General Terms and Conditions:

1. Colchester Homebrew Supplies (hereafter known as CHS) is a company registered in the UK with company number: 7170799 and VAT No: 985 8324 67. All references to "CHS", "we", "us", "our" to Colchester Homebrew Supplies Ltd 
2. CHS trades (both on-line and as a physical store that can be visited Monday-Saturday during our standard opening times) from its registered office at Unit D2, The Seedbed Centre, Wyncolls Road, Colchester, CO4 9HT. Tel 01206 854457. email: andy@colchesterhomebrew.co.uk
3. All images used on this website are for illustrative purposes only. The manufacturers may have altered their packaging since this site was developed, but you will always be supplied with the most recent product that we have available.
4. We accept payment for on-line orders by cheque, bank transfer, all major credit and debit cards (via the paypal secure payment gateway) or paypal. Visitors to our store can pay by cash, credit or debit card. Please contact us by phone, fax or email if you wish to pay by bank transfer.
5. All on-line orders will be processed as quickly as possible, dependent on the method of payment used and subject to clearance of funds, and will be despatched within 1-2 working days. Our cut-off time for orders to ensure sameday despatch, Monday to Friday, is 15.00hrs. Any orders received after this time or over the weekend will not usually be processed and despatched until the next working day. Saturday is not considered to be a "Normal Working Day" by our courier network and orders processed and shipped on Friday will not normally be delivered until the following Monday (Tuesday in the case of Bank Holidays). Saturday delivery can be arranged if required, but carries a large surcharge - £20.00 + VAT per delivery as of 1/11/2010
6. Items shipped out via our courier service are normally delivered on a Next Working Day basis. All will require a signature on receipt, so you should ensure that you are available to receive them. We can, at your request, and at no additional cost, deliver to your work location or to a friend/relative's address, though a surcharge will be applied if the delivery address is in a more expensive charging zone than your home address. If you are unable to provide an alternative address, we can ask our couriers to leave your order without a signature in a safe place of your choosing, but we would STRONGLY advise against this unless it is an absolute imperative. Should you choose to authorise us to request that the goods be left safe, either by phone, fax, email or by completing the "special instructions" box during the checkout procedure whilst ordering from our website, you agree to accept ALL RISK associated with such an instruction. If the goods are subsequently lost, damaged or stolen, we will not accept ANY liability, nor will be accept ANY form of chargeback from a payment gateway or credit card firm. If you instigate any such chargeback procedure, rather than reporting the loss to the police and claiming through your home insurance, we will IMMEDIATELY begin proceedings through the County Court Process to recover our revenue and any charges incurred.
   
7. Items shipped via the Royal Mail will be delivered as per the Royal Mail's service standards and will generally take between 1-3 working days. They will not generally be left if too large to fit through your letterbox and you may thus have to collect them from your local sorting office. CHS will not accept any costs you incur in collecting any such items.
8. Our postage and delivery charges are constantly monitored to ensure that they provide the best possible value and flexibility. Our charges are made up of two elements, the postage/courier freight charges, which are passed on at cost, and an amount to cover the cost of packaging and administration. Having spent over 20 years in the transport industry, we always strive to ensure that your items are properly packed, however we will always endeavour to re-use/recycle packaging, both for environmental reasons and to maintain our low cost base. Please do not be surprised or offended if it appears your nice new brewery has been packed in low grade packaging rather than nice clean boxes that you may well end up throwing away. You can check our basic pricing matrix by viewing our "Delivery Charges" page. 
9. As CHS also operates as a "live" shop, there may be occasions in which an online order is placed for an item which has become out of stock before we have had an opportunity to update the online stock levels. If this is the case, we will contact you via phone, fax or email you and ask your instructions before progressing with the remainder of your order. CHS will not routinely substitute any items without your permission. Even with your permission, CHS will only ever substitute items with items of equal or higher value.

Cancellation and Returns Policy:

1. CHS does not supply goods "on approval". Please be absolutely sure that you want the goods before placing an order. Items can easily be removed from your shopping basket at ANY TIME until the point of processing your credit or debit card payment.
2. If, after ordering, you decide that you no longer require an item, you can cancel any part/all of your order at ANY TIME up until the point that CHS despatches the goods to your registered address. You should contact us immediately by phone or fax to determine whether or not the order has already been despatched. CHS will not accept cancellations by email or SMS text messages. If you have paid by cheque or bank transfer, CHS will arrange a full refund or issue a credit note to cover the full value of the item/s and the associated postage costs, if the cancellation materially reduces the shipment cost of the remainder of your order. If you have paid by credit or debit card or by paypal, CHS further reserves the right to make a charge to cover its paypal or payment gateway processing costs.
3. If you wish to cancel your order AFTER receipt of the goods, you must advise CHS immediately and return the unwanted item/s at your expense within SEVEN DAYS of receiving it. You must ensure that any returned item is appropriately packed and insured for the transport method used. Please contact CHS to obtain a Returns Identification Number (RIN) prior to returning the goods. CHS will arrange for a refund or credit note to be raised up to the value returned item/s. In the event of the full order being returned, a full credit or refund will be issued less our original transport costs and payment processing charges.
4. If the return of an item reduces the order value from one at which free delivery was provided (ie over £100.00 as of 12/10/2011, but subject to change as per our current "Free Delivery" offer) to one at which transport charges would have been incurred, CHS reserves the right to reduce any refund or credit note by an amount equivalent to whatever transport charges would have been incurred had the item/s not been included in the order.
5. If CHS has shipped an incorrect item you have the right to return it and receive a full refund for its value. Please contact CHS for a RIN and to arrange collection at CHS' expense. Should you choose to return the goods without obtaining a RIN, CHS will NOT be responsible for any transport charges you incur.
6. If, for financial reasons, it is uneconomic for CHS to collect the incorrectly supplied items, CHS reserves the right to offer them to you to use, or dispose of, as you see fit.
   

Damaged Items and Missing Components:

1. We always endeavour to pack every order such that it can withstand the rigours of handling within the various transport systems we use. Occasionally, an item may be damaged during transit. In such cases, the following policy will apply.
   
   
2. For items purchased directly from our Colchester shop, a replacement or refund will be issued if the item is returned to us, in its original packaging, as soon the damage is discovered.
   
   
3. For items purchased from our website, you should contact CHS as soon as possible by phone or email to make us aware of the damage and the damaged item will need to be returned to us, in its original packaging, at YOUR OWN EXPENSE, as soon as the damage is discovered. If you require a replacement, on receipt of the damaged item we will forward a replacement and will absorb the cost of shipping the replacement item/items to you. If you require a refund for the damaged item, we will, on receipt of the damaged item, issue a refund of the full purchase price of the item concerned, excluding any transport costs associated with the purchase. This clause relates purely to physical damage to the item, rather than to any mechanical/electrical faults which may develop through use.
   
   
4. If an item develops a mechanical or electrical fault within its normal manufacturer's guarantee/warranty period, it should be returned to us, at YOUR EXPENSE, for onward transport to the original supplier/manufacturer, who will either replace or repair it in line with their standard warranty arrangements. If no standard warranty period is specified, then the warranty period will be limited to SIX MONTHS from the date of purchase. As we would only return it to our supplier when their next order is delivered to us, which could be up to 14 days after you return the item to us, you can, if you wish, contact the manufacturer directly in order to obtain a faster response, though any transport charges incurred would be at your own expense.
   
   
5. If an item is found to be missing a component (including, but not limited to, for example, a washer, a yeast sachet, clearing solution, instructions for use etc) then CHS should be contacted immediately. If the item is missing simply because we forgot to include it within your order, we will immediately ship it at our cost. If the component is such that it can only have been missed off by the manufacturer/supplier (such as, but not limited to, yeast, hop sachets, clearing agents etc), we will happily supply a replacement but reserve the right to issue a charge of upto £1.99 to cover our additional postage and packaging charges.

Production Problems:

1. All beer and wine kits display a best before date. Whilst the primary ingredients may still be usable after this date, changes to the colour or flavour may have taken place. The yeast may also be unable to rouse itself to produce a viable fermentation. If you choose to make up a beer or wine kit  after its "best before date" has expired, no liability of any sort will be accepted for any problems that are encountered.
   
   
2. With most beer or wine kits, full instructions are provided by the manufacturer, some of which are more comprehensive than others. Providing that you follow these guidelines, paying particular attention to cleanliness, water quality, temperature and ingredient handling you should obtain a reliable fermentation. The manufacturers have spent  vast sums of money designing and producing their kits to ensure that you receive consistent results providing you follow their instructions. If your fermentation fails or you end up with an unpleasant finished product because you have chosen to add more sugar than recommended or used a different yeast than that provided, or added an additional ingredient that wasn't within the original ingredient list, they will accept NO responsibility whatsoever for your failure.
   
   
3. If you have followed the instructions correctly and still obtain poor results, most manufacturers will request that you provide a sample for them to analyse. We can forward this to them and liaise on your behalf, but quicker results may be obtained from contacting them directly.
   
   
4. In essence, we would contact them to ask them to provide an approved sample bottle, which we would forward to you.
   
   
5. You would take the sample and return it us at YOUR EXPENSE.
   
   
6. We would return it them during their next delivery to us.
    
7. They will analyse the product and determine what course of action should be taken. They may decide that the problems stem from a production error on your part, or they may decide that there is a problem with the kit and authorise us to replace it or offer a refund. In either case, the decision is theirs to make, not ours, and we will not issue a replacement or refund for any kit without following this previous procedure and allowing the manufacturer/supplier to first determine their preferred course of action. 
   

Privacy:

1. CHS takes personal privacy very seriously and collects, stores and uses personal information from its customers ONLY for its own marketing, credit control and invoicing requirements. We will only ever use this information to process your order and to make your subsequent browsing or purchasing easier and quicker.
   
2. The type of information collected about you includes: your name, your address, your email address and your phone number. This may be collected during your registering an account with us (if you choose to do so) or during the checkout procedure. We will always endeavour to keep this information up to date and you can request at any time, a copy of the information held. If this information is inaccurate, we will correct or delete it promptly.
   
3. Any personal data collected on this site is only used for purposes of invoicing and internal marketing. It will NEVER be issued to ANY third party for any use at all, except if required and/or properly requested by any government agency or authority.
4. Any credit card or debit card details are provided to our payment gateway provider and not to CHS if ordered on-line. If ordering directly from our physical shop, either in person or via the phone, email (not recommended) or fax (not recommended), CHS will not keep any record of the card details once the transaction has been entered into the payment gateway.
5. We may use technology to track patterns of behaviour of visitors to our website, such as google analytics or other web analysis tools. We may also generate a "cookie" which is stored on your computer unless you modify your internet browser's settings to restrict the use of such cookies. The information collected by such cookies allow web sites to recognise returning customers and are often used to "tailor" the products being displayed to the interests of the visitor. You can modify your browsers settings at any time to specify how cookies should be handled. Our site will continue to operate should you disable our "cookie", but this could cause none of your details, preferences or past browsing history to be retained.
   
6. We will not contact you via email without your consent (usually provided when you open account), other than to confirm your order.
   
7. We may however, from time to time, contact you via e-mail on the specified e-mail address, to provide details of special offers and new products. You will always be given the opportunity to refuse permission for us to send you these emails and, if you do so, you will be immediately removed from our mailing list.
   

Other Issues:

1. All prices on this web site include VAT at the appropriate rate and are the prices that would apply were you to visit CHS at its trading premises.
2. All photographs are included in order to represent the essential nature of the items on offer via the website and in store. Our suppliers often change their packaging or vary the items within kits and, from time to time, we may display old images of their products until we manage to produce new photographs and update these pages. We will always send the most up to date item available.
   
3. All photographs are the copyright of Colchester Homebrew Supplies Ltd and must not be used for ANY commercial purposes without our prior consent and on payment of an appropriate licensing fee. Our current rates are available on application. You may, however, use the photographs for non-profit making use, in web blogs, discussion forums, school projects etc, on a free of charge basis, provided that our copyright is acknowledged and a link to our site is provided or published alongside such photos.
   
4. These terms and conditions are applicable from 1st December 2008 until further notice, but are subject to change at any time, without notice.
5. All descriptions are believed to be accurate, E&OE 

You can/should download a copy of these terms and conditions and keep it for your records.

Revision History:

1. 1 October 2010 - Items 5-9 of General Terms amended to include risk assignment relating to left items. 

2. 2 June 2011 - Damaged Items Policy added

3. 2 June 2011 - Production Problems Policy added

4. 2 June 2011 - CHS right to abandon goods added
5. 10 June 2011 - Privacy Policy amended
6. 01 August 2011 - Change specified free postage level to £75.00 from £70.00
7. 12 October 2011 - Change specified free postage level to £100.00 from £75.00