Terms and Conditions of Sale

The present Terms and Conditions of Sale for the Etablissement public du château, du musée et du domaine national de Versailles (Public Institution of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles - hereafter referred to as the “EPV”) define the rights and obligations of the parties for orders of products placed exclusively on the website “www.boutique-chateauversailles.fr” (hereafter referred to as the “Website”) of the EPV (FR 15180046260), whose headquarters are at Château de Versailles, RP 834, 78008 Versailles Cedex, and which is governed by French Decree no.2010-1367 of 11 November 2010 amended.

The services provided by the Website are offered internationally, in French and English. Any natural person, over the age of majority and competent, or any legal person, wishing to use the services provided on the Website will be hereafter referred to as the “Member”. Any purchase or reservation of a product made by a Member on the Website under the conditions provided in the present Terms and Conditions of Sale will be referred to hereafter as the “Cart”.

Any Member can contact customer services at the following number: +33 (0)1 30 83 79 31 (price of a local call in Metropolitan France from a landline; from overseas departments and territories and other countries, cost depends on the operator) or at the following email address: boutique.interne@chateauversailles.fr. Phone lines are open from 9.00 am – 12.00pm / 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday (UTC+1).

 

Article 1 - Ordering and prices

1.1. Ordering

After confirming the content of their order, the Member shall validate the order by proceeding to payment of the corresponding price. The order will only be definitive when actual payment has been received by the EPV. Full unreserved acceptance of the present Terms and Conditions of Sale is required for every order, and the Member is required to tick the corresponding box before confirming the contents of their order.


1.2. Prices

The price of each product is given in euros, inclusive of tax, but excluding shipping costs, in the corresponding product description sheet. The total amount of the order, including shipping costs and costs for gift wrapping, are shown before payment. Once the order is validated, the prices and extra charges remain accessible under the heading “My Account” on the Website.

For any order placed outside France, the provisions of the General Taxation Code relating to VAT will apply (price calculated exclusive of VAT on the invoice). If customs duties or taxes are due, they will be entirely the responsibility of the Member, who must pay them and deal with any related formalities (such as declarations to the authorities and/or competent bodies). The Member can obtain information about these matters from the local authorities.

The EPV reserves the right to change its prices at any time. However, products will be invoiced on the basis of the prices in force when the order was confirmed.


1.3. Special offers

These can be found under the heading “Special offers”. The EPV’s current sale price for the product is next to the reference price (crossed out), which is the original price before the “Special offer” was applied.

 

Article 2 – Availability of products

A product may be removed from the Website at any time without prior warning by the EPV.

In the event of an ordered product becoming unavailable or withdrawn after the order has been placed, the Member will be informed by email that a partial delivery will be made or that the order has been cancelled.

The Member then has the option of:

- Either receiving a product of equivalent quality and price, subject to availability. In this case, the return costs as a result of a Member exercising their right to cancel, as stipulated in Article 6, are the responsibility of the EPV;
- Or being reimbursed the amount paid within 14 days of the order, by re-payment via the same payment method used when the order was made.
 


Article 3 – Payment and Order confirmation

The following payment cards are currently accepted: CB, Visa, MasterCard, JCB, American Express and PayPal. The EPV has opted for the MERCANET payment solution offered by BNP-PARIBAS.

Public limited company with a capital of: 2,492,925,268 euros
Paris Companies’ Register No.: 662 042 449
SIREN no.: 662 042 449
EC VAT Identifier: FR 76662042449
ORIAS no.: 07 022 735
Headquarters: 16, boulevard des Italiens -75009 PARIS


The Member’s bank account will be debited once the order has been validated, and the order will be considered final after confirmation of agreement by the bank payment centres.

The Member acknowledges that they are fully authorised to use the payment card used to pay for the order and that this card gives access to sufficient funds to cover all costs relating to use of the services on the Website.

The EPV will systematically confirm each Member’s order by email. The Member may print the order confirmation which is proof of transaction.

A copy of this proof of transaction will be kept by MERCANET for a period of 5 years, plus any periods of limitation in force.

MERCANET will file this proof of transaction in a reliable and durable format as a true copy, in accordance with the provisions of Article 1379 of the French Civil Code. The digitised Website records will be considered by the parties as proof of communications, orders, payments and transactions between the parties.

 

Article 4 - Security

The Website is protected by the most advanced security systems available. It uses the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption system by MERCANET and has strengthened all scrambling and encryption processes to ensure the most efficient protection possible of all sensitive data linked with payment methods. The EPV never has access to confidential information relating to the Member’s means of payment.

Only the General Treasury of Yvelines and MERCANET have access to any confidential information (card number, expiry date) which cannot be accessed by any third party.

 

Article 5 - Delivery

5.1. Delivery methods and costs

The EPV delivers parcels throughout Metropolitan France, in the overseas departments and territories, Monaco, Corsica and internationally.

Products are sent to the delivery address provided by the Member during the order process.

When a parcel leaves the warehouse, it is handled by La Poste (“Colissimo”).

The Member will be informed by email when their parcel has been sent, also stating:
- that an original invoice including delivery costs and VAT is available online on the Website under the heading “My Account” and that a printed copy of the invoice will be included in the parcel (accompanied by the cancellation form);
- the order tracking number for the parcel.

Tracking parcels:
- to track Colissimo parcels, see the website
www.colissimo.fr;

Delivery charges are calculated according to the carrier, the total weight of the order and the delivery address.


5.2. Delivery times and delayed delivery

5.2.1. Delivery times

Delivery times are determined after the order has been handed to the carrier.
The times shown here are average times for information only and are given in number of working days :

Metropolitan France and Monaco around D+2
- DOM-TOM from D+5 to D+7
- Europe from D+3 to D+5
- International from D+5to D+10
 

5.2.2. Delayed delivery

In accordance with Article L. 216-2 of the French Consumer Code, if the Member has not received their order within the time limit stipulated in the “delivery” stage of their order, they may contact the EPV by email at the following address: boutique.interne@chateauversailles.fr to ask the EPV to make the delivery within a reasonable time. EPV customer services will then open an enquiry with the carrier and update the Member, within 48 hours of receiving the email from the Member.

- If the parcel is identified, it will be sent to the member: the reception procedure then follows its normal course (parcel is delivered or delivery notice, etc.).

- If the parcel is declared lost, the EPV will notify the Member within a maximum of 72 hours after opening the enquiry.

The Member then has two options:
• The EPV may offer to send the Member an identical product to the one ordered as soon as possible. The EPV will cover the cost of sending this product. The EPV will include a waiver form in the parcel by which the Member agrees to return the first parcel to the EPV in the event they receive it after the second parcel. The cost of returning the first parcel to the EPV will be refunded to the Member by the EPV by bank transfer, using the bank details provided by the Member when the parcel ordered originally is returned.  

• The Member may request that the order be cancelled, by sending an email to the following address: 
boutique.interne@chateauversailles.fr. The order will be considered as cancelled when the EPV receives this email. The Member will be refunded the amount of their order and delivery costs, which will be re-paid via the payment method used when the order was placed and under the conditions set out below. After the refund has been made, the EPV will send the Member a waiver form by which the Member agrees to return the product to the EPV in the event he ultimately receives the product he originally ordered. The cost of returning the first parcel to the EPV will be refunded to the Member by the EPV by bank transfer, using the bank details provided by the Member, when the parcel ordered originally is returned.

In accordance with Article L. 216-3 of the French Consumer Code, the EPV will refund the Member the price of the product(s) ordered and delivery costs within a maximum of 14 days after the order is cancelled.

In accordance with Article L. 241-4, if the EPV does not reimburse the Member the full amount paid by the consumer under the conditions of Article L. 216-3, the amount paid by the Member will be automatically be increased by 10% if the refund is made within thirty days beyond this deadline, by 20% for up to sixty days and by 50% thereafter.

In addition, it should be noted that if the Member has expressly stated to the EPV that the planned delivery date is an essential condition of the order (this essential condition being the result of circumstances surrounding the conclusion of the contract or expressly demanded by the consumer before the conclusion of the contract) the Member then has the possibility of cancelling their order immediately, should delivery be late.


5.3 Delivery completion

Article L. 216-4 of the French Consumer Code stipulates that any risk of loss or damage to the products ordered is transferred to the consumer when they or a third party that they have designated, and other than the carrier proposed by the company, physically takes possession of these goods.

The Member undertakes to accept delivery of the ordered goods at the delivery address that appears on the order confirmation email.

It is imperative that the Member dates and signs the delivery note, if it is presented by the carrier. This dated and signed document is proof of carriage and delivery. If the Member is absent, they have a certain period of time indicated by the carrier to collect the parcel.


Article 6 – Right of cancellation

The following provisions satisfy the conditions set out in Article L. 221-18 of the French Consumer Code.

6.1. Scope

In accordance with the provisions of Article L. 221-18 of the French Consumer Code, the Member has a period of 14 working days from the date the order was delivered to exercise their legal right of cancellation, regardless of the reason and without paying any penalties. They remain liable only for the costs described in Article 6.3. This period starts when the parcel is received by the Member.

In cases where the order covers several products delivered separately or in the case of an order for a product composed of batches or multiple parts where delivery is spread over a defined period, the cancellation period starts when the last product or batch or the last part is received.

Products defined in Article L. 221-28 of the French Consumer Code are not covered by the Member’s right of cancellation. The products concerned are designated as such to the Member before the conclusion of the sale, in the data sheets. For example, in the case of products where the seal has been broken by the consumer after delivery and products which cannot be sent back for reasons of hygiene or health protection, products likely to deteriorate or be quickly out of date, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, customisable products and audio, video recordings or computer software when they have been unsealed by the consumer, the latter cannot exercise the right of cancellation, and the goods cannot be returned or refunded.


6.2. Procedure

The Member may only exercise the right of cancellation using the form provided for this purpose which can be obtained:
- By clicking
here
- In the footers on the Website (“Returns” page)
- In the order confirmation email

The Member may exercise this right of cancellation under the following conditions:
- First, within a period of 14 days of receiving the product(s), the Member shall exercise their right of cancellation by sending the waiver form to the EPV at the following address: Daudin Services / Versailles – 628 Avenue du Grain d’Or – 41350 Vineuil, France
- Next, the Member shall return the ordered product(s) to the EPV or a person appointed by the EPV, within a maximum of 14 days from the date they notified of their intention to cancel.


6.3. Refunds

The return of a product or products ordered shall give rise to a refund equal to the amounts paid by the Member, i.e. the purchase price of the product(s) and the delivery charges.

However, it is understood that the following expenses will remain the responsibility of the Member:
- The cost to the Member of returning the parcel to the Website, as a result of exercising this right of cancellation
- The cost of gift wrapping (in application of Article L. 221-28 of the Consumer Code)
- All other additional costs.

The Member will receive a refund within 14 days of receipt of the parcel by the EPV. The refund will be made using the same payment method as that originally used by the consumer.

In the event of late payment, and in accordance with Article L. 221-24 of the Consumer Code, the EPV shall apply the following late penalties:
• 0 to 10 days late: statutory interest rate
• 11 to 20 days late: +5%
• 21 to 30 days late: +10%
• 31 to 60 days late: +20%
• 61 to 90 days late: +50%
• And then +5 points per month of delay until the price of the product is reached and then application of the statutory interest rate

 

Article 7 – Warranties

The Member benefits from the legal compliance warranty mentioned in Articles L. 217-4 et seq. of the French Consumer Code and the warranty for hidden defects in the item sold, as mentioned in Articles 1641 et seq. of the Civil Code, which are reproduced in part below. 

The Member may choose between implementing Articles L. 217-4 et seq. of the French Consumer Code (legal compliance warranty) and implementing Articles 1641 et seq. of the French Civil Code (warranty for hidden defects):

7.1. Legal compliance warranty (L. 217-4 et seq. of the French Consumer Code):

When the Member invokes the legal compliance warranty:

   - they have a period of two years to act from the time the ordered product is supplied;

   - they may choose between repair or replacement of the product concerned (if it is still available for sale) subject to cost conditions laid down in Article L. 217-9 of the French Consumer Code;

   - they are exempt from having to provide proof of the existence of the product compliance defect if the defect appears within 24 months of the product being supplied.

 For all requests of this type, the Member shall contact customer services via the “Contacts” page on the Website. The Member can also invoke the warranty by calling customer services, whose contact details are given in the preamble. The product must then be returned accompanied by the return form on the delivery note accompanying the parcel, to the following address: Daudin Services / Versailles – 628 Avenue du Grain d’Or – 41350 Vineuil - France. These provisions are not exclusive of the right of cancellation defined in Article 6 above.


7.2. Warranty for hidden defects (articles 1641 et seq. of the French Civil Code):

The Member may decide to invoke the warranty for hidden defects in the product sold according to Article 1641 of the French Civil Code within 2 years of discovering the defect.
In this case, the Member may decide to cancel the sale (return of product and full refund) or accept a reduction in price (partial refund of the product) in accordance with Article 1644 of the French Civil Code.

No product may be exchanged or refunded without the agreement of the EPV and before having been sent back (preferably in its packaging) by the Member to customer services.
Customer services agree to exchange the product(s) concerned, or to refund the cost to the Member as quickly as possible.

Return costs and, where applicable, postal charges for the new product are covered by the EPV.

For all requests of this type, the Member shall contact customer services via the “Contacts” page on the Website. The Member can also invoke the warranty by calling customer services, whose contact details are given in the preamble. The product must then be returned, accompanied by the return form on the delivery note accompanying the parcel, to the following address: Daudin Services / Versailles – 628 Avenue du Grain d’Or – 41350 Vineuil - France.

 

These provisions are not exclusive of the right of cancellation as defined in Article 6 above.


7.3. Warranty exclusions

Excluded from the warranty are products that have been modified, repaired or integrated by the Member or any other person not authorised by the supplier of the said product. The warranty will not cover products that are damaged due to improper use by the Member.

 

Extracts from the aforementioned Articles:

Article L. 217-4 of the French Consumer Code: “The seller shall deliver goods that comply with the contract and is liable for any compliance defects in existence at the time of delivery. He is also liable for any compliance defects resulting from the packaging, assembly instructions or installation where he is responsible for these under the contract or they have been performed under his responsibility”.

Article L. 217-5 of the French Consumer Code: “In order to comply with the contract, the goods must: be fit for the purpose usually expected of such goods and, where applicable: 
- correspond to the description provided by the seller and possess the qualities that he has presented to the buyer in the form of a sample or model;
- possess the qualities that a buyer may legitimately expect vis-à-vis the public declarations made by the seller, producer or its representative, notably in advertising or on the labelling;
- or present the characteristics jointly defined by the parties or be fit for any special purposes sought by the buyer, brought to the attention of the seller and accepted by him.”

Article L. 217-9 of the French Consumer Code: “In the event of a compliance defect, the buyer may choose between product repair and replacement. However, the seller may decide not to proceed according to the buyer’s choice if this choice involves a cost which is manifestly disproportionate compared with the other choice, given the value of the goods or the importance of the defect. He is then required to proceed according to the method not chosen by the buyer, unless this proves impossible.”

Article L. 217-12 of the French Consumer Code: “Action resulting from compliance defect is limited to two years after the delivery of the good.”

Article 1641 of the French Civil Code: “The seller is obliged to guarantee against hidden defects in the item sold which might render it unfit for the use for which it is intended, or that might decrease this usefulness of the product to such an extent that the buyer would not have acquired it, or would have paid a lower price, had he known of the defect.”

Article 1648 para. 1 of the French Civil Code: Action resulting from hidden defects must be taken by the buyer within two years after discovery of the defect.”


Article 8 - Liability

In accordance with Article L. 221-15 of the French Consumer Code, the EPV is fully liable with respect to the Member for properly executing obligations relating to the order, whether these obligations are executed by the EPV itself or by other service providers specifically chosen for this task, without prejudice to any right of appeal against them.

 

However, the EPV may be exempted from all or part of its liability by proving that the non-execution or the improper execution of the contract is attributable either to the Member, or to an unforeseeable and insurmountable third party event or to a case of force majeure.

 


Article 9 – Amendments to the Terms and Conditions of Sale

The EPV reserves the right to amend the present Terms and Conditions of Sale at any time. Any new version of these Terms and Conditions of Sale will be notified beforehand on the first page of the “Contacts” section. In the event of an amendment, the Terms and Conditions of Sale applied to each order will be those in force on the day the order was placed.

 


Article 10 – Personal data

The EPV has set up a data processing system to manage and track orders, deliveries, payments, customer relations and customer prospecting.

The Member must first register prior to placing an order or when placing an order on the Website of the online shops. Data identified by an asterisk is required, and if not completed, the Member’s request cannot be processed. This data is destined for use by the internal departments of the EPV, its suppliers and partners where appropriate.

The personal data requested are necessary in order to allow creation and management of the Member's account and its purchases. Where appropriate, this allows the EPV to send email communication on the offers and business operations of the Palace of Versailles online shop; segmentation and programming of automated campaigns; offers by SMS; compilation of statistics on email and SMS performance (opening and clicks); and email address and phone numbers verification. It may also be used to send the magazine-program Les Carnets de Versailles by post. You may object to this mailing by writing an email to carnetsdeversailles@chateauversailles.fr.

This information is collected for the purposes of the EPV, which is responsible for processing it. It is provided either on a contractual basis or on the basis of the Member's consent to communication. It may be communicated, for these same reasons, to authorised persons from the EPV and its service providers. It is stored for three years (ten years for invoicing data) from the date of your registration.

The Member has the right to access, modify, remove, oppose, transfer or limit the processing of information concerning it, which the Member may exercise by emailing donneespersonnelles@chateauversailles.fr or by writing to the Établissement public du château, du musée et du domaine national de Versailles – Direction de la Communication – RP834 – 78000 Versailles, France, providing its contact details and proof of its identity. 
Where appropriate, the Member may also withdraw its consent at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the newsletters sent by the EPV. The Member can request to delete its account from the online shop by contacting the EPV through the contact form providing proof of its identity.

The Member has the right to outline general and specific guidelines on how it would like the aforementioned rights to be exercised in the event of death. The Member also has the right to submit a complaint to the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), the French supervisory authority in charge of the respect of obligations for the protection of personal data.

For any questions on the processing of its personal data, the Member can contact the EPV at the Établissement public du château, du musée et du domaine national de Versailles – Direction de la Communication – RP834 – 78000 Versailles, France or by email at donneespersonnelles@chateauversailles.fr.


Article 11 - Sundries

11.1. In the event that any one of the Terms and Conditions of Sale is considered illegal or unenforceable by a court decision, the other Terms and Conditions shall remain in force.

 

11.2. Pursuant to Articles 1365 et seq. of the French Civil Code and, where appropriate, of Article L.110-3 of the French Commercial Code, the information provided on the Website shall be binding between the parties. The scope of proof of the information provided by the EPV’s computer systems is that given to an original in the sense of a printed document, signed by hand.

 

11.3. Failure by a Member to comply with the obligations set out in the present Terms and Conditions of Sale, and in particular those relating to any payment incident concerning the price of an order, may lead to suspension of access to the Website service, or even cancellation of the Member’s Account, depending on the degree of seriousness of the actions in question, without prejudice to any damages that may be claimed by the EPV. Accordingly, the EPV reserves the right to refuse any order from a Member with whom such a dispute exists.

 

Article 12. Applicable law - Disputes

These Terms and Conditions of Sale written in the French language shall be implemented and interpreted in accordance with French law.

In the event of a dispute between the professional and the consumer, they shall endeavour to find an amicable solution. If no amicable agreement is reached, the consumer may refer the matter free of charge to the consumer ombudsman to which the professionnal belongs, namely the Association of European Ombudsmen (AME CONSO), within one year of the written complaint to the professionnal. Referral to the Consumer Ombudsman must be made : - either by completing the form provided for this purpose on the AME CONSO website: www.mediationconso-ame.com ; - or by mail addressed to AME CONSO, 197 Boulevard Saint-Germain - 75007 PARIS.

Failing that, French courts shall have sole jurisdiction.