Refund policy
Why authorized returns must be sent promptly
Coffee is a fresh food and it's important to understand the ways that fresh food products will deteriorate over time.
Most people may think if a pack of fresh roasted coffee is still sealed or unopened, the roasted coffee inside that unopened pack might be identical (or similar) in quality and condition to when it was originally packed and sent by us.
Unfortunately, that's not the case with fresh roasted coffees.
Fresh roasted coffee degrades quickly, even inside a sealed package. This means there is a rapidly diminishing quality and therefore it's inherent value, enjoyment factor and ability to be sold.
Nothing can retard or halt the oxidization process of fresh roasted coffee. It is extremely volatile and emits significant levels of carbon dioxide, or what is called off-gassing.
This exhausting or de-gassing of fresh roasted coffees is why fresh roasted coffee is stored in a special type of packaging consisting of 3-layer metal-film bag, heat sealed with a 1-way valve to allow the CO2 gas to exhaust slowly and naturally.
It's for these reasons why fresh roasted coffees are not the same as most other food ingredients. Just because a pack of coffee has not been opened does not mean it's still fresh and fit for sale.
Those volatile compounds in fresh roasted coffee degrade over time and it's how coffee goes stale.
But it's also these volatile compounds in fresh roasted coffees that are the vital or critical essence (or magic) of what makes fresh roasted coffee attractive and enjoyable when brewed. Fresh roasted coffee has intense levels of aroma, body, crema, sweetness, flavor, acidity, etc. that will decline over time.
So now you can understand why time is important for fresh roasted coffee.
When we issue Return Authority to a customer, we expect that our approved return will be posted by the customer within 3 working days from the date the customer received our Return Authority confirmation.
If a returned item does not arrive within 20 days from the date of our issuing that Return Authority, we reserve the reasonable right to cancel or decline any claims.
Why would we be so as the returned item will be scrapped - no longer fit for purpose as a saleable item.
How to Contact Us
If for some reason you need to reach us to clarify anything about your purchase, please use the Contact Us page as a preferred initial method. Every message is monitored and tracked.
In the case where you call us and we are not able to answer, please ensure you leave a clear message with the reason for contacting us. Please understand like most businesses we receive far too many calls and messages from people trying to sell us stuff we don't want, e.g. unsolicited calls. If you don't leave a brief message with explanation as to the reason for the call back, we may not return your call.
After making contact with us, we will endeavor to understand the nature of an issue and we may ask you questions in order to gain a thorough understanding of the incident.
We may also request photos from you. Whilst it may seem strange to ask for photos, it's an entirely reasonable and necessary step to assist our experts quickly identify the cause of an incident.
Viewing images may also help guide or influence the types of options that are available to resolve.
Our primary objective is always focused around quality and not wasting your valuable time.
Its important that we know how an incident occurred and what can be done to prevent or avoid in the future, or what type of corrective actions can be undertaken.
Sometimes, an incident may not be a straight forward.
Return Authority Process
The first step is to establish communication with us about an incident.
Sending an order back to us without first attempting communication will result in no refund or may result in a partial refund if we have incurred costs.
For products sold in bundles or quantities, e.g. packs of 15x or 30x are sold as a single unit. If you return an opened pack with less than the original quantity, we are not able to resell this item and no refund is available, even when the remaining contents might be OK.
If a sealed product has been opened, it cannot be returned.
The cost of returning an order will depend upon the conditions relating to the incident - if we made a mistake, we will cover the cost of return shipping.
If the incident involves the customer changing their mind or a customer mistake, the customer pays the return shipping.
Freight damage.
As noted on other policies in our store, ALL parcels are sent without insurance on the Australia Post parcel network.
We take extra steps to ensure your products are packed and sent safely. This includes using brand new, heavy duty cartons for all orders and wrapping delicate items in extra protection, etc.
No orders are sent in satchels for the very reason it's higher risk of damage in transit.
If you are concerned about loss or damage in transit, please contact us before your parcel is shipped so we can arrange insurance coverage.
We are not responsible or liable for damage in transit.
What can be returned?
Our mistake:-
If we made a error with your order - we apologize. This could include sending you the wrong coffee, or an insufficient quantity, or not grinding the coffee when you selected a grind option on the coffee product. Please contact us and we will offer options to resolve this at our cost.
Sometimes, the wrong label is applied to a coffee bag.
All our coffees are packed without labels as the labels interfere with our machinery and the suction cups holding the bags during the various stages of packaging.
Labels are applied to bags when your order is picked and placed into a carton. Whilst it's rare, mistakes can happen with the human task of applying labels. We know the coffee will be correct due to scan codes on our containers.
Damaged Items:-
If packaging is damaged in transit this is outside of our control. As noted in our Delivery Policy, all consignments are not insured unless you arrange this insurance with us before we ship your parcel.
This means any damage in transit is not our responsibility to rectify.
Damage as a result of excessive pressure or force applied during transit may not be immediately apparent when inspecting the shipping carton. Cartons can absorb significant pressure and yet show few signs of the force. Sometimes a carton can revert back to it's similar shape after absorbing an impact.
Examples are when freight companies throw cartons, or stack heavy items on top of each other that cause the seal on a bag to "blow" or rupture, spilling contents.
Australia Post use mechanical sorting in their hubs - tipping large metal cages with up to 500kg of parcels inside. It's the other parcels in the freight networks that normally cause damage - car parts, tools, etc.
We respectfully ask our customers to understand this important point - the seals on the bags are in perfect condition when your parcel was picked and packed in our warehouse.
It's not possible for us to place a busted coffee bag leaking coffee beans or ground into a carton - common sense prevails at all times.
Some packs of chai and drinking chocolate are extremely delicate and can pop during transit. We wraps these in extra layers or protection to prevent damage.
Ordering the wrong products
Please understand that coffee is a fresh food and returning a product that is up to 2 weeks old is something that is difficult for everyone to deal with as it's now not fresh.
We strive to ship fresh roasted coffee. Put simply, that's our business and anything that's old, regardless of whether it's been opened or not, is rendered worthless to us and scrapped.
A fresh product is something that was roasted this morning or yesterday or on a Monday it was last Friday.
A product that is 2 weeks old is not fresh and outside of our quality policy. Customers will complain if they receive a pack of coffee that is many weeks old.
We can't put a product older than a few days back into stock for re-sending out to another customer - it's not fair on that receiving customer as the peak or optimal window for enjoyment may have passed or it may occur when the product is in transit - which can take up to 2 weeks.
Please also keep in mind that freight is not a cheap or free service. If you have placed an order and unfortunately made a mistake, please contact us to discuss options.
Ground Coffee is not able to be refunded or exchanged
We do not hold, store or stock any ground coffees.
Each order containing a ground coffee item is made up as a custom order item specifically for your order only.
That is, we take a sealed pack of freshly roasted whole beans, grind to suit, clean, seal and ship.
Ground coffee deteriorates instantly the moment it is ground.
In fact, ground coffee may lose up to 80% of the essential volatile compounds within 10 days.
For this reason, we do not accept returns, refunds or exchanges of ground coffee packs where the customer has made a mistake.
It's not fair upon us or other customers to receive a product that has significantly degraded. It will not be resold and instead scrapped.
Taste
Our products are sealed in special packaging within 1hr of roasting.
It's done this way to preserve quality and freshness.
If you don't like the taste of a product after opening and sampling, it's not able to be returned as it will have been exposed to oxygen and potentially other contaminants.
Taste is a highly subjective perception and it varies amongst individuals.
We have extensive Quality Assurance in place - each batch of coffee is precision roasted by an industrial computerized system. It's impossible to over-roast or burn the coffee.
What one person may enjoy, another may not and so on.....taste of coffee also comes down to how it is extracted or brewed. These sorts of variances do not mean the product is defective.
Coffee taste is also highly dependent upon the ways in which it is handled and brewed. Failure to adjust or clean equipment, incorrect brew temperatures and many other factors may contribute to a poor taste experience.
During the heat of summer, it's possible that coffee stored in vehicles during the day may slowly "bake" and this could reduce the quality of the coffee product.
Where to send back ?
The first step is to reach out via the Contact Us page, or call our office.
After we have assessed an incident and decided to issue a Return Authority the relevant details will be included in our advice to you.
How are items returned?
Items cannot be returned to us without a valid Return Authority.
We kindly ask that you contact us in the first instance when there is a matter or incident to be resolved.
If an approved Return Authority has been issued by us, please ensure the item is packed well in a carton so as to ensure it can arrive back to us in reasonable condition.
Satchels are not allowed. We will not accept a returned item that was shipped in a satchel due to the risks of contents being damaged.
Credits for returns
Depending upon the circumstances, we may discuss options about credit or replacement or refund.
In some cases, it's far more efficient to process a store credit that can be used for any future purchase, or in some instances we may process a full or partial refund against your original purchase transaction, e.g. we enter the refund amount against your credit card or paypal transaction.
Payment or credits will be applied within 7 days of our written commitment for entitlement of any such credit or refund.