Terms and Conditions

Time Tunnel Models Standard Terms and Conditions Of Sale - Online and Mail Order Sales

The terms and conditions below do not affect your statutory rights.

As many of the products we offer are of a specialist nature, please ensure that you read the appropriate section of our terms and conditions prior to placing your order. Some items we list are by their nature special orders and are obtained or even imported to the UK specifically to your order. If you are ordering these items which are essentially any item that is not listed where we have had to quote you a price, or any item where the phrase Special Order appears in the product title or description, please read the Important Variation To Return Policy for Special Ordered Items before you place your order.

These terms have been carefully written in plain English for clarity. If you have any query, please contact us prior to placing your order as placing an order with us automatically implies that you agree with the terms below.

POSTAGE RATES? Postage & Delivery rates can be found on our Postage and Packing page - please see the link at the bottom of any page.

Anti "Amazoning" Policy
"Amazoning" is the trick that some use on websites to get free delivery on orders which do not qualify by deliberately adding goods that are known to be currently on back order or pre-order or indicated to be special order or otherwise out of stock to push the order value over the free delivery amount - followed by a request to cancel those items once the non qualifying part of the order has been dispatched. Our Anti Amazoning Policy is quite simple - if an order is placed where we make it clear online that the item is a pre-order or a service order or other site statements in the header, basket page or checkout indicate that one or more items will follow later, and those items that were to follow are subsequently cancelled, any refund issued will be LESS the standard postage charge for an order of the items that have been dispatched. Example - an order for a £9 item is placed with £25 of unavailable items, qualifying for free delivery - and after dispatch those £25 of back ordered items are cancelled. In this situation, the refund would be £25 LESS the normal published postage rate for a £9 order. Please also note that pre-orders that are refunded have processing fees deducted - back orders do not.

Age & Age Restricted Items
We are unable to accept orders from those under 14 years of age.

In addition, the following products that we sell are age restricted. We are not permitted, by law, to supply to anyone under 18 years of age:

- All aerosol sprays (such as spray paint for example)
- All solvent based modelling paints and adhesives (super glues, tyre glues, modelling glues and modelling paints)
- All knives, blades and other sharp edged items (such as wire cutters)
- All compressed air canisters (e.g. airbrush cans)

We are also unable to supply any product which contains these items even if the item itself does not specifically name these age restricted items - for example radio control car deals with paint included.

By purchasing any of the above products you are implicitly affirming that you are 18 years of age or older.

Refusal to serve
We reserve the right to refuse to supply any order placed without giving a justification. Placing an order via our web site does not constitute a contract until goods are dispatched from our premises. We reserve the right to cancel any sale after charging and prior to the goods leaving our premises, in which case a full refund of any amounts already charged will be made.  We reserve the right to refuse future orders in the event of higher than normal claims of non delivery or claims of non delivery where tracking states otherwise.

Mistakes and Corrections
Due to the size of our site, it is possible at times that products may be incorrectly listed that are no longer available, have had a specification change, or are no longer available at the listed price. It is also possible for an incorrect price to be entered during the ordering process. We reserve the right to refuse to serve in these instances.

Payment Delay
Although our standard card handling systems charge you at time of order, there is an option during checkout to use a delayed charge system, with which we charge you at time of dispatch - this is noted as Pre-Order on the checkout page. This option is primarily there for use when pre-ordering models which are some months off release.

Credit/Debit Card and Paypal
Credit Cards, Debit Cards and Paypal are accepted at checkout, this includes the various Apple/Android payment methods when you choose the NOCHEX payment option.  

Cash and Cheques
Cash is offered as a payment option for purchases in our walk in shop. If you choose to send cash to us for mail order purchases, all risk remains with you until we confirm receipt of it at our Fenton Barns address. Royal Mail or Courier proof of delivery is not proof of receipt with cash due to the liklihood of theft in transit and packages being delivered empty. Cheque payments are accepted only when arranged by telephone in advance.  

Direct Bank Payments
Direct bank payments are only accepted for bulk orders to businesses and organisations where a proforma invoice and qualifying VAT receipt are issued.  

Paypal: Paypal is accepted from worldwide accounts. We reserve the right to refuse and refund payments made by Paypal.  We reserve the right to require the delivery address to be both shown on the Paypal payment and shown as Confirmed or Seller Eligable.

Pre-Orders: Please note that diecast advance orders by Cheque, Postal Order or Paypal must be pre-paid at time of ordering. We do not “email for the money” when items are released. For this reason, we suggest that pre-ordering with a credit or debit card using our Pre-Order checkout option is a better idea.

Refund of back order or pre-order items yet to be shipped: You may request a refund for any pre-paid item where the goods have yet to be dispatched at any time - for example, back-orders and pre-orders. In the event that you request a refund and do not provide an alternative means of payment, the balance of the order will at this point be cancelled.

Refund of pre-paid pre-order items: If you pre-pay by any means (rather than using our pre-order payment option where you are charged on release) and later request a refund before the item is shipped to you, the refund will be less Paypal or Credit Card processing charges, which are not refunded by Paypal or the banking system. This only applies to items noted as Pre-Order and not to items that are simply on back order awaiting a shipment. Fee is not more than 2%. This applies to purchases made from 1st January 2023. Policy does not apply in the event of: cancellation by manufacturer, delay of release in excess of 12 months, refund to estate after death of purchaser.

Click and Collect
Where you order online for collection in store, unless payment is specifically offered as "Click and Collect" at checkout, payment must be made at time of collection. We cannot accept a payment card on our web site for in store collections due to banking regulations – therefore if you pay online, it will be refunded. You will need to enter your PIN when purchasing with a card in store, as we cannot override our terminal.

Deposits on Non Stock items and Pre-Orders
For a small number of specialist items which we will obtain to order, or for high numbers of a single item, unless pre-paid we may request a deposit before proceeding with your order. We will always contact you first in this case and await your agreement. Deposits charged are non-refundable in the event you choose not to go ahead with the purchase. We only make these charges where we consider the item to be of such obscure interest that we would be unlikely to find another purchaser for it.

Pre-Payment
From time to time we may offer a special discount for pre-payment of an advance order. Where this is offered, the order cannot be amended after payment is taken – however, a full refund will be given should the manufacturer be unable to supply the item (through shortage or cancellation of product line).

Financial Liability
In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever.

Returns Policy – Faulty Goods
Due to the nature of the products we sell, we request that all faulty goods be returned within 30 days of purchase. After 30 days, items which have developed a fault will be repaired under warranty (where applicable).

In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by yourself.. Genuinely faulty goods will be repaired, refunded, substituted or replaced as required.

Please always contact us before returning goods.  We do not require you to complete a specific "returns form", however we will require you to include your name and address details, date of order or order number and a brief description of the fault with all returns.

Important - Return Carriage Costs: We have two returns services available for faulty goods - a freepost return service and for larger items we can arrange a courier. These are discounted services and will not require payment by you. You must contact us for such returns so that we can supply you with a freepost label OR arrange the courier (dependant on the item size). We will not refund the "public tariff" prices charged over the counter at the post office on returns - if you choose to pay for the return rather than using our pre-paid labels, we will not be able to refund any expenses you incur.

We take the view that goods that have been damaged by misuse are not faulty. Therefore, we will examine all goods returned as faulty to determine whether the problem has been due to incorrect manufacture or simply user error – Refunds will not be given for products which have been damaged by misuse, although we will where possible advise the cheapest option for repair.

In the case of faults with electrical toys, please double check all instructions and, where possible, seek advice from the manufacturers help line number if one is given on the box.

Scalextric, Hornby and similar slot racing or railway sets: Usually only a small part is faulty on these, we will happily exchange that part if it is returned to us.

Missing parts: Where parts are missing from an item, please let us know by email as soon as possible. We can usually supply replacement parts without delay. We do not refund purchases made at other retailers in the event that parts are missing from our goods, unless this has been agreed with us prior to the parts being purchased at another retailer.

In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever.

Returns Policy – Change of mind
You have 30 days from the day you receive any part of your order to notify us that you wish to return the received item for refund. Each dispatch to you is treated as a separate contract and therefore a separate order for the purposes of returns. With change of mind returns, you are responsible for return shipping costs.

The UK Consumer Rights Act (2014) gives you the right to a cooling off period, i.e. a right to cancel your order within 14 working days following the day of receipt of the goods and return them for a refund. We extend this to 30 calendar days. This applies to all our goods except special orders. It is your responsibility to give notice of your wish to cancel within this cancellation period by email, fax, letter or telephone. A form for this purpose can be downloaded from http://www.timetunnelmodels.com/change-of-mind.pdf - however you can also choose to notify us by email, telephone or letter. The goods must be returned in the condition they were dispatched, although you are allowed to have opened and examined the goods, as you would in a shop. You are not permitted to have used the item in a way that would not be possible in a retail environment. We would recommend for your own protection that you use a tracked delivery service, as the items remain your responsibility until they are received back at our store.   You have 30 days from the date we acknowledge your request to return in order to return the goods.   We reserve the right to refuse and return to you any goods returned without prior notification where any aspect of our terms are breached.

Christmas: It is assumed that any purchase made in November or December is for Christmas and therefore any purchase during these months can be notified for change of mind return until 3rd January or 30 days after delivery - whichever is later.

Please note: On Change Of Mind returns, Carriage Charges selected that upgrade from our regular "No Rush" service are non refundable. Our rates can be seen at the bottom of the page - for the value of your order, we will deduct the difference between the No Rush option and the option chosen from any refund, this is because the service is considered an additional purchase which has been correctly supplied and enjoyed.

Duty of care: You must take good care of any product that you intend to return to us. By using a product or building or part-building a kit it is reasonable to suggest that you have accepted the product as your own. Under these circumstances, a return will not be accepted. Please note that items returned to us will be very carefully examined for signs of use or damage prior to any refund being processed. If the item has been used, and is obviously not in as-new condition, a deduction from the refund amount will be made of 50%.

Exchanges: If you wish to exchange the item for an alternative item we will happily arrange this.  A payment or refund of the difference may be required, allowing for carriage costs.

We reserve the right to refuse further to accept further orders from you should you repeatedly return items.

In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever. No return postage will be refunded on change of mind returns.

Returns Policy – In Store Purchases
In store purchases are subject to our standard return and refund policy as displayed on the notices column by our main shop door.

Important Variation To Return Policy for Special Ordered Items
This variation applies when ordering any item listed as Special Order, and any item that is not listed where we have had to quote you a price – such as unlisted Tamiya spare parts which are imported from Japan solely to your specific order. These items are not part of our usual stock and are obtained or imported to order purely as a service to satisfy the consumer where these items are not readily available in the UK.

Once an order has been placed for these items, it cannot usually be cancelled. Please ensure you are aware of exactly what you are ordering and that you have taken into account any timescale we have advised (which may be subject to extension) before confirming your order online.

Cancellation of orders not already dispatched
Please advise us as soon as possible that you wish to cancel off items from your order. We will amend your order immediately provided that the items have yet to be processed or dispatched.

We are not able to cancel orders for items once postal or delivery services have been booked for those items.

We are not usually able to cancel Special Orders for unlisted spare parts.

Please note that we reserve the right to restrict or refuse to offer our services to anyone who repeatedly orders and then later cancels items without good justification.

Courier Deliveries
Larger, more expensive or heavier items may be delivered by courier.

All couriered items are fully trackable.  Some couriers give the option, if you are not going to be in, to leave parcels in a "safe place".  Where you select this option, our liability ends when the parcel receives a delivery scan.  Subsequent loss (for example if someone steals the parcel from your garden shed or porch) is not our responsibility as you have to accept all liability when choosing this option on the courier website.

Where a parcel is refused OR the online tracking for the courier company indicates that they have left a card and subsequently returned the parcel to us as the addressee has failed to either (1) arrange redelivery or (2) collect the parcel from the courier company depot, the order will be cancelled and refunded when the parcel is delivered back to our premises. In these circumstances, a deduction will be made from the refund for the courier company charge for both the outgoing parcel and return to our premises. This will be a minimum of £12 including VAT.

Economy Delivery By Courier - Tracking and Delivery
Where you choose the cheaper, or Free, Economy Courier delivery option, the courier will scan and record the GPS location of delivery in lieu of a signature. In the event of a subsequent claim of non delivery, we regret that if the courier delivery confirmation shows a successful delivery to your address, then any subsequent loss is classed as theft after delivery, and is therefore theft from your property of goods already delivered - in this situation, we are unable to shoulder responsibility.

Any likely delivery issues regarding your delivery address must be communicated to us at the time of order, otherwise we will reasonably assume that the delivery address will either have someone present who can take delivery OR that the property has a suitable safe place for the courier to leave the parcel.

Couriers are used as we are unable to send many products by Royal Mail due to restrictions on weight, size and general postal regulations.

Selecting an Express delivery option, priced £4.95 or above, will always require a signature and is recommended if you have any concerns about delivery issues. Please note that an electronic signature - a photograph of the parcel at your delivery address combined with a GPS record of the location of the parcel, may be used in some instances.

Goods Lost In Transit (Courier)
Where goods are reported as not delivered when we have used a courier, a minimum of 7 days must be allowed for investigation by the courier.

Courier loss claims are treated on a case by case basis. Where the courier provides evidence that the parcel has been delivered to your address, the claim will be considered closed. Please see "Economy Delivery By Courier" above for further information.

Electronic non receipt claims: If you choose to open a non receipt claim via Paypal, a credit card chargeback or any other dispute resolution service, at that point any further communication will only be accepted via that service and we will robustly defend any claim.  In the event we win a claim, no further correspondence will be entered into.

In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever.

Goods Lost In Transit (Royal Mail)
We use the Royal Mail for many deliveries. As many of our packages are too large to be posted through residential letter boxes, many will be held at your local sorting office for you to collect. We therefore ask that if you feel an excessive time has passed, once you have confirmed that we have dispatched a package you check with near neighbours (Royal Mail staff often deliver "next door" if they call when you are out) and your local sorting office to check if an item has been held for you. Sorting offices usually require that ID is shown before they will check their shelves.

Due to the way the post works, the Royal Mail will not accept that a package has gone missing until 15 working days minimum after posting. This in laymans terms is 3 weeks. During this period our hands are tied and we must simply wait, as "lost" packages are often redelivered or returned to sender during this time.

Many postal workers do not leave cards if you are out, they should but often do not. The Royal Mail Sorting Offices will rarely confirm that they have a package waiting for you by telephone and will only normally confirm in person if you present ID with the same address - this we imagine is to protect the mail and prevent fraud.

In the event that you have checked with neighbours and the sorting office, and no trace can be found of the package, please contact us and we will look into it. If after 15 working days, the package has not arrived and it appears that the package has been lost in transit we will forward to you a document for you to sign to confirm that you have not received the package, and once we receive this back from you a duplicate order will be dispatched. If a refund, rather than a replacement, is required, we must wait until the Royal Mail have completed their investigation, after which we will credit the value of any lost goods to your card or Paypal account.

Electronic non receipt claims: If you choose to open a non receipt claim via Paypal, a credit card chargeback or any other dispute resolution service, at that point any further communication will only be accepted via that service and we will robustly defend any claim.  In the event we win a claim, no further correspondence will be entered into.

In all cases, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever.

Cut Back Policy In Event Of Short Supply
Where products are ordered in advance of release, we ensure on a weekly basis that our orders with our suppliers are increased accordingly to cover all customer requirements. However, on occasions a supplier may be unable to fulfil our order in full due to shortage of supply by the manufacturer or over subscription to the trade or for other reasons beyond our control.

In the event of this happening, which would result in more outstanding orders for a product than stock available, we will always apply the following policy:

- Any order for more than one piece of the item will be reduced to an order for one piece only.

- In the event this does not allow enough product to supply one to each who has ordered: All orders will be sorted into date/time order (subscription and pre-payment customers counting as the earliest possible date) and items will be allocated in single pieces to each order in date/time order to ensure that the model is supplied on a first-come-first-served basis.

- This policy applies to all diecast, railway, slot racing and RC products advanced ordered via our site, in store, by fax, by letter or by telephone.

- In the event of pre-payment or deposits having been made, our maximum possible refund payable will be the total paid to us by you. No payment or refund will be made for, but not limited to, disappointment, time lost or any consequential loss of any form whatsoever.

Complaints
In the event of a complaint, please contact Neil Gorin via any of the methods outlined on our Contact Us page. We will endeavour to respond to all complaints within 3 working days. You will be kept updated as to the progress and outcome of your complaint.

Your details, security & privacy
Please see our separate Privacy policy, via the link at the bottom of this page.
 
Your Rights
The above does not affect any statutory rights that you may have under the various retail acts including the Sale and Supply Of Goods Act and the Distance Selling Regulations.


HISTORY
Terms and Conditions rewritten in plain English 10th Sept 2006.
Added details with respect to Paypal payments 13th May 2007.
Added section "Age Restricted Items" 9th November 2007.
Changed addressing for cheque payments 20th March 2009.
Details revised with relation to card processing and contacts 3rd May 2009.
Revised wording regarding pre-order processing and return policy 19th Feb 2011.
Revised cooling off period and wording 12th June 2014.
Revised wording to reflect changes to payments, Christmas returns, requests for courier parcels left without signature, tidied return policy to simplify, changed references for revised website and checkout procedures 20th May 2017.
Added Economy Courier and Tracking information, clarified section on Goods Lost In Transit to separate Courier and Royal Mail options 9th July 2017.
Added Anti-Amazoning policy on 15th June 2020.
Added term to pre-order refunds on 1st January 2023.
Altered wording on postal deliveries from Post Office to Royal Mail, added photograph/gps in lieu of signature to courier option, changed name of consumer act to reflect UK naming rather than old EU naming, removed references to postal order payments, added cash and cheque section, added bank payments section on 14th January 2023.
Altered return notification window from 14 working days to 30 calendar days. Altered Christmas return notification for over 30 days final date from 10th January to 3rd January. Amended on 4th June 2024.