GENERAL PROVISIONS

The present terms and conditions of sale govern the relationship between The Chocolate Line SA/NV, whose head office is at Simon Stevinplein 19, 8000 Bruges, BCE number 0447 913 336, operating under the name of "online shop The Chocolate Line", http://shop.thechocolateline.be hereafter called "the Vendor", on the one hand, and any person or company ordered through our webshop.

 

The Chocolate Line SA/NV offers to sell the Customer products online through the online webshop of The Chocolate Line.

The Customer declares s/he has the capacity to possess rights and be bound by obligations.

 

OBJECT

The products are described on the site http://shop.thechocolateline.be in good faith and as accurately as possible. The Customer may obtain extra information on the products presented on the site by sending an email to [email protected], or by telephone to 00 32 (0) 50 34 10 90. The presentation of the products is not binding for the Vendor and does not constitute an offer in the legal sense of the term.

The photographs, diagrams, drawings or videos illustrating the products are not contractually binding. Under no circumstances shall the Vendor be held liable for any errors that may occur in them.

 

ORDERING

As the products proposed for sale on the online shop of The Chocolate Line are food products that are prone to deteriorating or expiring rapidly, the right of withdrawal does not apply to the Customer.

The products proposed for sale in the online shop of The Chocolate Line are those featuring on the website on the day that it is consulted by the Customer and are subject to availability.

The Customer can find out about the various products that the Vendor offers on his website http://shop.thechocolateline.be. The Customer may navigate freely on the pages of the website with no obligation to purchase.

The products are presented using an information sheet (product description, ingredients, photograph and price) containing information that is as correct and precise as possible to give as faithful and complete a description as possible. However, considering the digital means of presenting the products online, it is possible that the Customer’s perception of the photographic representation of a product does not correspond exactly with the product itself.

The Customer shall select the products s/he wants and specify the quantity. The products will then be added automatically  to the Customer’s basket.

Before ordering a product displayed on the website, the Customer must open an account by clicking on "Log in" then "Create account". The Customer must fill out a form to open an account. The Customer must also supply an email address and choose a password that shall remain personal and confidential and will later be required for purposes of identification on the site. The Customer accepts that entering these two forms of identification is deemed to be proof of his/her identity and his/her acceptance of these general terms and conditions of sale.

At any time, the Customer may obtain a summary of the products selected by clicking on "My basket", then continue selecting his/her products by clicking on "Continue shopping", correct any possible mistakes by clicking on "Back" (although no corrections can be made once the Customer has clicked on "Complete order"), finish selecting products and place his/her order by clicking on "Complete order".

To order the products s/he has chosen, after clicking on "Complete order", the Customer must identify him/herself, if s/he has not already done so; by entering his/her email and the password chosen in "Create account".

The Customer can choose the payment method desired as set out in Article 6.

By clicking on "Proceed to payment", the Customer completes his/her order. The order is recorded and the sale is complete. The Customer can no longer correct any data errors made when entering the order.

The confirmation email that the Vendor sends to the Customer concludes the contract and implies the Customer’s unconditional acceptance of these terms and conditions. The details of the order stated in the confirmation email are:

Summary of item(s)

    Total cost of order

    Total shipping and processing costs

    Customer’s name and address

    Place and date of ordering (for information only)

    Payment details

    Contact details for the customer service department of The Chocolate Line.

The order form shall be recorded on the Vendor’s IT registers, which are stored on a reliable, durable server and shall be considered proof of the contractual relations between the parties. It also provides proof of the availability and price of the items.

Automatic recording systems are deemed to be valid proof of the nature, content and date of the order. The sale shall not be concluded until confirmation of the order has been sent by email to the Customer.

The Vendor shall not be bound by the Customer’s order until written confirmation is sent that it agrees to process the order. The Vendor reserves the right to subject the order to other conditions, to suspend or refuse it, notably if the order proves to be incomplete, if the data supplied is obviously erroneous, if the Customer has failed to pay previous orders, or for any other reason that the Vendor may see fit.

The information given by the Customer when s/he places an order is binding; in the event of an error in the Customer’s name or address, the Vendor shall not be held liable for its inability to deliver the goods.

Orders shall not be final until they have been confirmed by payment of the amount by the Customer.

AVAILABILITY

If the product proves to be unavailable after the order has been finalised, the Customer shall be notified by email as soon as possible.

 

PRICES

The prices of the various products are given in euros (€) and include tax. The prices are net, before shipping costs. The Vendor reserves the right to change his prices at any time. The products, if available, shall nonetheless be invoiced in euros at the rates in force when the order was recorded. Placing an order implies accepting the price given for the chosen product.

Shipping costs, where relevant, are given separately when you process your order and must also be paid at the time of completing your order.

The total price given in the order confirmation is the final price, including all taxes and costs.

 

CUSTOMS FEES

Any order placed on the website and shipped outside Belgium may be subject to taxes and customs fees when it reaches its destination. The expense of the taxes and customs fees related to the delivery of an item are the responsibility of the Customer alone. The Vendor is not required to find out about and inform the Customer of any customs fees and taxes which may apply. The Vendor advises the Customer to contact the competent authorities in his/her country for further information on this matter.

 

PAYMENT METHODS

The online shop of The Chocolate Line is governed by Belgian law and the items offered for sale on the site are all shipped from Belgium. Invoices are drawn up in euros, subject to Belgian value-added tax (TVA) of 6% and shipping costs subjected to 21%.

The Vendor accepts the following payment methods: VISA,  MASTERCARD, and IDEAL. The Customer shall receive confirmation by email on receipt of payment for his/her order.

Whatever payment method is used, the order shall not be taken into account until the payment has been validated. As long as the order has not been validated, it shall be recorded but not taken into account. Validation of the order is issued once authorisation to debit the account has been sent by the organisation that verifies and validates payment. The Vendor shall then send a confirmation email and the Customer’s account shall be debited.

The Vendor reserves the right to suspend the processing of an order if payment by bank card is denied or payment is not made. In these circumstances, the Vendor may consider the sale to be cancelled.

The Vendor guarantees full confidentiality of bank information secured by the SSL protocol, which automatically checks the Customer’s right to use the bank card and encrypts all transactions to ensure confidentiality.

PROOF OF THE TRANSACTION

In general, the parties accept electronic evidence within the framework of their relations (email, back-up, etc).

The parties agree that the data recorded by the Vendor are proof of all the Customer’s transactions on the website. The data recorded by the payment system is proof of financial transactions.

Order forms and invoices are stored on a reliable, durable server and shall be produced as evidence.

 

PROCESSING ORDERS

Orders are processed from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays. Parcels are dispatched from Belgium within a period of 1 to 15 working days following the payment of the order unless prevented by an act of God.

The Vendor shall not be held liable for any late or non-delivery due to an act of God or an event beyond its control which may make performance of the contract impossible or more costly, in part or in whole, or due to the acts of third parties such as the suppliers to the parties to this agreement, subcontractors, agents and representatives, or if the Customer fails to fulfil his/her commitments.

Acts of God which release the Vendor from his duty to deliver the goods are war, riot, fire, strikes, accidents and the impossibility of obtaining supplies. The Vendor shall keep the buyer informed in good time of the abovementioned events or incidents.

Timely delivery of products shall only take place if the Customer has fulfilled his/her obligations to the Vendor. The lead times stated in the order or the order summary are given in good faith as an estimate only. The lead times are not in themselves an essential condition of the contract and the Vendor shall not be required to make any compensation whatsoever or to pay interest in the event of late performance of his duties.

The Customer may also change the appointed date, under the conditions set out in the confirmation email, either on the website http://www.shop.thechocolateline.be, or by contacting the customer services department by sending a message to [email protected], and paying any costs or modification of expenses related to the change of date.

The Vendor reserves the right to entrust some services to third parties, employees or agents working under its responsibility within the limits provided by the law and regulations on accreditation.

The products bought on the website http://shop.thechocolateline.be shall be sent to the shipping address supplied by the Customer. The Vendor shall not be held liable for the consequences of any errors made by the Customer at the time of ordering.

The Vendor shall not be held liable for the non-performance of the contract in the event of acts of God, disturbances, or partial or total strikes, in particular relating to any means of transport or carrier services.

A detailed invoice corresponding to the order, drawn up in the name of the Customer, shall be enclosed with the order.

Return of products shall be accepted only for defects in quality. In that case, customers are requested to send an email to the customer services department at [email protected] accompanied by photos of the product as well as its packaging. Return of products is only permissible 7 working days after the package has been received.

 

ABSENCE OF THE RIGHT OF RETRACTION

In accordance with article VI.53 of the law of 21 December 2013 and article 47 § 4 6° of the law of 6 April 2010 on market practices and consumer protection, the right of retraction does not apply to contracts made through the website http://shop.thechocolateline.be.

 

AVAILABILITY

Offers of sale are subject to the availability of products. If a product proves to be unavailable after the order has been validated, the Vendor undertakes to inform the Customer as soon as possible by email or telephone. The Customer may then request the cancellation of the order. When reimbursement is complete, the amount shall be credited to the Customer’s credit card account within thirty days of cancellation.

 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All text, comments, illustrations and images reproduced on our website are all rights reserved. Any reproduction in part or in full without the Vendor’s consent is prohibited. Ordering does not entail the transfer or granting of intellectual property rights unless expressly stated.

 

LIABILITY

The products on offer comply with the Belgian and European laws in force. The Vendor cannot be held liable if it has performed its services in accordance with these regulations.

The Vendor cannot be held liable for anything but fraud or gross negligence towards the Customer committed by the Vendor or its employees or agents.

The Vendor shall not be liable for any indirect loss due to this contract, loss of business, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, loss of production, loss of activities, loss of clientele, damage to reputation, damages or costs, and this list is not exhaustive.

Any complaints must be sent without delay by email addressed to [email protected] or by post addressed to the Vendor, whose address is given in Article 1 of these general terms and conditions. If it transpires within thirty days following the receipt of the complaint that the Vendor has failed in the performance of its obligations, it shall then make a new delivery of the products concerned by the complaint, at its own expense.

 

TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP

The online shop of The Chocolate Line keeps full ownership of the products sold until the total amount due by the Customer for that order has been received. The transfer of ownership of goods bought from the online shop of The Chocolate Line by the Customer to a third party falls outside the scope of this contract. Only the Customer who originally bought those goods may claim to agree to the clauses of the present terms and conditions of sale.

 

 

 

PROTECTION OF PRIVACY

The supply of personal information for online sales is compulsory because it is needed for order processing and shipping and for invoicing. This information is strictly confidential. Failure to supply information entails the automatic rejection of the order.

The Vendor undertakes not to divulge the information supplied by its Customers to any third parties. It shall be used solely for the purposes of internal management, that is, to manage orders, invoicing, service, solvency, marketing or personalised advertising, without this list being exhaustive.

It may however be given to organisations under contract to the Vendor, for their own commercial prospecting.

Visitors who wish to do so are entitled to oppose the use of their data for personalised marketing, by simple request and free of charge.

The Vendor undertakes to respect the principles of the Belgian law of 8 December 1992 on the protection of privacy with respect to the processing of personal data. A Customer who has placed an order on the Vendor’s site may at any time consult, correct or delete the personal data that the Vendor has recorded about him/her by sending an email to [email protected] or a letter to the address given in Article 1 of the present terms and conditions.

 

ENFORCEABILITY OF THE GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Any order made by the Customer and all deliveries made by the Vendor imply full and unconditional acceptance by the Customer of the present terms and conditions of sale to the exclusion of any other documents such as the Customer’s own general terms and conditions, or any brochure, catalogue, etc, which are only to be taken as a guideline.

The parties expressly agree that the present general terms and conditions apply to their commercial relations, unless otherwise provided in writing. The express waiver of one of the general or particular terms or conditions does not affect the application of the other general or particular clauses.

The cancellation or inapplicability of one of the clauses of the general or particular terms and conditions has no effect on the whole of the other provisions in the general and particular terms and conditions, which remain valid and applicable.

The fact that the Customer has not received the present general terms and conditions in his/her native language does not exempt him/her from applying them.

The ordering of any product proposed on the site supposes the reading and express acceptance of the present general terms and conditions, and this acceptance does not require the Customer’s handwritten signature.

The validation of the order form by the Vendor constitutes an electronic signature, equivalent to a handwritten signature, confirming that the order is complete and that the sum due for fulfilling that order is payable.

The Vendor reserves the right to change its general terms and conditions without personally informing the Customer and without the Customer being entitled to claim any compensation whatsoever. It is incumbent on the Customer to check periodically whether or not changes have been made. The Customer may copy or print the present general terms and conditions of sale as long as she/he does not alter them.

APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTES

The present contract is governed by Belgian law.

Any complaints must first be registered with our customer service department using the email [email protected]. The Customer should first contact the Vendor with a view to obtaining an amicable solution.

Any disputes shall be settled under Belgian law by the Belgian courts, which have sole jurisdiction unless there is a mandatory statutory provision to the contrary.