Acceptance

Welcome! This website (Site) is operated by ESTEPPINGSTONES Pty Ltd trading as Sovereign Stones ACN 628 757 111  (we, our or us). It is available  at:  https://sovereignstones.com.au/ and may be available through other addresses or channels.   Please read these Terms of Service carefully before accessing or using our website. By accessing or using any part of the site, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this agreement, then you may not access the website or use any services. If these Terms of Service are considered an offer, acceptance is expressly limited to these Terms of Service. By accessing and/or using the Site you:  

• warrant to us that you have reviewed these Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy (available on the Site) (Terms);  

• warrant to us that you have the legal capacity to enter into a legally binding agreement with us; and 

• agree to use the Site in accordance with the Terms of Service by posting updates and/or changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to the website following the posting of any changes constitutes acceptance of those changes

• You may not use our products for any illegal or unauthorized purpose nor may you, in the use of the Service, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws).

• You must not transmit any worms or viruses or any code of a destructive nature.

A breach or violation of any of the Terms will result in an immediate termination of your Services.

Our store is hosted on WordPress They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you.

Account

You must not place an order for products through the Site unless you are at least 18 years old. 

• You may purchase products from us without an account or you may choose to create an account with us. You must ensure that any personal information you give to us when creating an account is accurate and up-to-date. All personal information that you give to us will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 
• When you make a purchase, you will be asked to input basic contact information including your name, email address, delivery and billing address and if you create an account, you may be asked to input your date of birth, ring size and to choose a username and password. It is your responsibility to keep your account details confidential. You are liable for all activity on your account, including purchases made using your account details. 

Orders

• You may order products from us as set out on the Site. Any order placed through the Site is an offer by you to purchase a particular product or products for the price notified (including the delivery and other charges and taxes) at the time you place your order. 
• If you would like to customise a product (for example, select a different metal, gemstone or a ring size that is not listed on the Site), you may enquire by sending us an email with the details of the desired product. We will then confirm availability and price (including delivery and other charges and taxes). Subject to us confirming availability and price, you make an offer to purchase a product by placing an order and sending us an email with the details of the product. 
• You may advise us of your preferred delivery date by sending us an email with the details of the product you have ordered or plan to order. We will notify you over email of the expected delivery date. Any expected delivery date is an estimate only, based on the information provided by the manufacturer  and the delivery company. 
• We may, at our absolute discretion, accept or reject an order. We will endeavour to notify you of a rejection at the time of the order or within a reasonable time thereafter. 
• Each order that we accept results in a separate binding agreement between you and us for the supply of products in accordance with the Terms. 
• It is your responsibility to check the order details, including selected products, pricing, metal, gemstone and ring size before you submit your order through the Site. We provide a ring size conversion chart to determine your ring size in different international ring sizing standards. This ring size conversion chart is intended as a guide only and we make no representations or warranties in relation to the accuracy of ring size conversion chart. You should make your own investigations with respect to your ring size and it is your responsibility to order the correct ring size. 
• When you order and pay on the Site and your payment has been validated, we will provide you with order details, which may include an order number, an order ID, the delivery and billing addresses and a description of the product that you ordered. 

Please be aware that some of the products sold through the Site may not be suitable for children under 18 years old. Please take extra care when ordering products for children under 18 years old

 Availability and Cancellation

• All purchases made through the Site are subject to availability. We do our best to make products available and to keep the Site up to date with the availability of products.  
• We reserve the right to cancel, at any time before delivery and for whatever reason, an order that we have previously accepted, including where there is a considerable delay in dispatching your order, if for any reason we cannot supply the products you order (for example, if the manufacturer cannot produce the product or for an event beyond our reasonable control) or if products ordered were subject to an error on our Site (for example in relation to a description, price or image). We will contact you using the details you provided when you placed your order. You may choose to receive a refund or to place your order on backorder. If you choose a refund, any delivery costs you have paid for the products will be refunded to you. If you choose to place your order on backorder, we will contact you to arrange delivery once the products are available. 

Price and Payments 

• You must pay us the purchase price of each product you order plus any applicable taxes and delivery costs based on the delivery options selected by you as set out on the Site (the Price) in accordance with this clause. All amounts are stated in United States dollars (USD) and are inclusive of Australian goods and services tax (GST) (if applicable) and delivery costs. Customs duties, import tariffs or value added taxes or similar, charged upon importing the good into country other than Australia, are the sole responsibility of the purchaser. No responsibility will be taken by Sovereign Stones for the failure of a purchaser to pay and meet these obligations; including the return or refund of purchase monies. 
• You must pay the Price upfront using one of the methods set out on the Site. If you make payment by debit card or credit card, you warrant that the information you provide to us is true and complete, that you are authorised to use the debit card credit card to make the payment, that your payment will be honoured by your card issuer and that you will maintain sufficient funds to cover the Price. 
• We may offer the following payment methods which are subject to each provider’s terms and conditions: WeChat Pay (available via: https://www.wechat.com/en/service_terms.html), PayPal (available via: https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_AU), Afterpay (available via: https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/terms-of-service) and Western Union (available via: https://www.westernunion.com/au/en/terms-conditions.html). 
• You must not pay, or attempt to pay, the Price by fraudulent or unlawful means. 

Returns  

Change of Heart 

• Sovereign Stones provides a ‘Change of Heart’ 7 days return of payment guarantee for all online purchases. The purchaser has 7 days from the date of delivery to contact Sovereign Stones Concierge via email at concierge@sovereignstones.com to advise of their intent. 
• Sovereign Stones will contact you to arrange collection & transportation of the goods within 14 days of delivery for purchasers who have contacted the Concierge seeking to return the goods. The purchaser must be available during business hours and at the delivery address to facilitate the collection of the goods within the 14 days period.  
• If the goods are unable to be collected within the 14 days from delivery period from the purchaser through no fault of Sovereign Stones, has no further obligation to the purchaser under the ‘Change of Heart’ guarantee terms to accept the return of the goods, provide a refund or exchange. 
• The ‘Change of Heart’ 14 day from delivery guarantee is conditional upon;
  • The Goods are returned ‘as new’ with no visible signs of use or damage 
  • The original packaging is returned in good order including the gift box and jewellery box 
  • Notification of the Concierge Desk  by email within the 7 days from the date of delivery 
  • The purchaser complying with the return courier delivery instructions communicated by Sovereign Stones or its agent, ensuring its collection within the 14 days period from delivery 
  • The goods remain the property and responsibility of the purchaser from the point of delivery until collection. It is the purchasers’ responsibility to protect the goods from damage, theft or loss from the point of delivery to the time of collection. Any considerations or costs for insurance or other protective measures for the goods remains the responsibility of the purchaser until the point of collection. 

Australian Consumer Law 

• In Australia, our goods come with guarantees which cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure. Nothing in the Terms attempts to modify or exclude the conditions, warranties and undertakings, and other legal rights, under the ACL. Any and all other warranties or conditions which are not guaranteed by the ACL are expressly excluded where permitted, except to the extent such warranties and conditions are fully expressed in these Terms. 
• Where you return the products to us to seek an ACL remedy, Sovereign Stones will cover any associated costs (for example, delivery costs) of you returning the products to us. 
• Where your claim is a valid claim under the ACL, we will refund your return delivery costs and, depending on the failure, either dispatch a new or repaired replacement product or refund you the Price of the relevant product. Please contact us for further information. 

Delivery defects 

• Notwithstanding any rights you may have under the ACL, if within 7 days after the delivery of the product to you, you notify the Concierge at concierge@sovereignstones.com of any fault, defect or damage (Defect, and Defective has a corresponding meaning) in a product due to its delivery, along with a photo and description of the relevant Defect, we will offer you an exchange or refund of the relevant product. 
• Where your claim is a valid claim under the ACL, we will refund your return delivery costs and, depending on the failure, either dispatch a new or repaired replacement product or refund you the Price of the relevant product. Please contact us for further information. 

General 

• The Concierge will notify you of the Returns address that will best facilitate resolution of the problem that you are experiencing. We recommend you send any returns by registered post and consider insurance as Sovereign Stones will not be responsible for lost returns. 
• Once we have examined the products and your request, we will notify you of our determination by email. Please allow for up to 5 Queensland business days to process claims. 
• Any refunds will be made via the payment method used to purchase the products. 
• 12 months warranty against defects 

Your rights at law 

• The benefits given to you under this warranty are in addition to, and do not limit or derogate, your rights and remedies at law in relation to your product, including under the ACL. 
• Consumer guarantees (under the ACL) have no set time limit but generally last for an amount of time that is reasonable to expect, given factors such as the cost and quality of the products or any representations made. 

Warranty period 

• Without limiting your statutory rights including as set out above in the ‘Australian Consumer Law’ clause, your entitlement under this warranty will commence from the date of delivery under these Terms and will continue to operate for a period of 12 months (Warranty Period). 
• This warranty only sets out the Warranty Period within which we will offer you a replacement. Your rights under the ACL may extend beyond the Warranty Period. 

What we will do to honour this warranty 

• Subject to the terms of this warranty (including you making a valid claim according to the ‘Making a valid warranty claim’ clause below), and without limiting your statutory rights, we will use our best endeavours to remedy any Defect in your product during the Warranty Period at our cost. 
• We may replace the Defective part (or all) of your product, which, to the maximum extent permitted by law, will be your sole and exclusive remedy in relation to the Defect. Again, this clause does not seek in any way to limit your statutory rights, including under the ACL. 
• If any materials, parts or features required to facilitate any repair or replacement are unavailable or no longer in production, or your model of product is no longer available or in production, we will use our best endeavours to use appropriate equivalent materials, parts, features or model. 

When this warranty applies and when it does not 

• Subject to the terms of this warranty, your products are warranted by us to be free from Defects for the duration of the Warranty Period. 
• We set out below the circumstances where we will not be liable to you under this warranty. Again, this clause does not seek in any way to limit your statutory rights, including under the ACL. 
• To the maximum extent permitted by law, this warranty does not cover, and we will have no Liability, and you waive and release us from any Liability (under this warranty or otherwise), in relation to any Defect which is caused (or partly caused) or contributed to, by any: 
• failure on your part to properly maintain your product in accordance with any of the manufacturer’s or our instructions or guidelines (including instructions or guidelines provided with your product and available on our Site); 
• use of your product otherwise than for any use specified by us; 
• continued use of your product (where such use is not reasonable) after any Defect in your product becomes apparent or would have become apparent to a reasonably prudent person; 
• failure by you to notify us of any Defect in your products within a reasonable period of time after you become aware of or ought to have reasonably become aware of the relevant Defect; 
• reasonable wear and tear of your products; 
• act of God or force majeure event; or 
• repair, replacement, maintenance, or otherwise compromise of the products by you or any person other than us or the manufacturer. 
• To the maximum extent permitted by law, this warranty will be void, we will have no Liability, and you waive and release us from any Liability, whether under this warranty or otherwise, if any work or services carried out by us (including repair and maintenance work or services) are altered, tampered with, overhauled, or otherwise compromised by you or any person other than us or the manufacturer, without our prior written consent. 
• We will have no Liability, and you waive and release us from any Liability, for any delays (including any costs arising out of any delays) in providing any work or services (including repairs) under this warranty, or in assessing any claim made by you under or in relation to this warranty. 
• Any works or services requested by you to be performed by us (including any work or services that are additional to repairs carried out by us pursuant to ‘What we will do to honour this warranty’ clause) and deemed by us to not be covered under this warranty may incur additional charges, which we will advise you of prior to commencing those additional work or services. We are under no obligation to perform any additional work or services that you may request. 

Making a warranty claim 

• To claim the benefit of this warranty, you must: 
• notify us by email as soon as you become aware of the Defect, and in any event, within 14 days of when you become aware of the Defect; 
• if we ask you to, you must return to return the products together with all packaging and parts, documentation and proof of purchase to the contact details set out in the email communication for the Concierge Desk at concierge@sovereignstones.com 
• provide any other information reasonably required by us to assess your claim; and 
• provide evidence of proof of purchase of your products from us, upon request. 
• If you satisfy these requirements, we will notify you of our determination as to whether your claim is valid under this warranty, and if so, the ‘What we will do to honour this warranty’ clause will apply. To the maximum extent permitted by law, any determination we make under this clause will be final and binding. 
• Where you return the products as part of warranty claim under this clause, we will cover the associated costs of you returning the products to us. 

General 

• • In the event of any inconsistency or ambiguity between the’12 months defect warranty’ clause and other clauses in these Terms, the other clauses in these Terms will prevail. 
  • The benefit of this warranty is for you only, and no other person or third party can rely on or make a claim under this warranty. 

Delivery and risk 

• We will endeavour to deliver the products to the delivery address you provide when making an order. We currently deliver worldwide.  
• We normally dispatch products within 14 days of receiving an order, unless otherwise noted on the Site. Within 2 Queensland business days of receiving an order, we will notify you over email of expected delivery periods. Any delivery periods displayed on the Site or sent to you via email are estimates only, based on the information provided by the manufacturer, Sri Lanka Gem & Jewellery Association and the delivery company. 
• We may deliver the products using a range of delivery methods although we generally use UPS or Fed Ex.  
• You may be required to sign for deliveries. If neither you nor your authorised representative is at the delivery address to accept delivery, the delivery company will generally deliver the products to your nearest post office. 
• Title to the products will remain with us until you have paid us the Price in full in accordance with the Terms. Until title passes, you must not do anything which seeks to create an encumbrance, lien, charge or other interest in or over the products. 
• Risk in the products will pass to you as soon as they are delivered to the delivery address you provided in your order. 

Intellectual property 

• All intellectual property (including copyright) developed, adapted, modified or created by us or our personnel (including in connection with the Terms and the products) will at all times vest, or remain vested, in us. 
• You must not, without our prior written consent:  
• copy or use, in whole or in part, any of our intellectual property;  
• reproduce, distribute, disseminate, sell, or circulate any of our intellectual property to any third party; or 
• breach any intellectual property rights connected with the Site or the products, including (without limitation) altering or modifying any of our intellectual property; causing any of our intellectual property to be framed or embedded in another website; or creating derivative works from any of our intellectual property. 

USER COMMENTS, FEEDBACK AND OTHER SUBMISSIONS

• If, at our request, you send certain specific submissions (for example contest entries) or without a request from us you send creative ideas, suggestions, proposals, plans, or other materials, whether online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise (collectively, ‘comments’), you agree that we may, at any time, without restriction, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate and otherwise use in any medium any comments that you forward to us. We are and shall be under no obligation
  • (1) to maintain any comments in confidence;
  • (2) to pay compensation for any comments; or
  • (3) to respond to any comments. 
• We may, but have no obligation to, monitor, edit or remove content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or these Terms of Service.

• You agree that your comments will not violate any right of any third-party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, personality or other personal or proprietary right.
• You further agree that your comments will not contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive or obscene material, or contain any computer virus or other malware that could in any way affect the operation of the Service or any related website.
• You may not use a false e‑mail address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third-parties as to the origin of any comments.
• You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comments posted by you or any third-party.

Limitations 

• Liability means any expense, cost, liability, loss, damage, claim, notice, entitlement, investigation, demand, proceeding or judgment (whether under statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), indemnity or otherwise), howsoever arising, whether direct or indirect and/or whether present, unascertained, future or contingent and whether involving a third party or a Party to this Agreement or otherwise. 
• Despite anything to the contrary, to the maximum extent permitted by law:  
• our maximum aggregate Liability arising from or in connection with the Terms (including the products and/or the subject matter of the Terms) will be limited to, and must not exceed, the portion of the Price paid by you to us for the products the subject of the relevant claim; and 
• we will not be liable to you for any loss of profit (including anticipated profit), loss of benefit (including anticipated benefit), loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of goodwill, loss of opportunity, loss of savings (including anticipated savings), loss of reputation, loss of use and/or loss or corruption of data, whether under statute, contract, equity, tort (including negligence), indemnity or otherwise. 
• Despite anything to the contrary, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we will have no Liability, and you release and discharge us from all Liability, arising from or in connection with any:   
• loss of, or damage to, the products, or any injury or loss to any person; 
• failure or delay in providing the products; or  
• breach of the Terms or any law, where caused or contributed to by any:  

• • event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control; or 
  • act or omission of you or your related parties, and, in any event, any defect, error, omission or lack of functionality or suitability (or the absence of, or reduction in, any anticipated result, outcome or benefit) with respect to the products. 

ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION

• We are not responsible if information made available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. The material on this site is provided for general information only and should not be relied upon or used as the sole basis for making decisions without consulting primary, more accurate, more complete or more timely sources of information. Any reliance on the material on this site is at your own risk.
• This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information, necessarily, is not current and is provided for your reference only. We reserve the right to modify the contents of this site at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on our site. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to our site.

ERRORS, INACCURACIES AND OMISSIONS

Occasionally there may be information on our site or in the Service that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies or omissions that may relate to product descriptions, pricing, promotions, offers, product shipping charges, transit times and availability. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, and to change or update information or cancel orders if any information in the Service or on any related website is inaccurate at any time without prior notice (including after you have submitted your order).
We undertake no obligation to update, amend or clarify information in the Service or on any related website, including without limitation, pricing information, except as required by law. No specified update or refresh date applied in the Service or on any related website, should be taken to indicate that all information in the Service or on any related website has been modified or updated.

PROHIBITED USES

In addition to other prohibitions as set forth in the Terms of Service, you are prohibited from using the site or its content:

Severability

In the event that any provision of these Terms of Service is determined to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, such provision shall nonetheless be enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and the unenforceable portion shall be deemed to be severed from these Terms of Service, such determination shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any other remaining provisions.

Termination 

The obligations and liabilities of the parties incurred prior to the termination date shall survive the termination of this agreement for all purposes.

These Terms of Service are effective unless and until terminated by either you or us. You may terminate these Terms of Service at any time by notifying us that you no longer wish to use our Services, or when you cease using our site.
If in our sole judgment you fail, or we suspect that you have failed, to comply with any term or provision of these Terms of Service, we also may terminate this agreement at any time without notice and you will remain liable for all amounts due up to and including the date of termination; and/or accordingly may deny you access to our Services (or any part thereof).

Collection notice 

• We collect personal information about you in order to enable you to access and use the Site, to contact and communicate with you, to respond to your enquiries, to process and dispatch your orders and for other purposes set out in our Privacy Policy. 
• We may disclose that information to third party service providers who help us deliver our services (including information technology service providers, data storage, web-hosting and server providers, professional advisors, payment systems operators and our business partners) or as required by law. If you do not provide this information we may not be able to provide our products to you.  In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information to third parties located, or who store data, outside Australia. Our Privacy Policy contains further information about: (i) how we store and use your personal information; (ii) how you can access and seek correction of your personal information; (iii) how you can make a privacy-related complaint; and (iv) our complaint handling process.  
• By providing personal information to us, you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. 

General 

• Disputes: Neither party may commence court proceedings relating to any dispute arising from, or in connection with, these Terms without first meeting with a senior representative of the other party to seek (in good faith) to resolve that dispute (unless that party is seeking urgent interlocutory relief or the dispute relates to compliance with this clause).  
• Notices: Any notice given under these Terms must be in writing addressed to us at the details set out below or to you at the details provided when submitting your order or in your account. Any notice may be sent by standard post or email, and will be deemed to have been served on the expiry of 48 hours in the case of post, or at the time of transmission in the case of transmission by email. 
• Waiver: Any failure or delay by a party in exercising a power or right (either wholly or partly) in relation to these Terms does not operate as a waiver or prevent a party from exercising that power or right or any other power or right. A waiver must be in writing.  
• Relationship of parties: These Terms are not intended to create a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between the parties. 
• Photographs: If you provide us with or tag us on social media in photographs of the products, you consent to us publishing such photographs and details (including but not limited to your name, location and date) for our marketing purposes including on the Site and social media. 
• Severance: If a provision of these Terms is held to be void, invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision is to be read down as narrowly as necessary to allow it to be valid or enforceable, failing which, that provision (or that part of that provision) will be severed from these Terms without affecting the validity or enforceability of the remainder of that provision or the other provisions. 
• Assignment: You must not assign any rights or obligations under these Terms, whether in whole or in part, without our prior written consent.  
• Entire agreement: The Terms contain the entire understanding and agreement between you and us in respect of their subject matter. 
• Amendment: We may, at any time and at our discretion, vary these Terms by publishing varied terms on the Site. Prior to placing an order, we recommend you carefully read the terms that are in effect at that time to ensure you understand and agree to them. For any order that has been accepted by us, the terms and conditions that apply will be the ones that were in effect (and which you agreed to) when you placed your order. 
• Governing law: These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland. Each Party irrevocably and unconditionally submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts operating in Queensland and any courts entitled to hear appeals from those courts and waives any right to object to proceedings being brought in those courts. The Site may be accessed in Australia and overseas. We make no representation that the Site complies with the laws (including intellectual property laws) of any country outside of Australia. If you access the Site from outside Australia, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for complying with these laws in the place you access the Site.  

For any questions and notices, please contact us at: Email: concierge@sovereignstones.com  

Address: PO Box 588 Hamilton QLD 4007      

Phone: 1800 077 866 

ESTEPPINGSTONES Pty Ltd trading as Sovereign Stones ACN 628 757 111