Terms and Conditions of Sales
The Great Eastern Railway Society (GERS) is a registered charity (charity no. 267275 registered in England and Wales) dedicated to promoting the advancement of public education and knowledge by study of the Great Eastern Railway.
As part of its activities, the GERS provides its members and the public with a number of services and the opportunity to:
- Join the GERS
- Renew their membership subscriptions
- Purchase documents, files and data discs.
Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
The GERS has facilities to enable the above items to be provided by distance selling.
"Distance selling" means all sales of goods and the provision of services other than face to face, including transactions using the Internet, by mail order, telephone, fax, and advertising in magazines, newspapers and periodicals.
The GERS's facilities may be provided either by the use of interactive online forms, or by post.
In the case of online forms, the financial side of the transaction is performed by PayPal's secure services, and the GERS never sees the user's financial details such as his credit card number or PayPal account. In these cases, confirmation of the transaction is given directly on the website, and is confirmed by an e-mail from PayPal.
In the case of postal requests, the GERS only accepts payment by cheque or postal order.
Delivery
Where a transaction is for a deliverable item, such as purchases from the Sales List, they will be sent out by the UK Post Office and are expected to be delivered within five working days to UK addresses. Overseas delivery is expected to take up to 20 days.
Where a transaction is for a service (e.g. membership) or delivery of an item by electronic means, confirmation of the transaction is provided directly on the website and by one or more subsequent e-mails. The GERS aims to despatch electronic items within 24 hours of receipt of order, but longer times may apply at certain periods.
In the case of new members joining the GERS, their membership takes effect straightaway but their "membership pack" may not arrive within the timeframes shown above. These are sent out in batches, and the timing of each batch may be subject to delays from various causes, so that it can exceptionally be up to three weeks for a UK delivery and four or five weeks for an overseas delivery.
Cancellations
Deliverable goods
A customer has the right to cancel an order for deliverable goods within seven working days after receipt of the goods. This seven-day "cooling-off" period excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays.
Notification of intention to cancel should be received by the GERS within the cooling-off period, in writing. "Writing" includes letter, or e-mail sent to the GERS’s Publications Sales Officer, Secretary, or Treasurer. A telephone call will not be acceptable. On receipt of notice within the cooling-off period, the GERS will refund the sale price of goods if, and only if, they are returned in a resaleable condition. The goods are to be cared for by the customer at the customer's risk.
The cost of returning the goods must be paid for by the customer and will not be paid for by the GERS. Payment of a refund will be made by the GERS within 30 days of receipt of the returned goods in a resaleable condition. A charge of £1.00 per order for postages and other costs incurred by the GERS will be deducted from the refund. Refunds will be made by cheque. No refunds will be made in respect of CD-ROMs or discs where the customer has broken the seal or wrapper (where such is provided).
GERS services and items delivered electronically
No refunds will be made for membership subscriptions paid during the year.
For items delivered electronically, once the request and the fee for the service have been received by the GERS, we will start to process the request and no "cooling-off" period shall apply, with the consequence that no refund of fee shall be made even if the customer changes his mind.
The laws of England and Wales shall apply to this contract.
Return of Faulty Goods
The above statement regarding the return of deliverables applies only to the cancellation of an order.
In the event that goods supplied are faulty, a refund or replacement will be made upon the return of the faulty goods. Notification of faulty goods should be made to the GERS's Publications Sales Officer or Secretary within 28 days of receipt of the faulty goods.
Contacting the GERS Customer Service
Full details of GERS contacts can be found here. Click on an individual to send a message or see their full postal address.
Privacy and Data Protection
The GERS holds data on its members as needed to allow it to perform its functions. Additionally, for selling purposes, all orders for products and services will be accompanied by contact details provided by purchasers (GERS members or the public). Such data is held on secure computers or servers to which only authorised officers have access.
For financial transactions performed via online forms, the GERS uses PayPal and Nochex to manage the buyer's financial details, passing the transaction over to their secure websites. Consequently the GERS neither sees nor stores any financial data such as credit card numbers or PayPal logins.
We will not share any of your personal information with other organisations, but may make use of it ourselves to make future contact with you.
The Society was formed in 1973 in order to promote a widespread interest in the Great Eastern Railway, to encourage and co-ordinate research into its history, and to provide a permanent record of the results. This is being achieved by building upon the knowledge of the known GER experts, and by locating and studying all surviving records of the railway...
The GER was created in 1862 from the amalgamation of most of the then existing smaller railways in East Anglia. From then until absorption into the LNER at the 1923 Grouping, it was the dominant railway company in East Anglia, only facing competition from the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway to the north and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway to the south. Although not a wealthy railway, by 1923 it had more passenger traffic than any other constituent company and possessed the greatest number of carriages.
