Delivery & Returns
Delivery, Collection, Returns & Cancellation Policy
This policy applies to purchases made from West Midlands Koi Ltd (“West Midlands Koi”, “WMK”, “we”, “us” or “our”).
Nothing in this policy is intended to exclude, restrict or affect a consumer’s statutory rights.
Standard Delivery – Dry Goods
We currently deliver standard dry-goods orders to mainland UK, excluding Scotland.
Our standard postage and packing charge is £9.99 for orders up to 10 kg. For orders weighing more than 10 kg, an additional charge of £0.33 per kg will be added.
Standard delivery is normally a tracked two-working-day service.
We aim to pick, pack and dispatch orders placed before 2:00 pm on the same working day. However, dispatch and delivery times are estimates unless we have expressly agreed a guaranteed delivery date with you.
Orders placed at weekends or on UK bank holidays will normally be processed on the next working day.
Delivery Information
Customers must provide:
- a complete delivery address;
- the correct postcode;
- a valid email address; and
- a valid contact telephone number.
Please check these details carefully when placing your order.
Where a delivery requires a signature, someone must be available to accept the parcel. If nobody is available, the courier may retain the parcel and provide instructions for rearranging delivery or collection.
Where appropriate, customers may wish to use a suitable work or alternative delivery address where somebody will be available to accept the parcel.
Any additional delivery costs caused by an incorrect or incomplete address supplied by the customer may be charged to the customer where legally permitted.
Next Working Day Delivery
Where Next Working Day delivery has been specifically agreed, delivery will normally take place between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm on the next working day.
Courier delays outside our reasonable control can occasionally occur. We recommend that customers do not arrange installers, contractors or other works solely on the basis of an estimated delivery time.
This does not affect any rights you may have where a delivery date or time is legally binding or has been specifically agreed as essential.
Collection
Orders may be collected from West Midlands Koi by prior arrangement.
Please contact:
to arrange a suitable collection date and time.
Please do not travel to collect an order until we have confirmed that it is ready.
Live Koi Deliveries
Specialist Koi Delivery
Live koi are transported using a specialist delivery service.
Koi deliveries are normally arranged for Next Working Day delivery.
The delivery charge is £30.00 per box.
Where appropriate, more than one koi may be packed in a single box. The number of koi that can safely be transported in each box depends on their size and the requirements for safe transportation.
Fish welfare always takes priority over minimising the number of boxes used.
Koi are packed using suitable specialist transport boxes, protective bags and insulation. Appropriate water and oxygen are provided for transportation.
Arranging Your Koi Delivery
We will not dispatch live koi until a delivery date has been agreed with the customer by telephone or email.
You must provide:
- your full delivery address;
- postcode;
- email address; and
- contact telephone number.
Someone responsible must be available to receive the koi on the agreed delivery date.
Customers should open and inspect the delivery promptly on arrival.
Koi Health and Arrival
All live koi are visually inspected before dispatch.
Because koi are living animals, their health after delivery can be affected by handling, acclimatisation, water quality, temperature, existing pond conditions and other environmental factors outside our control.
If a koi arrives dead, visibly injured or showing an apparent serious health problem on arrival, you must contact West Midlands Koi as soon as reasonably possible and preferably within two hours of delivery.
Where possible, please provide:
- your order details;
- clear photographs and/or video;
- photographs of the koi while still in the transport bag where appropriate;
- photographs of the packaging if it has been damaged; and
- any other information reasonably requested to investigate the issue.
The two-hour notification period is intended to allow us to investigate problems that may have occurred during transportation. It does not exclude or restrict any statutory rights that cannot legally be excluded.
Claims will be assessed individually according to the circumstances and applicable consumer law.
Where West Midlands Koi is legally responsible, the appropriate remedy may include a refund, replacement or other remedy available under applicable law.
Acclimatisation and Customer Responsibility
Customers are responsible for providing a suitable environment for koi after delivery.
Koi should be acclimatised appropriately and introduced only into water suitable for keeping koi.
Once a koi has been transferred from its transport bag into the customer’s pond, quarantine system or holding facility, subsequent health problems may arise from factors outside West Midlands Koi’s control.
These can include, for example:
- unsuitable water quality;
- incorrect temperature or rapid temperature changes;
- inadequate oxygen;
- inappropriate acclimatisation;
- existing parasites or pathogens;
- interaction with existing fish;
- chemical or medication exposure;
- equipment failure;
- poor husbandry; or
- unsuitable pond conditions.
West Midlands Koi will not be responsible for losses caused by circumstances for which it is not legally responsible.
Nothing in this section excludes liability where the law does not permit us to exclude it.
Filtration and Pallet Deliveries
Large or heavy products, including certain filtration equipment, may be delivered by pallet courier.
Our standard pallet delivery charge is £120.00, unless another delivery charge has been quoted or agreed before purchase.
Where available, we aim to arrange delivery on a Next Working Day service between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.
A suitable person must be present to receive the pallet.
We will therefore contact you to agree a suitable delivery date before dispatch where this is required.
Please ensure your order contains a valid telephone number and email address.
Pallet deliveries are normally made to an accessible kerbside location. Customers are responsible for ensuring that suitable access is available for the delivery vehicle.
Unless specifically agreed in writing, pallet delivery does not include positioning, installation or movement of equipment to its final location.
Tank Deliveries
Our standard tank delivery charge is £350.00, unless otherwise quoted or agreed.
Tank deliveries are kerbside only, unless a different delivery service has been expressly agreed.
Deliveries requiring specialist lifting equipment, including crane-assisted deliveries, may be subject to additional charges. These will be discussed and agreed where applicable.
A suitable person must be present to accept the delivery.
We will contact you before dispatch to arrange a suitable delivery date.
Customers are responsible for ensuring that there is suitable access for the delivery vehicle and adequate space to unload the tank safely.
Where customer-supplied access information is inaccurate or access prevents the agreed delivery from being completed, reasonable additional delivery or redelivery costs may be charged where legally permitted.
Cancellation and Returns – Dry Goods
Online and Telephone Orders
For most non-perishable goods purchased online or by telephone, consumers have a legal right to cancel their order under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
The normal cancellation period ends 14 days after the day on which you, or a person nominated by you other than the carrier, receives the goods.
You do not need to give a reason for cancelling.
To exercise your cancellation right, you must clearly inform West Midlands Koi of your decision to cancel before the cancellation period expires.
Please contact:
After notifying us of cancellation, goods must normally be returned within 14 days.
Unless the goods are faulty, incorrect or we have agreed otherwise, the customer is normally responsible for the direct cost of returning unwanted goods.
Goods remain subject to the statutory rules governing cancellation, handling and any permitted deduction for diminished value.
Customers may inspect goods as they reasonably would in a shop. Where goods have been handled beyond what is necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functioning, we may make a deduction from the refund for any resulting reduction in value where permitted by law.
Refunds Following Cancellation
Where a valid statutory cancellation right has been exercised, refunds will be processed in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.
This includes the applicable purchase price and the standard outbound delivery charge where required by law.
If you selected a more expensive delivery method than our least expensive standard delivery option, we are not required to refund the additional delivery cost.
Refunds may be withheld until we have received the returned goods or you provide evidence that they have been sent back, where permitted by law.
Return Address
Unless we instruct you otherwise, authorised returns should be sent to:
West Midlands Koi Ltd
The Field House
Forshaw Heath Road
Earlswood
B94 5JU
We strongly recommend contacting us before returning an item so that we can provide the appropriate return instructions.
Custom-Made, Personalised and Special-Order Products
The statutory right to cancel a distance or off-premises contract does not normally apply to goods made to the customer’s specifications or goods that are clearly personalised.
Where a product is being manufactured, modified or ordered specifically to a customer’s requirements, we will make this clear where applicable before the order is completed.
A product being described by us as a “special order” does not, by itself, remove statutory cancellation rights. Whether cancellation rights apply will depend on the nature of the goods and the applicable law.
Nothing in this section affects a customer’s rights where goods are faulty, not as described or otherwise do not conform to the contract.
Live Koi – Cancellation and Returns
Live koi are living animals requiring specialist care, packing and transportation.
Because of their nature, normal change-of-mind cancellation and physical return arrangements applicable to ordinary dry goods may not apply in the same way to live koi, including where a statutory exception for goods liable to deteriorate rapidly applies.
Once a koi has been prepared and dispatched for delivery, orders cannot ordinarily be cancelled simply because the customer has changed their mind.
Where you wish to cancel a koi order before dispatch, please contact West Midlands Koi immediately. We will assess the cancellation according to the circumstances, any applicable statutory rights and any reasonable costs already incurred.
Live koi must not be returned to West Midlands Koi without our prior agreement. This is necessary for fish welfare and biosecurity.
These provisions do not remove any statutory rights the customer may have where a koi did not conform to the contract at the time of supply.
Faulty, Damaged or Incorrect Dry Goods
West Midlands Koi is under a legal duty to supply goods that conform to the contract.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, goods supplied to consumers must, where applicable, be:
- of satisfactory quality;
- fit for their intended purpose; and
- as described.
If an item arrives damaged, faulty or incorrect, please contact us as soon as reasonably possible.
Providing photographs of the product, packaging, shipping label and damage may help us investigate and resolve the matter quickly.
Our request that damage is reported promptly does not reduce the customer’s statutory rights.
Where goods fail to conform to the contract, consumers may have statutory rights to reject the goods, request repair or replacement, or obtain a price reduction or refund depending on the circumstances and the applicable statutory requirements.
West Midlands Koi will meet the necessary costs of returning qualifying faulty or incorrect goods where required by law.
In-Store Returns
For purchases made in our physical premises, there is generally no automatic statutory right to return non-faulty goods simply because a customer has changed their mind.
However, West Midlands Koi offers an additional 28-day in-store returns policy for eligible non-faulty items.
To qualify, items must be returned within 28 days of purchase and must be unused, complete and in a condition suitable for resale, including original packaging where reasonably required.
This voluntary policy is separate from, and does not affect, statutory rights relating to faulty, misdescribed or otherwise non-conforming goods.
Certain products may be excluded from our voluntary change-of-mind policy where appropriate, including custom-made or personalised goods.
Deposits and Customer Cancellations
A deposit may be required for certain products, special orders, installations or other works.
The purpose and amount of the deposit will be explained when the order or work is agreed.
Where a customer cancels an order or contract, West Midlands Koi may retain from payments already made an amount that is fair and reasonable to cover losses directly resulting from the cancellation, where permitted by law.
This may include reasonable costs already incurred in connection with the customer’s order and other genuine losses that cannot reasonably be avoided.
We will take reasonable steps to minimise our losses.
We will not automatically treat every deposit as non-refundable regardless of the circumstances.
Any amount retained will be subject to applicable consumer law and the requirement that consumer contract terms and cancellation charges are fair.
Where a specific product or installation has separate written deposit and cancellation terms, those terms will also apply provided they are lawful and enforceable.
Nothing in this section affects any statutory cancellation rights that apply to the transaction.
Equipment Installation and Customer Use
Customers are responsible for following the manufacturer’s installation, operation and maintenance instructions unless installation forms part of a contract with West Midlands Koi.
Where installation is undertaken by the customer or by an independent third party, West Midlands Koi is not responsible for faults or damage caused by incorrect installation, unauthorised modification, misuse, lack of maintenance or other circumstances for which West Midlands Koi is not legally responsible.
Where installation is supplied by West Midlands Koi as part of the contract, your statutory rights remain unaffected.
Limitation of Liability
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.
In particular, nothing in these terms excludes or restricts a consumer’s statutory rights or any liability that cannot legally be excluded or restricted.
West Midlands Koi is not responsible for losses caused by circumstances for which it is not legally responsible.
Where permitted by law, West Midlands Koi will not be liable for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable when the contract was entered into.
Nothing in these terms is intended to exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.
Manufacturer Warranties
Some products supplied by West Midlands Koi include a manufacturer’s warranty or guarantee.
The duration, scope and conditions of these warranties vary between manufacturers and products.
A manufacturer’s warranty is additional to your statutory consumer rights and does not replace or restrict those rights.
Customers should follow the manufacturer’s installation, maintenance and servicing requirements where applicable.
Governing Law
These terms and any contract between West Midlands Koi and a consumer are governed by the applicable laws of England and Wales.
Nothing in this section deprives a consumer of any mandatory legal protections or rights regarding where proceedings may be brought.
Statutory Rights
Nothing contained in this Delivery, Collection, Returns & Cancellation Policy is intended to exclude, restrict or replace rights provided to consumers by law.
This includes applicable rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
Contact West Midlands Koi
For delivery enquiries, cancellations, returns, damaged goods or koi delivery enquiries, please contact:
West Midlands Koi Ltd
The Field House
Forshaw Heath Road
Earlswood
B94 5JU
Email: sales@westmidlandskoi.com