TERMS & CONDITIONS
CLIENT CHARTER
Lunique London pride ourselves on putting our clients at the centre of everything we do;
Our business model, policies, systems and processes are client centric by design;
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We value our clients; we will always strive to respond to our clients promptly in an informative & courteous manner;
If we are uncertain of an authentication we will tell you and explain why we are uncertain;
All clients will receive the personal and individual attention of our senior authentication experts;
All authentication opinions will be subject to our internal quality assurance checks and controls;
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All authenticated items will receive a Unique Data Vault Reference Number;
The Data Vault is:
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Our living-catalogue of authentic items which serves as our collective knowledge-base;
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A rich comparator resource which we use to inform our authentication opinions;
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Depersonalised; this means no personal information is stored in the Data Vault at any time;
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Retaining Lunique London enables you to benefit from direct comparisons to items in our Data Vault and the added assurance this provides;
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Your time is precious which is why we offer a Turnaround Time Guarantee, where we promise to provide a full refund,
through your original method of payment, if we exceed the specified turnaround time which starts from when we have received both your payment and your photographic evidence, for your item;
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For the quality of service we provide, our fees are competitive, and represent excellent value for money.
INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK SALES & RETURN POLICY
When buying a physical item from Lunique London on our Instagram or Facebook platforms we offer the following terms and conditions;
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Everything purchased is subject to a 14 day return policy, from the day your item is received.
Once an item is returned to our business address, it is subject to a physical inspection, whereafter if everything is in order and in the condition the item was sent, a refund will be actioned, typically within 48-72 hours after inspection.
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If you paid via "Bank Transfer" you will receive the refund minus handling charges.
Handling charges will likely include original postage to your address.
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If you paid via "Paypal Goods & Services" you will receive the refund minus handling charges and Paypal fee, typically for UK transactions this equates to 3%. Unfortunately this fee is something that Paypal charge, and do not refund upon transfer of charges, and this charge is outside our control.
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If anything is discounted from its advertised price, it is automatically exempt from our returns policy, and therefore final sale.
For any information on payment plans or store credit, please contact us directly.
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We make every effort in making sure that your items are well described, securely packaged and sent with the most secure and reliable method of transit, to any destination in the world.
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We cannot be held responsible for any customs charges in your home country.
For international sales outside of the UK there are no returns possible.
OUR PRIVACY POLICY
Any personal information used will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with the data protection laws.
GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS
Who are we ?
Lunique London is a private limited company, LUNIQUE LONDON LTD, providing consultancy activities; it is registered in England and Wales; company number 13950170;
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Disclaimer:
• Lunique London provide an Independent Authentication Service (the “Service”); we provide opinions on the authenticity of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, YSL / Saint Laurent Paris, Fendi, and ‘other brands’ on request;
• Lunique London is independent; this means we are neither affiliated with, nor sponsored or certified by any brand;
• We make all reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of our opinions; however, we are ultimately limited by the efficacy of your photographic evidence (the “Evidence”); the principle “we can only see what we can see” applies in all cases;
• Clients agree to release Lunique London from any liability whatsoever, and to defend, indemnify and hold Lunique London harmless from and against any loss, damage or claim, arising out of, based upon or resulting from any opinion, in any medium, provided by Lunique London in respect to luxury handbags and accessories;
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Lunique London: Authentication with Authority:
The Authentication Opinions provided by Lunique London are based on our expertise, and collective knowledge, accumulated over 30 years of exposure to the world of luxury goods, luxury handbags and accessories;
With recent price rises in the luxury bag market, fakers & fraudsters stand to make higher profits which, in turn, justify more investment in creating more convincing fakes; the emergence of so called ‘superfakes’ has made the art of authentication much more challenging for authenticators and manufacturers alike;
We believe the art of authentication is in part being able to identify the characteristics of the Genuine, but crucially it is also being able to identify the characteristics of the Superfake; we recognised this a number of years ago, which is why, uniquely, Lunique London have performed, and continue to perform, in-depth forensic analyses of superfakes (and variations thereof) which we believe are typically sourced from the Middle-East & the Far East; this has given us the confidence to Authenticate with Authority, and, we hope, should provide you with greater peace of mind in the Services we provide;
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Lunique London: Terms and Conditions of Business:
• Please read our Terms and Conditions carefully before you use this website or instruct our Services. If you do not agree to be legally bound by these terms please do not use our website or instruct our Services.
• When you place an order, or use or website, or use documentation we have provided, you explicitly agree to accept our Terms & Conditions of business;
• Any liability, on our part, is explicitly limited to the ‘fee’ which you have agreed to pay for our Service;
• We reserve the right to change our prices, modify or discontinue our service(s) at any time, and without notice;
• We reserve the right to refuse to provide our Service to anyone for any reason at any time, and without notice;
• Guidance information is provided on this site on a best endevours basis and should be treated as general information only; any reliance on this general information is at your own risk;
• You agree that we may use in any medium any comments that you forward to us, and we shall be under no obligation to maintain any confidentiality or pay any compensation in regard to these comments;
• You agree that you will not copy, sell or exploit any part of the Service without our express written permission;
• Our failure to exercise a right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such rights or provisions;
• In the event that any provision of these Terms and Conditions is determined to be unenforceable, that portion shall be severed and deleted from these Terms and Conditions, and the remaining Terms & Conditions shall survive and continue to be binding and enforceable;
• Our webpage will feature the most recent version of our Terms and Conditions which you may view the at any time.
• We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to update, change or replace any part of these Terms and Conditions;
• It is your responsibility to check our website periodically for changes to our Terms and Conditions;
• Your continued use of our Service following any changes to our Terms and Conditions constitutes acceptance of those changes;
Any queries regarding our Terms and Conditions may be directed to authentication@luniquelondon.com
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• We provide consulting services; Wix.com, Inc. host out website and provide the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our services to you;
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Our Services (the “Service”):
Lunique Authentication Opinion (at a distance):
• Photographic evidence based authentication opinion; confirmed via Business WhatsApp or email; (this excludes a Certificate of Opinion);
Lunique Certificate of Opinion:
• This is an optional extra to the “at a distance” Lunique Authentication Opinion, and will be provided in .PDF (.PNG) format; see Certificate of Opinion Description;
Lunique Authentication Opinion (at LQ Studios):
• Physical examination based authentication opinion; (including a Certificate of Opinion & Royal Mail Special Delivery return postage);
Lunique Valuation Appraisals:
• Lunique London provide a full valuation appraisal for both Insurance & Marketing purposes;
• Our valuation appraisal, based on your photographic Evidence, includes a) a full independent authentication assessment, b) a Lunique Certificate of Opinion, and, c) a Lunique Statement of Valuation based on recent, and actual, achieved sales prices;
Lunique Expert Witness Testimony (Letter of Dispute):
• Lunique London provide independent, third-party authentication opinions to inform the outcomes of disputes between buyers and a sellers;
• Our independent authentication opinions are designed to address the specific issues with the item in question typically supported with comparative detailed examples;
• Once we have completed our analysis, we provide a formal Lunique London Letter of Dispute, which includes Company Registration Details and Business Address, and is accompanied with a Company Profile outlining our professional and authentication experience;
• Our Letter of Dispute is compliant with the guidelines of the key dispute handling players, namely the major Credit Card companies, eBay & PayPal;
• Lunique London’s independent authentication opinions have always prevailed in authenticity disputes;
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The Service Menu:
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Turnaround Time:
• We will provide our Authentication Opinions within 24 working hours after full & satisfactory receipt of your photographic evidence, or item receipt, (the “Evidence”), and payment of our Service fee;
• Our ‘Two-hour, Time is Of The Essence’ Service is available, by prior arrangement, at a separately agreed fee, again after full & satisfactory receipt of your photographic evidence, and payment of our agreed Service fee;
• For your peace of mind, our Turnaround Guarantee applies to all scenarios;
Service Description: Turnaround Time: Service Fee:
• Authentication Opinion – Based on Photographic Evidence: 24 working hours;
Chanel: £12 per item.
Louis Vuitton: £10 per item.
Gucci: £10 per item - Limited to Handbags & SLGs only.
YSL / Saint Laurent Paris: £10 per item - Limited to Handbags & SLGs only.
Fendi: £10 per item - Limited to Handbags & SLGs only.
• Authentication Opinion – In LQ Studios: 7 working days (after receipt);
£75 for 1st item & £35 for each extra item in same delivery:
• Certificate of Opinion: 24 working hours; Optional extra of +£6 per item:
• Valuation Pricing Appraisal: 24 working hours; Optional extra of +£8 per item:
• Letter of Dispute Opinion: 24 working hours; £30 per item:
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Services:
• Our Service(s) are exclusively consultancy services, and our expertise is in providing opinions;
• You knowingly instruct our Service(s) on the understanding that you will receive an opinion;
• As a third-party authentication service, we do not participate in any sales disputes beyond providing our professional opinion;
• We do not warrant that the quality of any services, information, or other material provided by us to you will meet your expectations;
• You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Lunique London, and associates, from any claim made by any third-party related to a Service or document you have received from us;
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Abuse of our Authentication Services:
• We have a zero tolerance for person(s) seeking to deliberately ‘pass-off’ counterfeit or fake items as genuine;
• If we suspect this to be the case, the client accepts that the authentication fee will be fortfeited;
• We reserve the right to report such instances to social media administrators and / or the authorities;
• We also reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to revoke any certificates or documents issued by us if;
• We suspect misuse of that document;
• We suspect our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others have been infringed;
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Photographic Best-Practices:
• Your photographic evidence (the “Evidence”) must be in-focus, taken in natural light, and should be of a large file-size;
• Detailed instructions and sample photographs are available on request; we encourage all our clients to request these photographic best-practices in advance; of submitting your photographs;
• If your item is featured online we request that you also include the associated link to the item, to compliment your Evidence;
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Photographic Disclaimer:
Limitations of ‘photographic evidence based authentication’:
• This is a low cost, authentication at a distance service;
• This mode of authentication is generally accepted Industry-wide;
• However, in some instances authentication will benefit from direct, physical inspection;
• Limitations to photography-based authentication include:
• We can only see what we can see; if the detail is not in the photograph then we can not see it;
• Limitations of digital photography & associated image compression techniques;
• Limitations of photographic equipment;
• If a full-suite of necessary photographs is not provided;
• If photographs from a different item are substituted;
• (We reserve the right to report such instances to the authorities);
• Photography based authentication is therefore ultimately provided on a best endeavours basis;
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Certificate of Opinion (refer to attached specimen):
Our Authentication Opinions are issued through Business WhatsApp or Email, unless you have selected an option which includes a Certificate of Opinion, or you have requested a Certificate of Opinion as an optional extra;
Your Certificate of Opinion will comprise;
• A statement of our considered opinion as to whether the item is Authentic or Not-Authentic;
• An item description (for authentic items only), generally including: make, model, features, unique identifier, year of manufacture;
• A photograph of both the actual item and its unique identifier (again for authentic items only);
• A unique Data Vault reference number;
• For ‘Not Authentic’ items, issues and anomalies will be identified, in general and basic terms, together with a photograph, and any identification marks;
You will receive your Certificate of Opinion in .PDF (.PNG) format through your chosen method of communication;
The Certificate of Opinion will feature ‘LQ watermarking’ and a Unique Data Vault Reference Number;
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Payment Methods:
• We accept all major credit cards and debit cards (and paypal);
• Payment Refunds: All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable;
Authentication Fee Refund Policy:
• Our Independent Authentication Service (the “Service”) is based on the information you have provided; our Service is fundamentally based upon the photographic evidence you provide (the “Evidence”); in this regard, you are responsible for the quality and completeness of the Evidence you provide, and the quality and accuracy of our Service is ultimately dependent upon the quality and completeness of your Evidence;
• All authentication opinions are final; if, following an authentication opinion, you share new Evidence, we will advise whether it is worth while you raising a new order with us to conduct a new review of your item based on both the original and new Evidence;
• Once you have instructed us, we will honour your Service instruction for 30 days, after which, if we have not received sufficient Evidence, required to provide an authentication opinion, the Service fee will be forfeited without refund;
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