Sales Terms & Conditions

Article 1 – Scope

The Sales Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) to follow govern sales and other activities carried out by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, situated at 17 Galerie Véro-Dodat, 75001 Paris, and apply to all products marketed on its website, in its store located at 17 Galerie Véro-Dodat, 75001 Paris, as well as its workshop located at 19 rue Neyron, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand. The T&Cs below concern exclusively the company Casanova Luthier-Expert and any natural or legal person (hereinafter the buyer or the customer) making a purchase or using its services on the website galerie-casanova.com or at through one of the previously defined physical sites. The T&Cs may be modified at any time and at the sole discretion of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, the user of the website and the buyer acknowledge having read the T&Cs in effect on the date of placing an order. By placing an order, the buyer expressly accepts all the terms of the Sales Terms & Conditions in effect at the time of their purchase.

Article 2 – Sales

1. The currency indicated for all products available for sale is the euro, all taxes included (TTC). The price indicated includes VAT and other taxes applicable on the day of purchase, unless otherwise indicated. The prices displayed do not include any processing fees and shipping costs.

2. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert reserves the right to modify its prices at any time. The product will be invoiced based on the price in effect at the time of purchase.

3. The products remain in the possession of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert until full payment of the listed price has been made. Delivery of the product will only be made upon full reception of payment for the order by the seller.

4. Advance payments constitute a reciprocal commitment between the buyer and the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert to carry out the sale and purchase of the applicable product, except in the case explicitly stipulated in article 2 § 5 of these Sales Terms and Conditions. They are as such considered as a deposit with regards to French law (Code de la consommation – art. L214-1) and therefore made are not refundable in the event that the buyer goes back on his commitment. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert will withhold the amount collected as damages for the incurred loss of business.

5. In the exclusive case where a buyer is unable to ascertain the nature and proper functioning of an instrument prior to its purchase and wishes to travel to one of the physical locations of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert for this purpose, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert accepts the payment of a sum, constituting neither an advance nor a deposit, corresponding to 10% of the total price of a product in order to place a purchase option and reserve the product in the name of the buyer while awaiting his travel. The time limit for the option is 7 days (Saturday and Sunday included) from receipt of payment. The option is lifted once the buyer confirms their purchase and pays the remaining balance. If the buyer wishes to withdraw their option and obtain reimbursement of their payment, an amount equivalent to 5% of the sum paid will be retained by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, corresponding to the bank charges and processing fees generated by the transactions.

6. Payment for purchases is made directly upon purchase either by bank cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex) or by bank transfer (RIB / IBAN). Payments by check may be accepted and will be subject to ID verification. However, the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert reserves the right to refuse a payment by check without it being necessary for them to cite any reason whatsoever, while the buyer will have the possibility of employing other means of payment.

Article 3 – Shipping & deliveries

1. All orders will be processed upon receipt of full payment from the buyer. The payment validation time, and by extension the shipping time, varies depending on the payment method chosen by the buyer. In any case, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert reserves the right not to deliver an order if reasonable doubt persists about the integrity of the payment made by the customer.
 
2. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer, unless prior and explicit agreement has been reached with the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert, and are applied according to the prices indicated by the seller. The cost of shipping is expressed in euros including all taxes, and is automatically added to the total price including tax to be paid when processing checkout for an order on the Internet. If an order is placed by other means (telephone, store, workshop, etc.) delivery costs will be invoiced to the buyer. Delivery rates are subject to change at any time, at the sole discretion of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, and will be invoiced on the basis of the rates in effect at the time a buyer’s order is registered.
 
3. The products are shipped to the delivery address specified by the buyer during the order process. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible in the event of an error in the address indicated by the buyer. Furthermore, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for any problem stemming from incorrect information provided by the buyer while placing the order.
 
4. The products will be shipped within a reasonable timeframe indicated by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert at the time of registering the order. In the event of a delay compared to the timeframe initially indicated, a message will be sent to the email address provided at the time of placing the order in order to inform the buyer of the delay in the shipping time which was initially stated to him and inform them about an updated shipping timeframe.
 
5. In the event of shipping by carrier, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for delivery delays due exclusively to the absence of the buyer at the stated delivery address, after several delivery attempts. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for delivery delays emanating from cases of force majeure as established under the law and jurisprudence of the French courts. Finally, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for delivery delays due to failure of transport or execution by the carrier in charge of shipping.
 
6. The Casanova Luthier-Expert company shall due its utmost to pack all goods sold for shipment in containers specially designed for shipping musical instruments, and shall strive to take all necessary measures to ensure the integrity and safety of instruments throughout their transport. To this extent, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for any loss, theft, or damage occurring during transport to the buyer.
 
7. The buyer must, upon receiving of the package and before any signature is made, indicate on the delivery bill any missing or damaged product. In the event of loss, theft or damage proven to be directly attributable to the transport of the instruments, the buyer must inform the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert as soon as possible so that the seller can contact the transport company and its insurance in order to to request, where applicable, compensation or reimbursement in accordance with the damages.
 
8. In the event of an order to a destination other than mainland France, the customer is the importer of the product. It will therefore be up to them to pay customs fees, import duties, state taxes and other local taxes that may be required. The amount and payment of these sums are not the responsibility of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, and are the  full responsibility of the buyer. Thus, the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert invites all international buyers to inform themselves on the conditions applicable to the import of musical instruments with the competent local authorities prior to purchasing any instrument sold by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert.
 
9. Shipments to buyers outside mainland France may be subject to inspection or withholding pending release by government agencies. In such cases, the customs broker of the transport company will contact the buyer through the contact method specified when placing the order. The buyer may be required to provide elements such as their identity or tax information, and to agree to the payment of customs fees, import duties and other taxes payable in order to proceed with customs clearance of the item. Thus, it is the buyer’s responsibility to provide the required information in the shortest time possible when requested by the authorities in order to ensure delivery of the shipment within the initially scheduled time frame. The seller Casanova Luthier-Expert cannot be held responsible for delays caused by the buyer’s failure to provide the information necessary for customs clearance and delivery of their shipment.
 

Article 4 – Returns & refunds

1. In accordance with the applicable French law, in the case of a sale concluded entirely remotely, outside the establishment therefore via the internet, without the buyer having had the possibility of verifying the nature and proper functioning of the good prior to its purchase, the buyer has the right to a withdrawal period of fourteen days from the day of receipt of the good by the buyer.
 
2. The buyer exercises their right of withdrawal by informing the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert by sending a declaration expressing their desire to withdraw without ambiguity. The seller then communicates to the buyer an acknowledgment of receipt of the withdrawal on a durable medium.
 
3. The buyer returns the product to the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert without undue delay and at the latest within fourteen days following their decision to withdraw. The costs associated with returning the goods by shipment are the sole responsibility of the buyer, who must send the goods by secure express delivery using a carrier specializing in valuable items, in the same packaging as that used during initial delivery.
 
4. The seller Casanova Luthier-Expert defers reimbursement of the amount collected at the time of purchase until recovery and verification of the goods is completed. The instrument must be in a condition completely unchanged from that in which it was during initial shipment by the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert. The buyer will be held liable in the event of depreciation of the goods resulting from handling other than that strictly necessary to establish the nature and proper functioning of the goods. This improper handling includes and is not limited to the disassembly of the instrument or of its parts.
 
5. The seller Casanova Luthier-Expert reimburses the buyer for the amount initially paid within fourteen days from recovery and verification of the goods. The refund is made by the same means of payment as that used during the purchase. N.B. In the event of payment by credit card online, the seller Casanova Luthier-Expert will reimburse the buyer while deducting the processing fees generated from the initial payment made by the buyer.
 
6. In the case of a remote purchase or hold payment where the goods are collected in the store or workshop, the fourteen-day withdrawal period does not apply and the sale is final.

 

Article 5 – Consignements

1. The depositor shall agree to consign his property with the depositary Casanova Luthier-Expert for a minimum period of 3 months¹. Once this period has expired, he may, if he wishes, recover his property, for the cost of any setup work and/or repairs which will have been carried out during the deposit period with his prior agreement ². Otherwise, he may choose to leave his property with the depositary for an extended period, while retaining the possibility of recovering it at any time once the initial period of 3 months has expired.

2. The depositor shall agree guarantee the exclusivity of the sale of his property to the depositary Casanova Luthier-Expert during the consignment period, defined when signing the contract. They shall agree not to put their property up for sale either with a third party person or service, or on any classified sales sites. In addition, if the property had been placed on consignment by other means prior to the conclusion of this contract, the depositor shall agree to terminate these third-party consignments.

3. The commission fee due to the depositary, calculated as a percentage of the final sale price, amounts to around 36% including tax. This fee takes into account the complex verification of the instrument’s setup, the changing of the strings and the cleaning of the instrument, its presentation and being made available for potential buyers in the store, advertising via online posting on the store’s website and in some cases via social networks, and also includes room for negotiation with a potential buyer.

4. Casanova Luthier-Expert shall pay the amount due to the depositor, as defined on the contract, within 2 weeks of the sale of the instrument. Payment will be made by bank transfer.

5. Casanova Luthier-Expert shall apply a progressive decrease of the amount due to the depositor and the price displayed for a given instrument as a function of time spent in consignment: after a period of 6 months a reduction of 5% is applied, then a reduction of 10% after a year.

¹ Period beginning on the day the contract is signed by the depositor.

² Casanova Luthier-Expert only sells instruments in perfect playing condition. If the condition of the instrument placed on consignment does not meet this requirement, it will be necessary to carry any work necessary to ensure that this is the case and thus allow the sale of the instrument in the best conditions. The cost including tax of this work is at the expense of the depositor, will be determined in his presence and will appear on the consignment contract. It may be paid prior to the sale of the instrument or deducted upon sale, depending on the agreement of both parties.

Article 6 – Purchase of instruments

1. The seller certifies that the instrument they wish to sell, which will be described in detail in the contract established on the day of the transaction, is in effect they property and that they have all the necessary legal capacity to conclude the sale of said property.

2. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert shall not be held liable for possible disputes regarding the ownership of the property prior to its acquisition by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert.

3. Payment of the amount due to the seller by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert will obligatorily be made by check or bank transfer.

Article 7 – Conservation of instruments

1. The guitars sold and restored by Galerie Casanova are old instruments, which were built following traditional processes by luthiers and manufacturers who used mainly natural materials – hide glues, alcohol-based varnish, solid wood cut to minimal thickness, all of this to ensure the instrument is able to vibrate and resonate as much as possible. At the time of construction, the only consideration was to create instruments with optimal tone and volume and for this reason, they are still extremely sought after to this day. As a consequence, they are also immensely delicate guitars and by nature very sensitive to temperature and humidity conditions.

2. Galerie Casanova regulates the air within the shop and workshops in order to conserve a constant relative humidity of around 50%. The acceptable range of variation for relative humidity is between 40% and 60%. Outside of this range, the guitar may suffer warping, glued parts may come undone, the wood may crack in places. It is therefore absolutely essential to take these elements into consideration when purchasing an older instrument. When the guitar is stored in your home, it should be kept away from heat sources (radiators, sunny windows…), in a space at constant room temperature were it will not be subjected to sudden hygrometric changes. It is also strongly recommended to acquire a thermo-hygrometer in order to monitor the environment in the room the instrument is kept in.

3. Galerie Casanova guarantees the perfect condition of instruments we sell, as they can be seen and tested while on display in our shop. Furthermore, all of our guitars are sold equipped with a humidifier when applicable, with the aim of attenuating the effect of changing environments from our shop to the buyer’s home. Therefore, Galerie Casanova may not be held liable for any of the aforementioned damage that may occur on an instrument due to lack of care regarding temperature and humidity conditions once this instrument has left our store.

Article 8 – Applicable legal jurisdiction & litigation

1. This contract is subject to French law. The language of this contract is French.
 
2. In the event of a dispute or litigation, the French courts within the locality of the head office of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert shall have sole jurisdiction.
 

Article 9 – Customer service & reclamations

For any information, questions or reclamations about our products and services, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert is available Wed-Sat / 2PM to 6PM UTC+2:
By telephone: +33 1 42 33 38 98
By email: contact@galerie-casanova.com
By post: Casanova Luthier-Expert, 17 Galerie Vero-Dodat, 75001 Paris