Online consumer goods, services and digital content terms and conditions

Updated 5-11-2021 – replaces version of 27-10-2021

Parties

 'We', including 'us', 'our' and other cognate terms means the Historical Model Railway Society, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered as a charity with the Charities Commission under number 1166144 but frequently (and where appropriate in these terms and conditions) called simply 'HMRS'.

 'You', including 'your' and other cognate terms means the person seeking to order goods from us via this website

 Preliminary

 We are a Charity and employ no staff.  All sales, which are supplied in accordance with our charitable aims rather for profit, are handled by our volunteer members.  Whilst we try to dispatch stock items such as books, transfers and model parts within 28 days, printed photographs and drawings are mostly produced to order and may take longer.  We reserve the right not to fulfil any order and return your payment if:

(a) we do not for the time being have appropriately able volunteers to fulfil it, or

(b) we in our absolute discretion deem it not in our interests as a charity to fulfil it.

By placing an order via this website you warrant that:

(a) you are an individual acting as principal and not as agent for others

(b) the goods ordered are for your own personal use and not for commercial use or resale

 Where goods are offered to our members at a concessionary price you must use your registered  account login [and password or other details] which has been separately approved as a member account (see our Trading Process for details) at the appropriate stage of the transaction to obtain the lesser price, otherwise you will be charged the normal rate to non-members.

 We only accept card payments for items bought from this site. We accept Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards, Visa electron and JCB cards. Card details are entered on a secure page and they are transferred using SSL. Card details are not stored on the website once the transaction has completed. 3D secure is enabled as well

 Shipping of your Order

 Full details for each individual category of product we supply are given in the Terms of Sale section. The timing of your delivery may depend on the products ordered.

 For orders of total weight up to 1 kg within the United Kingdom or to Europe and some other destinations we normally use Royal Mail. For orders above 1kg within the UK and to some overseas destinations we may use a private carrier and usually it will be Hermes but we reserve the right to decide at time of shipment.

 We are a volunteer society and depend on volunteer availability but we normally pack and ship orders every Friday. We try to complete orders within 28 days of receiving them but this is not always possible. For more detail consult the Terms of Sale here.

 Most orders will be shipped from our Museum and Study Centre in Derbyshire but Transfers are sent from a separate address. If your order contains Transfers with other items you will receive them separately. If some items in an order cannot be sent together due to availability we may send them in more than one shipment using whatever the appropriate method would be based on weight.

 Communication between us and you

How to contact us. You can contact us by writing to us c/o The Midland Railway Centre, Butterley Station, Ripley, Derbyshire DE5 3QZ  or by sending an email to    secretary@hmrs.org.uk

How we may contact you. If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you  at the email address or postal address you provided to us with your order.

 When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.

 Terms of Sale

 (a) Our Contract with you

 When you place an order, you will receive an acknowledgement e-mail confirming receipt of your order: this email will only be an acknowledgement and will not constitute acceptance of your order. A contract between us and you will not be formed until the goods which you ordered have been dispatched to you or (in the case of digital material) is available. Only those goods included at the time of dispatch will be included in the contract formed. By placing an order you are offering to purchase the items ordered on and subject to these terms and conditions.

 (b) Pricing and Availability – (All items)

 Whilst we try and ensure that all details, descriptions and prices which appear on this Website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in the price of any goods which you have ordered we will inform you of this as soon as possible and give you the option of reconfirming your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If we are unable to contact you we will treat the order as cancelled. If you cancel and you have already paid for the goods, you will receive a full refund.

Delivery costs will be charged in addition; such additional charges are clearly displayed where applicable and included in the 'Total Cost'.

(c)  Books, transfers and model components 

 These items are produced by or for us and the current stock level is shown on the website.  If an item goes out of stock after you have placed an order we will contact you.  If we intend to restock the item we will notify you of the expected date when it will become available again.  You may then choose either to cancel your order and have your payment refunded, or to confirm your order and pay any price increase (if applicable).  In some cases we will not re-stock an exhausted product line in which case we will refund your payment.

 (d) Photographs

 We are the custodians of in excess of 40,000 railway related photographic negatives.  Those listed on our website have been catalogued with short descriptions to the best of the ability of our volunteers but we are unable to guarantee the accuracy of all the information, much of which relies on the notes of the photographers (mostly now deceased) supplemented by educated guesswork of the cataloguer.

 Furthermore whilst we endeavour to produce the best prints possible from the negatives, these are inevitably of mixed quality, given that most are in excess of 50 years old and many over 100 years.

 We are thus only able to provide our 'print-to-order' service on the basis that we are not liable to accept returns of items rejected for minor discrepancies between the description and the content, or because the quality is not to the highest standard of professional photography.

 In some instances the copyright in a photograph belongs to us.  In many cases it does not, or ownership of copyright is uncertain.  It is a condition of supply that photographs are for your own personal study only and will not be used for any purpose that would infringe copyright or other licensing restrictions.  For those photographs where the copyright belongs to us we will normally be prepared to grant a licence for publication subject to appropriate conditions and a fee, for which application must be made to us in writing. In exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to decline an order.

 (e) Drawings

 We are the custodians of in excess of 200,000 railway related technical drawings, many of which remain to be properly catalogued.  Those listed on our website have been catalogued with short descriptions to the best of the ability of our volunteers but we are unable to guarantee the complete accuracy of all the information.  Where a drawing has been digitised an image appears on the website.

All drawings can be supplied printed in a variety of sizes as listed and will be printed to order.  Alternatively you may purchase any already digitised EITHER 14 days after your order has been accepted OR immediately if you have expressly waived your right to cancel the order in writing.  If you prefer a digital image rather than (or in addition to) a printed drawing we will digitise and supply in digital format any drawing not so far digitised on payment of the appropriate fee as shown on the website.

 In some instances the copyright in a drawing belongs to us.  In other cases it does not, or ownership of copyright is uncertain.  It is a condition of supply that drawings are for your own personal study only and will not be used for any purpose that would infringe copyright.  For those drawings where the copyright belongs to us we will normally be prepared to grant a licence for publication or commercial use subject to appropriate conditions and a fee, for which application must be made to us in writing.

 Disclaimer of Liability

The items available for sale on this Website are offered without any guarantees, conditions or warranties and expressly subject to the disclaimer that we are unable to verify the accuracy of descriptions of items held in our photographic or drawing collections nor the authenticity or conformity to prototype of transfers and model components. Unless expressly stated to the contrary and to the fullest extent permitted by law we hereby expressly exclude all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity and shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including but without limitation to any direct, indirect, special, consequential, punitive or incidental damages, or damages for loss of use, profits, data or other intangibles, damage to goodwill or reputation, or the cost of procurement of substitute goods and services, arising from any purchase of goods via this Website, irrespective of whether such damages were foreseeable or arise in contract, tort, equity, restitution, by statute, at common law or otherwise. This does not affect our liability for death or personal injury arising from its negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter or any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

 Invalidity

 If any part of these terms and conditions is unenforceable (including any provision in which we exclude our liability to you) the enforceability of any other part of the Terms of Service will not be affected all other clauses remaining in full force and effect. So far as possible where any clause/sub-clause or part of a clause/sub-clause can be severed to render the remaining part valid, the clause shall be interpreted accordingly. Alternatively, you agree that the clause shall be rectified and interpreted in such a way that closely resembles the original meaning of the clause /sub-clause as is permitted by law.

 Complaints

 We operate a complaints handling procedure which we will use to try to resolve disputes when they first arise. Please notify us in writing of any complaint giving sufficient particulars to allow us to investigate it, and if appropriate to discuss it with you.  Your complaint will be passed to a trustee or suitable senior member of HMRS with no prior involvement in the matter complained of.

 Waiver

If you breach these conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these terms and conditions.

 Entire Agreement

The above terms and conditions constitute the entire agreement us and you and supersede any and all preceding and contemporaneous agreements between you and us. Any waiver of any provision of the terms and conditions will be effective only if in writing and signed by a Trustee of HMRS on our behalf.