Terms & conditions
This is an important notice regarding the way in which High Fidelity Engineering Limited (trading as English Acoustics) (referred to as “we”, “our” or “us” in these terms) provides goods and services to you.
Please read these product terms and conditions carefully as they set out the terms under which we make the products available to you ("Product Terms"). You must read and agree with our terms and conditions before buying online or over the phone.
When buying goods from our website you enter an agreement with High Fidelity Engineering Limited, registered in England and Wales number 11580061 and its registered office is 1 Long Street, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England, GL88AA UK.
The agreement will be concluded when the order is accepted by us.
1. Our Products:
a) Descriptions and photography
The items we offer for sale are captured through photography or digitally created and are faithfully presented on our website. However, please note that variations in computer monitors, including different types, styles, and settings, may cause slight differences in shading and color compared to the actual product. If you have any concerns regarding the color or finish, we recommend ordering a sample color swatch before placing your order to ensure your satisfaction with the color and quality. While we strive to ensure that the products we sell and deliver closely match any shown or sent samples or descriptions, it is important to acknowledge that certain minor or inconsequential variations between samples and finished products may occur. Such variations cannot be guaranteed against and will not be deemed sufficient grounds for order rejection. For instance:
• Custom color mixes: there can be minor variations in the precise tone and saturation of paints when applied, and we cannot guarantee that two products ordered separately will be made from the same batch of paint
b) Custom made to order products
Our custom-made products, such as amplifiers, tubes, and cables, are tailored to meet your specific requirements. Once production begins, these items are uniquely crafted for you, making them non-refundable and non-cancellable. Therefore, it is crucial that you are confident in your choice of product and color. If you have any uncertainties, we encourage you to utilize our color swatch sample service before placing your order. We cannot be held accountable if you are dissatisfied with the color or overall quality of the product. We strongly advise you to thoroughly review your order to ensure accuracy in terms of the products, colors, and options selected. This does not affect your statutory rights.
c) Color Tolerance
Please note that paint and other finishes are mixed and produced by highly skilled professionals who will be as accurate as possible within a Delta E variance of less than 3. We will not replace the order if the colors are within the tolerance limit and you will not be entitled to reject the goods.
d) Electrical and Specification Tolerance
Please note that the performance of equipment based upon thermionic tubes is subject to variation due to the mechanical characteristics of individual tubes. We set a tolerance limit of +/- 5% for any specified parameter. We will not replace the goods if the electrical characteristics are within the tolerance limit, and you will not be entitled to reject the goods.
2. Order processing and our contract:
a) Order cancellation or amendments
When ordering your goods you are agreeing to a legal binding contract. According to the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, made to measure and customised goods, e.g. custom hand-built HiFi components, are excluded from this legislation and the 14 day cancellation rights do not apply. Cancellations are still possible and a full refund will be issued as long as products or parts of them have not been made, typically within 7 working days of your order. In the event that your goods have already been made we are unable to refund your money. Contact us as soon as possible if you wish to cancel or change an order and we can check if the order has gone into production. We strongly advise that you check the email confirmation of your order to ensure that you have placed the order correctly.
3. Reservation Fees
Where you have paid a reservation fee for an item on our website (a Reservation Order), we will accept this as an instruction to commence the production of your goods.
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If you are paying a dealer to supply your goods:
a) you are responsible for paying the balance of the price you have agreed with the dealer to them, and the dealer is responsible for providing us with the balance of their purchase cost to us within 10 days of you making the Reservation Order. If we do not receive the payment from the dealer within this time, then this will affect the delivery date of your goods as production will be suspended until payment is received.
b) When we have accepted the balance due from the dealer then the contract to supply you the goods will novate to the dealer, so it will be as if you had purchased the goods from the dealer. By accepting these Terms and Conditions you agree to the novation to the dealer of the contract to supply the goods.
c) You agree to us sharing your details with the dealer you specify.
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If you are a dealer or otherwise purchasing directly from us :
a) You will inform us as the time of the Reservation Order that you will not be engaging with a dealer.
b) the amount payable by you for the goods for which a reservation fee has been paid, will be the recommended price shown on the item detail or as agreed with us..
c) We will invoice you for the balance due, taking into account the reservation fees and other fees paid.
d) You will pay the balance due within 7 days of receiving our invoice. Late payment of this invoice will affect the delivery date of your goods and production will be suspended until payment is received.
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If we do not receive the balance of payment from you or the dealer within 90 days of the Reservation Order then we will cancel the order and the reservation and other fees paid at the time of the initial order will not be refundable (as cost for paint, stock and custom items will have been incurred by us). We will take reasonable steps to contact you to remedy this before the 90 day period ends.
4. Prices
The price you will pay is the price for unit reservation and options is shown at the checkout and on your confirmation email. In the UK the total price shown at checkout and will include VAT. (Deliveries to certain areas are subject to extra charges when an order has been placed, e.g. UK, USA and Res of World.) On receipt of your confirmation email check to ensure you are completely happy with the price of the goods ordered.
You are responsible for any import duties, value added taxes or withholding taxes or other fees that may be incurred when the goods are shipped to you.
5. Payment
When ordering and reserving products from our website we can only process your order when the goods ordered have been paid for by credit or debit card. You can pay on-line with all major credit cards and debit cards. Your payment card details will be encrypted to minimise the possibility of unauthorised access or disclosure. Authority for payment must be given at the time of order. You will be charged for items at the point of order. Our liability to you in connection with any order will not exceed the total price charged for the relevant items. We accept internet orders only from Web browsers that permit communication through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology, for example, 3.0 version or higher of Explorer and versions 3.02 or higher of Netscape. This means you cannot inadvertently place an order through an unsecured connection.
6. Acceptance
The agreement will be concluded when the order is accepted by us.
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We have the right to cancel your order if:
1. We have insufficient stock to make and deliver the goods ordered.
2. If you have ordered from an island or country where we do not deliver.
3. The goods ordered rely on components that unbeknown to us have been discontinued.
4. A pricing error or typing error has occurred due to system failure within our database or website.
If for any reason beyond our reasonable control, we are unable to supply a particular item, we will notify you as soon as possible and refund any deposit or fees paid. No discounts or compensation can be offered under these unforeseen circumstances.
7. Delivery of your goods
We specify an estimated delivery time during the order processing and checkout , please note that if we specify 7 days it means 7 working days from the moment payment reached our bank account (usually within 24 hours). The specified dispatch terms do not apply during busy times of the year, e.g. bank holidays and the Christmas period. A more specific dispatch date is available from the order tracking login once the order has been placed. Delivery will be made to the address specified by you. All deliveries will be made to you by our courier. We do our best to secure dispatch within the period quoted but shall not be liable for loss occasioned by delay in dispatch or arising out of any cause beyond our control.
8. Defective and damaged goods
All our products are rigorously quality checked before dispatch but in the unlikely event that you experience any problems please e-mail us or call our customer service team. You have 7 days following receipt of your order to reject any damaged or defective goods due to manufacturing, or damage caused during the delivery process, but we ask that you report any issues to us as soon as possible. We will deal with your queries promptly and if necessary arrange for a repair or for a replacement to be sent. We reserve the right to ask for digital pictures with regards to the issues reported or to ask for the product to be returned to us for inspection. This does not affect your statutory rights.
9. Guarantee
We offer 12-month manufacturers guarantee on manufacturing faults. In addition, we offer extended warranty subscriptions that we recommend customers consider. We reserve the right to either replace or repair the product and it may be necessary to return the goods to us for inspection prior to a replacement product being despatched. This does not affect your statutory rights.
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10. General
These Product Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and any disputes will be decided only by the English courts. If any of these Product Terms is held by any court of competent authority to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, in whole or in part, this will not affect the validity of the remaining Product Terms which will continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.
We are committed to protecting your privacy. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully (in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998).
We collect information in accordance with our privacy policy available on our website.
The type of information we will collect about you includes:
• Your name
• Address
• Phone number
• Email address
• Credit/debit card details
We will never collect sensitive information about you without your explicit consent. The information we hold will be accurate and up to date. You can check the information that we hold about you by emailing us. If you find any inaccuracies we will delete or correct it promptly.
We may use technology to track the patterns of behaviour of visitors to our site. This can include using a "cookie" which would be stored on your browser. You can usually modify your browser to prevent this happening. The information collected in this way can be used to identify you unless you modify your browser settings.
Returns and cancellation policy
Our custom-made products, such as amplifiers, tubes, and cables, are tailored to meet your specific requirements. Once production begins, these items are uniquely crafted for you, making them non-refundable and non-cancellable. Therefore, it is crucial that you are confident in your choice of product and color. If you have any uncertainties, we encourage you to utilize our color swatch sample service before placing your order. We cannot be held accountable if you are dissatisfied with the color or overall quality of the product. We strongly advise you to thoroughly review your order to ensure accuracy in terms of the products, colors, and options selected. This does not affect your statutory rights.
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When ordering your goods you are agreeing to a legal binding contract. According to the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, made to measure and customized goods, e.g. custom hand-built HiFi components, are excluded from this legislation and the 14 day cancellation rights do not apply. Cancellations are still possible and a full refund will be issued as long as products or parts of them have not been made, typically within 7 working days of your order (cooling off period). In the event that your goods have already been made we are unable to refund your money. Contact us as soon as possible if you wish to cancel or change an order and we can check if the order has gone into production. We strongly advise that you check the email confirmation of your order to ensure that you have placed the order correctly