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We are primarily an online business and so you may interact with us via our website and email 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year.

Our office and warehouse is normally open every weekday for telephone enquiries or for advice on 01747 830670, as follows:

• Monday-Thursday : 1000-1445 and 1600-1700

• Friday : 1000-1400

The telephone will normally be answered during these times. However, when call traffic is heavy we sometimes cannot take every call. In such cases please email us at sales@solidstatesound.co.uk or call again. We always respond to email. Many thanks.

Being an online business we do not have a shop or showroom, nor do we have a collection point. All our orders are sent out by courier or Royal Mail.

We can take corporate credit/debit card orders by phone only if you are one of the following types of customer:

• Government Department

• Local Authority

• Educational Establishment

• Training Organisation

• Registered Charities

• Public Limited Company (PLC)

• Any Similar Organisation

We can also supply these types of customers against an official order (by email, fax or post) and then send an invoice.

Whilst we can take telephone orders and payments from private companies and individuals, we only do so in special cases and when there is a valid technical reason preventing an order being placed with us online (e.g. our website being 'down' or just not working properly for some reason).

For security reasons we prefer private customers to place orders with us online (see Buying from our Webshop above) because it is far more secure for all of us.

First of all please remember - it is NOT necessary to have a PayPal account to buy from us - you can still usually pay by card in the normal way (see above). Having got that out of the way, here's why we love PayPal (and perhaps why you should too)...

Imagine a situation where your credit card has been stolen and used to place an order worth over £3600 without your knowledge. That is exactly what actually once happened to us in 2004. It was a fairly brutal lesson in card crime both for us and the real owner of that card.

As a result we took a long, hard look at all the online card processing companies and what they offer, especially in the area of card security.

That's why we use PayPal to process our customers' online orders because they are easily the most secure method available. Would you believe PayPal are the only debit/credit card processing company that takes the trouble to tie up the actual card you wish to use with its billing (card statement)? They call this their verification process. Hence it is almost impossible for someone who has stolen your card to use it via PayPal. This completely protects you and us against fraud.

Here's a short overview of how it works...    (Click here to go to PayPal for more details.)

• You may use your credit or debit card to place up to ten orders with sites, like ours, who use PayPal to process their payments.

• To continue to be able to place card-paid orders with sites using PayPal you would be invited to sign up for a PayPal account (very easy!).

• Once you have a verified PayPal account, you can enjoy even more secure transactions with us and many other sites using the credit/debit cards you have registered on your PayPal account, or you can pay with any balance you may have in your new PayPal bank account that they give you (yes, PayPal is much more than just a card processing company!).

Remember: when your card payments are processed by on other sites, most of them do not check properly that the card you are using is actually YOUR card. This means that your card could be being used by someone else fraudulently. It could also mean we could be inadvertently selling something to a criminal. That's why we only use PayPal. In our view, they are the only card processors who take security seriously. Click here to have a look at their website - we recommend you become a fully verified PayPal member - it really will make a growing number of your online transactions quicker and more secure.

You may also speak to PayPal on 08707 307 191.

Lastly, a word about corporate credit/debit cards and PayPal : Our experience suggests that PayPal do not much care for corporate cards. The reason for this is pretty clear - that that kind of card can more easily be misused or stolen. Therefore, if you are having trouble using your corporate card with us, please call us on 01747-830670 or email sales@solidstatesound.co.uk and we'll see if we can help you pay in another way.

If you prefer, you may pay us by direct bank transfer from your bank to ours. In order to do this you will need to give your bank our bank details. Please ask us for these by telephone only on +44 (0)1747 830670.

Since 01.01.12 payment by bank transfer is usually instantaneous or, at worst, it takes no more than two hours to arrive in our account so this method is now, at last, a pretty efficient way of making payments.

We keep good stocks of virtually 100% of the products shown on our website at all times. If the site says a product is in stock, it usually is in stock*. When an item is temporarily unavailable for some reason (i.e. when stock availability is out of our control), we normally say so in a note against the product listing so you know the position.

Our normal shipping policy is as follows: If you pay for an order online by 1pm on any weekday we normally send your order out immediately so you have it during the next weekday. We do not send out orders during occasional holiday or other closures (see Holidays & Closures below). This policy covers the vast majority of our orders. There would only be a slight delay if your order came in during a holiday or other closure, or at the same time as other orders for the same item, and we do not have enough stock to satisfy them all. In rare cases like this, we allocate that stock on strictly first come-first-served basis by the time and date on your order. We then fulfil the remaining order/s from the next shipment of that item - usually within a few days. We also try and notify you by email if this occurs.

We do not normally deliver on Saturday or Sunday. Why? Because the failure-to-deliver rate by post and courier services is much higher at weekends. When we did used to offer weekend deliveries, and the deliverer failed to perform, we found that it was us who got the the blame, not the service we used. So we prefer not to offer the service at all rather than disappoint customers and lose them.

Please note that during occasional company closures (see below) we will deliver in-stock orders placed during the closure immediately on reopening for business.

If you would like to confirm stocks of any item we sell please just call us on 01747-830670 or email us at sales@solidstatesound.co.uk

*Very occasionally an unusually generous order may clear us out of stock of an item but in most cases this will only mean a delay of 2-3 days before we are back in stock. If there is a general shortage of a particular item, then we will normally have a note about this on its listing in our Webshop.

To purchase products from this site please go to the bottom of the product page or section for the specific product or range of products you need. There you will find a priced list of the various versions of the product/s available.

To purchase please just click on the    button at the end of the relevant product line. This will add the product to your Shopping Basket.

You may check your Shopping Basket at any time by clicking the icon at the top of the left side menu on every page of this site.

You may add and deduct quantities of the item/s you need at any time but don't forget to click on Update each time you do this.

To add more items to your basket either just click on the Continue Shopping button or go back to our site in another window.

Once you have completed your order please click on either the button (if you wish to use a credit or debit card and you do not have a PayPal account) or the button if you do have a PayPal account and wish to use it or a credit, debit card or bank account associated with it.

From time to time we may offer a rebate either of a percentage or a fixed amount off the price of an item, or a range of items.

For instance we are currently running a rebate of 10% off any item* bought from this website during our extended Christmas & New Year holiday closure this season. So how does this work?

It's simple... if you place an order for anything at all via this website during the period from 6.01pm on Friday 9th December 2016 until 9.59am on Monday 23rd January 2017 we will refund you 10% of its cost on despatch of the order.

That's a saving of £50, say, on an order with value of £500 - well worth having!

We hope this will compensate you for having to wait for us to re-open on Monday 23rd January 2017 in order to supply you. A sort of 'thank-you' to customers who are not in a hurry and perhaps do not need their kit immediately.

[*Excludes items in our Offcuts Sale and Leads Sale pages as these are already generously discounted.]

• Products under warranty - the products we sell are covered by a manufacturer's 12 month warranty. The warranty cover lasts for a minimum period of 12 months from the date of invoice. If your product is still under warranty and you think you have a problem with it, then you should first email us at sales@solidstatesound.co.uk giving us your name and address, the date of purchase and, if possible, our invoice number. We will then either call or email you.
   

• Products not under warranty - if you are having trouble with a product that is over 12 months old and no longer covered by its manufacturer's warranty then you should contact its manufacturer's or distributor's appointed service agents. Click here for a list of these by brand.

We deliver worldwide and we use the most appropriate courier service for each individual job depending on what we are sending you and where we are sending it to.

Our standard delivery charges to Mainland UK addresses are as follows...

 

£4.95 for other purchases with a value of £0.01 to £30
£7.95 for other purchases with a value of £30.01 to £250
£9.95 for other purchases with a value of £250.01 to £750
£11.95 for other purchases with a value of £750.01 to £999.99
FREE for all purchases with a value of £1000 or more up to 50kgs*

 

*Consignments of 50kgs or more will be charged at £25

• Please remember...

1. Our charges include the carrier's cost (postage or courier fee) plus insurance, as well as the cost of the packaging materials plus the time it takes to administer, prepare and label your package.

2. Note especially that all our deliveries are insured. This is important because in our regular checks on what our competitors charge for delivery they are often using the cheapest and least secure methods of getting your order to you. And this can mean that if your order goes missing (or is damaged) in transit you may not be covered and/or the order will be delayed.

3. In such cases it often takes a long time (days, sometimes weeks) to sort the problem out before you actually get the equipment you have paid for. We know this because customers who have been 'stung' before when buying elsewhere have told us.

4. So, as with everything else in life, you get what you pay for. We believe our delivery charges represent excellent value because you get your order usually within 24-48 hours and if it lost or damaged we normally send you another one immediately, with no quibbles, and then we make a claim and you don't have to do anything.  

That's why our delivery services are actually better than our competitors.

If you purchase through our webshop direct from this site then you should click on the button (above, left), and then on the SECURE CHECKOUT button to see how much your shipping charges are going to be. We believe them to be reasonable but if you wish to discuss any shipping costs you feel are unreasonable then please call us on 01747-830670.

• Deliveries by courier to UK Highlands & Islands*: Our website is coded to calculate the appropriate delivery charge for a mainland UK address for any given order placed, even if you are placing the order from a UK Highlands & Islands address. If your parcel is small enough (e.g. one single small solid state sound recorder) then this can often be carried by Royal Mail services at no extra cost. However, if it is a larger parcel that we can only send by courier to a UK Highlands & Islands address, then we reserve the right to make a surcharge for this. In such cases we will email you a separate invoice for the appropriate amount and you may click on a link in that invoice to make the extra payment. Once this is received we will be able to deliver. [Summary: our UK Highlands & Islands address surcharge only applies to courier deliveries of larger parcels. Deliveries of smaller parcels to UK Highlands & Islands addresses by Royal Mail 1st Class and Royal Mail Special Delivery services will cost the same as for mainland UK addresses.]

*UK Highlands & Islands addresses include: Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland, Scilly Isles, Isle of Man, Channel Isles, Scottish Islands, Isle of Wight.

• Delivery to non-UK addresses: Our website is coded to calculate the appropriate delivery charge for a UK address for any given order placed, even if you are placing the order from outside the UK. If you require your order to be delivered to a non-UK address, then we reserve the right to make a surcharge for this. The amount will depend on where in the world you want us to make a delivery. In such cases we will email you a separate invoice for this amount and you may click on a link in that invoice to make the extra payment. Once this is received we will be able to deliver.

• Please note that, in many cases, small (lightweight) orders to many EC countries will not incur a surcharge if we send them by Royal Mail.

The majority of the products we sell come to you with a manufacturer's warranty, or guarantee, lasting just one year from the date of sale. This is to cover any manufacturing defects that may result in problems down the line.

Here at Solid State Sound we feel that one year is too short. After all, the product you've bought from us is surely designed to work properly for far longer than this. But will it? We'd all like to think so.

In case it doesn't, though, we'll give you a further two years on top of the manufacturer's warranty, thus ensuring you are covered for a total of three long years. For your peace of mind.

• Please note that for those rare products that are guaranteed by their manufacturer for longer than one year we will extend this by a further one year. If you don't mind.

All prices shown on this website show our prices including VAT at the standard rate in force. Click here to use our VAT Calculator - this will enable you to deduct the VAT element of our prices to see how much the price is without VAT.

If you choose to purchase products from our webshop, regardless of where you are in the world, the prices, as well as shipping costs, that you will be charged will all include VAT. All electronically generated invoicing from our webshop and via our merchant service, PayPal, will show pricing inclusive of VAT. If you are VAT registered, then naturally you may calculate the VAT element of our price and reclaim it in the normal way. However, if you require a formal VAT invoice showing VAT as separate element then please call us on 01747-830670 and we'll gladly send you a copy.

If you are purchasing from outside the UK and the EC then you should not use our webshop or you will be charged UK VAT. Instead, please contact us at sales@connectronics.uk.com with a list of your requirements. We will then confirm pricing and shipping costs (your exact address is required please) without UK VAT and then we will finalize the transaction by sending you a PayPal email invoice, or else by using our bank details above you may make a bank transfer to us.

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