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Guarantee

  • We want you to be entirely happy with your purchase. If it does not meet with your approval in any way please let us know and we will do our best to satisfy you.Distance selling regulations apply to all postal sales. Under these regulations you have the absolute right in law to return any item for any reason within 14 days. There are obvious exceptions such as computer software but there is not much we sell that would be an exception. Items that are specially customised would be exceptions but we would always make you aware of that before proceeding with the sale.
  • Items that are faulty will normally be replaced without question within the first 12 months. The exceptions to this are strings which can and do break, though if a string breaks very quickly we would always replace it. Bows do lose hair, especially early on, this is not a fault. Ebony (unless dyed) has streaks of brown as well as black colouring and again this is not a fault (higher grade ebony is blacker than lower grade ebony).
  • Violins are not really prone to faults that develop later since there are no mechanical parts unless you count pegs and adjusters. Cracks can happen but by far the most common cause of these is a sudden change in humidity – please don’t park your violin on top of a radiator! If any item arrives damaged we will of course replace or refund.
  • Set up issues such as bridge height are not matters of fault so much as of personal preference. Sometimes people comment about the pegs being tight or not going as far through the pegbox as they expected. Pegs are made of wood, the pegbox surrounding them is wood. When humidity is high, wood expands and so the pegs get larger and the hole gets smaller. When humidity is low, the opposite happens. If you ever have a situation where pegs are stuck (this should not happen unless the violin has been left somewhere quite humid for several days) simply take a hairdrier and “dry” the pegs for a couple of minutes. Then try to turn them again after an hour or so. Repeat if necessary. This way you will not break the pegs. If you find your pegs are slipping, push them in a bit as you turn. With time, the wood of the pegs will wear and the wood of the pegbox will also wear, and the peg will go further through the hole. That is why old violins often have pegs sticking out of the opposite side of the pegbox.  I can shave pegs: if you are passionate about them meeting the end of the pegbox when they arrive, just let me know.  Bear in mind, however, that they will work through in time and will then stick out the other side.
  • Above all, I do want you to be happy. We would far rather you got in touch with us than end up wishing you had purchased elsewhere.
  • Should you need to return an item to us for any reason, please use adequate packaging. Breakages in the post are surprisingly rare but sending a cello in a box with no case and no packing at all is asking for trouble, as is sending a violin in a jiffy bag. Both of these have happened! In the event of damage, any claim will need to come from you (though we will give full support). This is because in order for us to make a claim, we have to provide evidence of the value of every single item in the package and that is next to impossible. You will never lose out on this unless you are clearly at fault because of completely negligent packaging (it has only ever happened once)
  • We are sometimes asked how we pack violins. At the moment, it involves a box or boxes, extra cardboard and bubble wrap. In 14 years of trading, our postal losses could certainly be counted on the fingers of two hands.