1. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Welcome to Reading Chest (‘Reading Chest’, ‘Us’, ‘We’, ‘Our’). ReadingChest.co.uk (the ‘Website’) is owned and operated by Reading Chest, a sole trader business operating in the UK. The main address for correspondence is PO Box 4927, Shrewsbury, SY1 9XX (email [email protected]). These Rental Book Subscription Service Terms and Conditions (the ‘Terms’) which incorporate the Privacy Policy govern your use of this Website and the Reading Chest Service. They form a contract between you and Reading Chest in relation to the Book Rental Subscription Service. By accessing and browsing the Website, you accept these Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to them, please do not use this Website and do not use and/ or purchase Reading Chest’s products or services.

2. ABOUT US

The Reading Chest Book Rental Subscription Service is a web-based service available to qualifying UK residents. You agree that on completion of your registration as a subscriber you would like Us to immediately commence the provision of the Book Rental Service to you. Subscription to the Book Rental Service entitles you to select one of the Subscription Packages advertised by Us on the Site (‘Subscription Package’) for the rental of either a fixed or unlimited number of books depending on your Subscription Package in return for payment to Us of the subscription package charge (‘Subscription Package Charge’). To gain access to the details of your chosen Subscription Package, including your Subscription Package Charge, go to ‘My Account’ in the Site.

3. JOINING US 

3.1 To become a Reading Chest Subscriber (‘Member’) and / or receive or purchase any of our products or services: i) you must be at least 18 years of age (Even though the Website is designed with the hope that children will use it as much as possible to select their books and write book reviews etc, an adult over 18 must register and form the contract with Reading Chest.); ii) you must live in the United Kingdom; iii) you must provide Reading Chest with personal details (including name, email address, telephone number, postal address and valid payment details), that are true and current and you must agree to update your personal details in the relevant section of the Site. By registering these personal details, you agree to be bound by these Terms and to Us processing your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our Privacy Policy you should not become a Member of this service or use the Website. Upon receipt of your details We will send a confirmatory e-mail to you. You are solely responsible for all use of and for protecting the confidentiality of your email verification, username and password. You must notify Us immediately of any unauthorised use of them or any other breach of security regarding Our Website that comes to your attention. iv) If you change address, you must update your address details in the ‘My Account’ section of the Website to ensure that no books are sent out to the wrong address. You will be liable for any books posted to the wrong address.

3.2 Reading Chest may refuse any application to become a Reading Chest Member or purchase any of our services for any reason whatsoever. 3.3 Books are usually addressed to the children, not the Member. For sake of clarity however, it is the Member, not the addressee who is bound by these Terms.

4. MEMBERSHIP AND SUBSCRIPTION TO READING CHEST

4.1 Provided that you meet the minimum criteria as explained in clause 3, you may become a Reading Chest Member by filling in your personal and payment details in the relevant section of the Website. 4.2 As a Reading Chest Member, you will receive access to certain sections and functions of the Website that are not available to non-members. 4.3 As a Member you have the ability to rate books, write book reviews and submit customer comments, all of which will be available for other Members and non members in some circumstances (at Our discretion) to read. You agree to ensure that no foul, abusive or otherwise inappropriate content will be added under any circumstances. We will moderate Member input and only publish that which We consider to be fair, reasonable and of interest to others. We maintain the right to exercise absolute discretion as to what is and is not published on the Website. See clause 12 of these Terms for further details. 4.4 We may at any time, in our sole discretion, change the fees and charges, or add new fees and charges, in relation to any of our products and services. We will notify Members by email at least 14 days in advance of any such change. If you do not agree to the change, you may cancel your membership or subscription online through the ‘My Account’ section of the Website in accordance with these Terms.

5. RENTAL SERVICE

5.1 Payment

As a subscriber to Reading Chest, you agree that We are permitted to charge subscription fees and any other charges that you may incur in connection with your use of the Book Rental Service. The first payment of the Subscription Package Charge shall be made after you have successfully registered for the Book Rental Service via the Website or if applicable at the end of your free period of service. This free period of service might be from either a promotional discount code or a gift subscription voucher. The Subscription Package Charge will continue on a monthly basis on the same date each month regardless of how much you use the service, unless and until you cancel in accordance with these Terms. We do not provide refunds for cancellations part-way through a billing period. Where the Subscription Charge Date does not recur in a particular month (e.g. 31st March, but no 31st April), you will be charged on the closest preceding date to the Subscription Charge Date (e.g. 30th April) for that month.

You confirm that the method of payment being used is yours and that there are sufficient funds or credit facilities to cover the Subscription Package Charge. If paying by credit or debit card, please ensure that card details, such as expiry dates are kept updated in the ‘My Account’ section of the Website. Failure to do so may mean that We will be unable to fulfil your orders and that your account will be suspended or terminated. We reserve the right to pass on your details to a collection agency for retrieval of outstanding debt.

5.2 Changing your Rental Package

You may upgrade or downgrade your Reading Chest Subscription Package Level (‘Subscription Package Level’) whenever you like, through the ‘My Account’ section of this Website. Any reduction in your monthly subscription charge resulting from a downgrade will take effect at the next billing period after any outstanding books have been returned to Reading Chest.

Any increase in subscription charges resulting from an upgrade in your package will take effect in the next billing period. In the event of a membership upgrade, you are entitled to the benefits of the upgraded Subscription Package Level on receiving notification from Us of the completion of the upgrade request. We will endeavour to process all membership upgrades within two working days but we cannot guarantee this time frame.

Swap credits are non refundable and non transferrable.

5.3 Rental Service book restrictions

All of our Subscription Package Levels allow you to return books in a pre-paid envelope. Once received by us, new books will be despatched to you (subject to the terms of the specific Subscription Package Level). The receipt and subsequent despatch of books by Us is referred to as a “Swap”.

Subscribers are permitted to return up to, but not in excess of, six books at a time. In the event fewer books are returned, the same number of books will be despatched (subject to the terms of the specific Subscription Package level) and this will constitute one Swap.

In the event you return more than the permitted number of books at once, the returns will be split and processed as if two returns have been made. For example, should you return five books at one time, We will process it as if two separate returns, one of three books and one of two books have been made. We will despatch two replacement shipments, one of three books and one of two (subject to the terms of the specific Subscription Package level) and this will constitute two Swaps.

Some of our Subscription Packages limit the number of Swaps each month. The date on which we reset your Swaps is the Subscription Package Charge date. Unused swaps cannot be carried forward to subsequent months. You must be a paying member of Reading Chest to use your swaps. Unused swaps cannot be used once your account is cancelled.

5.4 Cancellation of Subscription

Cancellation by You You may tell Us that you wish to cancel your Subscription Package at any time by accessing the ‘My Account’ section of the Site. Your cancellation is effective once you have returned all the rental books in your possession to Us in accordance with these Terms or, if you cannot return the rental books in accordance with these Terms, once the replacement cost of such rental books has been paid by you.

We recommend posting rental books at least 7 working days prior to your next Subscription Charge Date. If We have not received all books by the next Subscription Charge Date, We will continue to charge the monthly Subscription Package Charge (unless you have notified Us that you do not intend to return the books but pay for them instead – see below).

If you require further pre-paid envelopes in which to return your books, these can be requested by sending an email to [email protected]. We may need to charge a small fee for additional envelopes.

Where you cannot return books because they are lost or damaged, you should contact Reading Chest Customer Services (see clause 12’Complaints and Customer Queries’). In this case you agree to pay £4 per book not returned. Once settlement is received in full, your subscription will be terminated.

If you choose to cancel, We are not required to provide you with a refund. You have no other cancellation rights except those expressly set out in these Terms and unless we have otherwise expressly agreed, We have no obligation to refund to you any money paid under these Terms.

Cancellation by Us

We retain the right to cancel your Subscription at any time without notice or refund if we have reason to believe that these Terms have been breached by you or we believe that you are abusing the rights and privileges of membership in any way. Examples of this would include, but not be restricted to: exceeding the six book maximum per envelope when returning books, returning books in a poor and/or damaged condition considered to be beyond normal wear and tear, inappropriate additions made in the Book Review and Feedback areas of the Website and consistent and/or frequent non payment of charges on the Subscription Charge Date.

In the event that your Subscription Package is cancelled by Us for a reason unrelated to your breach of these Terms or abuse of membership as outlined in the immediately preceding paragraph of these Terms, We will refund such of your pre-paid monthly Subscription Package Charge that relates to the period after the date of cancellation on a pro rata basis. Reading Chest reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Book Rental Subscription Service for any reason. In the event that We do cancel your Subscription Package We will use all reasonable efforts to give you at least seven days’ prior notice, by emailing you at the most recent email address that you have provided to Us. (Except where We cancel due to a breach of these Terms by you, in which case We are entitled to cancel without notice to you).

In the event that We cancel your subscription, you remain liable for any and all outstanding charges, including payments due for non returned books as described elsewhere in this clause 5.4.

5.5 Failure to Pay

If We have provided you with Rental Books and We are unable to take payment on the Subscription Charge Date either because your Direct Debit payment fails, or We are unable to charge your debit or credit card;

  •  Your account will immediately be suspended and no further books will be issued to you
  • We will contact you using the latest email address shown in the ‘My Account’ details and inform you of the payment failure
  • Failure to make payment for subscriptions may, at Our discretion, lead to termination of your account
  • Should your account be terminated, We will pursue recovery of all books remaining in your possession as described in paragraph 5.4 of these Terms.
  • In the event that all Rental Books are not returned within 14 days of termination, you agree that we may charge you the replacement costs of all books remaining in your possession, currently £4 per book (which is subject to change). We may charge this cost to your nominated payment card or add it to your direct debit.

You acknowledge that We may engage a debt recovery agency in order to recover such unpaid amounts from you, including any costs and expenses incurred as a result of taking such action and you agree that We may pass your details on to such an agency for this purpose. 

5.6 Care and Ownership

You agree to take care of the Rental Books and to maintain all Rental Books in good condition. We will remain the owners of the Rental Books at all times. Whilst We expect a very gradual amount of ‘wear and tear’ with the Rental Books, if a Rental Book is damaged in your possession, We reserve the right to charge you for the replacement of the Rental Book. If a Rental Book is lost whilst in your possession, you will also be charged. Damaged / lost Rental Books will be charged at £4 per book. This may be varied from time to time.

Reading Chest will bear the risk of Rental Books being lost in the post once you have posted them back to Us provided that you take care of them and return them to Us in accordance with these Terms. If a Rental Book you are expecting hasn’t arrived, you will need to let Us know as soon as possible. We recommend that you wait at least 4 days following the day the Rental Books are despatched from Our warehouse before assuming it has been lost. If it still doesn’t arrive, please report the Rental Books as being ‘Lost in Post’ to Customer Services.

We reserve the right to cancel your membership subscription if it becomes apparent that, in Our sole opinion, the postal service in your area is too unreliable.

We cannot be held responsible for items belonging to you or those belonging to a third party, which are sent to us in error. Where possible we will try to return these items, but are unable to compensate you for the loss of such items and we shall have no liability therefore.

You accept full responsibility for books which are stolen whilst in your possession, and you will have to pay the full replacement cost.

5.7 Validation Checks

All members are subject to validation checks and authorisation by their card issuer and/or bank (in the case of direct debit). If your card issuer and/or bank refuse to authorise payment to Us, We will not be liable for any delay or non-acceptance of orders, refusal of your subscription to the Book Rental Subscription Service or any delay or non-acceptance of changes requested by you to your Subscription Package Level such as an upgrade. We reserve the right to require further proof of identification, age and address as well as any other information that may become necessary from time to time.

6. AVAILABILITY & SUBSTITUTIONS

6.1 In the circumstances when We cannot meet a Member’s book selection choices due to lack of available stock, then the following procedure will be followed, assuming the customer has fulfilled their book selecting criteria and has made book choices which leave at least 12 books in the available book pool for us to select from: i) the book selection criterion ‘Category’ (fiction or non-fiction) is relaxed to generate further books for picking; ii) if there are still not enough books in stock to meet your requirements, the book selection criterion ‘Reading Scheme’ is relaxed to generate further books for picking; iii) if there are still not enough books in stock to meet your requirements, the book selection criterion ‘Book Band’ is relaxed and you will be allocated books from the next Book Band reading level up.

6.2 If a Member has made book preference choices on the Website which leave less than 12 books in the available book pool for Us to select from, the same procedure of relaxing book preferences as above in clause 6.1 will follow, i.e. book substitutions will be made and sent to you. An email will also be sent to you explaining why substitutions have been made and to remind you to update your book preferences on the Website.

7. DELIVERY

We shall deliver the Rental Books requested to the delivery address that you supply provided that it is a valid UK address. We aim to deliver your requested books to you as quickly as possible. For existing Members this will usually mean within 2-3 working days of receipt of returned books, subject to the Swap restrictions on certain Subscription Package types.

Whilst we will make all reasonable efforts to despatch new books in this timeframe we cannot guarantee that such timeframes will be met. We do not accept responsibility for failure to deliver within that time or at all if it is for a reason outside of our control.

If the books you received are not what you requested (subject to Substitutions described in clause 6 of these Terms), please return them to us immediately. In the event that we have made an error, and additional Swap credit for the month will be applied to your account.

8. PROMOTION CODES

Any promotion code or offer provided for the Book Rental Subscription Package Service cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion code or offer, past or present.

9. PROHIBITED USE OF THIS WEBSITE

You agree not to upload, post, email or otherwise send or transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, file or programs designed to interrupt, harm, damage, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or equipment linked directly or indirectly with this Website. You agree not to interfere with the servers or networks underlying or connected to this Website or our services or to violate any of the procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to this Website.

You agree not to impersonate any other person while using this Website, conduct yourself in an offensive manner while using this Website, or use this Website for any illegal, immoral or harmful purpose.

10. MATERIAL ON THIS WEBSITE

All materials on this Website are the property of Reading Chest, its affiliates and or licensors. The content may not be used, except as provided for in these Terms, without the written permission of Reading Chest, its affiliates or such third party licensors. All content which is offered by third parties, is published in good faith but We do not (to the extent permitted by applicable law) accept any responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or otherwise of such content or for the use of such content.

All trade marks, logos, images, product and company names displayed or referred to on this Website are the property of their respective owners. Nothing on this Website grants you any licence or right to use, alter or remove such material.

11. USER MATERIAL

11.1 This Website lets you submit material to us, for example you can rate books, review books and write customer comments. In these Terms, we use the term ‘User Material’ to refer to any material of any kind that you submit to Us. User Material does not include the account information you provide when you register as a Member.

11.2 This clause of these Terms sets out the rights and obligations that you and We have in connection with User Material. If you review or submit User Material you are agreeing to do so on these Terms. If you do not want to review or submit User Material on these Terms, then you should refrain from making any submissions.

11.3 The following content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.

You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole. Contributions must: – Be accurate (where they state facts). – Be genuinely held (where they state opinions). – Comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.

Contributions must not: – Contain any material which is defamatory of any person. – Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory. – Promote sexually explicit material. – Promote violence. – Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age. – Infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person. – Be likely to deceive any person. – Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence. – Promote any illegal activity. – Be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. – Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person. – Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person. – Give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case. – Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.

We have the right to remove any material or posting you make on our site if, in our opinion, such material does not comply with the content standards set out above.

11.4. We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of our site. We do not necessarily endorse any opinion contained in such material. We make no warranties or representations, express or implied, about User Material, including as to its legality or accuracy. We disclaim all liability in connection with User Material to the extent permitted by law.

11.5 We reserve the right, in our sole discretion and without giving you any prior notice, to refuse to post or to remove or edit any of your User Material, or to restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of this Website.

11.6 Any material you upload to our site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

11.7 We do not claim ownership rights in User Material. However, by submitting User Material, you hereby grant to Reading Chest an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty –free, sub-licensable, transferable and worldwide license to use, reproduce, modify, prepare derivative works of and display that User Material in any media (including this Site).

11.8 We may use User Material for our internal business purposes, for example, to examine trends or categories and to promote, market or advertise Reading Chest. We will not sell your User Material to third parties but you acknowledge that we may indirectly commercially benefit from it, for example, by selling third party advertising which appears next to User Material.

11.9 Each time you submit User Material to Us, you represent and warrant to us as follows: i) your User Material complies in all respects with the provisions in clause 11.3 of these Terms and Conditions. ii) you own your User Material or have the right to submit it, and in submitting it you will not be infringing any rights of any third party, including intellectual property rights (such as copyright or trademark), privacy or publicity rights, rights of confidentiality or rights under contract; iii) your User Material is not illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or otherwise inappropriate; iv) your User Material does not advertise any product or service or solicit any business; v) your User Material does not identify any individual under the age of 18 and if User Material identifies any individual over the age of 18, you have that person’s consent to being identified in exactly that way in your User Material; vi) in submitting your User Material you are not impersonating any other person

12. OUR LIABILITY TO YOU

We promise that all Rental Books will correspond with their description on the Website and that they will be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose for which they are rented (i.e. UK non-commercial, domestic use). We also promise that we will carry out Our responsibilities with reasonable skill and care. We do not make any other promises or warranties about the Rental Books, or Our performance of the responsibilities assigned to Us in these Terms. Our total liability to you for any losses suffered by you will never exceed the amount for your Subscription Package Charge paid by you in any one month of your subscription. We accept no responsibility for any loss or damage caused by Us (or Our employees, agents or sub-contractors) where such loss is: a) not a foreseeable result to both you and us of a breach of the relevant legal duty by us; b) related to a business; or, c) related to loss or damage to premises or property unless caused by Our negligence or wilful misconduct. The above limitations on Our liability do not affect your non-excludable statutory rights as a consumer. You are responsible for the use of the Rental Books you receive from us. We exclude all liability, to the extent permitted by law, for any losses or damages you suffer from the use or attempted use of Rental Books by you. Except in respect of a payment obligation, neither of us will be liable to the other for any failure to perform any obligation owed to the other due to reasons beyond its reasonable control, for example, industrial disputes, fire, storms, failings of the internet or public communications networks, or technical difficulties.

13. YOUR FURTHER OBLIGATIONS TO US

You shall only use the Rental Books for personal, private use and shall not use the Rental Books for any commercial or illegal purpose or for any other purpose prohibited by these Terms. You agree to abide by the terms of any copyright or other notice contained on any Rental Book, including for example the prohibition on copying of the Rental Books. If you breach these Terms your permission to use this Website and your subscription terminates immediately without notice being given to you. Any termination or suspension will not affect your responsibilities to Us arising prior to the date of termination or suspension. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage resulting from the illegal, incorrect or inappropriate use of the Rental Books by you or anyone else whilst they are in your possession.

14. VARIATION OF TERMS AND ASSIGNMENT

In the event that We change these Terms We shall take all reasonable and appropriate steps to make you aware of such changes, for example, by prominently displaying the amended version on the Website. If you do not agree to the Terms as amended, please cancel your Subscription Package in the manner set out above. You agree that We may assign any of Our rights and/or transfer, sub-contract or delegate any of Our obligations under these Terms. Where We do so, We will take steps to ensure that it does not affect your ability to rely on the rights that you may have under these Terms. These Terms are personal to you and are entered into by you for your own benefit and not for the benefit of any third party – you may only transfer or assign your rights under these Terms with Our prior consent, which We will not unreasonable withhold.

15. WAIVER AND SEVERANCE

Any failure or delay by Us in exercising any right or remedy under these Terms shall not prevent Us from being able to enforce that, or any other right or remedy at a later time. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court or other competent authority, all other provisions will remain in full force and effect.

16. COMPLAINTS AND CUSTOMER QUERIES

If you have any queries or complaints regarding Our service, the rental of any rental Books, the Site, or technical problems etc, you can contact the Reading Chest Customer Services Team by:

17. NOTICES

Except where you cancel your Subscription package (which you must do so by accessing the My Account section of the Site) all other notices shall be given:  

  • To Us: via email to [email protected] or via post addressed to PO Box 4927, Shrewsbury, SY1 9XX
  • To you: at either the e mail or postal address you provide during any registration process or by Us publishing relevant information on the Website.

18. GOVERNING LAW

These terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with English law. You agree that the courts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland shall have the exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute which may arise out of or in connection with these Terms.

19. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

19.1 This agreement constitutes the whole agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous agreements between the parties relating to its subject matter.

19.2 Each party acknowledges that, in entering into this agreement, it has not relied on, and shall have no right or remedy in respect of, any statement, representation, assurance or warranty (whether made negligently or innocently) other than as expressly set out in this agreement.

19.3 Nothing in this clause shall limit or exclude any liability for fraud.