Terms & Conditions
These terms apply to every order placed with us through this website, by phone, by email or by quotation. Please read them before you order. Where a term applies only to business buyers or only to consumers, we say so.
1. Who we are
This website is run by B.G. Benton Limited, trading as Bentons, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 1234670). Our registered office is Unit 5-8, Bell Lane, Uckfield, East Sussex, TN22 1QL. Our VAT number is GB 284 8217 33.
You can contact us on 01825 767276 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm) or at [email protected].
2. Trade customers and consumers
We supply both businesses and members of the public.
- A trade customer is anyone buying for the purposes of a business, trade or profession, such as a restaurant, hotel, bar, caterer or events company.
- A consumer is an individual buying wholly or mainly for personal use outside their trade or business.
If you are a consumer, you have legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Nothing in these terms affects those rights.
3. Placing an order and when the contract starts
When you place an order, you will receive an email acknowledging it. That email does not mean we have accepted your order. The contract between us starts when we email you to confirm dispatch or send you an invoice, whichever comes first.
We may decline an order, for example if a product is no longer available, a price or description on the website contains an obvious error, or we cannot deliver to your address. If we decline an order after you have paid, we will refund you in full.
If we need to change anything about your order, such as a substitute product, we will contact you first and will not go ahead without your agreement.
For large or complex orders, we are happy to discuss your requirements and can provide a written quotation. Quotations are valid for 30 days unless stated otherwise.
4. Products and descriptions
We take care to describe and picture products accurately. Colours, glazes and finishes on hand-finished or reactive-glaze ranges naturally vary between pieces and between batches, and screen colours may differ from the real product. These variations are not faults. Free samples are available if you want to check a product first.
If you receive goods that do not match their description, contact us and we will collect them and either replace them or refund you in full, at no cost to you.
5. Prices and VAT
Prices are in pounds sterling. You can view prices excluding or including VAT using the switch at the top of the website. The total shown at checkout, including VAT at the current rate and delivery, is the amount you will pay.
If a price on the website is clearly wrong, we will contact you before accepting your order and you can choose to go ahead at the correct price or cancel.
6. Payment
We accept the payment methods shown at checkout. Card payments are processed by secure third-party payment providers; we do not store full card details.
Trade account customers: where we have agreed credit terms in writing, invoices are due within 30 days of the invoice date. We may charge interest and compensation on late payments under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and may suspend deliveries while an account is overdue.
7. Delivery
Delivery times and charges are shown on our Delivery Information page and at checkout. Dispatch and delivery dates are estimates; we will tell you promptly if we expect a delay.
Occasionally, a destination or a large order may need an additional delivery charge. If so, we will tell you the amount after you order and will not dispatch until you have confirmed you accept it. If you do not accept it, we will cancel the order and refund you in full.
If you ask the courier to leave your order in a safe place or with a neighbour, the order is treated as delivered once it is left there.
8. Checking your delivery
Please check the outside of the packages when they arrive. If a package is visibly damaged, mark the courier’s record as “damaged” and take a photo of the package showing the delivery label. Then open and check the contents and report any damage or shortages to us at [email protected], with photos, within 48 hours of delivery.
Trade customers: we will credit or replace goods damaged in transit, or missing from your order, if you report them within 48 hours. Damage that could not reasonably be seen from the outside of the package will still be considered if you report it promptly once found.
Consumers: please report problems as quickly as you can, as it helps us resolve them with the courier. Goods are our responsibility until they reach you, so reporting after 48 hours does not affect your statutory rights.
9. Risk and ownership
Responsibility for the goods (risk) passes to you on delivery. Ownership passes to you once we have received payment in full.
Trade customers: until you have paid in full, the goods remain our property. You must store them so they can be identified as ours, and we may recover them if your account is overdue or you enter insolvency.
10. Cancelling an order
Consumers: you have the right to cancel within 14 days of the day you receive your goods, without giving a reason. Our Returns Policy explains how, and what we refund.
Trade customers: you may cancel an order that has not yet been dispatched by contacting us. Goods specially ordered for you cannot be cancelled once we have placed the order with our supplier. If you cancel a dispatched order, the trade section of our Returns Policy applies. We will only charge for costs we have actually incurred, such as carriage or supplier charges, and will tell you the amount before we deduct it.
11. Returns, faulty goods and warranties
Our Returns Policy forms part of these terms. It sets out how to return unwanted goods, the restocking charge that applies to trade returns, and what happens if goods are faulty.
12. Our liability
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.
Consumers: we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care. We are not responsible for business losses, as we supply goods to consumers for private use only.
Trade customers: we are not liable for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill or any indirect or consequential loss. Our total liability for any order is limited to the price paid for that order.
13. Events outside our control
We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as supplier shortages, transport disruption, severe weather or strikes. We will tell you as soon as possible and, if the delay is significant, you may cancel and receive a refund for goods not yet delivered.
14. Your personal information
We use your personal information only as described in our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The terms that apply to your order are the ones on this page when you placed it.
16. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.
Consumers: you can bring proceedings in the courts of England and Wales, or in Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live there.
Trade customers: the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
If you have a complaint, please contact us first at [email protected] so we can try to put it right.