Terms and conditions of sale
1 THESE TERMS
1.1 What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions on which we supply products to you. When you buy from us, you are agreeing to these terms.
1.2 Why you should read them. Please read these terms carefully before you submit your order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide products to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.
2 WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT US, OUR PRODUCTS AND HOW TO CONTACT US
2.1 Who we are. We are The Bride Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 04516199 and our registered office is at 18 George Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4ES. Our registered VAT number is 856 9598 48.
2.2 Our products: You can find everything you need to know about our products on our website or from our sales staff before you order. We also confirm the key information to you in writing after you order by email.
2.3 How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning the team at 01727 848 900 or by writing to us at mydress@the-bride.co.uk or 18 George Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4ES.
2.4 How we may contact you. If we have to contact you, we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your order.
2.5 “Writing” includes emails. When we use the words “writing” or “written” in these terms, this includes emails.
3 OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU – WE ONLY ACCEPT ORDERS WHEN WE’VE CHECKED THEM
3.1 How we will accept your order. Our acceptance of your order will take place when i) you have paid a deposit equal to 50% of the full purchase price of the products (inclusive of VAT) and ii) we tell you that we are able to provide you with the product, which we will also confirm in writing to you, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.
3.2 If we cannot accept your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the product and refund any deposit taken. This might be because the product is out of stock, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the product or because we are unable to meet a collection deadline you have specified in your original order.
3.3 Deposits. Deposits are non-refundable unless we cannot accept or fulfil your order. The deposit cannot be transferred to another person or item.
4 PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AND MEASUREMENTS
4.1 Products may vary slightly from their pictures. The images of the products in our shop or on our website or in any other promotional materials are for illustrative purposes only. Although we have made every effort to display the colours accurately, we cannot guarantee that a device’s display of the colours (such as viewing our website on a smartphone) or the printed pictures in our shop, accurately reflects the colour of the products. Your product may vary slightly from those images. Similarly, any items present in our store may differ from products delivered, as the colour of display items may have faded or the dress manufactured for you may be from a different batch or weave. For silk dresses, please note that silk is a natural fibre and they may be certain irregularities or variations in shade or weave, which are characteristic.
4.2 Making sure your measurements are accurate. Once measurements and sizing have been taken for your order, we will not be held responsible for any changes in your measurements and/or size (for example due to dieting). If your measurements and/or size change it will be your responsibility to notify us, in which case we will confirm if we are able to make further alterations prior to collection and what the estimated additional costs will be.
4.3 Timing. We will measure each person for each order at the measurement fitting and advise on the size to be ordered. If the bride is not happy with the sizing, they must inform us at this measurement fitting. We will not be responsible for any sizing discrepancies after this time. Measurements may be taken when an order is placed. If a bride defers being measured to a later date it will be the customer’s responsibility to ensure that such measurements are taken in good time for the products to be ordered and collected in time.
4.4 Guidance. We may provide guidance in the choice of design, size, colour and measurements but it is the customer’s responsibility to make such decisions. All dresses, unless stated otherwise are ceremonial dresses only, and are to be used for ceremonial purposes.
4.5 Ex display dresses/showroom dresses. When an actual showroom dress is sold it may not necessarily be in perfect condition, which will be reflected in the price. Customers should check the goods are of a satisfactory condition for their particular use and requirement. Once the consumer is happy with the gown, they are not entitled to an exchange or refund of products purchased. Orders for such dresses must be paid for in full at the time of purchase.
5 PROVIDING THE PRODUCTS
5.1 When we will provide the products. During the order process we will let you know when we will provide the products to you. Unless a fixed date for collection has been agreed in writing, we will provide the products to you in-store within a ‘reasonable amount of time’, taking account of the complexities of any alterations to be made to the product and the location the product is being sourced from. By way of guidance only, products that are not in stock typically take up to 6 months to arrive and can take longer during peak periods. If a bride orders late, her dress may not arrive until a few days before the wedding.
5.2 We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of your product(s) is delayed by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and do what we can to reduce the delay. As long as we do this, we will not compensate you for the delay, but if there is a risk of substantial delay in that we cannot fulfil the contract by the date of your wedding, you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any products you have paid for but not received, less reasonable costs we have already incurred.
5.3 Collection by you. We do not deliver the products so you will be asked to collect the products from our premises when ready; we will book an appropriate appointment for you. We reserve the right to change an appointment date when necessary.
5.4 When you become responsible for the product. The product will be your responsibility from the time you collect it from us.
5.5 When you own the products. You own the products once we have received payment in full.
5.6 We may also suspend supply of the products if you do not pay. If you do not pay us for the products when you are supposed to (see section 9.4) and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of the products until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the products. We will not suspend the products where you dispute the unpaid invoice (see section 9.8). We will not charge you for the products during the period for which they are suspended. As well as suspending the products we can also charge you interest on your overdue payments (see section 9.4).
6 YOUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT
6.1 Changing your mind. Unless there is a fault with them, which in the case of bespoke items cannot be repaired, you will not be entitled to an exchange or refund of products purchased from us ‘instore’.
6.2 Cancelled orders.
a) Before the garment/ item is made: If you need to cancel your order before the garment has been made, you need to notify us as soon as possible. If we can stop the order with the designer, and production of the garment/ item hasn’t begun then no further payments need to be made. Please note that the deposit paid will not be refunded, as per point 6.1.
b) After a garment/ item is made: If you need to cancel your order once the garment has been made, it will be delivered to us as expected. Full payment will be required to be paid, and ownership of the item passed to you
7 OUR RIGHTS TO END THE CONTRACT
7.1 We may end the contract if you break it. We may end the contract for a product at any time by writing to you if:
a) you do not make any payment to us when it is due
b) you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the products;
c) you do not, within a reasonable time, collect the products from us.
7.2 You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in section 7.1 above, we will not refund any deposit you have paid for the products.
8 IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE PRODUCT
8.1 How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about the product, please contact us. You can telephone our team at 01727 848 900 or write to us at 18 George Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 4ES or via email mydress@the-bride.co.uk.
8.2 You have rights if there is something wrong with your product. If you think there is something wrong with your product, you must either bring it into our store or contact our team as set out at section 8.1 above. We honour our legal duty to provide you with products that are as described to you and that meet all the requirements imposed by law. For detailed information on your legal rights please visit the Citizens Advice website www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
9 PRICE AND PAYMENT
9.1 Where to find the price for the product. The price of the product (which includes VAT) will be set out on the order form. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the price of product advised to you is correct.
9.2 We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT. If the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the product, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the product in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.
9.3 When you must pay and how you must pay. The balance of the price for the products must be paid before the alterations fitting which is after the dress has been delivered to us by the manufacturer and in any event within 7 days of notification that the products are ready for collection. We accept payment by cash or credit/debit card but do not accept payment by cheque.
9.4 Storage costs (If Applicable). We will store in shop each dress free of charge for up to 24 hours before the customers wedding date (as advised on the order form). After this date a charge of £1 per calendar day will apply.
9.5 We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date, we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 3% a year above the Bank of England base rate from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.
9.6 What to do if you think an invoice is wrong. If you think an invoice is wrong, please contact us promptly to let us know. You will not have to pay any interest until the dispute is resolved. Once the dispute is resolved we will charge you interest on correctly invoiced sums from the original due date.
10 OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU
10.1 We do not compensate you for all losses caused by us or our products. We’re responsible for losses you suffer caused by us breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill unless the loss is:
10.1.1 Unexpected. It was not obvious that it would happen and nothing you said to us before we accepted your order meant we should have expected it (so, in the law, the loss was unforeseeable).
Caused by a delaying event outside our control. As long as we have taken the steps set out in the section 5.2 above, we are not responsible for delays outside our control.
10.1.2 Avoidable. Something you could have avoided by taking reasonable action.
10.1.3 A business loss and it relates to your use of a product for the purposes of your trade, business, craft or profession. We only supply the products for domestic and private use.
10.2 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the goods, including the right to receive goods which are: as described and match information we provided to you; of satisfactory quality; fit for any particular purpose made known to us.
10.3 Liability during storage of products. In the unlikely event that products paid for by customers are lost or damaged, due to fire, flood or theft, whilst on our premises we shall only be responsible for reimbursing the retail costs of such products.
10.4 Third party services. We shall not be responsible for any services provided by a third party, whether or not such third party was recommended by us.
11 HOW WE MAY USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
11.1 How we will use your personal information. We will use the personal information you provide to us:
a) to supply the products to you;
b) to process your payment for the products; and
c) if you agreed to this during the order process, to inform you about similar products that we provide, but you may stop receiving these communications at any time by contacting us.
11.2 We will only give your personal information to other third parties where the law either requires or allows us to do so. For more information on how we use your personal information, see www.the-bride.co.uk/privacy.
12 OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS
12.1 We may transfer this agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation.
12.2 You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing
12.3 Nobody else has any rights under this contract. This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
12.4 If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
12.5 Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. We might not immediately chase you for not doing something (like paying) or for doing something you’re not allowed to, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do it later.
12.6 Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts. We can claim against you in the courts of the country you live in.
