Terms of Hire

Below is our Terms of Hire & Rental Agreement. This applies to all rental items booked through Raspberries & Soda, whether through our website or in person, unless otherwise specified.

CONTRACT

By placing a rental order through Raspberries & Soda, you are entering a legally binding contract between yourself and Raspberries & Soda.

The terms on this page are specific to the rental of an item from our Borrow Something Beautiful Collection.

PAYMENT

By entering this agreement, you authorise Raspberries & Soda to charge the selected payment method according to the terms outlined in this agreement. You certify that you are authorised to use this credit card/account and you agree not to dispute the payment with your provider if Raspberries & Soda fulfils its responsibilities in providing the rental item(s).

You also authorise Raspberries & Soda to charge the supplied payment method for any additional fees as outlined in this agreement (such as damages or late return fees). If a charge against the supplied payment method cannot be made, we will provide you with an invoice for the fees which you agree to pay within 5 working days.

If for some reason, your payment for an order is reversed or rejected, you agree to pay the outstanding amount within 48 hours of demand. Failure to do this will result in immediate cancellation of the booking. If the item(s) have already been dispatched you will still be liable for the full amount.

Raspberries & Soda reserves the right to take all steps necessary to recoup any amounts owing as per this agreement, including the use of debt collection agencies and taking legal action. This may increase the amount owed by the customer, to cover the costs of these services.

IDENTIFICATION

In some cases, after you've placed an order via our website, you may be asked for a passport, driver's license or other forms of identification. If this isn't provided, Raspberries & Soda reserves the right to refuse the booking.

TITLE TO RENTAL ITEMS

At all times, the rental items are and remain the property of Raspberries & Soda. Raspberries & Soda reserves the right to retrieve the item at any time. No modifications or alterations can be made to items without the explicit approval of Raspberries & Soda. Any modification or alteration must be completed by Raspberries & Soda’s in-house alteration team.

BOOKING PERIOD

The rental period you have selected for your rental is 'inclusive'. For example, a 4-day rental period can mean that your item will arrive by Friday and you will post it back on Monday. In this example, both the Friday and the Monday are included in the 4-day period.

DELIVERY

When booking an item on Raspberries & Soda, you are asked to select a "Delivery Date". You should select a Delivery Date which is 1 or 2 days before the day you intend to wear the item(s).

The item(s) will be sent in order to arrive to the address provided on or before your chosen Delivery Date (sometimes referred to as the "Arrives by" date). All items are shipped express. 

You will receive a tracking number to your supplied email address when the items have been dispatched. If you haven't received this 1 day prior to your selected Delivery Date, feel free to get in touch 

Most orders are sent with authority to leave and don't require a signature. However, in some cases, we may choose to require this. You may also request that an item be left in a safe place without the need for a signature, but some items may require a signature on delivery. There is no promise that this request will be passed on to Australia Post or any other providers used.

Even if this request is passed on to Australia Post, it is still not a guarantee that it will be left without signature. Australia Post makes this decision at the time based on whether they believe it is safe to do so, and this is completely out Raspberries & Soda's control.

If your delivery fails because you have provided an incorrect or incomplete address, you will not be entitled to a refund or credit. It is your responsibility to ensure that the address you enter is accurate and complete according to Australia Post and in some cases, other postage providers. This includes providing a valid apartment/unit number, company name or any other information required for postage providers to deliver to you. If the items cannot be recovered after being delivered to an incorrect or incomplete address that was provided by you, you will be liable for a replacement fee, which is typically the RRP of the item(s).

It is your responsibility to provide an address that is safe for delivery and where you know and trust the person or company that will be receiving the package at the address. If the postage provider delivers the package and there is evidence of this, then it will be deemed to have been delivered as requested. If the package doesn't make it's way into your hands for any reason after that point, and cannot be recovered, you will be liable for a replacement fee.

If there is an attempted delivery at your address by your chosen Delivery Date, then it will be deemed to have been delivered on time. It is your responsibility to collect the item from the collection point in order to wear it for your event, and to return it on the return date of your rental.

If you redirect the package whilst in-transit, no responsibility will be taken by Raspberries & Soda if it arrives late. In-transit redirects typically cause a delay in delivery as the package is extracted from the system, and you accept this risk if your intervention causes a late delivery.

In the vast majority of cases, your item(s) will arrive on or before your Delivery Date. Due to unforeseen circumstances and factors outside our control, usually related to issues with Australia Post, it may arrive late.

Provided none of the issues above apply, if the item arrives too late for you to wear it to your event, and it is returned unworn within 1-2 days of delivery, you will be provided with a refund or credit note per below:

• If your order was placed 3 or more full business days prior to your chosen delivery date, it will be a full refund (please see below).
• Otherwise it will be considered a "last-minute order"and you will have the option of a full credit note or a refund minus $30 to cover two-way express postage costs.

If you aren't able to return the item(s) within 1-2 days of delivery for any reason (e.g. if you've already travelled away from the delivery address), then please contact us to let us know.

No refund or credit will be provided if the delivery is slightly late, but you are still able to wear it to your event.

INCORRECT OR FAULTY ITEMS

If you open your delivered parcel to find that you have been sent the incorrect item, please let us know immediately. If there's enough time, we will do our best to get you a replacement so you still have something to wear.

If you find that the item is correct, but has other issues (e.g. damage, faults or noticeable stains), please let us know within 24 hours of receiving the item, and definitely prior to wearing the item.

If you don't let us know within this timeframe, we reserve the right to refuse a refund as it will not be clear when the damage was caused or by who. You should do this even if you believe you will still wear the item. Importantly, it will mean you won't be blamed for the damage or charged damage fees.

If you've been advised that a refund will be offered (or will be considered upon return), you must post back the item(s) within 1 business day, unless otherwise agreed.

You acknowledge that the items being sent to you are not brand new and may have some signs of wear & tear. Minor imperfections can be expected. A refund may not be granted if the issue is considered minor or insignificant.

In most cases, you will need to wait for the item to be returned and assessed, prior to a refund being approved and processed. If approved, you will receive a full refund including any amount paid for postage.

ISSUES WITH FIT OR APPEARANCE

We try to provide as much information as we can regarding the fit of the items available for hire on our website. We take no responsibility if you choose a size or item which does not fit you or does not suit you. If in doubt, please get in touch.

Unless otherwise specified, there will be no refund or credit offered in this circumstance. We recommend you try the dress on in our studio or if that is not possible, try the dress on in a store before ordering. We do not necessarily have multiple sizes of the same dress, so cannot always offer an alternative size.

CUSTOMER CANCELLATIONS

Cancellations are allowed in the first 24 hours after an order was first placed through Raspberries & Soda, unless the item(s) have already been dispatched to you, or unless the cancellation request was received less than 72 hours prior to your booking start date (at 12:01am). You will be eligible for full refund.

Cancellations are also allowed if a cancellation request is received 14 or more days prior to your booking start date. In these cases you will be given a full refund equal to the amount paid for the booking and postage costs.

You will always be asked to read our terms of hire and click a button to accept them prior to entering the Checkout area.

In exceptional circumstances we will consider a cancellation outside the allowances above, but reserve the right to decide. Please contact us to explain your situation for our consideration.

Unless otherwise specified, if you are entitled to a credit note for your cancellation, it will be issued with a 6 month expiry. Requests to extend up to a 1 year expiry will be considered, but can't be guaranteed.

CANCELLATIONS BY RASPBERRIES & SODA

Raspberries & Soda may cancel your booking, for any reason. The compensation to you will be limited to the amount you paid to Raspberries & Soda for the booking and postage. Raspberries & Soda will not be responsible for any consequential damages that result from cancellation of the booking.

Reasons Raspberries & Soda may cancel your booking include, but are not limited to:

• The item is damaged by a customer that has rented the item prior to you.
• The item is lost or stolen by a customer that rented the item prior to you.
• It is deemed that it is not possible to deliver the item to you in time for your booking, due to previous late return by a customer, or for any other reason, such as postage network delays.

In all cases above, you will be entitled to a full refund.

RETURN OF ITEMS

All items rented via Raspberries & Soda will be delivered with a prepaid Australia Post Express Post satchel for returning the item back to the rental partner. If you don't receive this, please let us know ASAP.

If you lose the prepaid satchel, you will need to pay for one yourself. This must be an Australia Post Express Post satchel. Contact us to let us know you've done this and include the tracking number.

Items should be returned over the counter at an Australia Post store or depot, on or before the specified booking return date, by no later than 3pm. This will be labelled the "Return on" date during checkout and in your order confirmation email.

If your "Return on" date falls on a Sunday or a public holiday, you may post the item on the next working day before 1pm. No late fees will apply in this instance.

If for any reason you aren't able to attend an Australia Post store or depot to post back the item over-the-counter on the "Return on" date, you may return the parcel via a yellow Australia Post Express Post street postbox. This is at your own risk. If the parcel is lost and is never scanned by Australia Post, you will be liable for replacement. Similarly, if the item arrives back much later than expected, the date of the first scan on the tracking may be used as the date it was posted back when calculating late fees.

CLEANING

We know small accidents happen, and all garments are cleaned when they are returned after your rental. There will be no fees charged as long as stains can be removed.

You agree that under no circumstances will you attempt to clean the rental item(s) yourself, or have them cleaned by anyone else.

If you attempt to clean a garment and cause damage, or cause a stain to be permanent, Raspberries & Soda reserves the right to bill you a fee up to, but not more than 120% of the full RRP of the garment. The garments available for rent on our website are often sold out in all retail stores and no longer available from the designer, which is why a charge above the RRP may apply. This fee will be on top of any amount already paid for rental or postage.

Use of fake tan is at your own risk. If it causes permanent staining that won't come out when dry-cleaned, the damage policy below will apply. This will not be covered by Accidental Damage Protection.

DAMAGE OR LOSS

If damage (stains, rips, etc) is observed when your garment arrives, please take photos of this and let us know right away. If you don't do this and there was no known damage prior to delivery, it may be assumed that the damage was caused by you.

If you damage a rental item, do not attempt to repair it. If it can be easily repaired (e.g. sewing on a button, re-stitching) it will be taken care of with no additional cost to you. It's also not a problem if the garment is stained, as long as it comes out when it is dry-cleaned after you've returned the garment.

You agree that under no circumstances will you attempt to clean/repair the rental item(s) yourself, or have them cleaned/repaired by anyone else. Do not cut, alter, iron, hem tape or pin any item booked via Raspberries & Soda without express prior approval. If you do any of these and it causes damage, you may be liable for repair or replacement fees. Any and all agreed alterations and repairs will be completed by Raspberries & Soda’s in house alteration team.

No damage insurance is included in the booking fee.

If an item is damaged and is not covered by minor repairs as mentioned above, or insurance, you will be liable for the cost of restoring or replacing the garment. In the case the garment cannot be restored to a suitable condition, the fee charged may be up to, but not more than, 120% of the original RRP of the garment. This fee will be on top of any amount already paid for rental and/or postage, and the item will still need to be returned to the rental partner, regardless of the amount of damage. If the dress is damaged beyond repair and requires a replacement fee, you'll usually be given the option to keep the dress for a $15 postage fee.

If you've lost or not returned an item, you will be liable for up to 200% of the RRP of the item.

The items available for rent on our website are often sold out in all retail stores and no longer available from the designer. This has led to some people renting an item and not returning it, or saying it is lost, so that they are able to obtain something they want to keep. This, along with loss of earnings from potential future rentals, is why there is a fee of up to 200% of RRP for lost and unreturned items.

If an item is lost by Australia Post, then there will be no fees charged to you. This is why it is important that you return the item by posting it over-the-counter at an Australia Post office or depot.

By doing this, the item will be scanned and there will be a record of you posting the item in their tracking system. This will not happen when you put it into a street post box, as a system record won't be created until it reaches a scanning depot, and there will be no evidence of you having posted the item, meaning you would be liable for the loss.

By accepting this agreement, you give permission for Raspberries & Soda to charge fees for damages or loss of an item to the payment method you used when placing your order. You will always be contacted first and given the option of using an alternative payment method before the charge is made.

LATE RETURN

If for any reason you post back the rental item(s) on a day after the “Return On” specified, late fees may apply. We will sometimes allow a grace period of 1 day for this, but only if it doesn't affect a future booking for another customer. If it does affect this, late fees will almost certainly be enforced.

The fee charged for each day late will be your rental price divided by the number of days you've rented for, up to 120% of the original RRP of the item. For example, if you selected a 4-day hire and the rental fee was $100, late fees would be charged at $25 for each day late. Any lodgement after 4pm local time will be considered as an additional day late, as it won't be collected from that Australia Post location until the following day.

By accepting this agreement, you give permission for Raspberries & Soda to charge late fees to the payment method you used when placing your order.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By accepting the rental agreement, you agree that Raspberries & Soda will not be liable for any loss, damage, costs or expenses of an indirect or consequential nature incurred or suffered by you as a result of:

• Cancellation of a rental booking
• Late delivery of a rental item
• Non-delivery of a rental item
• An issue with the quality of a delivered rental item

This includes but is not limited to economic loss, loss of goodwill, emotional suffering, loss of opportunity or other loss of turnover, profits or business.

Raspberries & Soda’s 'liability will be limited to any amount paid by the customer to Raspberries & Soda.

DEFINITION OF "REFUND"

For the purposes of this agreement, a refund for an order is defined as returning back to you the initial form of payment used to place that order. If you paid for the order by credit/debit card, the funds will be returned to that card. If you paid for the order using a credit note, then you will be re-issued that credit note, with a fresh expiry date. For orders placed using a combination of multiple forms of payment, you will receive back those forms of payment in line with the amounts used to pay for the order.

COVID-19 POLICY

If your event is affected by a COVID-19 lockdown, restrictions or infection, you will be eligible for a refund or credit note. If we receive a cancellation request prior to any items being dispatched, the credit note will be for the full amount paid. If the item is dispatched to you, an amount will be deducted from the credit note to cover our two-way postage expenses.

It is at the discretion of Raspberries & Soda whether a refund or credit note is issued. 

CHANGES TO THE RENTAL AGREEMENT

Raspberries & Soda reserves the right to change the Terms of Hire & Rental Agreement any time, so it is important you review and accept them each time you place an order with Raspberries & Soda.

The terms that apply to an order will be in accordance with the Rental Agreement as they stood on the date the order was placed.