Your Questions Answered

	Delivery information
	How to pay
	How secure is the Hardy Bamboo website?
	Customer support and service
	What happens to my details - are they kept private?
	Terms and Conditions
	Your right to cancel
	Handling problems and complaints
	Still not got the answer you are looking for? Contact us

Delivery information

You will receive your plants within 28 days, stock and weather permitting (see below), however we normally send plants much quicker and aim to get them delivered to you within 7 days.

Also, please be aware that there are days when it is not a good idea to send plants in the back of a delivery van as it would be too hot or too cold for them. There are also weeks when we are exhibiting at shows and are not able to despatch - please see our events and shows section. On days where it is too hot or cold we will not despatch the plants as we care too much for them and would rather you received them in perfect condition a few days later than send you damaged plants. We hope that you share our feelings on this.

An important note about Plant Supply
It is difficult to judge demand for a living product and have sufficient stocks to meet all eventualities. It is possible that when you make out your order, there will be items which we have insufficient stocks to meet the demand, and we therefore ask you to list some additional choices, of approximately the same value, as SUBSTITUTES in the special instructions box when you place your order. We will not substitute plants of our own choice, but we may put in a different pot size to that ordered, if we have sold out of the size ordered or the plant requires ‘Potting on’. We will contact you as soon as we have processed your order to confirm the final value of the order before taking any payment if it differs from your initial order.

Plants will be packed with every care and attention. We may occasionally prune some plants to ease packing problems and actually prevent damage. We would not do this to the detriment of the plant. Please unpack and examine your parcel carefully. The invoice will normally be attached to the outside of the parcel.

Standard UK Postage and Packing Charges - see below for more details

Orders to the Highlands and islands , Northern ireland , Isle of Man and Isles of Scilly
Please note that there is a £10 surcharge per order band on all orders to the following postcodes:

IV, HS, KA27-28, KW,
PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50,
ZE, BT, IM, TR21-25

Receipt of Plants & Acknowledgement of Order
Parcels usually need a signature on receipt. If you are likely to be out, please write delivery instructions in the special instructions box when you place your order. All orders will be acknowledged by email (as long as your email address is valid) and we will contact you if your order changes from your original order.

Exports to the EEC (including the Channel Islands)
Postage & Packing charges will be calculated by us when we receive your order and we will let you know the final total before taking any payment, but delivery charges can be as much as the order value. Therefore payment is only accepted by Credit/Debit Card and a separate invoice will be provided for the postage after dispatch.

How to pay

Advance payments required on all orders prior to dispatch.

Payments accepted: Visa, Mastercard, Switch, Connect (all debit cards). Cheques (allow 5 working days to clear), postal orders, banker's draft, direct money transfer. Please do not send cash. Please supply cheques made payable to P.W.PLANTS and use the ‘Limited Cheque’ system to save both costly refunds and administration. An example of how to fill out a ‘Limited Cheque’ is shown below. As long as the amount we enter in figures is the same as or less than the amount in words, the cheque is legal and can be presented. The Invoice will be sent with your plants, which will of course show the correct amount.

How secure is the Hardy Bamboo website?

Security is the main consideration for online purchasing which is why we take security very seriously at Hardy Bamboo.

Whenever your personal information is sent to or from us we ensure that the information is sent securely using the latest SSL encryption (Secure Socket Layers). This means that the information cannot be intercepted and decrypted by anyone else - for tech-heads, we use a variable SSL encryption at 128 to 40 bit dependant on the browser capabilities. All of your orders and details are kept in a secure database on our webserver and can only be accessed by key members of the Hardy Bamboo staff and are not shared with anyone else.

But don't take our word for it!
Whenever you login / register / order you will see this in the top right hand corner of the screen:

  Hardy Bamboo Secure Zone 

This is an unofficial reminder to you that you are in a secure area of the website, but the official confirmation can be found by looking for the locked padlock icon on the bottom right (Internet Explorer) or bottom left (Netscape Navigator) of your browser window. This shows that you are using secure encryption. If you double click on the padlock it will bring up more details about our security certificate including the encryption level and the fact that the certificate is in our name!

You can also tell you are in a secure area by looking at the url of the page (in the address bar of your browser). This will always start with " https:// " instead of plain old http://

If you have any other questions about our security, please feel free to contact the webmaster

Customer Support and Service

If you wish to talk to a human being about anything relating to Hardy Bamboo or the website, or if you have any general queries you can phone us on (01953) 888212. This is a standard rate line, so calls will not cost more than normal. Our nursery office is open from 9am-5pm (GMT) Monday to Friday except for bank holidays, but you can send us an email to pw@hardybamboo.com at any time and we will respond as quickly as possible - we have a skeleton staff monitoring emails when we the offices are closed.

Our Privacy Policy

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) and according to the Which? Web Trader Code of Practice.

We collect information about you to process your order successfully and to provide you with the best possible service. How? By keeping your details in our secure database it means that you can return to Hardy Bamboo at any time and place more orders without having to enter the information again, or you can login to your account and check on any of the orders you have placed with us or edit your details at any time. The only information we collect is the information that you enter when you register or place an order with us - we never collect any other data about you without your knowledge, Information is collected lawfully and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998

Your details are held by Hardy Bamboo and are never shared with other organisations. The personal information which we hold will be held securely in accordance with our internal security policy, the law and the Which? Web Trader Code.

Whilst we may e-mail you using your supplied e-mail address for queries about your orders or for order confirmation, we will not e-mail you in the future unless you have given us your consent. When you register there is an option to choose to not receive any marketing e-mails from us, and if you change your mind at any point you can change your preference either way simply by logging in to your account and editing your details or you can e-mail or telephone us on (01953) 888212 and we can change it for you.

You can check and edit the information that we hold about you by logging in to your customer account online at any time.

If we intend to transfer your information outside the EEA (European Economic Area) we will always obtain your consent first.

We use technology to track the patterns of behaviour of visitors to our site, but this is done completely anonymously and without the use of "cookies".

The only time we use cookies is if you choose to save your shopping cart (so that you can return to the site with the contents of your cart still intact) or if you tick the "remember me" box when you login which will allow you to use the "quick login" function. Cookies are saved on your computer and allow us to recognise you when you return to the site

If you have any questions/comments about privacy, you should email us at pw@hardybamboo.com and we shall respond as soon as possible

Terms and Conditions

1. The terms of the contract do not affect your statutory rights
2. Prices are shown inclusive of VAT
3. Returned or represented cheques will be charged a £10 administration fee
4. Prices are subject to alteration without prior notice. Orders are accepted on the understanding that they will be charged at the prices ruling at the time of dispatch
5. Claims arising from shortages or damages must be made within 3 days upon receipt of the goods. Damaged/shortage of parcels must be signed for as damaged/parcel shortage
6. Goods dispatched to a third party are at your own risk
7. Goods remain the property of Hardy Bamboo until full payment has been received
8. All goods are subject to delivery costs unless collected from our premises giving prior notice

Ordering
There is no minimum order value

VAT Registered Companies
note that we operate a flat rate Farming Certificate, number FRF 01-000425. If you are registered for VAT please enter your VAT number in the special instructions box when you place your order and VAT will be charged at 4%, which you may reclaim in the normal way.

Force Majeure
Whilst every care and attention is taken to dispatch your order so that it arrives in perfect condition, we cannot be held responsible for any conditions which are outside of our control, or events such as lightning, Postal strike, that are evident after dispatch.

Your right to cancel your order: cancellation notice

Under the Consumer Protection - 'Distance Selling Regulations 2000' you (the consumer) have the right to cancel your order within a 7 working day period. The cancellation period starts from the day that the goods are received.

The regulations require the consumer to send a notice of cancellation in writing including fax or email. A telephone call is not enough. In the event of cancellation the goods must be returned (as New) at the consumer's own expense. If the goods are not returned Hardy Bamboo can arrange for the goods to be collected and direct cost will be returned from the refund total.

Our Complaints Procedure

Should plants arrive in a damaged condition please notify us within 7 days in writing. We cannot be held responsible for failure due to adverse weather conditions or incorrect planting and aftercare subsequent to the receipt of the plants.

Satisfied customers are important to us, so any complaints will be dealt with quickly and considerately.

If you have any complaints about Hardy Bamboo, regarding orders, products or anything else please contact us on (01953) 888212 or send an email to pw@hardybamboo.com. We take complaints and problems seriously and promise to:

• acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days
• keep you informed throughout the complaints procedure
• and we will endeavour to respond to all complaints within 5 working days