UK Sires Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

This page tells you the terms and conditions on which we and/or any third-party seller supply any of the products (Products) listed on our website www.uksiresdirect.com (our site) to you. Please read these terms and conditions carefully before ordering any Products from our site. You should understand that by ordering any of our Products, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

You should print a copy of these terms and conditions for future reference. YOUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO CLAUSE 4 RELATING TO WHO YOUR CONTRACT IS WITH AND THE CANCELATION PROVISIONS IN CLAUSE 6.

1. Information about us

1.1 - uksiresdirect.com is a site operated by UK Sire Services Limited (we). We are registered in England and Wales under company number 04313671 and with our registered office Venton Stud, Tigley, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6DP. Our main trading address is also at Venton Stud, Tigley, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6DP. Our VAT number is 787 0101 34.

2. Service availability

Our site is only intended for use by people resident in Great Britain & Northern Ireland (the Serviced Countries). We do not normally accept orders from individuals outside the Serviced Countries; however individuals outside those countries may submit an Export Enquiry Form which will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

3. Your status

By placing an order through our site, you warrant that:

(a) You are legally capable of entering into binding contracts;
(b) You are at least 18 years old;
(c) You are resident in one of the Serviced Countries;
(d) You are accessing our site from that country;
(e) You are ordering any semen Product in the course of business.

4. How the contract is formed between you and us

4.1 - After placing an order, you will receive an e-mail from us acknowledging that we have received your order. Please note that this does not mean that your order has been accepted. Your order constitutes an offer to us to buy a Product. All orders are subject to acceptance by us, and we will confirm such acceptance to you by sending you an e-mail that confirms that the Product has been dispatched by the delivery agent or, in the case of a semen Product confirmation will be by a delivery note provided by the third-party courier service (the Dispatch Confirmation). The contract between us (Contract) will only be formed when we or the third-party courier service send you the Dispatch Confirmation.

4.2 - The Contract will relate only to those Products whose dispatch we or the third-party courier service have confirmed in the Dispatch Confirmation. We will not be obliged to supply any other Products which may have been part of your order until the dispatch of such Products has been confirmed in a separate Dispatch Confirmation.

5. Our status

5.1 - Please note that in some cases we accept orders as agents on behalf of third party sellers. The resulting legal contract is between you and that third party seller, and is subject to the terms and conditions of that third party seller.

5.2 - We may also provide links on our site to the websites of other companies, whether affiliated with us or not. We cannot give any undertaking, that products you purchase from third party sellers through our site, or from companies to whose website we have provided a link on our site, will be of satisfactory quality, and any such warranties are DISCLAIMED by us absolutely. This DISCLAIMER does not affect your statutory rights against the third-party seller. We may notify you when a third party is involved in a transaction, and we may disclose your customer information related to that transaction to the third-party seller.

6. Consumer rights

6.1 - If you are contracting as a consumer, you may cancel a Contract at any time, so long as it does not relate to semen and the delivery and packaging costs associated with such, within seven working days, beginning on the day after you received the Products. In this case, you will receive a full refund of the price paid for the Products in accordance with our refunds policy (set out in clause 10 below).

6.2 - To cancel a Contract, you must inform us in writing. You must also return the Product(s) to us immediately, in the same condition in which you received them, and at your own cost and risk. You have a legal obligation to take reasonable care of the Products while they are in your possession. If you fail to comply with this obligation, we may have a right of action against you for compensation.

6.3 - You will not have any right to cancel a Contract for the supply of any of the following Products:

- Semen
- The delivery and packing costs related to the shipment of semen

6.4 - Details of this statutory right, and an explanation of how to exercise it, are provided in the Dispatch Confirmation. This provision does not affect your statutory rights.

7. Availability and delivery

7.1 - Under normal conditions your order will be fulfilled by the delivery date set out in the Dispatch Confirmation however because we use a third-party courier service as our delivery agent and due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control we cannot guarantee that the delivery will be met at the date and time specified. If no delivery date is specified, then delivery will be within a reasonable time of the date of the Dispatch Confirmation, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

8. Risk and title

8.1 - The Products will be at your risk from the time of delivery.

8.2 - Ownership of the Products will only pass to you when we receive full payment of all sums due in respect of the Products, including delivery charges.

9. Price and payment

9.1 - The price of any Products will be as quoted on our site from time to time, except in cases of obvious error.

9.2 - These prices exclude VAT, packing and delivery costs, which will be added to the total amount due as set out in our payment process.

9.3 - Prices are liable to change at any time, but changes will not affect orders in respect of which we or the third-party courier service have already sent you a Dispatch Confirmation.

9.4 - Our site contains a large number of Products and it is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the Products listed on our site may be incorrectly priced.  We will normally verify prices as part of our dispatch procedures so that, where a Product's correct price is less than our stated price, we will charge the lower amount when dispatching the Product to you.  If a Product’s correct price is higher than the price stated on our site, we will normally, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before dispatching the Product, or reject your order and notify you of such rejection.

9.5 - We are under no obligation to provide the Product to you at the incorrect (lower) price, even after we or the third party courier service have sent you a Dispatch Confirmation, if the pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could have reasonably been recognised by you as a mis-pricing.

9.6 - Payment for all Products ordered online must be by credit or debit card.  We accept payment with Visa, Mastercard, Switch & Maestro.  We charge your credit or debit card when you place your order.

10. Our refunds policy

10.1 - When you return a Product to us:

(a) because you have cancelled the Contract between us within the seven-day cooling-off period (see clause 6.1 above), we will process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day you have given notice of your cancellation. In this case, we will refund the price of the Product in full, including the cost of sending the item to you.  However, you will be responsible for the cost of returning the item to us.
(b) for any other reason (for instance, because you have notified us in accordance with paragraph 20 that you do not agree to any change in these terms and conditions or in any of our policies, or because you claim that the Product is defective), you must inform us in writing within 10 days of delivery and we will examine the returned Product and will notify you of your refund via e-mail within a reasonable period of time.  We will usually process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 30 days of the day we confirmed to you via e-mail that you were entitled to a refund for the defective Product. Products returned by you because of a defect will be refunded in full, including a refund of the packing and delivery charges for sending the item to you and the cost incurred by you in returning the item to us.

10.2 - We will usually refund any money received from you using the same method originally used by you to pay for your purchase.

11. Fitness for Purpose and Our liability

11.1 - The information published on our website relating to individual bulls and their traits, characteristics and progeny is for information purposes only and is based on information provided by the individual seller and as such we are not able to verify, warrant or guarantee the contents thereof and consequently such information is to be used for guidance only and no warranty, approval or guarantee is given nor inferred.

11.2 - We endeavour to store semen and to ship it in conditions that are adequate however due to the nature of semen we cannot guarantee that the semen is fertile at the time of delivery.

11.3 - You, as buyer, acknowledge and accept that the fertility rates, qualities and characteristics of offspring which may be obtained by using semen Products will ultimately fluctuate significantly due to many factors beyond our control and a non-exhaustive list of examples would be the characteristics, fertility or infertility of the recipient cow, location in which it is kept and the skill and expertise of the artificial inseminator. As such we cannot guarantee successful conception and production of progeny and use of the Products is at your own risk.

11.4 - Subject as always to the above we warrant to you that any Product purchased from us through our site is of satisfactory quality and reasonably fit for all the purposes for which products of the kind are commonly supplied. We cannot guarantee that any semen supplied will lead to conception.

11.5 - Our liability for losses you suffer as a result of us breaking this agreement is strictly limited to the purchase price of the Product you purchased and, if you are contracting as a consumer, any losses which are a foreseeable consequence of us breaking the agreement. Losses are foreseeable where they could be contemplated by you and us at the time your order is accepted by us.

11.6 - For the avoidance of doubt we use reasonable endeavours to transmit and ensure that any order for semen is delivered by the third-party courier service, however we cannot have any responsibility for their failure including but not limited to delivery of the wrong order.

11.7 - This does not include or limit in any way our liability:

(a) For death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
(b) Under section 2(3) of the Consumer Protection Act 1987;
(c) For fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
(d) For any matter for which it would be illegal for us to exclude, or attempt to exclude, our liability.

11.8 We are not responsible for indirect losses which happen as a side effect of the main loss or damage and, if you are contracting as a consumer, which are not foreseeable by you and us, including but not limited to:

(a) loss of income or revenue
(b) loss of business
(c) loss of profits or contracts
(d) loss of anticipated savings
(e) loss of data
(f) loss of data
(g) waste of management or office time however arising and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable;

provided that this clause 11.4 shall not prevent claims for loss of or damage to your tangible property that fall within the terms of clause 11.4 or clause 11.5 or any other claims for direct financial loss that are not excluded by any of categories (a) to (g) inclusive of this clause 11.7.

12. No Warranties as to semen and Release

12.1 - Our site and the services relating to the sale of semen are provided on an "as is" basis. We make no other representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation:

(a) the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement;
(b) that our site or the services we provide will meet your requirements, will always be available, accessible, uninterrupted, timely, secure or operate without error;
(c) the information, content, materials or products included on the site will be as represented by sellers, available for sale at the time of listing or that sellers or buyers will perform as promised.
(d) any implied warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade;
(e) any obligation, liability, right, claim or remedy in tort, whether or not arising from our negligence. To the full extent permissible under applicable law, we disclaim any and all such warranties.

12.2 - Due to the fact that we are not the agent of either seller or you as the buyer, if a dispute arises between one or more participants, each of you release us (and our employees, representatives and agents) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

13. Import duty

13.1 - If you order Products from our site for delivery outside the UK, they may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied when the delivery reaches the specified destination.  You will be responsible for payment of any such import duties and taxes.  Please note that we have no control over these charges and cannot predict their amount.  Please contact your local customs office for further information before placing your order.

13.2 -  Please also note that you must comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the country for which the products are destined.  We will not be liable for any breach by you of any such laws.

14.  Written communications

Applicable laws require that some of the information or communications we send to you should be in writing.  When using our site, you accept that communication with us will be mainly electronic.  We will contact you by e-mail or provide you with information by posting notices on our website.  For contractual purposes, you agree to this electronic means of communication and you acknowledge that all contracts, notices, information and other communications that we provide to you electronically comply with any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.  This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

15. Notices

All notices given by you to us must be given to UK Sire Services Limited at Venton Stud, Tigley, Dartington, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6DP. or by e-mail to [email protected]. We may give notice to you at either the e-mail or postal address you provide to us when placing an order or in any of the ways specified in clause 13 above.  Notice will be deemed received and properly served immediately when posted on our website, 24 hours after an e-mail is sent, or three days after the date of posting of any letter.  In proving the service of any notice, it will be sufficient to prove, in the case of a letter, that such letter was properly addressed, stamped and placed in the post and, in the case of an e-mail that such e-mail was sent to the specified e-mail address of the addressee.

16. Transfer of rights and obligations

16.1 - The contract between you and us is binding on you and us and on our respective successors and assigns.

16.2 - You may not transfer, assign, charge or otherwise dispose of a Contract, or any of your rights or obligations arising under it, without our prior written consent.

16.3 - We may transfer, assign, charge, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of a Contract, or any of our rights or obligations arising under it, at any time during the term of the Contract.

17. Events outside our control

17.1- We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations under a Contract that is caused by events outside our reasonable control (Force Majeure Event).

17.2 - A Force Majeure Event includes any act, event, non-happening, omission or accident beyond our reasonable control and includes in particular (without limitation) the following:

(a) Strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action.
(b) Civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war.
(c) Fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster.
(d) Impossibility of the use of railways, shipping, aircraft, motor transport or other means of public or private transport.
(e) Impossibility of the use of public or private telecommunications networks.
(f) The acts, decrees, legislation, regulations or restrictions of any government.

17.3 - Our performance under any Contract is deemed to be suspended for the period that the Force Majeure Event continues, and we will have an extension of time for performance for the duration of that period.  We will use our reasonable endeavours to bring the Force Majeure Event to a close or to find a solution by which our obligations under the Contract may be performed despite the Force Majeure Event.

18. Waiver

18.1 - If we fail, at any time during the term of a Contract, to insist upon strict performance of any of your obligations under the Contract or any of these terms and conditions, or if we fail to exercise any of the rights or remedies to which we are entitled under the Contract, this shall not constitute a waiver of such rights or remedies and shall not relieve you from compliance with such obligations.

18.2 - A waiver by us of any default shall not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default.

18.3 - No waiver by us of any of these terms and conditions shall be effective unless it is expressly stated to be a waiver and is communicated to you in writing in accordance with clause 14 above.

19. Severability

If any of these terms and Conditions or any provisions of a Contract are determined by any competent authority to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable to any extent, such term, condition or provision will to that extent be severed from the remaining terms, conditions and provisions which will continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law.

20. Entire agreement

20.1 - These terms and conditions and any document expressly referred to in them represent the entire agreement between us in relation to the subject matter of any Contract and supersede any prior agreement, understanding or arrangement between us, whether oral or in writing.

20.2 - We each acknowledge that, in entering into a Contract, neither of us has relied on any representation, undertaking or promise given by the other or be implied from anything said or written in negotiations between us prior to such Contract except as expressly stated in these terms and conditions.

20.3 - Neither of us shall have any remedy in respect of any untrue statement made by the other, whether orally or in writing, prior to the date of any Contract (unless such untrue statement was made fraudulently) and the other party’s only remedy shall be for breach of contract as provided in these terms and conditions.

21. Our right to vary these terms and conditions

21.1 - We have the right to revise and amend these terms and conditions from time to time to reflect changes in market conditions affecting our business, changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and changes in our system's capabilities or for other reasonable causes.

21.2 - You will be subject to the policies and terms and conditions in force at the time that you order Products from us, unless any change to those policies or these terms and conditions is required to be made by law or governmental authority (in which case it will apply to orders previously placed by you), or if we notify you of the change to those policies or these terms and conditions before we or the third party courier service send you the Dispatch Confirmation (in which case we have the right to assume that you have accepted the change to the terms and conditions, unless you notify us to the contrary within seven working days of receipt by you of the Products).

22. Law and jurisdiction

Contracts for the purchase of Products through our site will be governed by English law.  Any dispute arising from, or related to, such Contracts shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.