Terms and conditions
Website usage
Terms and conditions of the use of the website can be found as part of our Privacy Policy.
Retail & sales terms
1. General
1.1 These terms and conditions (“terms”) apply to all wine sales by “us”, Starling Wines Ltd to “you”, the customer and are applicable to all sales contracts (“order”) confirmed via, but not limited to; email, telephone, instant message or via our customer portal.
1.2 We consider any confirmation of any order acceptance of these terms and conditions.
1.3 These terms specifically apply to all orders relating in part or wholly to consumption of wine, for both private and trade customers.
1.4 We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time and any such amendments will take effect once published via our website. It is your responsibility to read and understand these terms and conditions on each occasion ahead of confirming any order.
2. Sales
2.1 All orders are subject to the relevant law of England & Wales. All purchasers must be 18 years or over. International customers must additionally be of the prescribed age for purchasing alcohol in the relevant jurisdiction where goods are received.
2.2 An order is placed at the point we issue an invoice for a purchase confirmed by a customer by means outlined in section 1.1. Any confirmation is considered acceptance of these terms.
2.3 All orders will include the applicable taxes to the relevant jurisdiction(s) for that sale, at the prevailing rate.
2.4 There is a minimum order value of £500 (excluding any applicable taxes).
2.5 All wines listed are in bond, without duty or VAT added. Prices are payable in GBP (£) and EUR (€); all other currencies displayed on the website are for indicative purposes only.
2.6 Up to the point of delivery, we reserve the right to cancel any order or services to you without giving any reason.
3. Payment terms
3.1 The payment will be due upon receipt of invoice, unless otherwise formally agreed. Trade accounts are payable prior to transfer/delivery/export of goods unless otherwise formally agreed.
3.2 We reserve the right to charge a cancellation fee (up to 50% of invoice value or actual losses incurred by us).
3.3 We reserve the right to use any funds held on account to cover, in part or in full, any overdue invoices.
3.4 We reserve the right to withhold any wines stored on your behalf in our warehouse(s), including long-term private reserves, for non-payment of any invoice. This applies to invoices for goods and/or services.
3.5 Late payment: If payment is not received by the requested due date, we may charge interest on the overdue amount at the yearly rate of 4% above the base lending rate of the Bank of England. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment (in cleared funds) of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. If demanded the Customer must pay us interest together with other debt collection charges incurred and the overdue amount.
3.6 Debt collection for non-payment: Without limiting our right to recover any sum due from the Customer at any time, we may, at our sole discretion, invoke our debt collection process as follows:
- The Customer will be contacted by either email, letter or telephone and payment must be arranged immediately. Notice will be given at this time that at the next contact for payment an administration fee will be charged.
- If after 60 days from the invoice date the debt remains unpaid, an administration charge will be applied to the Customer’s account.
- Should the debt still remain unpaid at 90 days from the invoice date, a further administration charge will be applied to the Customer’s account.
- We reserve the right to carry out any additional or other methods to recover the debt, including issuing proceedings.
- Preferred method for overdue payment is debit card or bank transfer. We also accept credit cards but may levy a surcharge to cover handling and administration costs as follows: Mastercard/Visa 2% of total invoice inc VAT and American Express 2.6% of total invoice inc VAT.
4. Duty and VAT
4.1 Wines are offered for sale under bond and duty paid (domestic customers only). Those required for UK home use are subject to duty & VAT at the prevailing rates.
4.2 If wines are being ordered from outside of the UK, import duties, tariffs and taxes may be incurred once your wines reach their destination. Starling Wines Ltd is not responsible for these charges and we undertake to make no calculations or estimates in this regard. We recognise that if you are buying internationally the process can be complex and Starling Wines Ltd will be on hand to guide you with advice and support. As the purchaser of the wines, you will also be the importer of record and as such should ensure that your purchase is in full compliance with the laws of the country into which the wines are being imported. Please be aware that wines may be inspected on arrival at port for customs purposes and Starling Wines Ltd cannot guarantee that the packaging of your wines will be free of signs of tampering.
5. Cancellation, changes and returns
5.1 Whilst buyers and sellers are entering a legally binding contract when placing offers, Starling Wines Ltd recognises that through the nature of wine storage, errors can occur unbeknown to the seller. In circumstances beyond the seller’s control, at our discretion we will notify the buyer of an error occurring and discuss all options available to them.
5.2 This may result in one of the following:
- An identical replacement being sought by the seller at their cost
- Negotiation of a suitable lower price agreeable to both parties
- A suitable alternative as agreed by the buyer
- A full refund
5.3 As a private customer, you have a right to cancel your order under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (“Consumer Regulations”).
5.4 Your order can be cancelled within 14 days from receipt of goods, by informing your Portfolio Manager, who will provide further information on completing the cancellation.
5.5 Cancellation will only be applicable to unopened goods. At our discretion we may offer a reimbursement factoring in any perceived loss of value due to any handling by you.
5.6 You will be responsible for all costs associated with returning wines.
6. Post trade cancellation – Seller
6.1 Starling Wines Ltd reserves the right to cancel a sale agreement if stock is not provided, does not meet stock condition criteria or is supplied outside the stated time frame.
6.2 The seller can request to cancel after a sale agreement has been made, this will only be done at the full discretion of Starling Wines Ltd.
6.3 Starling Wines Ltd reserves the right to charge the seller all costs associated with a post-trade confirmation cancellation, including the cost of replacement stock.
6.4 Costs associated with returning stock following a seller-side post-trade cancellation will be charged to the seller.
7. Delivery
7.1 “Delivery” (including, but not limited to; deliveries to an address, releases for collection, transfers between warehouses and exports) is free for all orders over £750 excluding VAT and is charged at cost for any orders below this.
7.2 The delivery charge is calculated by postcode.
7.3 Our obligations to deliver wines begin only once full settlement is made for wines and/or spirits specified on the invoice. These obligations do not preclude cancellations as outlined.
7.4 Any provided delivery dates are estimates only and we/our transport providers do not guarantee to meet any delivery date unless otherwise specifically agreed.
7.5 We reserve the right to charge storage at £10 (excluding VAT) per annum for any order where delivery instruction has not been received from you, within 14 days following receipt of payment unless otherwise agreed.
8. Provenance, quality control & caveat emptor
8.1 We make best endeavours to ensure that all wines and/or spirits offered by us are of the best possible provenance and have benefitted from optimal storage prior to our acquisition. As such, we purchase only from suppliers who have undergone and passed our internal due diligence process and refrain from the purchase of stock with ‘strip’-labels identifying previous export to The Americas and/or Asia, unless exceptionally specified in our offering or offered via our offices in such geographical regions.
8.2 With regards to older, particularly rare or particularly high-value wines and/or spirits, we make reasonable endeavours to verify provenance of such products but we are unable to guarantee authenticity. Despite improving technology and methods, inspecting wines and/or spirits for authenticity often remains subjective and therefore impossible to establish definitively. Any information we are able to provide pertaining to the provenance of specific wines cannot be guaranteed or warranted by us in any way.
8.3 It is understood that wines may suffer from cork taint (TCA), premature oxidation, fatigue and/or other ‘faults’. While best effort is made to identify such faults by us, many remain undetectable until opening of the bottle and we cannot be held under any obligation to replace affected bottles or offer compensation where such faults are found to exist after delivery.
8.4 At our discretion, we may contact a producer to return bottle(s) suspected of containing certain faults.
8.5 We endeavour to deliver all bottles in the condition in which they are offered and use only recommended specialists for the transportation of wines and/or spirits (where possible). Insurance is compulsory for deliveries to customers and will cover customers for damage or loss caused by the transporter or arising during transport. There is no coverage for conditions during transport and while secure packaging will be chosen and optimum temperature and other weather-related conditions will be identified ahead of dispatch, we cannot guarantee the quality of the contents within the bottle.
8.6 We recommend all wine and/or spirits be allowed time to rest after transport, that time recommended increasing with the age of the product. We are able to provide additional advice and information on the opening of older bottles upon request.
9. Liability/force majeure
9.1 We will not be liable for any failure to meet any agreed or perceived obligations as a result of circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
9.2 Any liability in connection with the sale of wines and/or spirits will be limited only to the agreed order price paid by you, as invoiced by ourselves.
10. Disclaimer & copyright
10.1 Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance and any references to specific stocks must be assessed by the potential investor. Investment advice is based on information taken from trade services and in-house statistics, and other sources, which Starling Wines Ltd believes to be reliable. Trading advice reflects our judgment at a specific time and there is no guarantee of results. All material contained within this document is intellectual property of Starling Wines Ltd and should not be reproduced or copied under any circumstances without consent.
10.2 All copyright, trade marks, design rights, patents and other intellectual property rights (registered and unregistered) in and on the Starling Wines website and Starling Wines Content (Including but not limited to guides, reports, articles and emails) belong to Starling Wines. Starling Wines reserves all of its rights in Starling Wines Content and Starling Wines Services. Nothing in the Terms grants you a right or license to use any trade mark, design right or copyright owned or controlled by Starling Wines. Any use of any Starling Wines property would require written permission from or on behalf of Starling Wines. Any unlawful use of Starling Wines property may result in legal action.