TERMS & CONDITIONS.

Bennett Awards Terms & Conditions

By purchasing goods/services from Bennett Awards, customers agree to, and intend to be bound by our online terms and conditions and customer service policies as outlined below.

Product Quality

Our sculpture awards are handcrafted of the finest pewter, bronze, crystal or glass. All of our unique sculpture awards are hand-crafted, and, as such, each will have its own variations. These variations add to the uniqueness and beauty of each sculpture award – no two awards are identical.

In addition, for some custom award projects we will create an award design based on a customer’s unique specifications, including form, materials, and colors. We will make every attempt to match these specifications as close as possible. However, given the multitude of variables associated with each custom design project, including shape, material, size and production methodology, in many cases a 100% exact match will not be possible. Given the design parameters associated with the project, we will make every effort to match our customer’s desired specifications as close as possible.

Finally, some sculpture awards are mounted on marble bases. As with any natural stone, there may be veining and other variations on these marble bases. These variations are considered normal, and contribute to the individuality of each piece.

Ordering Policy

A 50% down payment is required when placing your order. The balance is due when your sculpture award order is complete and ready for shipment. We accept company checks, Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Under no circumstances can we ship a sculpture award before full payment has been received.

The invoice balance will be automatically charged to your credit card the day of/or before the awards ship unless other arrangements have been made. If you prefer another method of payment for the balance, or a courtesy call in advance, please advise us right away.

Returns, Refunds and Order Cancellations

Almost all of our sculpture awards are “made to order”, and have customized engraving and other design elements that are specific to our customers’ needs. As such, we do not offer a return or refund policy for sculpture award orders. Given the custom manufacturing involved with each order, all sales are considered "final" once placed, and orders cannot be cancelled, or quantities reduced, once the order is finalized. In all cases, deposits are non-refundable.

If there is an unnatural defect or problem with your sculpture award that is due to an error on our part, you may contact us to request a return within 48 hours of your receipt of your order. We will make any corrections necessary at our expense, and will cover the cost of replacement shipping.

If there are errors in the award engraving that were based on errors in the files and/or instructions that were sent to us by our customer, we will work to correct these errors, but all costs associated with these corrections will be the customer’s responsibility. In addition, excessive content and design changes made to the engraving specifications following the development of a review proof may results in additional charges.

Freight Damage

Please open and inspect your shipment immediately upon receipt, and report any damage incurred to your awards during shipment within 48 hours of receipt. Please report this to your Bennett Awards account representative and save all original packing materials. Your account representative will file a freight claim and instruct you on the next step.

Return Shipments

All sculpture award return shipments must be packed in the original packaging. Any damages incurred from inadequate return packaging will be the responsibility of the customer. Bennett Awards recommends that customers: a) use a carrier that offers shipment tracking on all returns; and b) insure the package for safe return to Bennett Awards, and declare the full value of the sculpture award(s) so that customers are completely protected if the shipment is lost or damaged in transit. If customers choose to forego these options, they will be responsible for any loss or damage to the product during shipping.

Pricing

Each sculpture award is priced based on its size, complexity, and finish. You can find out the price of any of our recognition awards by clicking on that award on our website. Depending on your state, sales tax may also apply.

Shipping Charges

We normally ship our sculpture awards via UPS Ground Delivery unless requested to do otherwise. UPS charges are billed according to the UPS rates posted at the time of shipment. Fed Ex and DHL services are also available.

Customer AP System Processing Fee

Many of our customers require registration and/or use of an online accounts payable system in order for us to receive their payment. We are happy to work within the context of these systems; however, they do require additional time and effort for each and every payment. As such, a $100 processing fee will be charged if customers require us to use their online accounts payable system.

Sample Policy

Customers receiving samples are required to pay for shipping costs in both directions. The initial shipping costs to send the sample to you will be invoiced to you, the buyer, and must be paid prior to shipping the samples. In the event that you decide to move forward with a purchase, the one-way shipping charge included on our sample invoice will be credited to your sales invoice. You may choose to use the carrier of your choice for the return shipment, but must follow the packaging instructions below.

Credit card information is required prior to shipping samples. Only initial shipping costs will be charged to this card, unless you decide to purchase the samples and elect to use the card for payment of the awards, or the samples are not returned in the specified time.

You will have up to 14 calendar days from the time you receive the samples to initiate a return, unless other arrangements have been made in advance. If samples are not returned on time, your credit card will be charged for the full price of the samples.

All samples must be packed in the original packaging for return. Bennett Awards will assess the product upon return. If the product is deemed to be in a damaged, unsalable condition, your credit card will be charged for the full price of the samples. For more information, please see the Return Shipments and Freight Damage sections above.

Intellectual Property

Any and all preliminary works created by Bennett Awards in the course of proposing, quoting, designing and/or producing a custom award for a client, including, but not limited to, original ideas and concepts, sketches, other forms of original artwork, electronic design files, production schematics, models, and molds are the property of Bennett Awards, and may not be used for any other purpose other than the production of the client’s custom awards by Bennett Awards. Under no circumstances can any preliminary works be shared, reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means - electronic or mechanical - for any purpose without the express written permission of Bennett Awards. Once the custom awards project is complete, and final payment has been received, the completed awards, and the underlying design, are the property of the client, and can not be reproduced by Bennett Awards or its agents, in any form, size or material, without the express written consent of the client.

Design Artwork Revisions

Clients who pay for design artwork for new custom designs are entitled to two revision cycles per design. Additional revision cycles beyond this will incur additional charges. New design directions will be considered a new design and will incur a new design fee.

Infringement Protection

Clients warrant that, to the best of their knowledge, any images or design ideas provided to Bennett Awards for the purpose of the creation of custom awards do not infringe on any intellectual property, trademarks, copyrights, or patents of any third party. If the risk of such an infringement exists, clients must first secure written permission from the property owner. If clients provide such images or ideas without written consent from the property owner, clients agree, at their own expense, to defend or settle any suits that may be instituted against Bennett Awards for alleged infringement.

California Proposition 65 Warning

WARNING: Our products may contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm. California law requires this warning to be given to customers in the State of California. For more information, visit: www.p65warnings.ca.gov

Materials Not Appropriate for Food or Drink Contact

Unless expressly stated as part of a project’s deliverables, products produced by Bennett Awards are not intended or approved for use in the consumption or storage of food and beverages. Bennett Awards is not liable for any health-related issues that arise when our products are used in this unintended manner. Our clients agree to take full responsibility for their employees, customers or other consistencies using the products we create for them in an unintended manner.

Engraving Requirements and Charges

All our recognition awards support customized engraving on their bases. This can either be done via engraved plates that are attached to the base, or via engravings etched into the award bases themselves. Award engraving pricing varies, please call us and we can discuss your specific needs. Normal turnaround is five days; however, that can be expedited if required.

The following file formats are preferred for logos or other graphics:

CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, EPS, PDF vector artwork, with all text converted to curves or outlines.

Also accepted are TIFF, BMP, JPG or other raster images, though for a logo or detailed artwork the image resolution must be high. Images taken from the Internet will seldom meet our needs. Simply re-saving an image to a larger size will not provide higher quality.

Do not embed image files inside of word documents or other documents such as spreadsheets; instead, provide the raw artwork file itself.

Award Storage

If more awards are ordered than required, we can make arrangements to store any extra awards. Awards stored for extended periods of time may incur a storage fee. In addition, depending on the material, awards stored for a long period of time may be subject to some level of surface tarnish, and additional fees may be required to restore these awards to their original surface condition.

International Taxes and Duties

For some custom award projects, materials may be sourced overseas. In certain cases, Bennett Awards may charge a client an estimated International Taxes and Duties fee for the custom awards created using these materials. In some instances, the actual International Taxes and Duties may exceed this estimate. When this happens, Bennett Awards may charge the client an added fee to cover these unanticipated Taxes and Duties fees. These additional fees will be charged at cost, with no markup. For projects that may be subject to these charges, Bennett Awards will inform the client, and gain their consent, before the project commences, and before customers make an initial deposit for the project.

Mold Longevity

When we create a mold to cast a sculpture award, there is a mold making charge associated with the first casting of that sculpture. Since this same mold can be used for subsequent castings of the same sculpture, this mold making charge won’t be reassessed each time a new unit of this sculpture is cast. However, rubber molds deteriorate over time, at which point they need to be recreated. When this occurs, we will need to invoice our customer for the creation of a new mold. We guarantee our molds for a minimum period of 10 years: if the mold becomes unusable within this time frame, we will create a new mold at no cost to our customer. If the mold becomes unusable after this time frame, we will need to charge our customer for a new mold for any new sculptures that they need to have created using this mold.

Cleaning

High-polished bronze sculpture awards can be cared for by polishing with a premium metal polish and a little elbow grease. We use a product called “Dri Wash n Guard, Premium Metal Polish”, and can sell you a 12 ounce bottle for $24.00. Most hardware stores sell something similar. “Brasso” is NOT recommended.

Pewter and marble pieces should be cleaned with Windex.

Returned Checks

There will be a $50 returned check service charge for any returned checks.