Terms and Conditions

Here's the legal bit, and in line with our services we aim to give you the highest standard possible. As with all Terms & Conditions these get a bit technical and we're sorry if they sound rather formal. However, they are quite standard and are designed to enhance your membership and e-shopping experience.

Please note, these terms and conditions can potentially change at any time, and it is up to you to check these terms and conditions regularly before ordering products in case there are any changes.

If you have any queries relating to our terms and conditions, please contact the Customer Service team before placing an order.

MEMBERSHIP TERMS & CONDITIONS

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (THE “TERMS”) CAREFULLY BEFORE USING ANY SERVICES ON THIS WEBSITE WWW.THEDESIGNEMPORIUM.CO.UK (“WEBSITE”)

BY CLICKING ON THE “I ACCEPT” BUTTON AT REGISTRATION, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS WHICH WILL CONSTITUTE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS UPON YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND YOUR PURCHASE OF THE GOODS (AS DEFINED BELOW). FURTHER, BY CLICKING ON THE ‘ACCEPT’ BUTTON, YOU WARRANT THAT YOU: (i) ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER (OR YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THESE TERMS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT OF A RESPONSIBLE PARENT OR GUARDIAN); (ii) ARE LEGALLY CAPABLE OF ENTERING INTO BINDING CONTRACTS; AND (iii) HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS, YOU MUST NOT CLICK THE ACCEPTANCE BUTTON AND YOU MAY NOT USE THE SERVICES OR PURCHASE GOODS ON OUR WEBSITE.

YOUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE TERMS OF CLAUSE 12, FURTHER TO WHICH WE LIMIT AND EXCLUDE OUR LIABILITY TO YOU IN RELATION TO YOUR USE OF OUR WEBSITE AND GOODS ORDERED BY YOU ON OUR WEBSITE.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (THE “TERMS”) CAREFULLY BEFORE REGISTERING TO USE ANY SERVICES ON THIS WEBSITE WWW.THEDESIGNEMPORIUM.CO.UK (“WEBSITE”)

BY CLICKING ON THE “I ACCEPT” BUTTON AT THE END OF THESE TERMS YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS WHICH WILL CONSTITUTE LEGAL OBLIGATIONS UPON YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND YOUR PURCHASE OF THE GOODS (AS DEFINED BELOW). FURTHER, BY CLICKING ON THE ‘ACCEPT’ BUTTON, YOU WARRANT THAT YOU: (i) ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER (OR YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THESE TERMS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT OF A RESPONSIBLE PARENT OR GUARDIAN); (ii) ARE LEGALLY CAPABLE OF ENTERING INTO BINDING CONTRACTS; AND (iii) HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS, YOU MUST NOT CLICK THE ACCEPTANCE BUTTON AND YOU MAY NOT USE THE SERVICES OR PURCHASE GOODS ON OUR WEBSITE.

YOUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE TERMS OF CLAUSE 12, FURTHER TO WHICH WE LIMIT AND EXCLUDE OUR LIABILITY TO YOU IN RELATION TO YOUR USE OF OUR WEBSITE AND GOODS ORDERED BY YOU ON OUR WEBSITE.

1. Introduction

These Terms set out the terms on which you may become a member of our Website and purchase any of the products listed on our Website (the “Goods”) from Suppliers. Goods are offered for sale on the Website on behalf of Suppliers (as defined below) for the limited sales periods set out on the Website but may sell out before the expiry of the stated sales period. Please note that we act as agent for the vendors of Goods on our Website (“Suppliers”). If you purchase Goods on our Website, you shall do so subject to these Terms and further to a contract formed between you and the relevant Supplier of such Goods.

Please note that your use and membership of our Website and the purchase of Goods is subject to your compliance with our Website terms of use, a copy of which can be found here www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/terms. Our collection, storage and processing of your data on our Website will be subject to the terms of our privacy policy, a copy of which can be found here www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/privacy. You are reminded that by using our Website, you will be deemed to have agreed to the terms of our privacy policy (including our use of cookies) and our Website terms of use.

It is important that you read these Terms carefully. You should print out a copy of these Terms for your future reference.

If you have any questions or queries, or if you would like to request a printed copy of these Terms, please contact us using the contact details set out below.

2. Information about us and Our Status

2.1 We operate the Website www.thedesignemporium.co.uk. We are TLW Designs Ltd trading as The Design Emporium (“TDE” or “We”) a company registered in England and Wales under company number 007541129 and with our registered office at West Greenbank, Hickmans Lane, Lindfield, West Sussex, RH16 2DR. Our main trading address is: West Greenbank, Hickmans Lane, Lindfield, West Sussex, RH16 2DR and our VAT number is: 125593507.

2.2 Please note that we accept orders as agent on behalf of Suppliers and the legal contract for the sale of the Goods is between you and the Supplier and is subject to these Terms. We will, as operator of the Website, provide our reasonable assistance to you in respect of your dealings with Suppliers to the extent permitted under law but shall have no obligations or liability to you under or in respect of any purchase you may make from a Supplier under these Terms.

2.3 We may also provide links on our Website to the websites of other companies, whether affiliated with us or not. We cannot give any undertaking that products you purchase from companies to whose website we have provided a link on our Website, will be of satisfactory quality, and any such warranties are disclaimed by us absolutely.

3. Service Availability

Our Website is only available for use by people aged 18 or over, resident in the UK and who have not been suspended, removed or refused membership to TDE.

4. Your Status

By placing an order for Goods through our Website, you warrant that:

a) you are legally capable of entering into binding contracts;

b) you are at least 18 years old;

c) you have the legal right to use any debit or credit card(s) used to purchase the Goods;

d) you are resident in the UK;

e) you are accessing our Website from the UK; and

f) you consent to our use of cookies on our Website in accordance with the terms of our privacy policy, which can be found at www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/privacy.

5. Membership and Registration

5.1 In order to access the majority of the content on the Website, and before purchasing any Goods, you will be required to register as a member of the Website and create a membership account (an “Account”).

5.2 To register on the Website and create an Account, you must follow the instructions on the Website. Your username will be the email address you use to register as a member (“Username”). Your Username must not, in our opinion, be inappropriate or offensive and must not infringe upon the rights of third parties. We can require you to immediately change your Username if we think it is inappropriate for use in relation to the Website.

5.3 To create an Account, you must select a secret password, known only to you. Your Account is non-transferable. We will keep the details of your Account strictly confidential and will not disclose them to third parties unless you agree. You must keep your account details safe and must not disclose them to third parties. The Account may be used only by the individual who created it and not by anyone else. We reserve the right to terminate your Account if we have reason to believe that your Account details are being used by anyone other than you.

5.4 You shall be liable for all activities that are undertaken using your Account together with the associated password and shall compensate us for any and all losses we may suffer as a result of any failure by you to keep your username and password strictly secure at all times.

6. Placing an Order on the Website

6.1 Once you have been accepted as a member and created an Account you can place order(s) for Goods on the Website (“Order”). You can place Order(s) by following the instructions set out on the Website. Please check that the details on your Order(s) are complete and accurate before you commit yourself to purchase any Goods. The details of the Supplier from whom you wilI be purchasing the Goods will appear on the Website together with the description of the Goods. If any of these Terms are inconsistent with any term of an Order, these Terms shall prevail.

6.2 After placing an Order, you will receive an email from us acknowledging that we have received your Order(s). Please note that this does not mean that your Order(s) have been accepted. Your Order constitutes an offer to us, as agent on behalf of a Supplier, to buy Goods. All orders are subject to acceptance by the Supplier, and the Supplier will confirm acceptance by sending you an email that confirms the delivery date and proposed delivery time of the Goods (“Order Confirmation”). The contract (“Contract”) between you and the Supplier will only be formed when the Supplier sends you the Order Confirmation.

6.3 Your Order(s) will be assigned an order number and the Supplier will inform you of it in the Order Confirmation. Please quote the relevant order number(s) in any subsequent correspondence with us or the Supplier relating to an Order.

6.4 The Contract will relate only to those Goods whose dispatch the Supplier has confirmed in the Order Confirmation. Neither we nor the Supplier shall be obliged to supply any other Goods which may have been part of your Order until the dispatch of such Goods has been confirmed in a separate Order Confirmation.

6.5 By accepting these Terms you agree to abide by the terms of our website terms of use policy and privacy policy at all times when using the Website, which can be found at www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/terms and www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/privacy. Any breach of our website terms of use policy and/or privacy policy shall be deemed a material breach of these Terms and we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your Account in the event of such breach. We shall not be liable for any loss you may incur as a result of us suspending or terminating your Account.

7. Your Rights

7.1 If you are contracting as a consumer, you may cancel a Contract at any time within seven working days, beginning on the day after you received the Goods provided that the Goods are returned to us unopened and intact. In this case, you will receive a full refund of the price paid for the Goods in accordance with the refunds policy set out in clause 10 below.

7.2 To cancel a Contract, you must inform us in writing (this can be by sending an email to the email address set out at clause 16 below). You must also return the Goods to the Supplier who delivered the Goods to you as soon as reasonably practicable, and at your own cost. You have a legal obligation to take reasonable care of the Goods while they are in your possession. If you fail to comply with this obligation, the Supplier may have a right of action against you for compensation.

7.3 You will not have any right to cancel a Contract for the supply of any bespoke, customised or personalised products which you have purchased from our Website.

7.4 Details of your statutory right of cancellation, and an explanation of how to exercise it, are provided in the Order Confirmation. This provision does not affect your other statutory rights as a consumer.

8. Delivery

8.1 Your Order(s) will be fulfilled by the delivery date set out in the Order Confirmation or, if no delivery date is specified, then within 30 days of the date of the Order Confirmation. The Supplier will take reasonable steps to meet the delivery date set out in the Order Confirmation. However, occasionally delivery may be affected by factors beyond the Supplier’s control and so cannot be guaranteed. The Supplier will let you know if it becomes aware of an unexpected delay and will arrange a new delivery date with you.

8.2 It is your responsibility to ensure that all delivery addresses provided to us and/or the Supplier are correct. If Goods are delivered to an incorrect address as a result of incorrect information provided by you, neither TDE nor the Supplier will be responsible for this and you will be charged for the cost of redelivery to the correct address.

8.3 If you fail to take delivery of an Order within 5 calendar days of the date set out in the Order Confirmation then, except where this failure is caused by the Supplier’s failure to comply with these Terms or by an event beyond your control:

a) the Supplier will store the Goods until delivery takes place and may charge you a reasonable sum (currently £20 per day) to cover expenses and insurance; and

b) neither we nor the Supplier shall have liability to you for late delivery.

8.4 If you have not taken delivery of the Goods within 1 week of the date set out in the Order Confirmation, the Supplier may, after giving you reasonable prior written notice in writing, resell or otherwise dispose of part or all of the Goods and after deducting reasonable storage and selling costs, pay you any excess over the price of the Goods or charge you for any shortfall below their price.

8.5 If the Supplier is not able to procure delivery of the whole of an Order at one time, it may procure the delivery of such Order in instalments. The Supplier will not charge you extra delivery costs for this. If you ask the Supplier to deliver an Order in instalments, the Supplier may charge you extra delivery costs. Each instalment shall constitute a separate contract with the Supplier. If the Supplier is late delivering an instalment or one instalment is faulty, that will not entitle you to cancel any other instalment.

8.6 If you make more than one Order for Goods, you will receive separate invoices in respect of each Order from each Supplier and each Order will be delivered separately.

8.7 The Goods will be your responsibility from the time of delivery. Delivery shall be deemed to have taken place on the unloading of the Goods at the delivery location specified by you in your Order.

8.8 Each Supplier will specify the delivery charges applicable to the delivery of each of its Goods offered for sale (the “Delivery Charge”) on the Website.

8.9 Ownership of the Goods will only pass to you when we receive payment in full of all sums due in respect of the Goods, including Delivery Charges.

9. Price and Payment

9.1 All prices shall be quoted in pounds sterling.

9.2 The price of each item of the Goods and the Delivery Charges applicable to that item will be as quoted on our Website from time to time, except in cases of obvious error.

9.3 The price quoted for the Goods on our Website is inclusive of VAT. However, if the rate of VAT changes between the date of your order and the date of delivery, we will adjust the VAT you pay, unless you have already paid for the Goods in full before the change in VAT takes effect.

9.4 The price, Delivery Charges and availability of all Goods advertised on the Website are subject to change, without notice but changes will not affect orders in respect of which a Supplier has already sent you a Order Confirmation. The price and Delivery Charges applicable to an item of Goods ordered by you shall be the price and Delivery Charges published on our Website on you completing your Order for the relevant Goods.

9.5 Our site contains a large number of Goods and it is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the Goods listed on our site may be incorrectly priced. Suppliers will normally verify prices as part of their dispatch procedures so that, where the correct price of Goods is less than the stated price; the Supplier will charge the lower amount when dispatching the Goods to you. If the correct price of the Goods is higher than the price stated on our Website, the Supplier will normally, at its discretion, either contact you for instructions before dispatching the Goods, or reject your order and notify you that it is rejecting it.

9.6 If the pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could have reasonably been recognised by you as an error, the Supplier does not have to provide the Goods to you at the incorrect (lower) price.

9.7 Payment for all Goods must be by credit or debit card or by any other payment method stipulated on our Website. We accept payment with Visa, MasterCard, Electron, Maestro or JCB.

10. Returns and Refunds

10.1 If you return Goods to a Supplier:

a) because you have cancelled the Contract within the seven day cooling-off period (see clause 7 above), we will process, on behalf of the Supplier, the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day on which you gave us notice of cancellation subject to the relevant Supplier receiving the returned Goods from you. In this case, we will, on behalf of the Supplier, refund the price of the Goods in full, and any applicable delivery charges. However, you will be responsible for the cost of returning the item(s) to the Supplier. For the avoidance of doubt, we will not issue any refund to you until the relevant Supplier has received the returned Goods from you and confirmed they have been returned unused, undamaged and in their original packaging.

b) for any other reason (for instance because you consider that the Goods are broken or spoiled) the Goods must be returned to the relevant Supplier (not to TDE) who will examine the returned Goods and will notify you of your refund via email within a reasonable period of time. You acknowledge and agree that any Goods purchased from the Website and which are marked as ‘second hand’ or ‘antique’ may not be returned on this basis alone. If you wish to return any Goods because they are broken or spoiled or for any other reason, you must notify the Supplier of all Goods which are due to be returned within 20 days from the date of delivery of the Goods otherwise you will not be entitled to return the Goods. The Supplier will usually process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day it confirmed to you via email that you were entitled to a refund. The Supplier will refund the price of defective Goods in full, any applicable delivery charges and any reasonable costs you incur in returning the item to it.

10.2 TDE or the Supplier (as applicable) will usually refund any money received from you using the same method originally used by you to pay for your purchase.

10.3 The Goods advertised on the Website are sold by the Suppliers and all transactions are subject to the returns policies set out in these Terms. Please contact TDE with any questions about the returns policy applicable to any Goods purchased on the Website at returns@thedesignemporium.co.uk.

11. Availability of Website

We provide no guarantee for the constant and uninterrupted availability of our Website. We shall not be liable for any damage or loss whatsoever incurred by you or any third parties using our Website.

12. Our liability

12.1 Nothing in these Terms shall limit or exclude the liability of a party for death or personal injury resulting from negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

12.2 Subject to the above condition, our liability for losses suffered by you arising out of or in connection with your use of our Website and your purchase of Goods from Suppliers (including any liability for the acts or omissions of our employees, agents and subcontractors), whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), misrepresentation or otherwise, shall exclude:

(a) loss of income or revenue;

(b) loss of business profits or contracts;

(d) loss of the use of money or anticipated savings;

(e) loss of information;

(f) loss of opportunity, goodwill or reputation;

(g) loss of, damage to or corruption of data; or

(h) any indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind howsoever arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise; and

shall be capped at the price of the Goods in respect of any claim for breach of contract and/or negligence.

13. Suspension or Cancellation of your Account

13.1 We reserve the right to temporarily or permanently disqualify you from being a member and using our Website, or disable your Account at our sole discretion. In particular, should we, in our sole discretion, consider that you have:

(a) violated any law applicable to our relationship; or

(b) infringed the rights of third parties; or

(c) done or omitted to do anything which is considered by us to be likely to adversely affect the name, goodwill attached to and/or the reputation of TDE and/or the Website; or

(d) breached any provision of these Terms,

we reserve the right to disqualify you from using our Website and disable your Account.

13.2 You may not hold TDE responsible for any loss that you may incur as a result of us taking any of the actions outlined above, and shall compensate us for all losses, liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by us as a result of any of the circumstances referred to in this paragraph occurring.

13.3You must not:

(a) use our Website in any unlawful way or in any way that causes, or is likely to cause, interruption or damage to our Website or access to it; or

(b) for any fraudulent purpose or in connection with any criminal or unlawful activity.

If you do so we will permanently disqualify you from using our Website and/or holding an Account, and you shall compensate us for all losses (of any kind), liabilities, costs and expenses incurred by us as a result of your doing so.

13.4 You may terminate your membership of TDE at any time by sending an email to the email address set out in clause 16 notifying TDE that you wish to terminate your membership. Upon termination of your membership, any outstanding fees and charges will become immediately due and payable.

14. Intellectual Property Rights

14.1 You agree and acknowledge that we own or are licensed to use all copyright, database rights, trade marks and other intellectual property rights in and to all parts of the Website and to the business of TLW Designs Limited.

14.2 Should you publish any materials or other content to the Website, unless we agree otherwise in writing, you agree to unconditionally and irrevocably assign to us (with effect from the moment of the publication of such materials) all rights of whatever nature in and to such materials.

15. Written Communications

Applicable laws require that some of the information or communications we send to you should be in writing. When using our Website, you accept that communication with us will be mainly electronic. We will contact you by e-mail or provide you with information by posting notices on our Website. For contractual purposes, you agree to this electronic means of communication and you acknowledge that all contracts, notices, information and other communications that we provide to you electronically comply with any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

16. Notices

All notices given by you to us must be given to TLW Designs Limited t/a The Design Emporium Limited at West Greenbank, Hickmans Lane, Lindfield, West Sussex, RH16 2DR or contact@thedesignemporium.co.uk. We may give notice to you at either the e-mail or postal address you provide to us when placing an order, or in any of the ways specified in clause 15 above. Notice will be deemed received and properly served immediately when posted on our Website, 24 hours after an e-mail is sent, or three days after the date of posting of any letter. In proving the service of any notice, it will be sufficient to prove, in the case of a letter, that such letter was properly addressed, stamped and placed in the post and, in the case of an e-mail, that such e-mail was sent to the specified e-mail address of the addressee.

17. Events Outside Our Control

17.1 Neither We nor a Supplier will be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in the performance of, any of our or their obligations under these Terms that is caused by events outside our or their reasonable control (“Force Majeure Event”).

17.2 A Force Majeure Event includes any act, event, non-happening, omission or accident beyond our reasonable control and includes in particular (without limitation) the following:

(a) strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action;

(b) civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war;

(d) impossibility of the use of railways, shipping, aircraft, motor transport or other means of public or private transport;

(e) impossibility of the use of public or private telecommunications networks;

(f) the acts, decrees, legislation, regulations or restrictions of any government;

(g) pandemic or epidemic; and

(h) a failure of the internet, an ISP or telecommunications provider.

17.3 Our performance under these Terms is deemed to be suspended for the period that the Force Majeure Event continues, and we will have an extension of time for performance for the duration of that period. We will use our reasonable endeavours to bring the Force Majeure Event to a close or to find a solution by which our obligations under these Terms may be performed despite the Force Majeure Event.

18. Severability

If any of the provisions of these Terms is determined by any competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term, condition or provision will to that extent be severed from the remaining terms, conditions and provisions which will continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.

19. Entire agreement

19.1 These Terms and any document expressly referred to in them (including, but not limited to, our terms of use of the Website and our Privacy Policy www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/terms and www.thedesignemporium.co.uk/privacy) constitute the whole agreement between us and supersede any previous arrangement, understanding or agreement between us, relating to the Website and the Goods.

19.2 You acknowledge that, by accepting these Terms (and the documents referred to in them), you have not relied on any statement, representation, assurance or warranty of any person (whether a party to these Terms or not) other than as expressly set out in these Terms or those documents.

20. Our Right to Vary These Terms

20.1 We have the right to amend these Terms at any time. Any amendment to these Terms shall become effective after publication of the Terms in amended form on our Website, and your continued use of our Website shall signify your agreement to the Terms as amended by us and published on our Website.

20.2 Any Order made by you will be subject to the Terms in the form published on our Website at the time the Supplier sends to you the Order Confirmation in respect of the relevant Order.

21. Third Party Rights

A person who is not a party to these Terms shall not have any rights under or in connection with them under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

22. Refer A Friend Gift

You are eligible to receive a complimentary gift upon the first purchase of a referred friend over the value of £50. No purchase is necessary on your part. This gift is non-transferrable and we may change the gift without notice. You may receive one gift only.