Terms and Conditions

Welcome to fishkeeper.co.uk – Maidenhead Aquatics’ online shop and information website

The following terms and conditions apply to use of and purchase of goods from the Maidenhead Aquatics website – fishkeeper.co.uk (Rapid Aquatics Ltd t/as Maidenhead Aquatics Online hereby referred to as ‘The Website’) (hereby referred to as ‘The Company’) the customer (hereby referred to as ‘you’).

The use of the Website and any Contracts formed between you and the Company are governed by English law. Any dispute arising from, or related to, such use and any such Contracts shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England. We make no promise that materials on the Website are appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United Kingdom and accessing the Website from territories where its contents are illegal or unlawful is prohibited. If you choose to access the Website from locations outside the United Kingdom, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws. Overseas orders (i.e. orders from outside the United Kingdom) will not be accepted.

Our terms and conditions are based on Distance Selling Regulations (2000) and are designed to both protect the consumer and the retailer. They govern the entire trading relationship between the Company and you and will remain in force for the duration of our trading relationship.

These Terms are correct as of 30 May, 2022 but please note that the Company may amend these Terms and Conditions at any time.

Please note that terms and conditions relating to purchases from our stores may differ from these, so please check with your local store as to your rights relating to returns and refunds.

If you continue to use this website you are agreeing to comply with these terms and conditions of use, which together with our Cookie and Privacy Policy, govern Maidenhead Aquatics Online dealing with you in relation to this website.

If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, please do not use this website.

By placing an order online upon this website, will have confirmed your acceptance of these terms and conditions, as clearly stipulated on the confirmation order page of this website prior to payment.

Purchasing Goods Online

When purchasing goods online from the Company, a number of terms and conditions apply to the transaction.

All products that are listed on fishkeeper.co.uk are subject to availability and our acceptance of the order.

On occasions, it may not be possible for us to supply the ordered products. In these circumstances, you will be contacted via email or telephone, and should there be no suitable alternative available, your order will be cancelled and fully refunded. The Company will not be responsible for compensating you for any losses which you may suffer if we are unable to supply the products that have been ordered.

The Company reserves the right to refuse to supply the goods ordered to you, and the receipt of an order acknowledgement email from the Company does not constitute a contract between the Company and you.

Should the company refuse to supply you with the goods that you have been ordered, a full refund will be provided to you.

When you submit an order to us on the Website, you will receive an email from us acknowledging your order ("Order Acknowledgement Email").

You should check this email for accuracy and let us know immediately if there are any errors. Please note that the Acknowledgement Email does not mean that your order has been accepted. Your order constitutes an offer to us to buy goods. All orders are subject to acceptance by us, and we will confirm such acceptance to you by sending you an email that confirms the goods have been dispatched to you (the "Shipping Confirmation"). The contract between us ("Contract") will only be formed when we send you the Shipping Confirmation" (“Contract”). Title to the goods will pass to you on delivery to you provided payment has been made in full. The Contract will relate only to those products whose dispatch we have confirmed in the Shipping Confirmation. We will not be obliged to supply any other products which may have been part of your order until the dispatch of such goods has been confirmed in a separate Shipping Confirmation.

Please note that goods will be at your risk from the time of delivery and ownership of products purchased online will only pass to you when we receive full payment of all sums due in respect of the goods, including delivery charges.

Website Delivery and Returns

For more on our website delivery and returns terms and conditions please visit this link

Advertised Price and Accuracy of Information

The price of any goods will be as quoted on the Website, except in cases of obvious error.

In the event of obvious inaccuracies in the prices quoted on the Website, we reserve the right not to fulfil and/or to cancel any orders placed by you in reliance on the inaccurate prices.

Should an order be placed for an item which is subject to an obvious error or inaccuracy, the Company will contact you as soon as is reasonably possible to arrange the necessary amendments to the transaction. Should the revised price be unacceptable to you, the Company will provide you with a full refund and cancel your order. If the Company is unable to contact you regarding the matter, the order will be refunded and cancelled.

The total price payable for the goods online will be stipulated at the time you place your order on the Website. All of the prices indicated on our website are in Pounds Sterling and include VAT at the appropriate rate, but exclude delivery charges which will be payable as indicated at the time of placing your order.

The Company reserves the right to amend prices at any time, to take account of any increase in our supplier's prices, or the imposition of any taxes or duties, or if due to an error or omission the price published for the goods is wrong. We will inform you of the correct price and give you the opportunity to cancel the order.

Payment for all goods, either by credit or debit card, will be taken from your card at the time we receive your order, once we have checked your card details and stock availability. Any payment made to us will be refunded if we do not accept your order.

Please note that promotions and prices on the Website may differ to those in our retail outlets. All offers online are subject to our terms and conditions.

Due to the large volume of products that are advertised upon the Company’s website and the continued expansion of our product range the Company is often reliant upon manufacturers for the provision of product descriptions.

Every effort is made to ensure that this information is clear, accurate and up to date. The Company does not, however, warrant, represent or guarantee that this information is clear, accurate or up to date.

We will not be liable to you or any third party for any consequential or incidental damages whatsoever that may arise out of or are related to the use of this website and or any information contained within it.

Website Content and Information

The copyright and all other intellectual property rights in and to the Website and any and/or all of the material on the Website are either owned by us and are copyright of Maidenhead Aquatics © or are included with the permission of the owner of the rights.

Maidenhead Aquatics, Rapid Aquatics, Fishkeeper and the related items are Copyright and Trademarks of Maidenhead Aquatics. ©2009 (2017) All rights reserved.

As a visitor to the Website, any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

• You may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
• You may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material
• You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

If a fault occurs in the service of the Website, you should report it to Customer Services by email and we will correct the fault as soon as we reasonably can.

Your access to the Website may be occasionally restricted to allow for repairs, maintenance or the introduction of new facilities or services. We will attempt to restore the service as soon as we reasonably can.

Please note that Maidenhead Aquatics does not accept responsibility for the content of any posted messages or articles and does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or utility of any posted message or article.

Articles express the views of their author only, and do not reflect the views of Maidenhead Aquatics. Any user who feels that an article is incorrect or objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately. We will make every effort to remove inaccurate or objectionable content within a reasonable period if it is determined that removal is necessary.

Your Account

If you use the Website, you are responsible for (1) maintaining the confidentiality of your account and your password and (2) restricting access to your computer to prevent unauthorised access to your account. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You should take all necessary steps to ensure that your password is kept confidential and secure and should inform us immediately if you have any reason to believe that your password has become known to anyone else, or if your password is being, or is likely to be, used in an unauthorised manner.

You must ensure that the details provided by you on registration at the Website or at any time are correct and complete.

You must inform us immediately of any changes to the information that you provided when registering by updating your personal details. Click here to go to the 'My Account' page. Then simply enter your email address and password and you will then be able to change the details that you originally provided.

Databank

The opinions expressed in the Fish and Plant Databanks are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Maidenhead Aquatics group. The information provided is deemed to be as accurate and helpful as possible. However, Maidenhead Aquatics does not accept responsibility for any use derived from it or any reliance placed upon it

Fishkeeper Gallery

The Company does not accept responsibility for any images used in our Fishkeeper Gallery. The Company does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information relating to the images uploaded, and are not responsible for their content. Any user that uploads an image or images that are copyrighted, non-original or do not belong to the user, will be held fully responsible to any copyright infringements. If you believe any image shown is subject to this, please contact us immediately with proof of ownership via this form.

You also agree, through your use of this gallery, that you will not use this to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or otherwise a violation of any law. All uploads will be monitored and approved before being posted live, and the Company reserve the right to omit or edit any content contained within.

By uploading your image(s) to the Fishkeeper Gallery, the Company reserves the right to use your image(s) for any future commercial marketing or advertising purposes. You will also permit us to post your name and aquarium details through various social media and marketing campaigns. When entering the gallery competition, in the event of winning, you also allow the Company permission to forward your details to the relevant third parties issuing your prize.

Price Match Policy

We offer to Price Match against our approved list of legitimate retailers (please contact [email protected]  for our approved list) in store or via the Website, whether they are online or in a 'bricks and mortar' store, subject to the following terms and conditions:

• We do not offer Price Match for any eBay merchants, private sellers or other auction sites.
• We do not offer Price Match on livestock and plants.
• The item must be in stock with both us and the competitor at the time of matching.
• We will only match items that are available from competitors within the UK and priced in £GBP.
• Prices for ‘special order’ items must be agreed at the time of ordering - prices cannot be matched retrospectively after the order has arrived.
• Please note that our Price Match policy is only applicable at the time of your original purchase and cannot be applied retrospectively to previously purchased items.
• The matched price must be 'like-for-like', including any postage and packing, delivery charges and finance deals, etc.
• We cannot offer interest-free credit finance deals on any items that have been price-matched, even if the value exceeds £500.
• We must be able to verify the competitor’s price and stock position. We will require the selected retailer's name, description of the product, the web address (if applicable) and the advertised price.
• Our Price Match is for personal use only. We reserve the right to restrict Price Match on each item to one per customer.
• The Price Match will not apply if the relevant competitor is in administration or closing down.
• The competitor’s product must be brand new, undamaged, identical to ours, and offered on the same terms.
• Price Match cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers or promotions.
• Our Price Match policy does not affect your statutory rights.
• All Price Match transactions are carried out on a case-by-case basis and at our discretion.
• If you are planning on making a special trip to one of our stores for the purpose of requesting a 'Price Match’ on a product, we would strongly recommend to please call ahead to ensure that this item is in stock and is covered by our price match policy at that time.
• We reserve the right to decline a Price Match for items where this would result in us making a material loss on the product as well as to withdraw Price Match at any time without prior notice.

Gift Cards and Credit Notes

• Once activated the value on your Maidenhead Aquatics Gift Card can be used as full or part payment at any Maidenhead Aquatics store in the United Kingdom.
• The card can be loaded in store with any value between £10 and £500. The maximum value stored on the card is £500. Preset values are available for delivery on our website
• The monies on the card cannot be exchanged for cash. Any remaining balance will be stored on the card and may be used to pay for future purchases.
• All monies on the card must be used by the expiry date which is 2 years from the date of purchase. Any balance left on the card after this date will be deducted.
• Any Gift Card purchased online will be dispatched no later than 5 working day. Orders are shipped via Royal Mail. Gift cards should be ordered within 5 working days of the ideal date of delivery to allow enough time for delivery.
• Please protect the card and treat it as cash, the balance cannot be returned if lost or stolen.
• To check the remaining balance on your Gift Card visit our Gift Card page
• Existing gift card balances can also be checked at the till in-store. Just ask one of the team in-store to log into their terminal in the store and they will be able to confirm your gift card balance.
• Gift cards are not a credit, debit or cheque guarantee cards.
• Maidenhead Aquatics reserves the right to decline purchases made using one of our gift cards if the card was not obtained from an authorised seller (ie one of our stores or via the www.fishkeeper.co.uk website). 
• Maidenhead Aquatics reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time or withdraw the card on reasonable notice. Your statutory rights are not affected.
• Credit Notes received in-store cannot be used as a payment method for an online order and must be redeemed in the store that issued them.
• All monies on a credit note card must be used by the expiry date which is 6 months from date of issue.

Click and Collect

We offer a Click and Collect service to allow customers to browse store stock in real-time. We do not keep a track of livestock including fish and live plants in store and these are not available for Click and Collect.

• Placing an order via Click and Collect does not guarantee you the stock automatically you will need to wait for a follow-up collection email advising you that the item is ready for collection and inviting you to the store to collect. We are not liable for any fuel costs or compensations for customers that visit before this email has been sent.
• Orders are aimed to be processed within 1 hour (only during the hours the store is open) but can take up to 24 hours to be processed. For updates on your order please contact the store directly.
• The person who placed and paid for the order will need to be present upon collecting the goods as you may be asked for proof ID.

Free gifts and offers

• Free gifts are not eligible for exchange or refund. If you later return your order for a refund, then you must also return the free gift item or otherwise agree to purchase it at the current selling price. In the event of the free gift being out of stock or unavailable, Maidenhead Aquatics will offer an alternative product to the value of the current selling price.
• All Free Gifts will be posted to the address you supplied to us when placing your order.

WEEE Regulations

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is now UK law. This legislation requires countries to maximise separate collection and environmentally friendly processing of these items. In the UK, distributors (including retailers) must provide a system which allows all customers buying new electrical equipment the opportunity to recycle their old items free of charge. Those establishing their own take-back scheme must as a minimum offer all customers buying new electrical equipment free take back of their old electricals on a like-for-like basis. Unwanted electrical equipment is the UK's fastest growing type of waste.

Many electrical items can be repaired or recycled, saving natural resources and the environment. If you do not recycle, electrical equipment will end up in landfill where hazardous substances will leak out and cause soil and water contamination - harming wildlife and also human health.

If you're buying a new electrical item at Maidenhead Aquatics, we will recycle your old one for free.

To remind you that old electrical equipment can be recycled, it is now marked with a crossed-out wheeled bin symbol. Please do not throw any electrical equipment (including those marked with the crossed out wheeled bin symbol) in your bin.

Find more information on WEEE recycling, and locate your local recycling centre, at www.recyclenow.com.

Customer Service Head Office and Complaints

The Maidenhead Aquatics head office is for administration and bookkeeping purposes only upper management is not available at this location on a regular basis. The operating hours are Monday through to Friday not including any bank holidays. Phone lines including our customer service line are not monitored over the weekend.

To help you get the information you need as quickly as possible we have put together some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) which may help to answer your query without having to wait to hear from us. 

If you need any help or fish or product-related advice as always, please contact your local store first who will be able to help you with your questions. You can find your most local store using our online store finder.

If you have any complaints about our service online or in store, please contact us either via our online form with details of your complaint or write to us at: Maidenhead Aquatics PO box 619 EGHAM TW20 2BS 

Klarna

In cooperation with Klarna Bank AB (publ), Sveavägen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden, we offer you the following payment options.

Payment is to be made to Klarna:

• Pay later.

Further information and Klarnas user terms you can find here. General information on Klarna you can find here. Your personal data is handled in accordance with applicable data protection law and in accordance with the information in Klarnas privacy statement.