Terms and Conditions

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During these crazy times, I am making some temporary adjustments to my usual service.

This will include social distancing measures during workshop visits and the collection of finished guitars. Measures will comprise of no physical contact eg. shaking hands, two metre distancing and face masks must be worn, unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from doing this. Hand sanitiser must be applied before handling any of my guitars.

It is the visitors responsibility to provide themselves with a facemask and hand sanitiser  

This range is available to pre-order. After submitting your order form or discussing your requirements with me, I will send you an email which will contain an attachment PDF. This PDF will be your Build proposal pack and it will outline the specifications of the guitar that you have asked me to make for you, along with pricings and payment schedules. This pack will also advise you of when I can slot your build into my schedule and an estimated timeframe to complete the work. You will have 21 days to accept the proposed guitar build, the build slot, timeframe and my terms and condition, and to settle the deposit amount to secure your build slot in my schedule, after this time a new pricing will have to be drawn up to account for any possible price increases from my suppliers. If you have not accepted after 21 days and you request a new / updated proposal pack, then please be aware that the price may increase and the proposed start date or lead time may be longer than the first quotation and estimation. Once you have accepted this, a minimum deposit for the full cost of materials/woods/hardware associated with your particular guitar build will be required before I can confirm your allocated build slot. By paying this deposit your are securing a slot in my schedule and you are acknowledging your acceptance of my terms and conditions. This deposit is non-refundable after 14 days as it will be used to source hard to get and non-returnable items. This means that after you have paid the deposit, should you change your mind and wish to end our agreement after 14 days from paying the deposit amount I will be unable to refund the deposit amount to you as it will have been spent on the woods and hardware for your guitar build. In this eventuality will retain the hardware and woods purchased as means of compensation to myself, for suddenly having an empty slot and no income for this period. The 14 days relates to your cooling off period. Once you have paid the deposit I will keep hold of the amount for 14 days before purchasing all necessary material/woods/hardware for your guitar build. Should you wish to end our agreement within this 14 day cooling off period, I will refund 75% of the deposit amount that you paid. The remaining 25% will be retained by myself as administration fees to cover lost revenue. 

The remaining amount needs to be settled in full (including any shipping / postage and packaging fees) before I can release the build to you. This amount can be paid in full at the end of the build and when the guitar is ready for collection, or you are welcome to settle it in two separate payments, one half of the remaining amount around when I start work on your guitar build and the second half upon completion / collection / shipping.

Breaking the cost down in this manner can have it's advantages to yourself as it breaks the total amount into manageable chunks, which can be particularly useful if you are having me build you a full custom / bespoke guitar that has a higher price tag.  

You will have 3 months to settle the full amount that I have quoted. If you have not settled the amount in full after this time you will forfeit any monies that you have paid, as well as the guitar itself. I am sorry if this seems draconian to some people but I have a family to support and I can not afford to be messed around. I would love to offer more time for the final payment but I simply cannot.

After this time, if you have not settled the full amount, I will sell the guitar off at the outstanding amount plus 15% to recover my costs / lost earnings as efficiently as possible. You of course will have the right to buy the guitar at this price, but it will get sold to whomever buys it first.

I hope that I never have to resort to this measure, as it is an absolute last resort course of action.

INVOICES

Upon receipt of any payment I will issue an invoice to you by email only. I will endeavour to do this asap. This invoice is for your records as receipt of payment.

PRICINGS / QUOTATIONS

Please be aware that all my listed pricings are subject to change at any time at my sole discretion. This will be due to external economic factors beyond my control, such as my suppliers or their suppliers raising their prices. It could also be down to changes in the cost of living which will force me to raise my labour rates, or any increases in business running costs. If you have placed a deposit then I will do my very best to honour the original quotation given, but if for example the increase is related to a rise in the cost of sourcing wood and the increase is significant enough cause me financial hardship, then the original quotation will have to be raised. In the (hopefully) very unlikely event of this happening, please understand that you are still bound by the conditions set above with regard to deposits being non refundable once paid. 

All instruments built by MAL Guitars are guaranteed for a period of 24 months against any defects in  craftsmanship only (as of day of collection or delivery).
This means that should your instrument become faulty as a result of poor craftsmanship in any way during that period, just bring it back to me or send it to me and I will resolve the issue / problem without any cost to you, the original buyer / owner.

This guarantee does NOT cover accidental or malicious damage caused by the owner or other parties. 

This guarantee does NOT cover theft, loss or general ‘wear and tear’ caused by use however excessive or from gigging, touring or any kind of travel.

This guarantee does NOT cover loss should the buyer use a third party such as a courier or home removal service to post the guitar to another location. 

This guarantee does NOT cover any natural defects in the wood which is considered a feature such as irregular grain patterns, knots (birds eye maple is covered in small knots), spalting, sapwood etc...

This guarantee does NOT cover splits, cracks or warpage in the timber that has appeared afterwards due to improper storage of the instrument or leaving it exposed to strong sources of light/sunlight, heat or leaving it exposed to atmospheric conditions of high or low humidity.

This guarantee does NOT cover faults in the hardware, pickups or any of the electronic components caused by general 'wear and tear' or any of the other reasons associated with 'wear and tear' as listed above.

This guarantee does NOT cover strings, as these are a perishable component and changing them regularly is the sole responsibility of the buyer/owner.

This guarantee does not cover any kind of 'wear and tear' to the nitrocellose or tung oil finishes. 

This guarantee will come to an end 24 months from the date of collection or delivery.

This guarantee will become void if the buyer owner contracts anyone or any group or organisation  other than MAL Guitars to make any kind of alteration or modification during the period of 24 months that the guarantee runs for.

This guarantee is only intended for and applicable to the original buyer/owner. Should this guitar change ownership within the 24 month period applicable to this guarantee, then this guarantee will cease/become void. 

• Guitars collected in person are not eligible for return unless there is a warranty issue.

• Guitars purchased online from the '1982' range are eligible for return and refund, minus the cost of shipping plus 10% of sale price. They must be returned within 14 days of delivery, after this point they are no longer eligible for return and refund, but the Warranty / guarantee will still apply to the original buyer / owner.

• Guitars purchased online from the 'Origin' range are eligible for return and refund, minus the cost of shipping plus 10% of sale price. They must be returned within 14 days of delivery, after this point they are no longer eligible for return and refund, but the Warranty / guarantee will still apply to the original buyer / owner.

• Custom builds are not eligible for a refund as we will be working together to give you the guitar that you are after. In the highly unlikely event that a customer is dissatisfied with their guitar, I will do my best to work with them in order to resolve the issue.

• Guitars that have been damaged, tampered with or modified in any way will not be eligible for refund.

• It is the responsibility of the customer to pay any costs associated with the return of the guitar that was purchased online. For example the cost of postage and packaging or delivery via courier or any other method. If the customer is returning the guitar in person it is their responsibility to pay for their own transportation costs or the fuel that they may have to purchase or use in the process of returning the item.

• Refunds will only be issued via direct bank transfer once the returned guitar has been received at MAL Guitars and the guitar is deemed to be in a satisfactory condition.

• Any damage caused to the guitar IN THE PROCESS OF RETURN by a courier or any other third party delivery service will result in non eligibility for refund.

DECLARATION

BY PURCHASING A GUITAR FROM MAL GUITARS, YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS LAID OUT AND YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM. SO PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE FAMILIARISED YOURSELF WITH THESE CONDITIONS, BUT IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT ANY OF THE TERMS THAT ARE LAID OUT HERE, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME, WHERE I WILL ENDEAVOUR TO CLARIFY AND RESOLVE ANY UNCERTAINTIES THAT YOU MAY HAVE.