Returns and Exchanges Policy

The short version

We want you to be happy with what you buy from us. Most things can be returned within 30 days if they are unused, in their original packaging and you have your receipt. Some things can’t come back once opened, and kilns and special orders have their own rules. If we sent you the wrong thing, or it arrived damaged or faulty, we will make it right at no cost to you.

What can be returned

All returns need your receipt or order number, and the 30 days count from the day you bought it in store or the day it was delivered.

How to return something

Return it to the place you bought it, with your receipt or order number, within 30 days.

1. Bought in store: bring it back to that store. Other stores in our group can’t process it, because they are separate businesses with their own stock.
2. Bought online: contact us before sending anything back and we will give you a return number and the address to ship to. Returns sent without a return number can’t be processed.
3. Bought from a dealer: please return it to that dealer under their policy. We support our dealers on quality issues, but we can’t take back stock they sold.

We check every return before we refund it. If it isn’t in the condition described above, we will let you know and return it to you at your cost.

Refunds and exchanges

Refunds go back to the way you paid. Card refunds are processed within 5 business days of us receiving the return; your bank may take a few more days to show it. Cash refunds over $200 are paid by cheque or e-transfer.

• No receipt: we can’t refund, but if we can find the sale in our system we will offer store credit at the price you paid.
• Exchanges: happy to swap for something else in store; any price difference is charged or refunded at the time.
• Shipping: original shipping charges are not refunded, and you pay the return shipping, unless the return is because of our mistake or a faulty product.
• Restocking fee: only applies to opened equipment, as shown in the table above. Nothing else carries a fee.
• Store credit never expires.

Damaged, wrong or missing items

If your order arrives damaged, short or wrong, tell us within 48 hours of delivery and we will replace it, credit it or refund it at our cost.

• Check your order when it arrives. For anything delivered on a pallet or by freight carrier, note any damage on the driver’s delivery receipt before signing.
• Send us a photo of the damage and the packaging. Keep everything until we tell you it’s sorted.
• For moist clay shipped in winter: we do our best to avoid shipping in freezing weather, but we can’t control conditions on the road. If you choose to have clay shipped when it’s below freezing at any point in its journey to you, the risk of it freezing in transit is yours.

Kilns and special orders

Kilns are a big purchase, so we would rather help you choose the right one than take one back. Talk to us about size, voltage, phase and where it will live before you order.

• Cancelling: you can cancel a kiln order at no charge any time before it ships. Special voltages, custom sizes and other built-to-order configurations can’t be cancelled once we have placed the order with the manufacturer.
• After delivery: a kiln can’t be returned once it has shipped, unless it arrived damaged or has a manufacturing defect. Both are covered under Damaged items and Warranty.
• Installation: kilns must be wired by a licensed electrician to the manufacturer’s specifications. A kiln that can’t be installed because the site power doesn’t match isn’t a return; we will help you sort out the right configuration.

Special orders are anything we don’t normally stock and bring in for you. They can be cancelled at no charge until we place the order with our supplier. After that, they are yours, unless the item arrives damaged or faulty.

Warranty

Kilns, wheels, slab rollers and other equipment are covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, not by this return policy. The warranty period and what it covers are printed in the manual and on the manufacturer’s website; keep your receipt, because the warranty runs from the purchase date.

• We help with claims. Contact the store you bought from first. We will confirm the problem, contact the manufacturer on your behalf and arrange parts or repair.
• Wear items such as kiln elements, thermocouples, relays, wheel belts and bats are consumables and are generally not covered once in use.
• Not covered by any manufacturer: damage from over-firing, incorrect voltage, reduction or salt firing in an electric kiln, improper installation, modifications, or normal wear.

If something is wrong with the clay

We make our clay and we stand behind it. If a box doesn’t work the way it should – too soft, too stiff, lumps, foreign material, or fired results that don’t match the published specs – tell us and our lab will look at it.

• Keep the box label. The lot number printed on it is how we trace the batch. Keep a sample of the clay too, and a fired piece if the problem showed up in the kiln.
• Tell us what happened: what you were making, how you fired it, and which glazes you used. The more detail, the faster we can find the cause.
• If the clay is at fault, we replace it or refund it, and we cover the shipping.
• What we can’t cover is the value of finished work, kiln time, glazes or other materials. Firing outside the published cone range, or glaze fit problems with glazes not made for that body, aren’t clay defects.

This applies whether you bought the clay from us or from one of our dealers. Start with the dealer; they will bring us in.

Questions

Ask the store you bought from; the phone number and email are on your receipt and on our website. Nothing in this policy takes away rights you have under provincial consumer protection law.