General Terms and Conditions
Preamble
The commercial Site “hartford.fr” together with its sub-domains (hereinafter referred to as “the Site”) is the MELTEX company’s e-commerce Site accessible via the internet network, open to any user of this network. It is published by the company MELTEX (hereinafter referred to as “MELTEX”), a SAS with a capital of 76,224.51 euros, whose registered office is 14, Place des Grands Hommes, 33000 BORDEAUX, registered with the Trade and Companies Register of BORDEAUX under the number 339534000 and whose EU VAT number is FR-65 339 534 000 (phone number: +33 (0) 158 39 39 86, e-mail contact@hartford.fr).
The Site allows MELTEX to offer for sale a selection of textile products and accessories to internet users hereinafter referred to as “Customers”. The system implemented presupposes an active approach by those Customers.
The use of the distance selling procedure described in these general terms and conditions of sale is reserved solely for consumers, i.e. “any natural person who acts for purposes which do not fall within the scope of his commercial, industrial, artisanal or liberal activity”. In addition, the purchase of products on the Site is reserved for adults with full legal capacity.
The Site does not allow the purchase of products for resale. Consequently, users of the Site may not claim against MELTEX any loss of opportunity, exploitation or profit.
Section 1 - Scope of application
The Customer declares that he/she has read these general terms and conditions of sale before placing his/her order and accepts them in their entirety and without reservations. The present general terms and conditions of sale cannot be modified on the initiative of the Customer. The confirmation of his/her order is therefore tantamount to acceptance without restriction or reservation of these general terms and conditions of sale. This acceptance is manifested by the fact of checking the box “I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions”.
MELTEX reserves the right to modify the present general terms and conditions of sale without prior notification. The modifications will become applicable as soon as they are placed online and cannot apply to orders concluded previously. In the event that one of the clauses of the present contract should be rendered null and void by a change in legislation, regulations, or by a court decision, this shall in no way affect the validity of and compliance with the present general terms and conditions of sale, nor shall it call into question the validity of the other provisions which shall continue to apply.
The present general terms and conditions apply to the exclusion of all other conditions, in particular those applicable to sales in stores or through other distribution or marketing channels.
In accordance with the provisions of article 1369-1 of the Civil Code, these general terms and conditions of sale may be retained by any person visiting the Site by means of a computer record and may also be reproduced by the Customer by means of printing them.
The present conditions are applicable for as long as they appear on the Site. In the event that, after the date on which they are removed from the Site, these general terms and conditions of sale nevertheless remain accessible to the public via other Internet Sites, via the cache memory of the Customer’s computer or by any other means, they shall however no longer be enforceable against MELTEX. In the absence of proof to the contrary, the data recorded by MELTEX shall constitute proof of all communications, orders and payments between the parties.
Section 2 - Information about products
2.1 Products
The products offered for sale by MELTEX are those that appear on the Site on the day the Site is consulted by the user and within the limit of available stocks. Consequently, certain products marketed by physical sales outlets may not be marketed on the Site. In the event that a product is unavailable, the Customer will be informed as soon as possible by MELTEX’s customer service department by e-mail. Furthermore, MELTEX shall not be held liable in the event of non-substantial differences between the presentation of the products on the Site (photos, descriptions) and the product received by the Customer. The Customer shall not be able to claim against MELTEX for manifest errors, in particular regarding the product, its characteristics or its price.
2.2 Price
The price of the products is the one indicated on the Site, in Euros, US Dollars, Swiss Francs or British Pounds, no other currency being accepted by the Site in payment for products. MELTEX reserves the right to modify the price of the products at any time; the applicable price will then be the price mentioned on the Site at the time of the order by the Customer.
In the European Union, the prices are displayed inclusive of all taxes, delivery costs may be invoiced in addition. In other countries such as USA, Canada, Switzerland and United Kingdom, the prices of products exclude taxes but the website computes and adds duties and taxes at the payment stage, along with delivery costs.
Outside the European Union and the aforementioned countries (USA, Canada, Switzerland or United Kingdom), prices are displayed exclusive of taxes, and delivery charges may be invoiced in addition. Customs duties and possible taxes on arrival of the package remain the responsibility of the Customer.
Delivery costs will be automatically displayed on the Site when the shipping method chosen by the Customer is confirmed.
For delivery and return procedures, please refer to the Delivery & Returns pages through the link in the footer.
The price is payable in cash, in full on the day the order is placed by the buyer, by secure payment according to the methods described in article 3.1.
In accordance with the provisions of article L121-19 of the French Consumer Code, the Customer will receive, upon delivery, written confirmation of the price paid detailing the price of the products and the delivery costs charged.
Section 3 - Ordering the products
3.1 Placing and confirmation of the order
The user can select the items that interest him/her by clicking on the “Add to Cart” button. At any time, the user can:
- View their cart at the top right of the screen with information and photos of the items in it and the total amount.
- Continue, edit or delete their selection of products by clicking on the cart icon at the top right of the page they are visiting.
- Finish selecting items and place an order by clicking on the “Check out” button in the cart.
To be able to purchase the products, all Customers will then have to identify themselves by entering their e-mail address, surname, first name, full address, telephone number and country. At the end of the order process, the Customer may, at his or her discretion, register on the Site by setting a password allowing them to access his or her information quickly when placing a subsequent order. However, it is not necessary to register an account to place an order.
If the Customer forgets his/her password, he/she can click on “Forgotten password” and will automatically receive an e-mail within minutes to reset it.
When choosing the method of payment, the Customer may also choose an invoicing address different from their delivery address by unchecking the box “My delivery and invoicing addresses are the same”. As a reminder, regardless of the Customer’s IP or location, it is the desired delivery country that determines navigation on the Site, product prices, transport options and the choice of payment methods.
It is specified that the Customer will bear full responsibility in the event of an error (or incomplete information) in entering his/her surname, first name and billing and delivery addresses. The same applies in case of communication of his/her password to a third party.
Having entered his/her delivery information, the Customer will be invited to choose his/her method of payment directly on the Site. Payment for purchases is made either via PAYPAL or via the secure platform of our payment service provider ADYEN (“Pay with a credit/debit card”)
In the case of payment by credit/debit card, the Customer will indicate on the Site the user name appearing on the bank card, its number, its expiry date and the visual cryptogram. Transactions are entirely processed securely by PAYPAL or by the payment module of our partner ADYEN. The data recorded by PAYPAL or ADYEN constitute the proof of any financial transaction between the Customer and MELTEX.
To benefit from a commercial offer that has been sent to him/her, the Customer must enter his/her “promotional code” in the field provided for this purpose on the Cart page or directly after choosing the method of payment. The Customer may only use one discount code per order, and commercial offers may not be combined with sale prices unless otherwise stated.
Under the provisions of Article 1369-5 of the Civil Code, the Customer will have the opportunity, before definitively confirming his/her order, to check its details and total price, and to correct any errors, before confirming it to express his/her acceptance.
Once the order has been verified, the Customer is able to confirm his/her order by clicking on the "Pay Now" button at the bottom of the payment page.
Once his/her payment has been confirmed and accepted, the order is recorded and irrevocable, and the sale will be considered final after the final and effective payment for the order.
An order confirmation e-mail is then sent by MELTEX to the Customer indicating the details of the articles paid for, their price, transport costs, invoicing and delivery addresses.
3.2 Limitation of liability
MELTEX, has only, for all stages of access to the Site, the ordering process, delivery or subsequent services, a best endeavours obligation.
It may not be held liable for any inconvenience or damage inherent in the use of the Internet network, in particular a break in the service or failure of the Customer’s connection to the Site, external intrusion or the presence of computer viruses, or any event qualified as force majeure in accordance with jurisprudence and the law. The same shall apply to any damage suffered by the Customer to his/her equipment.
3.3 Refusal of an order
In accordance with the provisions of Article L.122-1 of the French Consumer Code, MELTEX shall be entitled to refuse any abnormal order or order placed in bad faith. As the purpose of the Site is to sell to consumers, it does not allow the purchase of products in large quantities with a view to their resale.
MELTEX reserves the right to modify its prices at any time. The products will be invoiced based on the prices in force at the time of the confirmation of the order. If an abnormally low price is indicated due to a technical or human error, MELTEX reserves the right to ask the Customer to supplement the price already paid or to allow him/her to cancel his/her order by refunding the full amount already paid.
MELTEX may also refuse any order from a Customer with whom there is a dispute relating to the payment for a previous order.
MELTEX reserves the right to suspend access to the Customer’s account in the event of fraudulent use of this account.
Section 4 - Payment Terms
The Customer’s purchases can be paid for by Credit Card, through PayPal platform or through additional local payment methods.
The payment method will be debited when the order is prepared.
To this end, the Customer guarantees to MELTEX at the time of ordering that he/she is the holder of the payment method and that the name appearing on the bank account to be debited is indeed his/her own. As specified in Section 3.1 of these general conditions of sale, the Customer must also indicate the numbers of the visual cryptogram appearing on the back of his/her bank card when necessary.
In the event that, for any reason whatsoever (including opposition, refusal by the issuing centre), the debiting of the sums due from the Customer proves impossible, the sale will be immediately cancelled, and the order will be rescinded.
All banking transactions are secure: either directly on the Site, using the secure payment module provided by our partner ADYEN, where information is fully encrypted and protected by SSL, or directly on the equally secure PAYPAL platform.
Section 5 - Delivery
The Site offers delivery in many countries. When connecting, a window opens, the user is localized and is asked to confirm his/her delivery country in order to be redirected to the right Site.
The list of delivery countries is as follows: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.
It is specified that no delivery can be made to hotels, post office boxes, or post offices. This is to guarantee the identification of the Customer and to limit the risk of fraud. The items will be delivered to the address indicated by the Customer after the payment of the amount of the order has been recorded definitively.
In accordance with the provisions of article L 138-1 of the French Consumer Code, the delivery of the items ordered will take place within 30 days at the latest from the day following the order, subject to full payment of the price.
Except in special cases or if one or more products is unavailable, the products ordered will be delivered in one consignment. If at the time of delivery, the outward appearance of the package is not perfect, the Customer will proceed to open it in the presence of the carrier to check the condition of the item. In the event of damage to the article, the Customer will detail it precisely on the delivery note or will refuse the package.
Fraud prevention: To protect its Customers from possible fraudsters, MELTEX reserves the right to carry out address and identity checks on certain orders solely for the purpose of verifying the conformity between the identity of the holder of the payment card used and the identity of the purchaser and his/her invoicing address. MELTEX wishes to ensure that the Customer is indeed the one who placed the order and not a fraudster who has usurped his/her bank details.
Deliveries are carried out by independent carriers suggested by MELTEX to Customers when choosing their delivery options. The Customer can choose between several types of delivery depending on their country:
- Home delivery against signature
- Delivery to a pick-up point
- Express delivery (D+1 in France or D+2 to D+5 for international)
Rates vary according to the delivery zone and the delivery method chosen. They are detailed in the section about Delivery & Returns.
For each country, standard shipping is offered for orders above a certain amount. These are also detailed in the Delivery & Returns page.
When shipping to the USA, Canada, Switzerland or the UK, customs duties and possible taxes are computed by the Site and prepaid by the customer when the order is placed. MELTEX will then organize shipping and custom clearance so that the package is delivered directly to the customer.
For other non EU countries, custom duties and potential taxces upon arrival of the package are the Customer’s responsibility. If the order is liable to taxes or customs duties upon entry into the country of delivery, DHL will contact the recipient of the order to arrange for payment of the required taxes and customs duties. DHL calculates duties and taxes according to the type of goods, amounts, and applicable taxes in the country of delivery. DHL acts as an intermediary with the customs authorities in the country of delivery and is therefore entitled to collect duties and taxes on their behalf. DHL will not be able to deliver the package to the recipient until the duties and taxes have been paid.
Finally, in the event of one or more products being returned, the duties and taxes paid by the recipient will not be refunded by MELTEX or DHL.
Section 6 - Right of Cancellation and return of goods
In accordance with the provisions of Articles L 121-21 and following the French Consumer Code, the customer has a right of withdrawal which can be exercised without having to justify for any reasons, within a period of fourteen (14) calendar days from reception of the goods.
In the case of an order for several items delivered separately or in the case of an order for an item consisting of multiple lots or pieces with multiple deliveries over a defined period, the period runs from the receipt of the last item or lot or piece.
The consumer who wishes so can initiate a return procedure online at any time by clicking on the "Start a return" button available on the Delivery & Returns page. An online form will then open, and the consumer will be invited to enter their order number and email address. Once identified, they select the product(s) they wish to return, specify the reasons for the return, and choose the refund method.
If they choose an exchange for another item or a refund in the form of a credit note valid on the Site, the return shipping costs are borned by MELTEX. Otherwise, if the customer chooses a return for a refund to the payment method used at purchase (Credit Card, PayPal, etc.), the return shipping costs are payable, and a flat fee corresponding to the return shipping costs will be deducted by MELTEX from the refund. The fee for return shipping costs varies by country: they are detailed on the Delivery & Returns page.
If the customer chooses a refund in the form of a credit note valid on the Site, it will be issued instantly and sent by email. If the customer chooses a refund on the payment method used at purchase (Credit Card, PayPal, etc.), it will occur within fourteen days from the date MELTEX receives the returned goods.
Alternatively, the customer can also, if they wish, directly send back the goods to MELTEX without initiating an online return procedure. This must be done without undue delay and, at the latest, within fourteen days from the receipt of the items. In this case, the shipping costs and any possible import duties & taxes are borne by the customer. The return should then be sent back to:
MELTEX
Service retour E-store
18-20 rue Saint Maur
75011 PARIS
FRANCE
Regardless of the return method chosen, MELTEX cannot be held responsible for the loss of a returned package by the Customer. Therefore, the customer must retain all proof of return, which implies that the items must be returned by any method ensuring a certain date and the tracking of the shipment. In particular, in the case of a label generated online by MELTEX, it is the customer's responsibility to justify the proper deposit of the return with the carrier. It is important to keep the proof of shipment until the refund of the order by MELTEX: tracking number and deposit stamp from the carrier. Without these elements, no refund can be made in case of loss of the package during its transport.
It is specified that any item that cannot be resold will not be refunded if the depreciation of the goods results from manipulations other than those necessary to establish the nature, characteristics, and proper functioning of these goods: this means incomplete, damaged, deteriorated, soiled, washed items, without tag or composition label, etc. In particular, a usage fee of the sold item may be charged to the buyer if they have purchased or used it in a manner incompatible with civil law principles, such as good faith or unjust enrichment.
The right of withdrawal cannot be exercised for:
- The supply of goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalized.
- The supply of goods that have been unsealed by the consumer after delivery and cannot be returned for hygiene or health protection reasons.
- The supply of goods which, after being delivered and by their nature, are inseparably mixed with other items.
The right of withdrawal described above only applies to items sold on the Site and not to those sold in physical stores.
The return process is detailed step by step on the Delivery & Returns pages.
Section 7 - Conformity et guarantee
The Customer must ensure that the items delivdered to him/her correspond to his/her order. If the items delivered do not correspond to his/her order, the Customer must inform MELTEX’s Customer Relations Department by telephone on +33 158 393986 and return the items in question under the conditions set out in Item 6 of these general terms and conditions of sale.
The items sold by MELTEX are subject:
- to the legal guarantee of conformity of articles L211-4, L211-5 and L211-12 of the Consumer Code which allows the consumer to obtain, within two years of delivery of the goods and free of charge, the repair or replacement of the goods if they do not conform to the contract
- to the legal guarantee against hidden defects of articles 1641 and 1648, the first paragraph of the Civil Code, which allows the buyer to obtain repair or a refund for hidden defects of the thing sold that render it unfit for the use for which it is intended, or that so diminish this use that the buyer would not have acquired it, or would have only given a lower price for it if he/she had known about them. The purchaser must bring the action within two years from the discovery of the defect.
Any guarantee is excluded in the event of misuse, negligence or lack of maintenance on the part of the buyer, including normal wear and tear of the goods, accident or force majeure.
For any information or question relating to the terms and conditions of sale, the articles themselves or the application of the guarantees, Customers may contact the MELTEX customer service department by e-mail via the address contact@hartford.fr.
Section 8 - Rules for the operation of electronic/computerised filtes and freedom
8.1 - Information technology and freedom
Providing the personal information collected in the context of distance selling is mandatory, this information being necessary for the processing of orders, deliveries and payments as well as the issuing of invoices. This information is strictly confidential and will not be transmitted to third parties.
Nevertheless, within the framework of the delivery of the articles ordered, the information is also sent on the Site of our transport service providers (Coliposte, Chronopost or DHL).
The data recorded by our payment solutions, Paypal or ADYEN, constitute the proof of any financial transaction between the Customer and MELTEX. They are encrypted, secured and stored directly with our partners.
Failure to provide this information will result in the automatic rejection of the order.
In accordance with the law n°78-17 of January 6, 1978, modified by the law n° 2400-801 of August 6, 2004, relating to data processing, files and freedoms, the processing of nominative information collected on the Site has been the subject of a declaration to the Commission Nationale de l’informatique et de Libertés (CNIL - the French data protection agency). The Customer has the right to access, modify, rectify and delete data concerning him/her. To exercise this right, the Customer must send an e-mail to the following address: contact@hartford.fr
8.2 - Cookies and web beacons
The Site uses cookies. A cookie is a computer file stored on the hard disk of the Customer’s computer. It is intended to indicate previous interactions with the Site and therefore does not allow identification or constitute personal information. MELTEX only uses cookies to personalise the service offered. The Customer retains the option to oppose the recording of cookies by configuring his/her internet browser.
Certain web pages on the Site may contain web beacons which make it possible to count the number of visitors to the Site and/or to provide MELTEX with a certain number of indicators. These web beacons may be used with some of our partners, in particular, to measure and improve the effectiveness of the Site. In any event, the information obtained via these tags is strictly anonymous and simply makes it possible to gather statistics on the number of visits to particular pages on the Site to provide a better service to Customers.
Section 9 - Intellectual Property Rights
The Site is a protected work and remains the exclusive property of MELTEX, which created and put online the web pages, images and source scripts, and the underlying data composing it. Unless otherwise stated, therefore, MELTEX is the owner of the copyright on each of the pages making up the Site, on its tree structure and on each of the elements that make up the Site: trademarks, logos, illustrations, drawings, models, photographs, images and more generally all other elements present on the Site, whether or not they are registered.
Any reproduction, use or modification, whether partial or total, of any element of the Site, is strictly prohibited, except with the prior special and express authorisation of MELTEX, which may make it subject to a financial consideration. Consequently, MELTEX may take legal action, in particular in respect to counterfeiting, against all those who directly or indirectly infringe its rights.
The use of automated calling systems to extract data from this website or any websited related to it for commercial purposes (screen data capture) ('screen scraping') is prohibited, unless other persons have entered into a written license agreement directly with Hartford, in which the relevant party is granted access, solely for price comparison purposes, to Hartford's price, product and image information.
Section 10 - Force majeure
The performance by the MELTEX company of all or part of its obligations shall be suspended in the event of the occurrence of a fortuitous event or force majeure which hinders or delays execution. The following are considered as such, in particular, without this list being exhaustive: war, riots, insurrection, social unrest, strikes of any kind and problems of supply to MELTEX.
MELTEX shall inform its Customers of any fortuitous event or force majeure within seven days of its occurrence. Should this suspension continue beyond a period of fifteen days, the Customer shall then have the option to cancel the order in progress, and shall then be reimbursed under the conditions set out in Section 6 of these General Terms and Conditions of Sale.
Section 11 - Disputes, law and jurisdiction
These present conditions are subject to French law and governed by the French language for their interpretation.
Any dispute that may arise from the validity, interpretation, execution, termination, consequences and repercussions of these general terms and conditions of sale shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the French courts.
In the event of disputes, the Customer has the possibility, in accordance with Article L133-4 of the Consumer Code, to resort to a conventional mediation procedure or any other alternative dispute resolution method.