1. Publication of information on the web site

We take every care in the preparation of the web site, but we will not be held liable for errors or omissions in information published. Teachers are advised to check syllabus details before entering students for examinations.

If the wrong music is supplied as a result of incorrect information published on our site, we will of course accept its return for replacement or refund without question (see note 5 on returns).

2. Acceptance of orders

We only accept an order once we are satisfied of the availability of the music requested either from stock or our suppliers. Part orders may be processed in the event of items being out of stock or out of print at the publisher, but we advise you of any problems by Email.

We regret that there are a few countries to which we are unable to deliver, due to previous experiences of delivery failure and payment card fraud.

3. Delivery time

For customers in the UK and Ireland, we normally expect to deliver music to you within 10 working days of your order. For other countries, it will take a little more time.

When we hold the music in stock, this will be shorter, but we ask that you bear the guide times in mind when ordering. Should you need the music quickly, please let us know when you order as special arrangements can often be made at that stage.

Unfortunately there are occasions when we cannot obtain the music for you if it is out of print or out of stock at the publisher or distributor. Where this happens, we will advise you as soon as we find out.

4. Processing of payments

We only charge payments to your nominated payment or credit card when your order is despatched by us. Should it be necessary to despatch a part-order we will charge the cost of the items sent, including the relevant postage charge, with the balance being charged when we can complete your order.

All charges are raised in UK pounds sterling. Your credit card company will handle the currency conversion to your national currency for you.

Invoices raised for account customers are payable on presentation and we reserve the right to charge interest on unpaid balances. The interest charge will be raised from the 31st day following invoice date at an interest rate of 8% above bank base rate (as advised by the Bank of England).

5. Returns

For copyright protection, we can only accept returns when they were incorrectly supplied by us or received damaged. Please contact us before returning any order, and within 14 days of receipt, so that we can give you a returns number which you should mark on the outside of the returned package.

If we make a mistake, we undertake to correct it without question and at no additional cost to you, our customer.

Items supplied in error should be returned in an unopened state and good condition so that we may enter them back into stock.

We are currently able to process payments from cards issued by American Express, VISA (including DELTA), MASTERCARD, SWITCH (including SOLO) and Japanese Card Bureau. We do not accept payments from Diners Club because of the increased costs.

We regret that we are unable to accept Electron debit cards for mail order transactions.

If you do not hold a suitable credit card, we can take your order by post with a cheque drawn in (UK) pounds sterling on a UK clearing bank or building society.

Due to the level of bank charges, we accept cheques drawn in euros or US dollars where the sterling value is £300 or more - please contact us for exchange rates if you wish to use this method.

7. Official orders

We are pleased to accept official orders from recognised educational institutions and official bodies. The order number may be keyed in to the secure server for online orders, but we do need a copy of the order form by post or fax before we can invoice and despatch your order. Please call to discuss your needs.

8. Delivery method and postage

Deliveries within the UK are normally despatched by Royal Mail post or BusinessPost 48 hour delivery.

Your total price includes postage charged on the total order value as follows:

For delivery to European destinations (packages up to 2.5 Kg), add £0.50 to the above.

Costs for delivery to addresses outside of Europe range between £3.00 and £12.50 (up to 2.5 Kg).

For packages over 2.5 Kg weight, or special delivery requests, we will contact you to discuss delivery options further.

9. Gift vouchers

Gift vouchers can be purchased online for later redemption against purchases from the web site by the purchaser, or the recipient. Vouchers are available in units of £5 or £10. The voucher comprises a unique reference code sent by email (in plain text or as part of an image file) once payment has been cleared.

Each voucher has a cash value of 0.01p, but will allow the user to pay for purchases in full or in part to the indicated value, provided that any further balance is paid by normal methods.

Each voucher may only been redeemed once. Redemption is normally by entering the unique reference code into the payments screen of the web site either within the box entitled 'hound vouchers' or 'special messages'. Although the latter will not register as a deduction from your payment on screen, we will deduct the amount when we process the order.

In the event of the purchase value being less than the voucher value, unspent amounts (in complete units of £1) will be refunded by means of a new voucher for subsequent purchase(s).

We reserve the right to withhold supply of gift vouchers to customers in certain territories (in accordance with paragraph 2) or to cancel vouchers in the unlikely event of non-payment.

10. VAT

Whilst most music is currently zero-rated in the UK, a VAT invoice will be provided with your order to show which amounts, if any, include VAT.

We show all our prices inclusive of VAT - no hidden costs!

11. Complaints and disputes

It is always our intention to provide the best possible service. If, for any reason, you are disappointed in the level of service we have provided, we do want to know.

You can contact us by Email or post at the addresses listed in our contacts page and we will undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly.

These terms of business are to be interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and any dispute shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

These terms and conditions were last changed on 29 October 06 when we reluctantly had to increase postage costs (previous change 23 May 2003).