What we do when something arrives damaged, and what we need from you

A shop that takes no returns has to be unambiguous about the one case where it does put things right, so here it is without conditions buried in it. If an order arrives damaged, is not what you ordered, or turns up later than the window stated on the product page, we replace it or refund you in full. You send nothing back and you pay no return postage. What follows is why we do not want the broken one, what to photograph, where the line sits between damage and normal variation in a cast object, and what happens on our side afterwards.

The policy, in one paragraph

Three situations are covered in full: damaged on arrival, not the item you ordered, or delivered later than the window on the product page. In all three we replace the item or refund you, your choice of outcome discussed by email, and nothing has to be posted back to anybody.

The time limit is 30 days from delivery, or 30 days from the latest date in the stated window if the order never arrived at all. That second clause matters on the slow route, where a parcel that has simply vanished has no delivery date to count from.

A refund goes back to the card used to pay, through Stripe. Your bank usually takes 5 to 10 days to show it, which is the bank rather than us and is the part people most often chase too early.

Why we do not want the broken one back

Because there is nowhere to send it. We hold no inventory and run no warehouse, so a returned parcel would arrive at an address with no shelf to put it on and no second life to give it. Return postage on a 16 dollar object also frequently costs more than the object.

That is a saving for both of us and it removes the part of a claim that is most annoying: printing a label, finding the original packing, queuing at a post office to send back something that is already broken.

It does mean the whole system rests on a photograph instead of an inspection, which is why the next part matters more here than it would at a shop with a returns desk.

What to photograph, and why it beats a description

Photograph the damage itself, close enough to see it and far enough back to show which part of the object it is on. Then one shot of the whole item, and one of the packaging if the box is crushed or the void fill is missing.

A description is slower and less useful because the words for a flaw are ambiguous. A chip, a crack, a dent and a casting flaw are four different problems with four different causes, and a photograph settles which one it is in a second. We will ask for one, so sending it first saves a round trip.

Include the order number. On ours it is in the subject line of your confirmation email. Order number, which item, one or two photographs, and a sentence: that is a complete claim and it is faster to answer than a long message.

Where the line sits between damage and variation

Cast and hand finished objects are not machined parts, and no two are identical. Small differences in the antique finish on a pair of cast brass bats, a slightly softer edge on one of fourteen creatures, a faint seam where the mould closed: that is the process, and it is not a fault.

Damage is different in kind rather than in degree. A crack. A piece missing. A bent arm or a snapped projection. A finish rubbed through to the base metal before it has been handled. Glass or ceramic broken anywhere. If a thing arrived in a state it was clearly not made in, it is damage.

The honest grey area is a casting flaw bad enough to be ugly, and we would rather hear about that one too. It is not covered as damage, but a pattern of it tells us something about a product that nothing else will.

What happens on our side

A replacement is a fresh order placed with the supplier or the printer, not a second unit pulled off a shelf, because there is no shelf. So the original window starts again from that point: 2 to 5 business days of production plus transit on the printed route, 10 to 18 business days on the overseas one.

We say that rather than imply a quick swap, because the quick swap is the thing people reasonably expect and it is not available here. If the gift date has already passed, a refund is often the better outcome and we will say so.

On our side the email is read by one person and you will get a reply within two business days, usually sooner. There is no phone line, because there is nobody free to answer one.

What a repeated fault does to a product page

This is the part that makes the photographs worth sending even when you have already been looked after. A fault we hear about once is an accident. A fault we hear about three times is a product, and it comes off the site.

That is the only quality control available to a shop that never sees the unit before it reaches you. We cannot open the box and throw away the three bad castings, so we work on selection instead, and then on what comes back from the people who did open the box.

The categories where this bites hardest are predictable: thin projecting parts, plating at the edges where a hand goes, and anything with a mechanism in it. A solid lump of brass has almost nothing to go wrong. A cast iron coat rail has a mounting face and nothing else that can fail in transit.

What is not covered

Change of mind, and an item that simply turned out not to be to taste. There is nowhere to send it, so there is no honest way to offer it. This is the real cost of the model and it is why the product pages carry more detail than most, including the unflattering parts.

A size chosen incorrectly, on a garment or a print. Sizes are listed on every product page before you buy, and if you tell us before the item goes into production we will change it. After production we cannot.

Normal variation in a cast or hand finished object, as above. And damage from use, or from mounting something on a wall without suitable fixings. A cut steel wall piece has a keyhole on the back and no fixings in the box, which is a decision about walls rather than an omission, and what the wall does with it afterwards is not something we can stand behind.

Questions people actually ask

What do I do if my order arrives damaged?

Email us with your order number, which item it is, and one or two photographs of the damage. We replace it or refund you in full. You do not send anything back and you pay no return postage.

How long do I have to report damage?

Thirty days from delivery, or thirty days from the latest date in the stated window if the order never arrived at all. Refunds go back to the card through Stripe, and banks usually take 5 to 10 days to show them.

Is a mark on a cast object damage?

Usually not. Cast and hand finished pieces vary, so slight differences in finish, a softer edge or a faint mould seam are the process rather than a fault. Cracks, missing pieces and broken glass or ceramic are damage.

Why do you not want the damaged item sent back?

Because we hold no inventory and run no warehouse, so there is nowhere for it to go, and return postage often costs more than the item. The claim is settled on a photograph instead.