Last updated: [EFFECTIVE DATE].
1. Read this first: our kits are made to order
We do not stock finished kits. Each one is assembled for your order from individual seals. That has a consequence you need to know before you buy, not after:
A made-to-order kit is not returnable simply because you changed your mind, or it is returnable only on payment of a [X]% restocking fee. [CHOOSE ONE POSITION AND STATE IT PLAINLY.]
This is stated on every product page next to the Add to Cart button, in the checkout confirmation you tick, and in your Order Confirmation email. It should never be a surprise.
What is always available, and what we would rather you used:
- Cancel before the build starts. Free. See section 6 of the Terms of Sale; your order page shows your cutoff.
- Exchange a wrong-fit kit. See section 4. We make this easy on purpose.
- Return a defective kit. See section 8. Free, and we pay the shipping.
2. Return window
Returns we accept must be requested within [N] days of delivery and received by us within [N] days of the RMA being issued.
3. Condition required for a return
To be returnable, a kit must be:
- unopened, or opened only far enough to compare the seals against your old ones;
- complete, with every seal, wiper, O-ring, backup ring and bushing present;
- uninstalled — no seal may have been fitted, stretched over a piston, pressed into a gland, lubricated for installation, or cut;
- in its original packaging, with the packing list and part labels intact.
A seal that has been installed cannot be returned, even if it was installed for only a moment and even if it did not fit. Elastomer seals take a set as soon as they are stretched, and a returned installed seal cannot be resold or reused. Compare the new seals against the old ones before you fit anything.
4. Wrong fit — the practical route
A kit that does not fit is the most common problem in this trade, and an exchange is cheaper for everyone than an argument.
If we identified the kit for you from measurements and photographs you sent us accurately, and we got it wrong: we exchange it for the correct kit, we pay the return shipping, and there is no restocking fee.
If the kit matched the specification you ordered, but the specification was not what your machine needed — the machine had been rebuilt, the measurement was off, the serial break was missed — this is a buyer's-convenience return under section 1, and the restocking and shipping terms there apply. We will still credit the returned kit against the correct one where the returned kit meets section 3.
Either way, contact us first at [SUPPORT EMAIL] with the order number, the part numbers in the kit, the measurements you took and photographs of the old seals next to a rule. In most cases we can identify the right kit from that and get it moving the same day.
5. Items we never take back
- Any kit with an installed, stretched, cut or lubricated seal.
- Kits assembled to a specification you supplied that is not in our catalog.
- Anything outside the return window.
- Anything returned without an RMA number.
6. How to get an RMA
Email [SUPPORT EMAIL] or open a request from your order page with your order number and the reason. We issue an RMA number and the return address.
Write the RMA number on the outside of the package. Returns without one may be refused or delayed, because we cannot tell whose they are.
Pack the return so it arrives in the condition it left. Use a trackable service; until the return reaches us it is your parcel.
7. Who pays return shipping
- Our error, a defect, or a wrong-fit kit we identified: we pay, and we send you a label.
- Buyer's convenience, or a fitment error on your side: you pay, and the original outbound shipping is not refunded.
8. Defective goods and warranty claims
The limited warranty is section 8 of the Terms of Sale: [N] days from delivery against defects in materials and workmanship, with the remedy limited to replacement or refund of the purchase price, at our option.
What we need to process a claim:
- Your order number.
- The part number of the failed seal, from the packing list.
- The machine make, model and serial number.
- Photographs of the failed seal, in place if possible and out of the cylinder as well.
- Photographs of the bore and the rod in the sealing area, so we can see their condition.
- What happened, and how long after installation.
What is excluded is section 9 of the Terms of Sale, and improper installation is first on that list, followed by a scored or out-of-specification bore or rod, contamination, over-pressure and incompatible fluid. We are not being difficult: a new seal fitted to a damaged bore fails again within hours, and we would rather diagnose that with you than replace a kit twice.
9. Refunds
Approved refunds go back to the original payment method within [N] business days of us receiving and inspecting the return. Card refunds take a further few days to appear, which is your bank's timing, not ours. Net-terms accounts are credited against the account.
We refund the price of the goods and the tax charged on them. Outbound shipping is refunded only where the return is our error or a defect.
10. Exchanges
An exchange is processed as a return plus a new order, so the new kit's build time starts when the exchange is approved, not when the return arrives. Where the delay matters, we will ship the replacement before the return arrives against a card authorization, and release it when the return is received.
11. Cancellations
Cancelling before the build starts is free and is covered by section 6 of the Terms of Sale. Your order page shows the cutoff and whether it has passed.
12. Chargebacks
If something is wrong, tell us. We would far rather exchange a kit than lose a chargeback, and we have never yet had a fitment problem we could not resolve by email.
If you raise a chargeback without contacting us first, we will respond to it with the order record, the fitment data you were shown, the terms you accepted, the delivery confirmation and this policy. A chargeback does not extend the return window or the warranty period.
13. Questions
[SUPPORT EMAIL] · [SUPPORT PHONE] · [MAILING ADDRESS].