Refunds and returns

This page covers faults, returns, and refunds for anything bought from Cavy Components. If something is wrong with your order, email carl@cavyconcepts.co.nz with your order reference and I will sort it out.

Your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act

The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 applies to everything I sell. Under it, the parts I supply must:

• be of acceptable quality, which means well made, safe, durable, free of defects, and doing what a reasonable person would expect for the price
• be fit for their normal purpose, and fit for any particular purpose you told me about before you bought
• match how they are described on the site, in the photos, and in anything I told you by email
• arrive at the agreed time and in acceptable condition

These are legal guarantees, not a warranty I am offering as a favour. They apply on top of everything else on this page.

There is no fixed time limit. A part has to last as long as a reasonable person would expect, given what it is, what it cost, and how it is being used.

What happens if a part is faulty

Email me first, with your order reference and clear photos. Do not send anything back before you hear from me.

When a fault can be fixed and it is not serious, I choose the remedy. I will repair it, replace it, or refund it, at no cost to you and within a reasonable time. If I refuse to do that, or I take too long, you can have it fixed somewhere else and claim the reasonable cost back from me, or reject the part and choose a refund or a replacement.

When the fault is a failure of substantial character, you choose, not me. You can reject the part and take either a full refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value, or you can keep it and claim compensation for how much the fault has knocked off its value.

A failure is of substantial character when:

• you would not have bought the part if you had known about the fault
• the part is significantly different from how it was described or from the sample or photos you were shown
• the part is substantially unfit for what parts of that type are normally used for, and cannot be made fit easily and within a reasonable time
• the part is unsafe

You can also claim for other loss or damage that was a reasonably foreseeable result of the fault.

If you want to reject a part, do it within a reasonable time of the problem showing up. What counts as reasonable depends on the part and how the fault appeared.

What the Act does not cover

The Consumer Guarantees Act does not cover damage from a crash, incorrect fitting, over-tightening, modification, use the part was never meant for, or ordinary wear.

It also does not cover changing your mind, ordering the wrong size, or finding it cheaper somewhere else. That is dealt with further down this page as a goodwill policy.

If I look at a returned part and conclude the fault is not mine, I will tell you why and send you photos of what I found before we go any further.

These rights cannot be signed away

If you are buying as a consumer, nothing on this site or in any email from me can take your Consumer Guarantees Act rights away. Any wording that looks like it does has no effect.

There is one exception, and it is narrow. Where goods are supplied and bought in trade, and both of us are in trade, the Act lets us agree in writing that it does not apply, as long as that is fair and reasonable for both of us. I do not apply that exclusion by default. It applies only if it is written into your order confirmation and you have agreed to it before paying. Buying a part that you happen to use for work does not, on its own, make you a business buyer.

Change of mind returns

You do not have a legal right to return something in New Zealand just because you changed your mind. There is no cooling off period for online orders here. What follows is a goodwill policy I offer on stocked parts, not an obligation, and I can decline it.

Email me within [TO BE SUPPLIED: change of mind window, suggested 14 days] of your order arriving. I will accept a change of mind return if the part is:

• unfitted, including never test fitted to a bike
• free of tool marks, scratches, thread damage, and any marking of the finish
• complete, with all bolts, spacers, and hardware it came with
• in its original packaging

Pack it so it survives the trip back, and use a tracked service. You pay the postage in both directions, and I do not refund the shipping you paid on the original order. Once it arrives and I have checked it over, I refund what you paid for the part.

If it comes back fitted or marked, I will contact you before doing anything, and I may decline the return or reduce the refund to reflect the condition.

Custom and made to order parts

Change of mind returns are not available on custom machining, custom sprockets, or anything made to order in the size, tooth count, fitment, or finish you asked for. Those parts are cut specifically for your order and I cannot resell them. This is why I confirm the full specification with you by email before you pay, so please check it properly at that point.

Your Consumer Guarantees Act rights apply to custom and made to order parts in full. If a custom part is faulty, does not match the specification we agreed, or is not fit for the purpose you told me about, it is covered exactly like anything else on this page.

Damaged in transit

Getting your order to you in acceptable condition is my responsibility, not yours and not the courier’s. You deal with me, and I deal with the courier.

If your parcel arrives damaged:

• photograph the outer packaging before you unpack any further, then photograph the part
• do not fit the part
• email me as soon as you can after it arrives, with the photos and your order reference

I will replace the part or refund it, whichever suits you, and I cover all the postage. Please hang on to the packaging until we have finished sorting it out, because the courier may want to see it.

Wrong part sent

If I send you the wrong part, email me with your order reference and a photo of what turned up. I will send the right one and cover the postage both ways. Do not fit a part you think is wrong.

How to start a return

Email carl@cavyconcepts.co.nz with:

• your order reference
• which part it is
• what the problem is, or that it is a change of mind return
• clear photos, if it is a fault, transit damage, or a wrong part

Wait for my reply before posting anything back. I will confirm the return and give you the address to send it to. There is no returns address published on the site, and parts sent back without arranging it first can go astray.

Who pays return postage

• Faulty part, wrong part, or damage in transit: I pay. I will either arrange the return or refund your reasonable return postage once you send me the receipt. If a part is too big or awkward to post back easily, tell me and I will arrange collection at my cost.
• Change of mind: you pay, both ways.
• Part turns out not to be faulty: I will talk to you before doing anything. If we agree to send it back to you, you cover the postage.

How refunds are paid

Refunds go back by bank transfer to the account the original payment came from. I cannot refund to a different account, and I do not refund in cash. Store credit is only used if you ask for it and I agree.

I will pay the refund within [TO BE SUPPLIED: refund timeframe, suggested 5 working days] of either agreeing to it or the part arriving back with me, whichever is later. How quickly it lands after that is up to your bank.

Where the return is because of a fault, a wrong part, or transit damage, the refund covers what you paid for the part plus the original shipping cost. On a change of mind return it covers the price of the part only.

If we cannot sort it out

Email me first. Nearly everything gets sorted that way, and I would rather fix a problem than argue about it.

If we still cannot agree, you can get free information about your rights from Consumer Protection at consumerprotection.govt.nz, or take a claim to the Disputes Tribunal, which is a low cost process that does not need a lawyer.