Open Monday To Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm - other times by Appointment

Terms and Conditions

1. As pianos are mechanical musical instruments and are susceptible to changes due to variations in heat and humidity, stresses of stringing tension, and degradation contributed to by regular usage, the purchaser is expected to follow our warranty guide to how to care for your piano. (See item 4)

2. When purchasing the piano via e-commerce or by phone order where the description of the product is reliant on pictures of the item(s) viewed on our website or sent to the customer via email, accompanied by written or verbal description. If the item arrives not as described or not as you expect it to be you will receive a full refund of any payments, this refund is only available upon arrival and refusal of the item. The customer has up to 14 days following delivery to return the item, which must be returned in the same condition it was delivered and signed for on the delivery condition sheets. We will then collect the item again via our specialist transport team. 

Please note, the customer will be responsible for paying all transport costs. This includes all delivery and return freight costs. Any servicing costs of an item during the period of product custody will also be the responsibility of the buyer. Refund will be made by company cheque addressed to the original purchaser or BACS payment into the original customers preferred bank account. Any deposits made reserving an item enter the purchaser into a legal obligation for purchase of that product.

Any item that has been customised to meet specifications that are the desires of a buyer will automatically enter the buyer into a no return policy.

The deposit for any item is only refundable for up to 24 hours after the payment has been processed. Any deposit refund outside of the 24 hour period is non refundable. Deposits made that exceed the 28 day period from the date of purchase without the delivery being made at the discretion of the customer, will require that the full payment must be made unless previously agreed.

Card payments made when not present - All card details are destroyed when the transaction is complete. 

2.1 Cancellation Charges

If You cancel your purchase, We reserve the right to charge you a reasonable cancellation + admin fee.

3. Returns, Damaged Goods & Storage Conditions

All piano orders are prepared to play to the highest possible standard prior to dispatch. With new items the appearance is carefully checked prior to dispatch and again upon delivery by our specialist trained expert delivery service. At this time the recipient will be asked to inspect the item and sign a declaration stating that the order has arrived in acceptable condition. Goods damaged in transit and not in acceptable condition may be returned within 14 days to be expertly repaired or replaced with the same type of product. Please be aware that our secondhand pianos may contain minor blemishes upon delivery. Our expert team will always recondition secondhand pianos to the best of our ability within relation to the cost of the piano.

When goods are delivered by us or a third party delivery service, the customer should notify Shackleford Pianos within 24 hours of receipt, of any damage to their received goods. We will require photographic evidence of the damage sent to us via email. All items damaged in transit will be expertly repaired or replaced with the same type of product. Shackleford Pianos cannot be held responsible for damage reported after the initial 24 hour reception period.

Any pianos collected that are left in our storage facility without contact from the customer, will result in a storage fee of £15.00 - £17.50 per week including VAT and insurance, until the piano has been arranged to be delivered or collected by ourselves or a third party company. Any piano action or piano parts left in our storage facility without contact from the customer will result in a £5.00 per week storage fee including VAT and insurance. This will also include a delivery fee, price depends on the delivery location. Any pianos or parts collected by a third party company will require full payment of any outstanding storage fees being made before collection.

4. Our warranty and how to look after your piano

At Shackleford pianos, we offer a guarantee on all of the pianos that we sell.

The length of this warranty will vary dependent on the piano, but the minimum will be five years. You will be advised of the length of your warranty at time of purchase. Our guarantee covers any technical fault that you may encounter with your piano however, any fault due to misuse, problems encountered from not having the piano serviced regularly and any problems caused due to excess or inconsistent heat, cold or moisture will not be covered by our warranty.

To ensure that your piano is covered by our warranty it must be serviced by a representative of Shackleford Pianos. As well as following a regular servicing plan, please also follow our tips on how to take care of your piano:

  • Even if your piano is not used it will go out of tune. Make sure you have your piano tuned every six months.
  • Avoid humidity. The best humidity level to keep a piano at is around 60%
  • Avoid placing your piano near a radiator or against an outside wall, near open fireplaces or log burners.
  • Avoid water damage. Keep vases, pot plants, cups of tea etc away from the piano.
  • When you clean your piano use a microfibre cloth. Do not use furniture polish.

The best temperature to keep your piano at is between 14- 22 c. The worst thing you can expose a piano to is extremes of heat and humidity. For example, if you go away for a few days and let your house freeze, then come home and put your heating on high, expect piano problems. Instead, slowly introduce heat into the room.

Our beginner's pianos are all tuned to A440 concert pitch, respond to a minimum of grade 5 playing standard, and are guaranteed for five years against any technical problems. These are ideal pianos to get started on. If you then decide within the first three years that you love the piano so much you want to upgrade to a better model, we will give you what you paid for your beginner piano (less transport costs) as a trade in value on your upgraded piano. All we ask is that you follow the guidelines above and this will maintain the warranty.

All pianos come with a free installation tuning service performed 4-6 weeks after delivery; failure to book this service within the allotted time may result in full payment required for your initial tuning.

Appointments booked for installation service/tuning that are not cancelled well in advance, will result in full payment upon your next appointment.

This guarantee shall be invalidated if the product has not been tuned/serviced at regular intervals by a Shackleford Pianos representative since the date of purchase by the customer or if the product has not been kept in a suitable location since the date of purchase.

This guarantee is valid only for products located within the United Kingdom. This guarantee does not affect your statutory rights.

5. Billing conditions

We use Shopify Payment powered by stripe to collect/process transaction information. Please see their security policy https://stripe.com/gb/privacy. All payment processes are fully PCI compliant and are made to us within 2 days through Shopify Payment. We rigorously monitor all payments made online through Shopify Payment. Should we need to refund you for your item, we can make a full refund within 5 days of the agreement. 

Any refunds of payments made via PayPal will result in the buyer being responsible for the PayPal fee. This will be deducted from your overall refund.

Card payments made when not present - All card details are destroyed when the transaction is complete.

Customers details will not be passed onto any third party.

6. Advertising Features and Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics remarketing features and cookies to provide users with information more specifically related to their interests. All users may opt-out of these features if they prefer not to see personalised ads. Please refer to the following information from Google, should you wish to change your ads settings. Google is also a member of the NAI (Network Advertising Initiative) which provides a consumer opt-out service

7. Piano Hire

All piano hires need to be booked via our email service. To secure a booking, we will require a £100 deposit which is non-refundable if cancelled by the client, however is transferable if transferred to another service within the business.

Any hires that are booked and paid for that are not cancelled within the allotted time period after the arrangements are made (2 weeks prior to the date of the hire unless agreed otherwise) will result in the deposit becoming non-refundable.

We will require all information for bookings prior to the date of the hire. This includes; venue address, billing address, point of contact for the day, confirmation of any stairs, stages or restrictions involved with the delivery. We will also need to know if there are any parking restrictions, time restrictions or issues relating with access. Failure to give this information prior to arrival may result in your hire being cancelled without a refund or you may only receive a partial refund.

If access cannot be gained and the person of contact cannot be reached, there will be a maximum wait time at the venue of 30 minutes before cancellation. Again, this may result in no refund or a partial refund only.

All pianos hired come in tune and ready to play. We do include a complimentary piano tuning that is performed after the piano has been delivered. If the piano is being used in a concert situation where it will be played heavily for a rehearsal prior to the main performance we would strongly recommend booking additional tunings to retune the piano or rectify any problems that may arise prior to the main performance. This is the process taken at all major concert halls, and the process we recommend you take for your concert presentation. 

Whilst the piano is under authority of the client, it will not be covered by our insurance. Insuring the piano is optional to the client, however we strongly recommend that you insure the piano through the venue's insurance. Any damage upon collection will be priced up and invoiced accordingly.

8. Tuning and Transport

8.1  If You postpone or cancel your appointment, We reserve the right to charge you a reasonable postponement or cancellation fee according to how much notice is given as set out below at 8.1.1 - 8.1.4. "Working days" refer to the normal working week of Monday to Friday and excludes weekends and Public Holidays.

8.1.1  More than 10 working days before the tuning was due to start: No charge.

8.1.2  Between 5 and 10 working days inclusive before the tuning was due to start: not more than 30% of the tuning charge.

8.1.3  Less than 5 working days before the tuning was due to start: not more than 60% of the tuning charge.

8.1.4  On the day the work starts or at any time after the work commences up to 100% of Our charges.

8.2 Failure to notify us 48 hours before the date of a booking may result in your payment being non-refundable but may be transferrable to another date.

9. Ivory

Some of our second-hand pianos come with original ivory keys tops. The client must be aware that ivory has impurities and inconsistencies in appearance due to age and due to ivory being a natural material rather than being man-made. We will try to restore ivory to the best of our ability whilst keeping within legislation and will also follow all regulations regarding ivory whilst working with the material. Shackleford Pianos does not use ivory that can be dated to after the legal date at which ivory was made an illegal material to sell.

10. Cabinet Work

Some of our second-hand pianos will have more wear and tear due to age. We endeavour to repair and restore all of our pianos to the best of our ability within the price range of the piano, however some pianos may still show minimal signs of patina. Many of our clients find this patina desirable. If you want a blemish-free finish, this may incur an additional fee, but this is discussed with you at the time of purchase.

11. Dating the piano

In order to date our pianos, we use our professional expertise and often date pianos by serial numbers as found in industry standard reference books. Often these books are not 100% accurate, so we use our experience in dating the style of the piano in comparison to other pianos in similar style from the same period to form an estimation. We do this to the best of our knowledge, however this is only a professional estimation and might not always be completely accurate or precise.

12. Restoration Payments

All payments for pianos must be made before delivery unless another arrangement has been agreed by both parties. Payment for restorations has to be paid prior to delivery. Photos and videos of the piano will be provided before delivery, or you can have a look at the piano for yourself in our showroom/workshop. This also applies to pianos in our stock when you purchase them. This includes any extra charged work done on the piano before delivery.

13. Delivery and Transport

We are not allowed to uninstall or reinstall structural features, including but not limited to balconies, banisters or windows, in order to get into the house to deliver or transport the piano. If doing this is necessary for the delivery of the piano, either the home owner or a third party professional needs to uninstall the feature to allow access for the delivery team. We recommend that you hire a professional person or company separate from ourselves to remove the structural feature so that we can gain access. We are not liable for any damages or injuries caused relating to features that have been uninstalled and reinstalled. We will try to find an alternative route. Failure to employ a third party to remove the feature may result in your appointment being cancelled. You may still be charged for the call-out. If we can find an alternative route into the property, we will instead carry out the transport job via that route, however if there are any stairs, steps, obstacles or restrictions, we will not go ahead with the transport job unless you are happy to pay the extra fee incurred by any of the above e.g. if there are over six steps along the alternative route. Regardless, a call-out fee will still be issued. 

There will be an additional fee for transporting pianos to a level separate from the ground floor or up or down stairs or steps exceeding six steps. Additional fees vary with the amount of steps or stairs the piano needs to be transported up or down and depending on which floor the piano is going to. Ground floor deliveries with less than six steps come with no extra charge. If there are any obstacles in the way of our transport team, this may also come with an obstacle depending on the obstacle.

If you fail to report any obstacles, restrictions or steps to our transport team, you will be charged added fees or this may result in cancellation of your appointment. A call-out fee will still be issued regardless.