1. Overview
These Terms and Conditions apply to all purchases and deliveries managed by Pearl Acoustics Distribution bv, which is referred to in this document as either Pearl Acoustics Distribution bv or, ‘we’ or ‘us’. Pearl Acoustics Distribution bv is a company, licensed by Pearl Acoustics Ltd to produce, sell and distribute its products and services worldwide.
By paying a deposit, or paying your invoice, the customer acknowledges he or she has read these and agrees to our local Terms and Conditions.
2. Quotations, Prices, and Special Offers
- All the information on this website is placed on a best effort for accuracy basis and only becomes contractually binding when there is an agreement between us and our customer. This agreement can be in the form of an official quotation or email correspondence.
- Quotations can be made for products that have still to be manufactured or finished. In this case, we will do our utmost best to keep you informed of progress and expected delivery or ‘ready for dispatch’ times. In manufacturing, delays can occur due to sickness, supply chain challenges and other reasons. Again, in this situation, we will do our best to keep you informed.
- All written offers are legally binding for a maximum of 21 days. This, however, is not the case for a specific pair of loudspeakers or other product, unless the Serial number is quoted in the offer, AND we have received the agreed deposit on our bank account within 21 days of our offer.
- Unless stated otherwise, all prices are exclusive of any customs duty, import charges, local taxes.
- A binding contract exists when we have confirmed your order, via an invoice and you have paid the required deposit, within the time-line quoted in article 3.
- Due to extremely fluctuating worldwide supplier pricing, our sell prices are subject to change without notice. Therefore, we only bind ourselves to the prices quoted on our website, or other channel, once a customer has placed an order and we have accepted it.
- If 0% VAT is used on our invoice, it is because it is free of VAT according to article 39 ‘wetboek BTW – Export’ (Belgian legislation).
3. Payment
- All goods need to be paid for in full prior to shipping.
- If an order needs to be split into multiple parts, for example, due to non-availability of specific items on an order, we can issue multiple invoices, if needed. This we will confirm in advance.
4. Delivery & Dispatch
- Delivery’ is the time it takes to deliver a product from our factory or warehouse to you. When we offer an estimate of duration, it is only an estimate and can never be guaranteed by us, as we outsource shipping to renowned shipping and delivery companies. When we quote and invoice for ‘Shipping’ it is based upon the price that our shipper has given us to deliver to the address you have requested. We cannot be held responsible for the actions of local customs and regional importing procedures, nor for any charges they may incur, or delays caused thereby.
- ‘Dispatch’ or ‘Ready for ‘Shipping’ is the moment or period of time to the point when our products have completed all their quality checks, are boxed and ready for ‘Shipping’. Therefore, we may refer you to our ‘Ready for Shipping’ estimate, rather than a ‘Delivery Time’. All ‘Ready for Shipping’ estimates are made in good faith, and we cannot be held liable for this. For example, we may be subject to manufacturing delays, as these can occur due to staff sickness, supply chain challenges and multiple other reasons. In this situation, we will do our best to keep you informed.
- If dispatch is delayed due to our customer (for example, changing their mind on the colour or maybe needing extra time to pay their balance) the time for delivery might need to be extended, depending on the circumstances, and even when the reason for delay occurs after the original expected dispatch date.
- If we exceed our quoted ‘ready for dispatch’ time by 30 days or more, you are open to give us a reasonable deadline for completion. If we do not meet the new agreed deadline, you are free to terminate your purchase agreement with us and any deposits paid by you will be refunded in full. Whether you decide to cancel, or extend your order with us, we are not liable to offer any compensation for either direct, or indirect costs that you may have incurred.
- Transportation damage and any other concerns must be reported in writing by email to enquiries@pearlacoustics.com within 24 hours of delivery.
5. Your right of return and cancellation
- If you are not delighted with your products, you can return them within 30 days of delivery and receive a full refund on the price you paid for the goods, less a fee of 200EUR which covers a visual inspection of the returned goods and packaging, QA Testing, and the replacement of the outer boxes only. This assumes that the products arrive back at our factory in the condition they left it.
- You are responsible for arranging the return shipping and the payment of any subsequent import costs incurred by us.
- Your right of return is subject to you notifying us by e-mail within 30 days from delivery. You must clearly state the reason why you wish to return the products.
- Your refund will be made within 14 days from us receiving your returned products.
6. Product inspection and notification of defects
- It is the customers responsibility to inspect and examine the products we deliver to them, prior to use.
- We take every effort to ensure our products leave our factory in the best possible condition.
- Natural Oak Products: Since our natural oak products are subject to the limitations of the natural occurrences in wood, and its subsequent assembly into a loudspeaker enclosure, it is possible that our products may display marks and patterns or apparent visual defects. They may even show evidence of hairline cracks. This is a normal condition of a solid natural wood product. As long as we consider that their acoustic performance will not in any way be impaired, then the loudspeakers will pass for shipment.
- We take photographs of every pair of Natural Oak Sibelius loudspeakers, showing as much detail as possible. These photographs are shared with the customer (either in the web shop) or via other electronic channels as evidence of the quality and finish of the actual products they are about to receive, asking their approval to ship.
- We listen to all our loudspeakers, for a final check, prior to signing them off in our internal final QA certification process.
- Any detected or supposed defect must be communicated to us in writing, with a detailed description and supporting photographs, where possible, via email, at the moment the defect is detected. Not disclosing any defects will remove any rights to later claims.
7. Product Warranty
- We provide 10 years warranty on our loudspeakers, stands & cables.
- We provide 5 years warranty on our electronics (amplifiers etc.).
- The warranty period commences from the date of delivery of the products.
- The warranty only covers manufacturing defects. Therefore, the warranty does not cover anything else, e.g. damage to enclosures due unsuitable storage or placement conditions, damage to drive cones due to being touched or poked, over-driven etc. or to scratches, wear and tear, or misuse, incorrect connection, defects arising from inadequate maintenance, theft, fire etc. Sibelius loudspeaker enclosures are made of solid, natural, oak and this requires that they are kept in suitable conditions, where temperature levels are stable, and humidity does not fall below 40% or exceed 60%.
- It is the customers responsibility to provide suitable evidence of defect in manufacture.
- When a defect is found to be covered by the warranty, then we will arrange repair, or a replacement, depending on what we decide, on a case-by-case basis. If the defect concerns a product that cannot be repaired and is no longer in production, we can offer a full or partial refund, or similar product.
- The warranty only applies to the original purchaser, according to our invoice and delivery records.
8. Force majeure
- Any circumstance beyond our control, such as fire, war, civil unrest, natural disasters, health epidemics, shortage of transport etc. shall be considered as grounds for not honouring a contract between us and our customers. This assumes that the issue could not have been reasonably foreseen at the time the contract was entered into.
9. Liability
- We shall not be liable for loss of production, loss of profit or any other indirect losses in any way linked to our products.
- We shall not be liable for defects arising from any modifications or interference with our products not carried out by us.
- Any defective parts, need to be returned to us and they will become the property of Pearl Acoustics Distribution bv, once they have been replaced.
- We shall not be liable for any occurrence or usage that falls outside the instructions and guidance given within our product handbooks and user manuals. (These can be found and downloaded from our website, prior to purchase).
- Our maximum liability, for any cause, is five times the purchase price paid for our product to our original customer only.
10. Intellectual property
- The Intellectual property of any products purchased, always remains with the original IP owner. This can be Pearl Acoustics Ltd. or any of the designers, artists and suppliers of all, or any, of the products we manufacture, purchase, produce or re-sell. Therefore, our customers have no rights of license, patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights to the products we sell.
11. GDPR
When you place an order with us, we will need to receive some information from you to fulfil your order. This will include your: Name, Address, Telephone number, E-mail address, delivery address, the details of what you wish to purchase, and how you intend to pay. We will handle your personal data to the best of our ability, and to the level our proprietary IT systems can provide, and always to the same level of security that we expect others to handle our own personal data. Please see our privacy policy on our website.
12. Applicable law and legal venue
- Any dispute arising from a a purchase governed by these Terms and Conditions, including any disputes regarding the existence, validity or termination thereof, will be carried out and settled by the courts nearest to the registered office of Pearl Acoustics bv, in Leuven, Belgium.
- All disputes shall be considered subject to Belgian law.
Pearl Acoustics Distribution bv is a Belgian based business overseeing the manufacture, sale and distribution of products on behalf of Pearl Acoustics Ltd. (a UK registered business, designing high quality HIFI products for discerning customers). We reflect our licensing company’s three-word motto of ‘Purity, Simplicity, Sustainability’ by carrying out our work in a spirit of cooperation, fairness, creative solution focused thinking, and extreme attention to detail. We continually strive for improvement and total customer satisfaction in all we do.