Refund & Returns Policy

Draft for review — not yet in effect. Assumes consumer sales may apply unless a solicitor confirms this store is genuinely business-to-business only — see clause 2.

1. What this policy covers

This policy covers all orders placed through this website for the research chemical products we sell. It does not apply to any product bought from a third party, and it does not limit any faulty-goods right you have separately under consumer law.

2. Your right to cancel

If you are buying as a consumer (that is, not wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade, business, craft or profession), the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you the right to cancel your order for any reason within 14 days of receiving your goods, and a further 14 days to send them back, without needing to give a reason. This right does not apply to goods that become unsealed after delivery and are not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons — which includes any opened or unsealed vial, ampoule or container. See clause 5.

If you are buying wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade, business or profession (business-to-business), the 2013 Regulations do not apply to your order, and your right to return goods is instead as set out in the rest of this policy.

[[TODO: confirm with a solicitor whether this store’s actual sales are consumer, B2B, or a mix — checkout currently accepts guest orders with no institution verification, which points toward consumer sales applying rather than being excludable. Do not narrow this clause below what you actually owe.]]

3. Return window

We do not offer any return window beyond the statutory cancellation right in clause 2, given the temperature-controlled nature of our products. Clause 5 sets out what this means in practice.

4. Condition of returned goods

Returned products must be unopened, unused, and in their original packaging with any seals, caps or tamper-evident features intact. A returned product that is opened, unsealed, used or missing its original packaging will not be accepted for a refund under this policy, other than as set out in clause 6 for damaged, faulty or incorrect items, or where clause 2 gives you a statutory right that this clause cannot override.

5. What cannot be returned

The following cannot be returned once delivered, for the reasons stated:

• Any product with a broken seal or an opened vial or container — once a container has been opened we cannot verify it has not been contaminated or compromised.
• Any temperature-sensitive product that has left the packaging or storage conditions described on its product page or delivery note — once outside controlled conditions we cannot verify its condition or guarantee it is safe to resupply.

[[TODO: add or remove exclusions to match what you actually sell — for example, any made-to-order or custom item.]]

6. Damaged, faulty or incorrect items

If an item arrives damaged, faulty, or different from what you ordered, tell us within 24 hours of delivery using the contact route in clause 7, with your order number, a description of the problem, and photographs of the item and its packaging as received. For a temperature-controlled shipment, please also tell us if the included temperature indicator shows the shipment arrived warm. Once we have this information we will, at our option, arrange a replacement or a refund, and we will not ask you to pay for return postage in this case.

7. How to start a return

Please contact us before sending anything back — see our Contact page. Tell us your order number, the product and quantity you wish to return, and your reason. We will confirm whether your return is accepted under this policy and, if so, how to send it back.

8. Refunds — method and timing

Approved refunds are made to the original payment method. We process a refund as soon as reasonably possible after receiving and inspecting a returned item, or after agreeing a refund under clause 2 or clause 6. Your card issuer or bank may then take a further number of days to show the refund in your account, which is outside our control.

9. Return postage

Unless the return is for a damaged, faulty or incorrect item under clause 6, you are responsible for the cost of returning a product to us, and we recommend using a tracked service, as we cannot refund an item lost in transit back to us. Temperature-sensitive products must be returned using appropriate temperature-controlled packaging and a suitably fast service; we may decline a refund for a product that arrives back in a condition consistent with it having been returned without proper temperature control. We offer only one flat-rate delivery option (see our Shipping & Delivery page), so we do not deduct any amount from a statutory-cancellation refund for the outbound delivery charge.

10. Contacting us about a return

Questions about a return can be sent to us via the details on our Contact page.