1. The following terms & conditions are by no means exhaustive, & as such may be subject to change at any time.

2. In engaging the services of John Marlow Stringed Instruments the customer indicates their acceptance of these terms & conditions unconditionally.

3. As a professional instrument maker & repairer of almost forty years standing, John Marlow Stringed Instruments delivers an exemplary standard of workmanship to all his professional endeavours. As such John Marlow Stringed Instruments maintains the right to refuse service to anyone he considers to be abusive, unreasonable, or exhibiting inappropriate behavior.

Drop Off & Collection of Commissions

1. Goods are to be delivered & collected from the workshop at an allotted time & date mutually agreed upon between both parties unless otherwise stipulated as in the case of trade work undertaken on behalf of third-party institutions.

2. After the commissions have been completed, John Marlow Stringed Instruments will contact the customer by phone or email to arrange a mutually convenient date & time for payment & the collection of the instruments.

3. Items that have been shipped to John Marlow Stringed Instruments will be entirely at the liability of the customer & therefore should be adequately packed & insured to ensure they arrive in serviceable condition. If any goods are damaged within the process of delivery to John Marlow Stringed Instruments, the customer will be immediately contacted & any additional repairing charges submitted at the time, including any documentary evidence to be submitted in the event of an insurance claim being made against the delivery company. Goods shipped to John Marlow Stringed Instruments without prior agreement, will not be accepted & returned to the customer once the return couriering costs have been received.

Repair & Restoration Pricing & Costs

1. Pricing of commissions will be carried out on an individual basis, taking into account factors such as relative value, condition & the procedure required to remedy the faults in question. No charges will be made by John Marlow Stringed Instruments for estimates or quotes for commission work unless otherwise agreed upon prior to the engagement of services.

2. The customer must be aware that once a price has been agreed upon, as the work progresses, these costs are subject to change due to subsequent faults & anomalies being detected within the process of restoration. The customer will be informed of any additional costs to parts & procedures immediately as they become apparent.

3. Unless prior arrangements have been made, finished commissions should be collected within two working weeks of completion. Additional charges for storage of completed commissions will be implemented after this date at a flat fee of £25 per week.

4. No work will be undertaken upon any instruments until a price has been agreed upon between John Marlow Stringed Instruments & the customer. Once methods, materials, procedures, time frame & price have been agreed upon between John Marlow Stringed Instruments & the customer, the customer is thereby legally obligated to maintain their part of the contractual obligation by paying for the commissioned work in full before collecting the instrument. Failure to adhere to these stipulations will result in the commission being retained until full financial settlement has been made or the instrument has been sold to cover the equivalent costs of the invoice.

5. John Marlow Stringed Instruments may require a deposit for larger more expensive & time-consuming commissions. This figure will be agreed upon between both parties, & will be paid in full before any work is undertaken, & subtracted from the final invoice costs.

Evaluation of Work

1. All repair & restoration work will be assessed on an individual basis, the diagnostic conclusions of which will be non-negotiable, as many elements concerning the sound, feel, playability & quality of a musical instrument are utterly subjective & therefore personal to both the customer & the Luthier. The particulars of these matters will be established before the undertaking of any commissions. However, the customer is at liberty to refuse the proposed work before the commission has been agreed upon & collect the instrument with no obligation or charge. It is therefore incumbent upon the customer to realise that John Marlow Stringed Instruments refuses to be drawn into esoteric arguments regarding such matters, (see point 5 Warranty)

2. If the customer decides to cancel the commission once the work is underway, the pricing will reflect the unfinished nature of the commission. If the customer decides not to continue with the work, John Marlow Stringed Instruments will do his utmost to ensure that the instrument is returned to the customer in a similar state as received. This cannot always be guaranteed since components &/or structural elements may have been exchanged or modified in the interim. However, the customer is financially obligated to pay for all works & parts used to this point in the procedure & as such John Marlow Stringed Instruments retains the right to hold onto the instrument until such time that these costs have been paid in full.

3. All commissions undertaken will fit into a timescale initially explained & agreed upon by both the customer & John Marlow Stringed Instruments. As a sole trader, John Marlow Stringed Instruments is susceptible to circumstances beyond his control & as such can not guarantee any definite time scales for the completion of work, & therefore reserves the right to work to his own timescale & not those set by the customers.

4. Once a commission has been completed & the customer has been contacted, they are at liberty to arrange a convenient date & time to collect the instrument. At this point, it is incumbent upon the customer to fully evaluate the results of the commission. Although John Marlow Stringed Instruments is more than happy to have work returned if an instrument requires minor adjustments or to rectify a problem that has manifested after the instrument has been removed from the premises. John Marlow Stringed Instruments does not accept liability for the customer to have changed their mind, or have sought third party advice in the interim as to the methods, materials, procedures & prices that have been incurred to this date.

Damage, Loss & Liability.

1. All instruments left in the care of John Marlow Stringed Instruments will be treated with the utmost consideration & care. In the unlikely instance of any loss or damage occurring individually, the liability will be limited to the current market value based upon a like-for-like replacement. John Marlow Stringed Instruments accepts no liability for any loss, expense, or diminution of value arising from work commissioned by the customer.

Copyright

1. The entire contents of www.Jmarlowstringedinstruments.co.uk, additionally any texts, emails or attachments, including photographs or links, between the customer & the owner are the intellectual property of John Marlow Stringed Instruments. As such no reproductions of any kind relating to any of the above can be used without the express permission of the owner.

Warranty

1. John Marlow Stringed Instruments guarantees any restoration work for a period of two weeks from the date of collection. This warranty does not include previously undetected faults or additional problems that have occurred after the instrument has been collected. This warranty also excludes wear & tear of parts or where the repair has clearly been tampered with, modified or altered after collection of the instrument.

2. Any dissatisfaction from the customer arising from what they deem to be sub-standard workmanship or an inability to remedy the originally diagnosed problem should be pointed out to John Marlow Stringed Instruments immediately so that the correct cause of action can be agreed upon between the individual & the owner. At this point, the usual outcome will be for John Marlow Stringed Instruments to book the instrument back in at the customer’s convenience so as to remedy the problem & return the instrument back to the customer in full working order for no additional charge.

3. If the customer decides not to return the instrument but to take it to a third party for evaluation, then this will be considered as a termination of the original warranty agreement set out by John Marlow Stringed Instruments.

4. Any refund requests in relation to work carried out by the owner will not be considered unless the customer has returned the instrument back to John Marlow Stringed Instruments & allowed a fair & proportionate time for the problem to be resolved amicably. Any additional interference from the third party in this matter will nullify the original guarantee, as this clearly constitutes an infringement of the original warranty particulars pertaining to the agreement between both parties set out in points 1 & 2.

5. John Marlow Stringed Instruments reserves the right to refuse refunds relating to disagreements that fall into the category of “a matter of opinion”. If the customer has returned the commission several times for further adjustments but refuses to be reasonable relating to a subjective factor, such as the feel, sound, or aesthetic considerations, John Marlow Stringed Instruments reserves the rights to offer refunds based purely on the establishment of only objective facts, taken from measurements & evaluations established between both parties before the commission was undertaken.

Bespoke Musical Instrument Orders

1. John Marlow Stringed Instruments offers quotes & estimates for bespoke instruments orders based entirely upon the required specifications of the customer. Once the following factors have been mutually agreed upon, such as design, materials, finish, time frame & cost including a deposit fee if applicable, this will be confirmed in writing by both parties before any work is to be undertaken. Prior to this point, the customer is at liberty to cancel the agreement at any time for a full refund, providing no costs have been incurred by John Marlow Stringed Instruments in research & development or any specific parts or materials have been ordered expressly for the commission.

Complaints

1. All complaints should be made in writing via the address on the website or via email. Responses to these complaints will be undertaken within twenty-one days from receipt of the complaint.

Indemnity

1. The customer shall indemnify John Marlow Stringed Instruments against all claims, costs & expenses/legal expenses which the owner may incur & which may arise directly or indirectly from the customer’s breach of any of their obligations under these Terms & Conditions.

Breaches to Terms & Conditions

1. Without prejudice to the rights of John Marlow Stringed Instruments within these terms & conditions, if the customer breaches these terms & conditions in any way, John Marlow Stringed Instruments has the right to suspend all commissions relating to the customer. Additionally, if any outstanding debts are to be collected, this may manifest in bringing about legal proceedings against you. These terms & conditions may be revised from time to time. It is therefore incumbent upon anyone trading with John Marlow Stringed Instruments to familiarise themselves with any or all restrictions relating to the nature of their commission.

2. From time to time John Marlow Stringed Instruments may subcontract elements of any commission to a third party if required. This may be undertaken without obtaining the customer’s consent on the understanding that it falls within the remit of the original customer agreement outlined in sections‘ Evaluation of work’ 1 to 4.

3. If any of the provisions of these terms & conditions are legally determined to be unlawful, and/or unenforceable, these other provisions will continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, this part will be deemed to be deleted, & the remaining provisions will continue to be in effect.

4. These terms & conditions constitute the entire agreement between John Marlow Stringed Instruments in relation to your use of my services, & overwrite any previous agreement in respect to your use of my services.

5. These terms & conditions are governed by & constructed in accordance with UK law & any disputes relating to these terms & conditions will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England, Scotland & Wales.