HIRE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Cancellations, returns and refunds
We know that labour and birth can throw you a curve-ball and that your plans can change. If this were to occur, you need to have confidence that the services that you are relying upon for your ideal birth are also flexible and can respond positively to any changes that may occur. In pursuit of this, we have explained our hires cancellation policy as clearly as we are able -

  • Pool hire cancelled before dispatch - full refund.

  • Pool hire cancelled before 12 noon on the day of dispatch - full refund less £10 administration fee.

  • Pool hire cancelled during transit (after dispatch but before delivery) - full refund less £25 administration fee and return courier costs (variable by courier). You can either refuse the delivery and it will be sent back to us or you can call us and we will try to recall the goods before they arrive with you.

  • Pool hire cancelled after delivery has been made (this includes but is not limited to your delivery address - work or home, a safe place, a drop off shop or neighbour) - your hire has begun and no further refunds for your pool hire can be made regardless of use.

  • We will supply you with a returns label. The returns for pools is with UPS. If you have hired a TENS machine with your pool this MUST be returned in the crate with the pool. If you have only hired a TENS machine (no pool) return is via Royal Mail. These labels are inside your box (TENS machines have a bag with the return label on, pools have an envelope with the UPS label and ties inside). Upon checking the pool/TENS upon delivery, please report if you do not have the returns labels. If you report these as not present later than this, or they have been misplaced, defaced or otherwise unuseable, you have 3 options available - 
     

    1. Call us and we can email you the label for you to print off. This service is free of charge but please note, you will need to provide an envelope for the TENS machine and if you are returning a pool, ensure that the label is securely fixed to the outside of the crate.

    2. Call us and we will resend you the label (with envelope if applicable) - £5.00 charge.

    3. Arrange your own shipping back to us. Please ensure that you use a tracked and/or signed for service.
     

  • Please ensure that when using the UPS return collection service, COLLECTION IS MADE FROM YOUR ADDRESS and not ours. Failure to ensure this may incur an additional collection fee of £10.00.

We do not offer refunds or partial refunds for hire pools returned unused or returned prior to the end of the 6-week hire period. Our hire charges cover the whole 6-week hire to you and we assume that during this period, it is not available for others to hire. The charges also cover the cleaning and checking of all equipment - all items that leave our premises are tested and cleaned to our ISO-established standards on their return to our facility regardless of whether the hirer has 'used' the equipment. 

Birth Supplies agrees to refund in full all products purchased in addition to your hire or purchased from our Birth Supplies website that have been returned, unused and sealed in the original packaging within 30 days of receipt unless for hygiene reasons we are unable to do so. Please complete a RETURNS FORM if you are returning purchased items for a refund. Failure to enclose the Returns Form will mean we are unable to process a refund.

In the unlikely event of an item purchased from Birth Supplies being faulty, we will, of course, send a replacement product immediately to you. It is your responsibility to check your items and inform us of any issues within 48 hours of receipt to allow us adequate time to replace any damaged, missing or faulty items. 

Please use the contact information detailed below to arrange refund or replacement of any products or to discuss any of our policies further.

TENS machine hire
  • TENS hire cancelled before dispatch - full refund.
  • TENS hire cancelled after dispatch - your hire has begun and no refund is available regardless of use.
Breast Pump Hire
  • Breast Pump hire cancelled before dispatch - full refund.
  • Breast Pump hire cancelled after dispatch - your hire has begun and no refund is available regardless of use.

Hire Pool Cleaning/Damage Charges

When you hire from Birth Supplies, you recognise that the pool and equipment remain the property of DPEK Healthcare Ltd and you understand that you should return the pool and hire equipment undamaged, dry and clean (wiped down and any bodily fluids that are present on the pool are cleaned off - we do not require you to do a deep clean, just a general wipe down to remove fluids as soon as possible!). As we do not ask for a security deposit for your hire, you acknowledge that we reserve the right to charge additional fees if the hire equipment is returned damaged, wet or otherwise soiled to reflect the additional cleaning required or loss of equipment incurred. The schedule of fees is listed in the table below.

The price for the hire is inclusive of shipping to you and a pre-paid return label (for a drop-off OR a single collection attempt). If you book a collection, you will need to ensure that you or another adult will be available at the collection address between 0700 and 1900 on your requested collection day (or at least until the courier arrives!) and that the goods are in the sealed crate ready to go with the returns label securely attached. If the collection fails, we reserve the right to ask you for an additional fee of £10. This covers the cost of an additional collection attempt (please note, our 3rd party collection courier does provide us with photographic and GPS data to support their claim). In the event of a failed collection, you can if you wish, elect to return the crate and hire equipment by choosing and paying for your own courier. However, you will need to insure the contents for £500 in case of loss or damage - and most online courier resellers only offer £20 insurance as standard - so this will add an additional cost to the courier fee. You can also take the crate to a UPS drop-off point at no further cost, sing the label provided.

On return of the equipment the items will be checked off, tested and cleaned usually within 1-3 days, but during busy periods this can extend to 5-7 working days of delivery to our facility. We inflate the pool upon return, keeping a written and, when necessary, a photographic or video record of the pool to ensure that any issues are picked up as ealy as possible.

You can find our table of additional charges below and this is the standard that we will use for assessment. Any charges deemed necessary will be notified to the customer once we have received the pool back and it has been checked in by our dedicated hire pool cleaning team. We provide guidance in the instructions manual (included with the hire equipment) to help you avoid any potential charges. If further clarity is required, please fell free to contact us by phone, email or web chat.
 
Reason for claim Action
 
The pool is returned within the agreed time period. All hire equipment has been returned in a clean, undamaged condition and no used disposable items returned
 		 No additional fee
 
Pool damaged
 
 
Cost of repair or replacement for the equipment
 
Pool returned soiled or stained because it has not been wiped clean immediately or prior to packaging for return
 		 £25
 
Pool returned wet, damp or mouldy
 
 
£25
 
 
Opened or used hose returned
 		 £10
 
Opened or used liner returned
 		 £10
 
Return of open or used items not requested - thermometer, sieve, floor sheet, non-slip mat (each item chargeable separately)
 		 £5
 
Failure to return items requested – hire pool, black pool securing strap, submersible pump, electric pump, tap connectors (x3), RCD
 		 Items chargeable at replacement cost
 
Unauthorised hire extension
 		 £20 per week unauthorised or part thereof

N.B.
Please ensure that your home insurance is valid and updated as any damage to home fixtures, fittings or structure caused by the use of the hire equipment is the responsibility of the householder.