Terms of Trading
Terms and conditions of sale
By accessing and using this website, you agree to follow and abide by the terms and conditions as outlined below.
Payment
The website is set up to allow you to pay via the secure PayPal system. Please note that you do not need to have a PayPal account to pay by this method as PayPal gives you the option to pay by credit or debit card at the checkout without opening a PayPal account.
Customers from within the United Kingdom ONLY are welcome to pay by personal cheque or crossed Postal Order - please email (or telephone) first to let me know what you would like to order and I will reserve the items for you for up to 10 days. For your security, please send cheques or Postal Orders by Recorded Mail so that you know they have reached me. I will send your parcel when the funds have cleared.
International orders
I am happy to ship internationally, but please pay by PayPal if you are ordering from outside the United Kingdom - I do not accept any other methods of payment from overseas customers.
Returns and refunds
I will happily refund any purchase and the initial shipping charge, provided you return the goods to me unused within seven business days of the date of your receipt. To receive a refund, please first notify me by email that you are returning your purchased item(s), and return the goods to me unused and in a saleable (unused) condition as shipped. You are responsible for the cost of returning the goods. You are not obliged to give a reason for returning goods, but I would appreciate it for future reference.
Returned goods remain your responsibility until they reach me; therefore I recommend you use a postal service that insures you for the value of the items being returned. This does not affect your statutory rights.
I will process refunds as quickly as possible. Refunds will be made by the same method you used to make your payment - either via PayPal (to the same account you used for your order) or your credit or debit card; or for payments made via cheque or crossed Postal Order, in the form of a business cheque or crossed Postal Order as appropriate. Refunds are for the price of the purchased goods, or for the price of returned goods if you return part of an order, and include full or partial P&P fees as appropriate.
Cancellations
If you wish to cancel an order please contact me as soon as possible after ordering, quoting your invoice number or the name of products purchased. If the order has already been dispatched you may still return the goods to me at your own expense for a refund under the terms and conditions listed above (but less my shipping costs). Returned goods remain your responsibility until they reach me; therefore I recommend you use a tracked postal service that insures you for the value of the items being returned. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Shipping
International shipping
I am happy to ship internationally; payment for all orders from outside the UK is accepted via PayPal only.
Ordering
No contract of sale exists between Julie E Kirk t/a The Very Small Company (the owner of www.theverysmallcompany.co.uk) and you, until full payment has been accepted and all funds have cleared.
If there is a problem with your order you will be notified via email as soon as possible. If an item is out of stock I will contact you so that you can choose to cancel the order and have a refund, or accept an offer of a similar item instead where available.
All parcels are checked by two people and weighed after packing, and I obtain postal receipts that include the weight of the parcel as posted. Due to recent postal frauds, all parcels are now also photographed to show contents as packed.
Prices
All prices on the website are in pounds Sterling. I reserve the right to amend prices and pack sizes at any time without prior notice.
Legal Disclaimer and Copyright
All content of this website is Copyright 2012 © Julie E Kirk t/a The Very Small Company. No part of this website (including photographs) may be duplicated, modified or used in any other way without prior written consent from me.
I aim to present accurate detailed descriptions and photography for each product. Every effort is made to use images that represent the products correctly; however please be aware that as monitor settings vary from computer to computer, actual product colours may differ slightly from on-screen colours.
Due to the handmade nature of some of my products, there will inevitably be slight variations in size, colour and weight between items of the same type. All measurements are approximate. Some beads are sold by weight due to their shapes or sizes - these packs conform at least to the minimum weight specified (some weigh slightly more!).
All beads and other small items are sold on the understanding that the buyer is responsible for ensuring that they are stored safely and out of the reach of young children.
This business and websites (http://www.theverysmallcompany.co.uk and http://www.hilltribesilver.co.uk) are owned and run by Julie E Kirk, a registered Sole Trader trading in the United Kingdom as The Very Small Company. I am also the owner of The Very Small Company Limited which is a company registered in the United Kingdom (but not currently trading),
Please note that companies or websites in other countries that may be using my trading name of "The Very Small Company" either offline or online with any other country extension do so without my permission and have no connection with me; furthermore I am not responsible for any content or items offered for sale by such persons. This paragraph has been added for clarification in response to communications from persons overseas threatening to use my trading name overseas unless I purchase the relevant domains in their countries.
Privacy Policy and data processing
I respect customer privacy, and will usually only contact you in relation to orders, or if necessary, to provide you with new information about my business such as change of address or telephone details.
By signing up to The Very Small Company or Hill Tribe Silver UK mailing lists you have given your permission to receive occasional newsletters by email (these will usually be no more than one per month). You can unsubscribe from the mailing list at any time by emailing me or using the unsubscribe link in the newsletter.
I will not disclose customer information to third parties, except for the following purposes: processing and delivering your order (such as a postal or courier service); on the sale of the business to another party; if required to do so by law.
Information collected to process your order includes name, address, telephone number and email address. Any information retained by me is kept securely for accounting and marketing purposes only. All online payments are received via PayPal (unless otherwise agreed), and I have no access to your credit or debit card details. PayPal Inc retain responsibility for ensuring the security and integrity of customer data when using their products and services.
This website uses Google Analytics, and therefore 'performance cookies'. These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect any information that identifies a visitor, and information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works. By using this website, you agree to allow these types of cookies on your device.
Third Party websites
Some links within this website will lead you to Third Party websites. I am not responsible for the content of linked sites, and the inclusion of a link does not necessarily imply an endorsement by me of a Third Party site or products.