Website terms and conditions of use

The terms and conditions set out below apply to your use of the Guardian Bookshop website (the Site) which you may use and access in several ways, including but not limited to the World Wide Web at www.guardianbookshop.com on any device (including PC, mobile, TV, tablet and/or e-reader) and RSS feeds. Please read these terms and conditions carefully as they affect your rights and liabilities under the law and set out the terms under which Monwell Limited (Us, We or Our) makes the Site and any books, products or services listed on the Site (Products) available to you.

We recommend that you read the terms and conditions carefully and make sure you understand them before you purchase any Products from the Site. Please note that before placing an order for any Products you will be asked to agree to these terms and conditions. If you don’t accept these terms and conditions, you will not be able to order any Products from our Site. If you have any questions about the terms and conditions or if you have any comments or complaints on or about our Site or Products, please e-mail us at: help@guardianbookshop.com.

These terms and conditions together with our Privacy Policy set out the legal terms and conditions that govern our relationship and your use of the Site. Use of the Site includes accessing, browsing, registering for and/or purchasing any of the Products available through it. In the event of any conflict between these terms and conditions and the Website Terms of Service, these terms and conditions will prevail. We recommend that you print a copy of these terms and conditions or save a copy in your computer for future reference.

OUR PRIVACY POLICY

You can view our Privacy Policy here.

ABOUT US

The Site is provided by Monwell Limited. We are a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10350960). Our registered office is 17-19 Station Road West, Oxted, Surrey RH8 9EE.

THE SITE

We reserve the right to change the way the Site works from time to time and to withdraw any Products or features of the Site without giving notice to you. The images of Products on the Site are for illustrative purposes only and the Products may differ slightly from those images. To use the Site and register for or buy any of the Products available through it you must be 18 years old, and legally able to enter into a contract.

PART A: PURCHASE OF GOODS

Placing an order

These terms and conditions will apply to any contract between us and you for the sale of any Products to you (Contract):

  • You are able to correct errors on your order up to the point at which you submit your order. After this point, we will assume that all information provided as part of your order is correct and will process your order accordingly so please take care to check your order before sending it to us.
  • You will be charged for the Product(s) you wish to purchase (via our payment processing provider) at the point of placing your order.
  • After you place an order, we will send you an email confirming that your order has been received by our system (Order Confirmation). Your card will be charged at the point you place the order. You will then receive another email when your order is dispatched (Dispatch Confirmation). All Products are subject to availability and the Contract between us will only be formed when we send you the Order Confirmation. If any Product(s) that you have ordered are not available, we will notify you and where you have already paid for the relevant Product(s), we will refund you the price of such Product(s) if requested or automatically after a period of three (3) months if the product is still not available.

Payment

You can pay for Product(s) using a debit card or credit card or PayPal. We accept the following cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Switch and Delta.

Payment for the Product(s) and any relevant delivery charges is due in advance and will be taken at the point of order.

Prices

The prices for Products will be as quoted on the Site and you will be charged the price quoted on the Site at the time you place your order. The prices may change from time to time. Despite taking care to ensure that all Product prices are accurate, a small number of Products may be mispriced. If we have made a mistake and the correct price for a Product is higher than the price shown on the Site, we may contact you to request whether you want to buy the Product at the correct price or cancel your order. If we are unable to contact you, we will cancel your order. In the event we or you cancel your order we will refund you any price already paid for the Product. If a Product's correct price is lower than the price shown on the Site, we will charge the lower amount.

The prices on the Site include VAT where applicable at the current rate.

Prices are liable to change at any time, but any changes will not affect orders already placed and confirmed by an Order Confirmation.

Delivery charges may be payable in addition to the price of a Product as detailed in the Delivery section below at condition 6.

Special offer prices are available on selected titles and offer prices are available for a duration of 1 month unless otherwise stated.

3 for 2 promotional offers: discounted prices do not apply to 3 for 2 promotions and full recommended retail prices will apply. Three different titles within the promotion must be purchased to qualify for the 3 for 2 promotion. The cheapest item will be discounted in your shopping basket once the third item has been ‘added to basket’. The cheapest item is free. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Buy one get one half price promotional offers: discounted prices do not apply to buy one get one half price promotions and full recommended retail prices will apply. Two different titles from within the selected range must be purchased to qualify for the buy one get one half price promotion. The half price discount will be applied to the cheapest item in your shopping basket once the second item has been ‘added to basket’. The cheapest item is half price. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Delivery

If you are ordering more than one Product, you should be aware that the Products will be delivered in multiple consignments as they become ready for dispatch from the warehouse. If you order a title that is not yet published or otherwise unavailable, the other books in your order will be released separately from this title.

An estimated dispatch period will be stated on the Site before you purchase the Product.

Once the Product(s) has been dispatched, you will receive an email confirmation (Dispatch Confirmation) containing an estimated delivery period.

All delivery and dispatch periods provided are estimates only, and occasionally Products may be delivered outside of these estimates.

Please note that some of our products may not fit through your letterbox and therefore if you are not at home, Royal Mail will arrange for you to collect the parcel from the local depot. Some parcels due to weight and value may be sent via courier.

Delivery of an order shall be completed when we deliver the Products to the address you give to us for delivery and the Products will be your responsibility from that time. You will own the Products once we have received payment in full including payment of any delivery charges (where due).

Delivery charges

United Kingdom:

Standard delivery service – £2.99 Premium delivery service – £3.99

Europe: Priced according to parcel weight

Rest of World: Priced according to parcel weight

Please note that if you order Products for delivery to a country outside the UK, your order may be subject to import duties and taxes which will be applied when your order reaches the country of destination. You will be responsible for payment of these. We are unable to advise on these import duties and taxes and you should contact your local customs office for further information prior to placing an order.

Cancellation; refunds and returning damaged goods

If you are a consumer, you have a legal right to cancel an order within the period set out below, unless the Products are perishable or personalised for you in which case you will not be entitled to cancel the order. The period during which you can cancel starts from the date of the Order Confirmation that we send to you (which is the date the contract between us is formed) and ends as follows:

  • To cancel a Contract, you need to let us know that you wish to cancel. You can do this by either completing the contact form on our Site or by email at help@guardianbookshop.com. If you complete a form and send it to us we will email you to confirm that we have received your cancellation. If you email us to notify us of your cancellation, please include your order number within your email to help us to identify your order. Your cancellation will be effective from the date that you send us the email. You are responsible for sending back to us all Products supplied under the cancelled Contract at your cost by following the instructions set out in the dispatch note enclosed with the Products for returns within the UK. We advise you to obtain a certificate of posting when you return the Products.
  • If you are returning a Product that is defective, damaged in transit or which is the wrong item, please contact us by telephone on 0203 1763 837. We will replace the item or refund you for its cost as instructed. This cancellation, returns and refund policy does not affect your statutory rights.
  • Where any refund is due, we will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than: (a) 14 days after the day we receive back from you any Products supplied, or (b) (if earlier) 14 days after the day you provide evidence that you have returned the Products in the form of a certificate of posting.
  • We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of the reimbursement. We will refund any delivery costs you have paid for delivery of the Products to you, although as permitted by law the maximum refund will be the costs of delivery by the least expensive delivery method we offer so that if you have paid for Royal Mail first-class delivery we will only refund what you would have paid for Royal Mail second-class delivery. If you have returned a Product that is defective, damaged in transit or incorrect, we will refund the price of the Product in full, together with any applicable delivery charge.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the Products back or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the Products in the form of a certificate of posting, whichever is the earliest.

You must send back the Products without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your cancellation of the Contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the Product(s) before the period of 14 days has expired as evidenced by a certificate of posting.

You are only liable for any diminished value of the Product(s) resulting from handling other than that which is necessary in order to establish the nature and characteristics of the Products.

As a consumer, we have a legal duty to supply Products that comply with the Contract and you have legal rights in relation to any Products supplied that are faulty or not as described. These legal rights are not in any way affected by these terms and conditions including the provisions regarding cancellations, refunds and returns. Further information regarding your legal rights can be obtained from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Trading Standards office.

PART B: GENERAL TERMS CONNECTED TO THE USE OF OUR SITE

We may make changes to these terms

We reserve the right to make changes to these terms and conditions, the Site, the Products or any other terms governing your use of the Site at any time. You will be subject to the terms and conditions (and any other conditions that apply to your use of the Site) in force at the time that you use the Site. If any of these terms and conditions is deemed invalid, void, or for any reason unenforceable, that condition will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining terms.

We may make changes to our site

We may update and change our Site from time to time to reflect changes to our services, our users' needs and our business priorities We will try to give you reasonable notice of any major changes.

We may suspend or withdraw our site

Our Site is made available free of charge. We do not guarantee that our Site, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our Site for business and operational reasons. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any suspension or withdrawal. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our Site through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.

You must keep your account details safe

If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us at help@guardianbookshop.com.

How you may use material on our site

You must not use any part of the content on our Site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.

If you print off, copy or download any part of our Site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our Site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

Do not rely on information on this site

The content on our Site is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our Site. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our Site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our Site is accurate, complete or up to date.

We are not responsible for websites we link to

Where our Site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.

User-generated content is not approved by us

This website may include information and materials uploaded by other users of the Site, including review content. This information and these materials have not been verified or approved by us. The views expressed by other users on our Site do not represent our views or values. If you wish to complain about information and materials uploaded by other users please contact us on help@guardianbookshop.com.

Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you

We only supply the Products for domestic and private use. You agree not to use the Product(s) for any commercial, business or re-sale purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

Please also note that we are under a legal duty to supply goods that are in conformity with the Contract.

Whether you are a consumer or a business user:

  • We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
  • Different limitations and exclusions of liability will apply to liability arising as a result of the supply of any services to you, which will be set out in our Terms and conditions of supply.

If you are a business user:

  • We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to our Site or any content on it.

We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:

  • use of, or inability to use, our Site; or
  • use of or reliance on any content displayed on our Site.
  • In particular, we will not be liable for:
  • loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
  • business interruption;
  • loss of anticipated savings;
  • loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
  • any indirect or consequential loss or damage.

If you are a consumer user:

  • Please note that we only provide our Site for domestic and private use. You agree not to use our Site for any commercial or business purposes, and we have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.

Events outside our control

We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under a Contract that is caused by an Event Outside Our Control. An Event Outside Our Control means any act or event beyond our reasonable control, including without limitation strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action by third parties, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster, or failure of public or private telecommunications networks, virus or denial of service attack, impossibility of the use of railways, shipping, aircraft, motor transport or other means of public or private transport.

If an Event Outside Our Control takes place that affects the performance of our obligations under a Contract:

  • we will contact you as soon as reasonably possible to notify you; and
  • our obligations under a Contract will be suspended and the time for performance of our obligations will be extended for the duration of the Event Outside Our Control. Where the Event Outside Our Control affects our delivery of Products to you, we will arrange a new estimated delivery date with you after the Event Outside Our Control is over.

Communications between us

When we refer, in these terms and conditions, to "in writing", this will include e-mail. If you wish to contact us in writing for any reason (including if you wish to make a complaint), you can send this to us by e-mail to help@guardianbookshop.com or by pre-paid post to ____________________.

If we have to contact you or give you notice in writing, we will do so by e-mail or by pre-paid post to the address provided to us in your order.

Other important terms

We may transfer our rights and obligations under a Contract to another organisation, but this will not affect your rights or our obligations under these terms and conditions.

You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms and conditions to another person if we agree to this in writing.

This Contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these terms and conditions, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.

These terms and conditions and the Contract are governed by English law. This means a Contract for the purchase of Products through the Site and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it will be governed by English law. You and we both agree to that the courts of England and Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction.

Uploading content to our site

You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those standards, and you will be liable to us and indemnify us for any breach of that warranty. This means you will be responsible for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of warranty.

Any content you upload to our Site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You retain all of your ownership rights in your content, but you are required to grant us and other users of our Site a limited licence to use, store and copy that content and to distribute and make it available to third parties.

We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any content posted or uploaded by you to our Site constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

We have the right to remove any posting you make on our Site if, in our opinion, your post does not comply with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.

You are solely responsible for securing and backing up your content.

We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them

We do not guarantee that our Site will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.

You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our Site. You should use your own virus protection software.

You must not misuse our Site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our Site, the server on which our Site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our Site. You must not attack our Site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our Site will cease immediately.

Rules about linking to our site

You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.

  • You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.
  • You must not establish a link to our Site in any website that is not owned by you.
  • Our Site must not be framed on any other Site, nor may you create a link to any part of our Site other than the home page.
  • We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
  • The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy.
  • If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our Site other than that set out above, please contact theguardianbookshop@monwell.co.uk

Which country's laws apply to any disputes?

If you are a consumer, please note that these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction except that if you are a resident of Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland, and if you are resident of Scotland, you may also bring proceedings in Scotland.

If you are a business, these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by English law. We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding these terms are welcomed and should be addressed to theguardianbookshop@monwell.co.uk.