The Stick Man

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE, postage, packing, payment, cancellations, returns etc.

BY PLACING AN ORDER YOU AGREE TO OUR TERMS - SO WE ASSUME YOU HAVE READ THEM!

This is not just the usual legal stuff.
This is USEFUL INFORMATION FOR YOU, UNLESS YOU LIKE SURPRISES!

Let me explain our terms and conditions, briefly:

Your statutory rights are not affected by these terms.

METHODS OF PAYMENT

ALL PRICES ON THIS WEBSITE ARE IN BRITISH POUNDS STERLING!

You will find a link to a currency converter on all the catalogue pages

Debit or Credit card is preferred if you want immediate dispatch.

We Accept most credit/debit cards including VISA, MASTERCARD, MAESTRO and Visa ELECTRON. WE CAN NOT ACCEPT MAESTRO INTERNATIONAL UNLESS THE CUSTOMER IS PRESENT TO USE THEIR PIN NUMBER. Sorry, but we don't take Amex!

We accept UK sterling cheques drawn on a UK bank, UK sterling Postal Orders and UK sterling cash. We also accept International Money Orders IN POUNDS STERLING.

WE DO NOT USE PAYPAL! The charges placed upon us by Paypal would mean we had to increase our prices to customers. Paypal's security and purchasing protection policies are only guaranteed for buying on Ebay and since our own mechant account with Streamline (biggest card processor in the UK) has extremely good security policies we prefer to use them!

If you don't use a credit/debit card, your order will be delayed by the amount of time it takes your payment to reach us and be cleared. If you send cash, please use Special Delivery as it is the only delivery service that guarantees delivery of cash and insures you against its loss. If cash fails to reach us we will not be held responsible and will not post any goods!

Place your order using the web site order form where you can specify your method of payment. When you receive our confirmation by e-mail, unless you pay by card write our Order Number on the back of your cheque and post it to us with your full name/address details. Make cheques payable to The Stick Man please. NO foreign cheques without prior arrangement (that includes no USA checks). If you do use foreign cheques you will have to include bank fees because our bank charges us a minimum of £15 GBP to cash them and BIG delay to clear them.
NO Eurocheques or foreign currency unless agreed beforehand.

If you DO NOT pay by card we will not send out any goods until payment is received. Unfortunately we get a few hoax orders so if payment does not reach us within 14 days (from date of order) your order will be cancelled.

If you DO pay by card and it is Declined by your card company or bank we will email you as soon as we find out - usually the day after you place the order. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAILS FOR A FEW DAYS AFTER YOU PLACE THE ORDER. If you fail to respond to our email your order will be cancelled within a week.

If you are ordering very small amounts (under the minimum £5 charge) we are willing to accept UK postage stamps or cash, but contact me first. It is simply not economically viable to process orders for tiny amounts.

Convert to your currency

PAYMENT / ORDERING

We use a secure server to take your payment details. It needs three passwords to access your data and nobody but us knows the passwords. We treat your information with the utmost care and we do not pass it on to anybody else.

Your credit card details CAN NOT appear in any email message. They remain on the secure server until we process your order. An email copy of your order and name and address (and delivery address) will be returned to you WITHOUT credit card details. Please check the details and TELL US immediately if you've made a mistake. Check that the numbers of items on the order are correct - we get a few orders where customers have ordered the same item twice without realising it! If you don't receive e mail confirmation then you may have given an incorrect e mail address or your spam filter may have mistaken our reply for junk mail! This is particularly a problem with AOL users!

If you are not sure what you need, read our various web pages first then use e-mail to ask a question if you can't find the answer.

ENGLISH LAW APPLIES TO ALL CONTRACTS.

POSTAGE, packing and handling

is not included in the catalogue prices. The minimum is £3 for UK First Class. Our "Shopping Cart" will calculate the postage and packing for you before you place your order. Simply add what you want to the Shopping Cart, select the shipping destination and click the "Recalculate" button. There is NO obligation to buy at that stage.

We normally read orders first thing in the morning (7 - 8 ), and again at lunch time and in the evening and post them as soon as possible (unless we have to make items not already in stock). If you order during the night we will endeavour to post items the following day.

Please note: Customers outside the UK may be required to pay additional shipping surcharges in addition to those estimated by the "shipping calculator", local taxes or import duties. The Stick Man has no control over these and can not be held responsible if you have to pay them!

Also look at the Postage Page and the FAQ Page

Value Added Tax (V.A.T.)

We charge VAT at the current UK rate of 20%.

If you live outside of the UK or the EEC you may be entitled to a refund of the VAT. It costs us extra time and accountacy fees to process non-VAT transactions so we reserve the right to pass on the costs in the form of an Export fee, currently set at £10 or 10% of the total cost, whichever is higher.

RETURNS - as covered by The Distance Selling Regulations 1998

You have the right to return unwanted "off the shelf*" goods to us for refund, provided that you ordered from us via this web site and provided that you TELL US within 7 days of receipt. YOU HAVE 28 DAYS TO RETURN THE GOODS BUT MUST TELL US YOU ARE CANCELLING WITHIN 7 DAYS. Please be sure to pack goods adequately, include your full details, and we recommend you insure them in case of loss or damage since we will not be liable unless we receive the goods in "as new" condition. You will receive a refund (normally directly to your credit card). If we have already made or started to make a stick or other item for you then you will have to pay for it - unless we can find another buyer within a reasonable amount of time. In this case we may charge a cancellation fee. If we have had to make or obtain any item especially for you then we may also deduct an additional charge to cover this. A fee of £1 is charged to cover the cost of a card refund (this is charged to us by the card company).

IMPORTANT

*Sticks or other items that are made to your specifications are NON-RETURNABLE. By pre-ordering such an item you agree to this condition. Such an order may be cancelled at any time before work on the order has begun, but a cancellation fee of £20 may be charged. Once work has begun, you must pay in full for the work. Please understand that each custom-made stick is made by hand - we can not press a button to make another one appear at once! If we make a stick especially for you then you must pay for it and no refund will be given!

BOOKS CAN NOT BE RETURNED!

Regarding Carved Animal sticks made to order, it is impossible to get a carving to look exactly like a photograph - though I do my best! The final appearance is limited by my skill, your photos and by the materials used (wood grain, paint etc.). "Artistic licence" must be accepted in that the stick will have an appearance similar to the photograph but may not be identical.

Lastly - it would help us tremedously if customers could tell us what they want - many items, such as horns, shanks and naturally grown sticks vary considerably and we have to guess what sizes and shapes are required if we are not told! We get very few items returned but most of those returns could have been avoided by a few simple intructions from customers!

EXPORT

As far as possible, we ship items anywhere in the world.

CARRIAGE AND INSURANCE

Valuable items are normally sent by a "signed for" service. Damage Insurance will be forfeit if you or your representative sign for goods as "received in good condition". Do not sign without inspecting contents, even if this delays the delivery driver. His schedule is not your problem. If thorough inspection is impossible, endorse the form with "NOT INSPECTED". If any damage is found YOU MUST notify us or the carrier company immediately or we can not claim against them!

Most small orders are shipped by normal UK First Class Post or overseas by Airmail unless otherwise requested by you.

Where items are not insured against loss or damage, reimbursement will be limited to whatever the carrier company agrees to pay us. In the case of damage, you agree to assist us with any reasonable request which may include the return of damaged goods/packaging or a photograph of it.

Carriage/postage charges may vary in some circumstances because it is impossible to work out exact prices, especially for international shipments, but we will tell you if it is necessary to increase the total by more than 10% before we ship your order. If you select a cheaper shipping destination than your own - either by mistake or in an attempt to unfairly reduce the cost - then we will normally use the correct price and charge you accordingly!

The Shopping Cart has no "intelligence" and uses a simple look-up table to make an estimate of the shipping cost. For some orders this will be much too high or too low. In such a case, we will advise you of the actual cost by email and give you the opportunity to accept or cancel. We will not enter into negotiation over this. Our intention is not to make a profit from the shipping; we simply charge what it costs. If you can not afford what it costs, we will accept your cancellation with good grace and wish you luck in finding an identical item elsewhere.

If you send items to us we strongly advise you to use a service that requires a signature (eg. Royal Mail Recorded Delivery for low value items) and insure expensive items using "Special Delivery" for example. If you use a courier ask for "Compensation Fee" insurance. We will not accept responsibility for items lost or damaged on their way to us.

PRICES

are listed in the web site catalogue. Many prices are discounted in the online catalogue and ONLY apply when ordered ONLINE. If you telephone an order or send it in the mail then the discounts may not apply - it takes us much longer to process these orders than it does to take online orders and we encourage you to take advantage of the discounts by ordering online. We do not have secretarial staff to take orders so every time we have to stop making sticks to answer the phone it costs us money!

If you give incorrect information - such as name, full address (including house number and Post Code), telephone number, e mail address or card details and we have to 'chase' you to get them corrected then it costs us in wasted time. We reserve the right to cancel any online discounts or charge a reasonable fee to cover our expenses in these circumstances.

To see prices AND pictures AND descriptions, look at the appropriate online catalogue pages.

AVAILABILITY

The presence of an item in our catalogue or web pages does not constitute a promise to supply. Items may be out of stock or may have been deleted from our range. While we will do our best to supply any available item in a timely manner there will be occasions when we are unable to do so. However, most items listed are available immediately or within two or three weeks. We do our best to delete items which are not available and will always notify you if you have to wait more than the expected time. Very occasionally we may buy in stock from other suppliers if our own stocks are depleted - we will endeavour to find items as similar in appearance and performance as our regular items but if these are not what you want you may return them for a full refund.

Cancelled Orders

If an order must be cancelled please use our e-mail form and include your Order Confirmation number. If the order is cancelled before it has been processed then there will be no charge. If your card has been processed or a cheque paid into our bank then we will charge a Refund Fee of £5 to cover our own costs.

If the order has been packed then the stamps and packaging will be wasted and these might be charged for, together with a handling charge for time required to put items back into stock.
If the order has already been posted then it can not be cancelled and our Returns policy applies (see above).

If part of the order is missing when the package arrives

Please get in touch with The Stick Man immediately. See E-mail page. We do not normally send part orders without informing you of this - so if there is anything missing from the order tell us straight away!

If the Invoice is missing

We may post the invoice separately and you should receive it within a couple of days. You should have received a copy by e mail anyway - assuming you gave the correct e mail address!

If part of the order is damaged

Where a delivery by carrier needs a signature on receipt you must not sign unless you have inspected the contents! Be sure to tell anyone that you delegate to accept the delivery on your behalf. A signature indicates that you have received everything listed on the Delivery Note and that there is no damage. (See Carriage & Insurance notes, above).

If the contents are obviously damaged you MUST NOT ACCEPT THE DELIVERY! If the damage only becomes apparent on more thorough inspection you must advise The Stick Man by e-mail or telephone immediately and return them, carefully packed, with the original packaging enclosed so that we can claim against the carrier service. If you do not return the packaging, we will not be able to claim. Please contact The Stick Man before returning anything.

Note: Packaging will often become crushed during postal handling. This is to be expected. The packaging is there to protect the product and, provided that the product itself arrives in good, usable condition, such cosmetic damage to the packing does not constitute a reason for rejecting, returning or requesting a discount.

If the order does not arrive quickly

If your order does not arrive within a reasonable time (the average delivery times for different types of item will be quoted at the top of your invoice) then you must inform The Stick Man, including all relevant information. If you leave it too long before informing us then we will not be able to claim from Royal Mail or the carrier company and you agree to indemnify us for our uninsured losses.

If within a reasonable time please check with your local Royal Mail Delivery Office (this is often not the same building as your post office) to see if they are holding it for you. They are supposed to leave a card but that doesn't always happen (the postman may have run out of cards or it may have floated under your carpet or into a black hole!)

Orders to some countries may take up to three weeks to arrive. This is normally due to Customs delays. (In Spain it's due to the "mañana" culture!). If we use "International Signed for" we will be able to tell you when the package left the UK but we can not always track an order outside the UK unless you pay a lot extra for a trackable delivery.

Special Delivery (GB only) guarantees delivery by 1pm next working day, provided that the package is mailed on the day, the address details are correct and there's someone at the address to sign for the package. You'll often receive the package next day (Saturdays cost extra) even if we post it well after noon, but Royal Mail can't guarantee it so nor can we. In the past, the reason for nondelivery has invariably been that nobody was home or the postman was unable to get a reply at the door. We've had a couple of instances like this where the spouse was left at home to take delivery but "popped out to get milk" or "heard the doorbell but was in the bath". For Special Delivery PLEASE ask us for the "SU" number as this will enable you to track your package on the Royal mail web site. http://www.royalmail.co.uk/ If your order doesn't arrive by 1pm, please ring your local Royal Mail Delivery Office and quote the SU number.

In all cases, if a delivery is attempted by the mail or delivery service and the package is rejected (assuming it goes to the address you gave us) we accept no responsibility if the package is then lost.

Whenever you contact us about an order PLEASE include full details including your name, postcode and our order confirmation number. It also helps us to locate the order if you can give the exact (or approximate) date you placed the order. If you don't give us details then you can't expect us to trace the order or Returned goods (especially if you keep us hanging on the phone with customers queuing at the counter while you wander off to look up your postcode).

Chase Us!

We don't mind being chased for orders - in fact we positively encourage it. If we've forgotten to post something or if you think it's been lost PLEASE tell us right away! But read the paragraph above first. If it is still within the normal delivery time given for your item and you keep pestering us then we do not appreciate it!

IF YOUR ADDRESS IS INCORRECT

If the address you give us is incorrect in any way and causes us to incur additional delivery charges then you agree to reimburse these additional charges. Carrier companies often charge up to £25 for redirecting a parcel sent to the wrong depot so please be sure to give the correct post code and house number. Make sure you use CAPITAL LETTERS for postcodes as typing l instead of L, for example, can be mistaken for a 1 (one) by humans and machines. Please also ensure that the address you type in the order form is the actual DELIVERY address where there will be someone present if a signature is required. You can, for example, use your office address or a local shop address for delivery and type your home address in the card holder's address space. If you give an incorrect address* and your package is "lost" then no liability can be placed on us for nondelivery.

* By "correct address" we mean the one held by Royal Mail in their database for UK addresses or the equivalent for non-UK addresses.

IMPORTANT: If your INVOICE ADDRESS is NOT the one listed for your credit card (particularly correct house/flat numbers and Post Code) you must contact your card company and inform them of the alternative address before placing an order, otherwise your card payment may be refused.

IF YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS MISSING FROM THE ORDER

We will not normally phone you except to discuss your specific order - such as to inform you of any items not in stock, or if your payment card details are wrong. We will certainly not make unwanted marketing calls. However, the carrier companies insist on having a phone number so that their driver can contact the delivery address in the case of delays or if he gets lost. If you fail to provide a correct phone number, we will normally refuse your order. If the order is accepted but delivery is late or impossible, we will not accept responsibility if you failed to supply a working DAYTIME phone number for someone at (or with access to) the delivery address.

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