must check that they comply with the Order and are free from any apparent defects. Without prejudice to the time limit available to the Customer under their right of withdrawal as provided for in Article L.221-18 et seq. of the French Consumer Code, it is the Customer’s responsibility to inspect the parcel upon arrival of the Order and to raise any justified reservations or complaints with the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association, or even to refuse the parcel if it appears to have been opened or bears obvious signs of damage. The Customer has a period of fourteen (14) working days from the date of delivery to submit in writing (by post or email) any reservations or complaints regarding non-conformity or apparent defects in the Products delivered (damaged parcel, parcel already opened, etc.), together with all relevant supporting evidence (including photographs), without prejudice to the Customer’s right to exercise any statutory guarantees to which they are entitled.

All risk of loss or damage to the Products passes to the Customer at the moment the Customer (or a third party designated by them) takes physical possession of the Products. The Products are therefore transported at the risk of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The transfer of ownership of the Products to the Customer shall, however, only take place after full payment of the price by the Customer, regardless of the delivery date of the said Products.

Article 8: Statutory Guarantees

It is hereby reiterated that the Customer is entitled to the statutory guarantee of conformity referred to in Articles L. 217-4 to L. 217-13 of the Consumer Code and to the guarantee against defects in the goods sold under the conditions set out in Articles 1641 to 1648 and 2232 of the Civil Code:

The consumer has a period of two years from the date of delivery of the goods to invoke the statutory guarantee of conformity should a lack of conformity arise. During this period, the consumer is only required to establish the existence of the lack of conformity and not the date on which it first appeared.

“Where the contract for the sale of goods provides for the supply of digital content or a digital service on a continuous basis for a period exceeding two years, the statutory guarantee applies to that digital content or digital service throughout the agreed supply period. During this period, the consumer is only required to establish the existence of the lack of conformity affecting the digital content or digital service, and not the date on which it first appeared.

The statutory guarantee of conformity entails an obligation on the trader, where applicable, to provide any updates necessary to maintain the conformity of the goods.

The statutory guarantee of conformity entitles the consumer to have the goods repaired or replaced within thirty days of their request, free of charge and without significant inconvenience to them.

If the goods are repaired under the statutory guarantee of conformity, the consumer is entitled to a six-month extension of the original guarantee period.

If the consumer requests that the goods be repaired but the seller insists on replacement, the statutory guarantee of conformity is renewed for a period of two years from the date of replacement of the goods.

The consumer may obtain a reduction in the purchase price whilst retaining the goods, or terminate the contract and receive a full refund upon returning the goods, if:

1° The trader refuses to repair or replace the goods;

2° The repair or replacement of the goods takes place after a period of thirty days;

3° The repair or replacement of the goods causes significant inconvenience to the consumer, in particular where the consumer bears the costs of returning or collecting the non-compliant goods on a permanent basis, or where the consumer bears the costs of installing the repaired or replacement goods;

4° The lack of conformity of the goods persists despite the seller’s unsuccessful attempt to bring them into conformity.

The consumer is also entitled to a reduction in the price of the goods or to the termination of the contract where the lack of conformity is so serious that it justifies an immediate reduction in price or termination of the contract. In such cases, the consumer is not required to request the repair or replacement of the goods beforehand.

The consumer is not entitled to rescind the sale if the lack of conformity is minor.

Any period during which the goods are out of service for the purposes of repair or replacement suspends the warranty period remaining until the goods are returned in good working order.

The rights set out above arise from the application of Articles L. 217-1 to L. 217-32 of the Consumer Code.

A seller who, in bad faith, obstructs the enforcement of the statutory guarantee of conformity is liable to a civil fine of up to 300,000 euros, which may be increased to up to 10 per cent of average annual turnover (Article L. 241-5 of the Consumer Code).

The consumer is also entitled to the statutory guarantee against hidden defects pursuant to Articles 1641 to 1649 of the Civil Code, for a period of two years from the discovery of the defect. This guarantee entitles the consumer to a price reduction if the goods are retained, or to a full refund upon return of the goods."

Article 9: Right of withdrawal

9.1: Definition

Within the meaning of Article L.221-1 of the Consumer Code, a “distance contract” is defined as any contract concluded between a trader and a Customer, as part of an organised system for the distance sale of goods or provision of services, without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, through the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication (telephone, fax, internet) right up to the conclusion of the contract.

9.2: Terms and conditions of the right of withdrawal

In the case of a distance selling contract, the Customer has the right to withdraw from their order without giving any reason within fourteen (14) days from the date on which the Customer or a third party designated by them (other than the carrier) takes physical possession of the last item. To exercise their right of withdrawal, the Customer must notify the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. To do so, they may:

  • Either send an unambiguous notice of withdrawal (for example, a letter sent by post, fax or email).

  • Or use the model withdrawal form attached in Appendix 1 and submit it, duly completed, by post or email before the expiry of the withdrawal period.

  • Or withdraw online via the “Cancel my Order” tab on the Website. In this case, they must complete their online notice of withdrawal and confirm it. This feature will remain active for 14 days from the date the Customer or a third party designated by them (other than the carrier) takes physical possession of the last Product. An acknowledgement of receipt of your withdrawal will be sent to the email address provided in your declaration. Online withdrawal is only possible for Orders placed via the Website.

9.3: Effects of withdrawal

Should the Customer exercise their right of withdrawal, the Company shall refund all payments received from them without undue delay and, in any event, no later than fourteen (14) days from the date on which the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is informed of the decision to withdraw. The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France will process the refund using the same payment method as that used by the Customer on the day the Order was placed, unless the Parties expressly agree on a different method. In any event, this refund will not incur any costs for the Customer. The refund may be deferred until the goods are received or until proof of dispatch of the goods is provided, whichever occurs first.

The Customer must return the goods to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France or hand them over to the Association without undue delay and, in any event, no later than fourteen (14) days after notifying the Association of their decision to withdraw from the contract of sale. This time limit is deemed to have been met if the Customer returns the goods before the expiry of the fourteen (14) day period. The Customer must bear the direct costs of returning the goods. The Customer shall only be liable for any depreciation of the returned Product resulting from handling other than that necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and proper functioning of the goods. Accordingly, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France reserves the right to apply a deduction to the amount to be refunded to the Customer if, upon return of the Product, it finds that there is an abnormally high level of damage.

Article 10: Editorial content made available to Customers and search function

The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France makes various editorial content (hereinafter the ‘Content’) available to Customers and Users, without the need for prior registration; this Content is provided or produced on the basis of information supplied by the Villages and/or Members of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. It is specified that the Content may be viewed by the Customer without restriction for personal use only. However, no downloading of the Content or taking of screenshots is permitted, nor is any text mining or other form of extraction of all or part of the Content permitted, without the prior written consent of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Accordingly, the Customer must not

  • Reproduce, duplicate or copy the Content to which they have access, in whole or in part, nor modify, translate, decompile, disassemble or create derivative works from it, nor allow any third party to do so;

  • sell, rent, sub-license, make the Content available or transfer access rights to it for resale to third parties;

  • Use the Content to develop a service similar to that of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France;

  • Incorporate or link the Content, in whole or in part, to their website, databases and/or any other digital system, whether known or unknown.

Article 11: Online membership of the “Club des Amis”

The Customer may also join the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association online by following these steps:

  • Step 1 – Go to the membership tab at https://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/fr/le-label/rejoignez-nous/devenez-membre-ami/ and click on the “Join Now” button.

  • Step 2 – Select your membership type by clicking the “+” button. You may only purchase one membership per order.

  • Step 3 – Member – Personal details. The customer proceeds to this step after clicking the “Place Order” button. The prospective member is asked to enter certain personal details required for registration, administration and the management of their membership. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk. This includes, in particular, the first name and surname. At this stage, the prospective member may also choose to receive information relating to the activities of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, by post and/or by email, by ticking one or both of the two additional options from those offered. They will again be asked to provide personal data required to facilitate the sending of this information. Mandatory information is marked with an asterisk. This includes, in particular, their postal address and email address. The prospective member undertakes to provide accurate and complete information.

  • Step 4: Contact details and payment information. At this stage, the Customer may choose to log in to their HelloAsso account if they already have an account on this platform and/or to place an order without logging in by entering certain Personal Data required to process payment for the order. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk. These include surname, first name and email address. The Customer may also choose to place an order as an organisation by ticking the “Pay as an organisation” box.

  • Step 5 – Order Summary, contribution to HelloAsso’s operating costs and CVG. An order summary is available by clicking the ‘Next’ button if the Customer is logged in, and after confirming the previous step. The summary includes the title and price of their membership, as well as any additional options selected. It also sets out how to contribute to HelloAsso’s running costs by clicking on the ‘Why contribute’ link. The contribution to HelloAsso is optional, and the amount shown by default in the order summary can be changed by clicking on the ‘change my contribution’ link. The total amount of the order is displayed based on this change. At this stage, the Customer will be asked to tick the box ‘I accept the following document: Terms and Conditions of Sale’, the box “I understand that HelloAsso is a social enterprise and confirm that I wish to make a financial contribution – which is optional and can be changed – by completing my payment to ensure the service remains free of charge for the charity” if the contribution amount chosen by the Customer is greater than €0, and the box “I accept the General Terms and Conditions of Use for the service and have read the privacy policy”. Ticking these boxes shall be deemed to have the same legal effect as a handwritten signature by the Customer. If these terms are not accepted, the Customer cannot proceed with their Order. The Customer is required to check that the Order meets their expectations in terms of description and price.

  • Step 5 – Payment. The Customer will then be redirected to the secure payment interface of the partner of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association, HelloAsso, to complete the payment.

  • Step 6 – Order confirmation and payment summary. The Customer is informed that the payment has been successfully processed and that their membership application is confirmed once payment of the amount has been validated. The Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association reserves the right, in particular, to refuse to approve any membership application from any person who has not paid for a previous order in full or in part, or with whom a payment dispute is currently being resolved. An order number is assigned to the member, along with the option to download the receipt and their membership card directly in PDF format by logging into their HelloAsso account. A purchase confirmation, including the transaction details and a download link for their membership card, will be sent by email once payment has been confirmed.

It is specified that payment of the membership fee, in the context of the membership application, is not considered a distance sale and/or the provision of a distance service. Consequently, no right of withdrawal applies.

Article 12: Pricing Terms

12.1: Prices

Products are delivered and invoiced at the prices in force on the Website at the time the Order is confirmed. Prices may be amended at any time by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France.

It is specified that, in the case of Books, the price is set by the publishers, in accordance with Law No. 81-766 of 10 August 1981 on book pricing.

Prices are shown in euros, both excluding and including VAT. The applicable VAT rate will be that in force on the date the Order is confirmed, and any change to the applicable VAT rate will be automatically reflected in the price on the date of invoicing.

Please note that, in the case of printed books, no discount may exceed 5 per cent of the retail price (any cumulative discount, including delivery charges).

12.2: Payment – Terms

Any Order placed on the Website constitutes a binding Order, meaning that placing such an Order implies payment by the Customer. By placing an Order on the Website, the Customer undertakes to pay the amount indicated on the HelloAsso payment module.

The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France reserves the right to suspend the processing of any Order and/or any delivery in the event of payment authorisation being refused or in the event of non-payment.

The Customer’s banking details (card number and expiry date) are encrypted and then processed by HelloAsso and its subcontractors. HelloAsso is solely responsible for processing the personal banking data entered by the Customer relating to payment methods. The Customer warrants that they are fully authorised to use the payment card in question and that this card provides access to sufficient funds to cover the cost of the Order, and undertakes to provide HelloAsso with accurate information. The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall not be held liable for any Order placed and paid for using information belonging to the Customer but held by a third party.

Under no circumstances may payments due to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association be suspended or be subject to any reduction or set-off without the prior written consent of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association. Any payment made to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall be applied to the sums due, regardless of the reason, starting with those that have been outstanding the longest.

No delivery shall be made until the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France has received full payment.


Article 13: No refund of the voluntary contribution

Any refund of an Order, made in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, relates solely to the amount of the Order, excluding the Voluntary Contribution.

The Voluntary Contribution you pay to HelloAsso is non-refundable. According to HelloAsso, this is neither a tax-deductible donation, nor a purchase, nor a commission.

Any complaint regarding this Voluntary Contribution must be made directly to HelloAsso. The association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is entirely uninvolved in this Voluntary Contribution.

Article 14: Bloctel

Consumer Customers may register free of charge on the BLOCTEL cold-calling opt-out list (www.bloctel.gouv.fr) to stop receiving unsolicited telephone marketing calls. All Customers may register free of charge on this list via the website https://conso.bloctel.fr/index.php/inscription.php.

Article 15: Intellectual property

15.1: General provisions

The Website, as well as the Products, are owned and/or lawfully operated by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. All rights relating to these elements (including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights in texts, literary and artistic works, graphics (including photographs) and audiovisual works, IT developments, HTML developments and other intellectual creations, and, more generally, any creations likely to be protected by intellectual property law, such as images, logos, layout, graphic guidelines, structure, usability, colour schemes, typography, typefaces, basic graphic elements, the graphic organisation of screens, page layout, page backgrounds, visual identity, audio elements or trademarks), to the overall concept of the activities of the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and their original and innovative nature, belong to and/or are exploited by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, without any limitation.

The Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association also retains all industrial and intellectual property rights relating to the trade marks, designs, photographs, catalogues and editorial content of the Website.

15.2: Provisions specific to books

Books are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The reproduction and/or representation, in whole or in part, without the authorisation of the authors and publisher of these Books, regardless of the medium or format, constitutes an offence, giving rise to criminal and civil liability. Exceptions to this principle are defined exhaustively and restrictively by law (in particular the Intellectual Property Code).

The purchase of a Book does not confer or transfer any intellectual property rights to the Customer in respect of its content or presentation, which remain the exclusive property of its publisher.

The Customer is granted only a right of personal use, strictly for private purposes and free of charge.

The Customer expressly acknowledges that they are prohibited from reproducing, copying, publishing, distributing, renting out or sharing, in any manner whatsoever, whether free of charge or for remuneration, the whole or any part of a Book’s content, or converting a Book into digital format or vice versa, on pain of incurring liability.

The Customer undertakes to retain and not to remove any label and/or identifying feature present on the Books.

Article 16: Liability

The Customer is solely responsible for the information and Personal Data they provide.

It is hereby reiterated that the provision of erroneous or inaccurate information which has resulted in the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and/or HelloAsso being unable to fulfil their obligations, in particular to deliver the Products, shall not give rise to any liability on their part in this regard.

The equipment (computers, smartphones, tablets, software, telecommunications devices, etc.) required to access the Website is the sole responsibility of the Customers, as are any telecommunications charges incurred through its use.

Customers are advised that the services offered on the Website work best with a high-speed internet connection.

Customers acknowledge and accept that no one can guarantee the proper functioning of the internet as a whole. In the event of the Website being inaccessible or malfunctioning, due in particular to technical problems or problems of any kind, Customers shall not be entitled to claim damages or seek any compensation.

Customers are informed that the information, photographs and other editorial content have been compiled by, or are based on information provided by, the member villages. The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall not be held liable for any missing and/or incomplete information.

The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall not be held liable in the event of misuse, negligence or failure to maintain the Product on the part of the Customer, or in the event of normal wear and tear, accident or force majeure.

The hyperlinks on the Website may lead to other websites, and the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France cannot be held liable if the content of such websites contravenes applicable legislation. Similarly, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall not be held liable if the Internet user suffers any loss or damage as a result of visiting one of these websites. It is also noted that the viewing and/or use of these external websites and sources accessible via these hyperlinks is governed by their own terms and conditions of use. This applies in particular to all links leading to the booking websites of the establishments.

In all cases, the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France shall only be held liable, where applicable, for damage directly linked to the performance of the sales contract and its consequences, provided that such damage results from a fault attributable to the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France in the performance of the said contract.

Article 17: Personal data

The Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France may, in the course of fulfilling orders, process the Customer’s personal data within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament of 27 April 2016 and Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978, as amended by Order No. 2018-1125 of 12 December 2018.

This data will primarily be processed by the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, acting as the data controller, for the sole purpose of managing, fulfilling and monitoring Orders, as well as sending newsletters for certain marketing campaigns.

The legal basis for the processing is the contract and legitimate interest or consent (in the case of communication and marketing data).

The Customer is informed that Voluntary Contributions relating to payment are processed by HelloAsso.

All persons are informed that LES PLUS BEAUX VILLAGES uses the HelloAsso payment module. In this context, for all payments, HelloAsso acts as an independent data controller, and the Customer is invited to consult HelloAsso’s Personal Data Policy.

It is reiterated that every individual has, under the conditions laid down by law, the right to enquire about, access, rectify and erase their data, as well as the right to data portability, the right to restrict processing and the right to object to the processing of their data on legitimate grounds. Individuals whose data is collected also have the right to set out instructions regarding what should happen to their data after their death. These individuals may exercise their rights and/or obtain further information about their rights by contacting:

• By email to: RGPD@les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org

• By post to: Les Plus Beaux Villages de France – Délégation Générale, 21 Boulevard Berthelot, 63400 CHAMALIERES

• Via the contact form on our website: https://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/fr/nous-contacter/

• By telephone on: +33 (0)4 73 29 39 96

In the event of a dispute, anyone may lodge a complaint with the CNIL, whose contact details can be found at the following address: https://www.cnil.fr.

For further information, the Customer is invited to consult the Privacy Policy, available on the Website, by clicking here.

The Website also uses cookies, the use of which is set out in the Privacy Policy .

Article 18: Archiving

All Orders will be archived by the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association for a period of ten years. To access the archived Orders they have placed, the Customer must submit a request to the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association by post or email (contact details at the top of this document).

Article 19: General Provisions

Should any provision of these General Terms and Conditions prove to be invalid, in particular in the light of a rule of law or a final judicial decision, that provision shall be deemed unwritten, without affecting the validity and binding force of the other provisions. The fact that either Party fails, at any given time, to invoke any of the clauses of these GTC shall not constitute a waiver by that Party of its right to invoke that clause at a later date.

No provision of these General Terms and Conditions is intended to create a relationship of subordination and/or a joint venture between the Parties. Accordingly, neither Party is authorised to enter into commitments, negotiate on behalf of the other Party, or even bind the other Party, without the express prior consent of that Party.

Any notice given in accordance with these GTC shall be sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt and/or by extrajudicial document to the respective domicile or registered office of each Party. Notices shall be deemed to have been given on the date of the postmark.

Article 20: Complaints

Any complaint must be made in writing by post or email (contact details at the top of this document).

Article 21: Governing Law and Consumer Ombudsman

These General Terms and Conditions, as well as the contractual relationships arising therefrom, are governed exclusively by French law. In the event of a complaint or dispute, the Customer must contact the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and bring their comments and/or complaints to its attention. If no solution satisfactory to the Customer is reached, the Customer may, if they so wish, in accordance with Articles L.611-1 et seq. of the French Consumer Code, refer the matter to a consumer ombudsman. In this case, the Customer may contact the consumer ombudsman responsible for the Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France:

CM2C
49 rue de Ponthieu
75 008 PARIS
Tel: 01 89 47 00 14
Website: https://www.cm2c.net/declarer-un-litige.php
Email: litiges@cm2c.net

Mediation does not apply to complaints made to the customer service department of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association. A dispute cannot be examined by the consumer ombudsman where:

  • The Customer fails to demonstrate that they have previously attempted to resolve the dispute directly with the Company by means of a written complaint containing the following information (the order form, the invoice, and a precise and detailed description of the complaint);

  • The claim is manifestly unfounded or vexatious;

  • The dispute has previously been examined or is currently being examined by another mediator or by a court;

  • The Customer has submitted their request to the mediator more than one year after submitting their written complaint to the trader;

  • The dispute does not fall within the mediator’s remit. The Customer must inform the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association of this claim without delay.

Appendix 1: Formulaire rétractation.pdf

Appendix 2: Liste des sous-traitants.pdf