Acceptance of These Retail Conditions of Sale
Your acceptance of these Conditions of Sale will be required for orders placed on our website, www.hdhauction.com each time you place an order, however this acceptance is made via a simple checkbox during checkout. By accepting these Retail Conditions of Sale, you are accepting them for the duration of your buying relationship with Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. (HDH) which will allow you to make other retail purchases over the phone or through email should you choose to. We will notify you of changes to our Retail Conditions of Sale as they may occur in the future. We appreciate your business and thank you for taking time to read and understand this document.
Purchasing and Shipping Wine Legally
Any wine sold to you by HDH is sold in Illinois, and title passes to you, the buyer, in Illinois at the time of sale. Many states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that regulate inbound shipments of wine and other alcoholic beverages purchased in another state. Such shipments may be a crime unless a permit or license is obtained. Many laws and statutes make exception for wine purchased for personal consumption. Since these laws may affect your purchase of wines from HDH, we urge you to investigate the laws in your state regarding this subject before shipping or arranging to ship any wine purchased from us. Buyers (not HDH) are the owners and shippers of all wine purchased in Illinois from HDH. As your agent, we will be pleased to choose a licensed common carrier on your behalf, with various levels of service typically available, however, HDH always recommends collecting your purchases at HDH. Should a buyer choose to ship their purchase, they are responsible and bear all risk, including selecting a carrier, providing delivery instructions, and paying any applicable taxes, duties, and tariffs.
Insurance
Insurance will be provided for all shipments arranged by and billed to HDH. This insurance will solely cover breakage or loss from time of purchase to time of delivery.
Neither Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. nor its agents assume responsibility for any deterioration resulting from shipment, which includes, but is not limited to: scuffed labels, cracked wax capsules or minor seepage.
The insurance provided by HDH will only cover shipments billed to HDH. Wines being shipped on Purchaser’s or agents of Purchaser’s accounts will only be covered by HDH’s insurance policy until they leave the HDH warehouse, not while in transit. Due to the fragile nature of vintage wine, HDH strongly recommends that Purchasers arrange for collection from HDH. All shipments arranged by HDH are made on the buyer’s behalf.
Wines must be inspected by the Purchaser upon receipt and any loss or breakage must be noted on the Shipper’s documents at the time of delivery. If HDH is not notified of any breakage or loss claims within 24 hours of delivery, the claim will not be honored.
If the buyer or an agent of the buyer will not be able to receive and inspect the shipment upon delivery, the shipment should be scheduled for another date. If the loss or breakage is not noted on the Shipper’s documents and if HDH is not notified of a claim of loss or breakage within 24 hours of delivery, the claim will not be honored.
Should this insurance coverage not be desired, a written waiver of insurance and any subsequent claims must be received prior to the shipment of the wines. Without insurance, loss or damage due to any cause will be at the Purchaser’s risk.
Returns and Cancellations
Returns and order cancellations are not accepted, except in cases of shipping or inventory errors on the part of HDH Wine Co., in which case, issue-specific resolutions will be created and applied.
Age Verification
Buyers must warrant that he/she are at least 21 years of age, and that the wines will be received by someone that is at least 21 years of age. By placing an order with Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. through our website, over the phone or in person, you certify under penalty of perjury that you and the recipient are at least 21 years old. Upon delivery, the recipient will be required to show photo identification proving that he or she is at least 21 years of age; delivery will not be executed without a signature from the recipient. The willful misrepresentation of your age or the age of the recipient is a crime in most states, and if it appears to us or to the authorities that you have done so, we will cooperate with the authorities to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
Photo Identification
Photo identification must be presented at the time of collection. If you have requested a proxy to pick-up on your behalf, you must notify HDH in writing (email is acceptable as long as it is the email address that we have on file) prior to the pick-up and your proxy must present photo identification; if these conditions are not met HDH will not release your purchase.
Gift Orders
All shipments of alcohol legally require a person of 21 years or older to sign for receipt. As such please make sure that your gift recipient will be available to receive your shipment.
HDH will make one shipping attempt* for all gift orders unless otherwise requested. If an order is returned, HDH reserves the right to return the order to stock and credit your account, minus the cost of shipping. If you would like HDH to make additional attempts at delivery you may request this in writing. No more than three attempts will be made for any one shipment.
* Shipments by UPS include 3 delivery attempts after which your order will be returned to HDH. All other shipping methods (e.g., messenger) will only make one delivery attempt.
Payment
All sales are made in the state of Illinois. Payment in full is due upon receipt of invoice or order confirmation. No order will be shipped or allowed to be collected from our cellar until all expenses related to the order have been paid. We accept cash, electronic checks (ACH) drawn on U.S. bank accounts, money orders, wire transfers, and credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express).
Transactions for restaurants and other licensees will be routed through a licensed wholesaler. There is no charge for this service, but we do require that buyers identify themselves as licensees at the time the order is placed.
If payment in good cleared funds is not received within 21 days of the purchase, HDH Wine Co. reserves the right to assess a late charge of up to 3% of the total purchase price, in addition to any other rights and remedies available by law to HDH Wine Co., and additional 3% late charges every two weeks following day 21. HDH reserves the right to cancel any order at any time.
Taxation, Duties, and Tariffs
At all times, taxation is determined by point of delivery. We are required by law to collect the appropriate state and local taxes from purchasers, unless the purchase is deemed to be non-taxable. All non-taxable transactions must be completely documented prior to release of purchases.
Wine and/or other alcoholic beverages sold by HDH may be subject to laws, rules, or restrictions governing importation, including duties, tariffs, permits, rates, schedules, taxes, and preliminary statements, as they may be amended, adjusted, increased, renegotiated, replaced or restated from time to time (herein “Import Duties”).
Buyer is solely responsible for any and all Import Duties that may apply to any purchase of wine and/or alcoholic beverages, including those Import Duties in effect after the Buyer purchases the wine and/or alcoholic beverage but prior to the importation of the wine and/or alcoholic beverage.
Buyer cannot cancel any purchase, seek rescission of any agreement or contract, or fail to make timely payment for any purchase because of any applicable Import Duties, the adoption of a new trade policy, or renegotiation or termination of certain existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements. Buyer further agrees that any applicable Import Duties are not considered to be outside of the Buyer’s control.
All conclusions as to applicable taxes, duties, and tariffs due and owing will be determined by HDH in its sole discretion.
Variations in Pricing
You may notice price discrepancies when shopping for individual wines. Due to the dynamic nature of the wine market, pricing on two otherwise identical bottles can occasionally be disparate. Please note that each bottle is individually subjected to HDH’s strict inspection standards, and price discrepancies are not a reflection of condition discrepancies between individual bottles (for more information on bottle conditions, see below). Our recommendation to buyers is to purchase the least expensive bottles available when price discrepancies exist.
Bottle Conditions
To the best of our knowledge, all wines benefited from proper storage prior to being delivered to our temperature and humidity-controlled cellar. Every bottle has been carefully inspected by our experts and described as accurately as possible at the time the wines were added to our retail inventory. However, buyers of older and more fragile wines must make proper allowances for natural variations of ullage and general condition. Wines less than 30 years of age can be assumed to be in generally excellent condition unless otherwise indicated. As outlined above, no returns or cancellations will be accepted.
Weather Watch
HDH strongly advises Buyers to always check weather conditions when arranging transport of Property. Transporting some Property, like wine, even if by overnight service, may cause severe damage to the Property. HDH considers readings or predicted temperatures of greater than 80 degrees or less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit to constitute extreme weather conditions.
During periods of extreme weather, HDH strongly advises against Buyer’s transport of certain Property by any means. Any loss or damages resulting from the shipping or transport of Property will be the sole responsibility and at the risk of the Buyer.
Complimentary 60-Day Storage
HDH, at its discretion, will offer complimentary holding for up to sixty (60) days after the date of purchase for in-stock Property and after the fulfillment date for pre-sale/futures invoices. Complimentary holding will only be available if the Buyer has made payment in full and has satisfied all terms and conditions herein.
After 60 days, HDH reserves the right to charge the Buyer a holding fee of $50.00 per nine-liter equivalent per month. Should an invoice contain less than a nine-liter equivalent, the holding fee will be $50.00 per month. All Property that is not collected or shipped by the Buyer or their agent on or before the expiration of the 60 day holding period will no longer be insured by HDH.