Last update: 15/01/2024
By visiting our site www.theoceanstraw.com (“Website”) and/ or purchasing something from us, you engage in our “Service” and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use & Service including those additional terms or policies referenced herein and/or available by hyperlink. Please, read these Terms of Use & Service carefully and ensure that you understand them before using our Website or Service.
Our Website is hosted on Shopify Inc. They provide us with the online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and offer our Service to you.
These Terms of Use & Service apply to all users of our Website, including without limitation, users who are browsers, vendors, customers, merchants, and/ or contributors of content.
Any new features or tools which are added to our Website shall be subject to these Terms of Use & Service. You can review the most current version of the Terms of Use & Service at any time on this page. We reserve the right to update, change or replace any part of these Terms of Use & Service by posting updates and/or changes to our website. It is your responsibility to check this page periodically for changes. Your continued use of or access to our Website following the posting of any changes constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If any part of the current version of these Terms of Use & Service conflicts with any previous version(s), the current version shall prevail unless we explicitly state otherwise.
1. Information About Us
1.1 Our Website is operated by The Ocean Straw Group AB, org.nr 559250-6348 - Nattvindsgatan 4 - 652 21 Karlstad - Sweden.
1.2 Our email for contacting us is: support@theoceanstraw.com
2. Access To Our Website
2.1 Access to our Website is free of charge. You may not use our Website for any illegal or unauthorised purpose nor may you, in the use of the Service, violate any laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws).
2.2 It is your responsibility to make the arrangements necessary in order to access our Website. Access to our Website is provided on an “as is” and on an “as available” basis. We may suspend or discontinue our Website (or any part of it) at any time. We do not guarantee that our Website will always be available or that access to it will be uninterrupted.
3. General Conditions
3.1 These Terms of Use & Service constitute the entire agreement between us in relation to your purchase. To place an order as a business customer, you must have registered your business in the country where your business is registered with a valid business registration number. If you are a consumer, you must have a registered residence in your country and you must be of legal age in your place of residence. You represent that you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use our Website.
3.2 Our acceptance of your order will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us. You become responsible for a product from the time it is delivered to the address you gave us. You will own a product as goods once we have received your payment in full.
3.3 If we are not accepting your order, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the products. Inter alia, this might be because (i) the products are out of stock, (ii) of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for, (iii) we have identified an error in the price or description of the products or (iv) we are unable to meet a delivery deadline you have specified, if any. In any case, we are free not to accept your order without any reason or cause.
4. Our Products
4.1 Our straws are made of wood and plant based binders. They are reusable and certified dishwasher safe (up to 10 times). We actively promote their reusable nature so that people also conceive, perceive and use them as intended.
4.2 Our products are industrially compostable (European standard EN 13432) and biodegrade without leaving permanent micro plastic or toxic residues behind. They have no harmful impact on the ecosystem. They are free from common allergens. They are suitable for any kind of drinks up to 24 hours at 40°C.
4.3 It is recommended to store our products in their closed, original packaging at temperatures below 45°C. Storage in direct sunlight or in a high humidity environment should be avoided. The shelf-life in room temperature (23°C) is 24 months.
4.4 Our products should be used in accordance with their primary purpose. We do not take any form of responsibility with regard to use or incorrect use of our products.
4.5 Some of our products may be available exclusively online or may have limited quantities. They are subject to return or exchange only according to our Return Policy.
4.6 We reserve the right, but are not obligated to:
(a) limit the sales of our products to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction. We may exercise this right on a case-by-case basis.
(b) limit the quantities of any products that we offer. All descriptions of products or product pricing are subject to change at any time without notice, at our sole discretion.
(c) discontinue any product at any time. Any offer for any product or Service made on our Website is void where prohibited.
4.7 The images of our products are for illustrative purposes only. Although we have made every effort to display the colors of the products accurately, we cannot guarantee that your computer monitor's display of any color will be accurate. Your products may therefore vary from those images. We do not guarantee that the quality of any products, services or information purchased or obtained by you will meet your expectations.
4.8 If you wish to change the products you have ordered, please contact us. We will let you know if a change is possible. If it is possible, we will let you know about any changes to the price of the products, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary, as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change or not. In any case, products should be returned to us in accordance with our Return Policy.
5. Price and Payment
5.1 The price of the products will be the price indicated on the order pages when you placed your order. We will use our best efforts to ensure that the price of the products advised to you is correct. However please see 5.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of the product(s) you ordered. The total cost for the purchase will be presented before placing an order.
5.2 If the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the products, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the product in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.
5.3 It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the products we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the product’s correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the products’ correct price at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order. If we accept and process your order where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract, refund you any sums you have paid and require the return of any products provided to you.
5.4 We accept the payment methods set out in our Website. You must pay for the products before we dispatch them.
5.5 If you are a business customer you must pay all amounts due to us in full without any set-off, counterclaim, deduction or withholding (other than any deduction or withholding of tax as required by law).
5.6 If you think an invoice is wrong, please contact us promptly to let us know.
6. Accuracy Of Billing Information
6.1 You agree to provide current, complete and accurate personal and account information for all purchases made on our Website. You agree to promptly update your account and other information, including your email address and credit card numbers and expiration dates, so that we can complete any order you may place with us and contact you as needed.
6.2 We will not be responsible for supplying the products late, if a delivery date is agreed, or not supplying any part of them, if this is caused by you not giving us the correct information.
6.3 We reserve the right to refuse any order you place on our Website. We may, in our sole discretion, limit or cancel quantities purchased per person or per order. These restrictions may include orders placed by or under the same customer account, the same credit card, and/or orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. In the event that we make a change to or cancel your order, we will try to notify you by contacting the e‑mail and/or billing address/phone number that you provided us.
6.4 If you do not pay us for the products when you are supposed to and you still do not make payment within 10 days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of the Products until you have paid us the outstanding amounts.
7. Return Policy
7.1 All orders must be inspected upon delivery. Contact us within 48 hours if the product is defective, damaged, or if you receive the wrong product, so that we may evaluate the issue and make it right. Please, email support@theoceanstraw.com, attaching pictures and outlining any concerns.
7.2 If you are a consumer, you may return a product within 14 days of receipt, being understood that in this case, you shall pay for the return costs. If 14 days have passed, unfortunately we can not accept a return. To be eligible for a return, the product must be in the same condition that you received it, unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. You'll also need the receipt or proof of purchase.
7.3 To start a return, you can contact us via the contact form on our Website or send us an email to support@theoceanstraw.com. If your return is accepted, we’ll send you instructions on how and where to send your package.
7.4 Unfortunately, we cannot accept returns on sale items, gift cards, custom products such as special orders or personalized items.
7.5 We will notify you once we’ve received and inspected your return to let you know if a refund is approved or not. If approved, you’ll be automatically refunded on your original payment method within 14 days. Please, remember it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and post the refund too. If more than 14 days have passed since we’ve approved your return, please contact us at support@theoceanstraw.com.
8. Changes To Content, Prices or Service
8.1 We may alter and update our Website (or any part of it) at any time and without notice for technical or commercial reasons, including for the purposes of changing its content, layout, design, functionalities or implementing improvements.
8.2 Prices for our products are subject to change without notice. We reserve the right at any time to modify or discontinue our Service (or any part or content thereof) without notice at any time.
8.3 We shall not be liable to you or to any third-party for any modification, price change, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.
9. International Users
9.1 Our Website is intended for users in most countries.
9.2 We do not warrant or represent that our Website or any and all of its text, images, audio, video, scripts, code, software, databases, and any other form of information capable of being stored on a computer that appears on, or forms part of, of our Website (“Content”) are available in all countries or are suitable for use in all countries.
10. How You May Use Our Website
10.1 You may only use our Website in a lawful manner. You must not use our Website in any way, or for any purpose, that is unlawful or fraudulent. You must ensure that you comply fully with any and all local, national, or international laws and regulations that apply to the use of our Website.
10.2 All Content included on our Website and the copyright and other intellectual property rights in that Content belongs to us or has been licensed by us, unless specifically labeled otherwise. All Content is protected by applicable intellectual property laws and treaties.
10.3 You may access, view and use our Website in a web browser (including any web browsing capability built into other types of software or app) and you may download our Website (or any part of it) for caching (this usually occurs automatically).
10.4 You are not allowed to reproduce, duplicate, copy, print, use, sell, resell, exploit or download extracts of any portion(s) or page(s) from our Website, even for personal use. Images, video, audio, or any other Content accidentally downloaded from our Website must not be used.
10.5 You may not use any Content from our Website for commercial purposes without first obtaining a license from us (or our licensors, as applicable). If duly authorised, our status as the owner and author of the Content on our Website (or that of identified licensors, as applicable) must always be acknowledged. This does not prevent the normal access, viewing, and use of our Website for general information purposes by business users or consumers.
10.6 If you fail to comply with the provisions of this section 10, you will be in breach of these Terms of Use & Service. We may take one or more of the following actions in response:
- suspend or terminate your right to use our Website
- issue you with a written warning;
- take legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of any and all relevant costs on an indemnity basis resulting from your breach
- take further legal action against you, as appropriate
- disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as required or as we deem reasonably necessary; and/or
- take any other lawful actions which we deem reasonably appropriate. We exclude any and all liability arising out of any actions that we may take (including, but not limited to those set out above in this section in response to your breach).
10.7 You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless our company, parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, officers, directors, agents, contractors, licensors, service providers, subcontractors, suppliers, interns and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third-party due to or arising out of your misuse of our Website or your breach of these Terms of Use & Service, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third-party.
11. Links To Our Website
11.1 You may link to any page on our Website. Links to our Website must be fair and lawful. You must not take unfair advantage of our reputation or attempt to damage our reputation.
11.2 You must not link to our Website in a manner that suggests any association with us (where there is none) or any endorsement or approval from us (where there is none). Your link should not use any logos, trademarks or trade names displayed on our Website without our express written permission.
11.3 You must not frame or embed our Website on another website without our express written permission.
11.4 You may not link to our Website from another website the main content of which (i) is unlawful, obscene, offensive, inappropriate, dishonest, defamatory, threatening, racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory, (ii) that promotes violence, racial hatred, or terrorism, (iii) that infringes intellectual property rights, or (iv) that we deem to be otherwise objectionable.
12. Links To Other Sites
12.1 Links to other websites may be included on our Website. The inclusion of a link to another website on our Website is for information purposes only and does not imply any endorsement of that website or of its owners, operators, or any other parties involved with it.
12.2 We are not responsible for examining or evaluating the content or accuracy and we do not warrant and will not have any liability or responsibility for any third party materials or websites, or for any other materials, products, or services of third-parties.
12.3 We are not liable for any harm or damages related to a purchase or use of goods, services, resources, content, or any other transactions made in connection with any third-party websites. Please review carefully the third-party's policies and practices and make sure you understand them before you engage in any transaction. Complaints, claims, concerns, or questions regarding third-party products or services should be directed to the third-party.
13. User Comments, Feedback & Submissions
13.1 If, at our request, you send certain specific submissions (for example contest entries) or without a request from us you send creative ideas, suggestions, proposals, plans, or other materials, whether online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise (collectively, “comments”), you agree that we may, at any time, without restriction, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate and otherwise use in any medium any comments that you forward to us. We are and shall be under no obligation (i) to maintain any comments in confidence; (ii) to pay compensation for any comments; or (iii) to respond to any comments.
13.2 We may, but have no obligation to, monitor, edit or remove content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or these Terms of Use & Service.
13.3 You agree that your comments will not violate any right of any third-party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, personality or other personal or proprietary right. You further agree that your comments will not contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive or obscene material, or contain any computer virus or other malware that could in any way affect the operation of our Website or Service or any related website. You may not use a false e-mail address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third-parties as to the origin of any comments. You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comments posted by you or any third-party.
13.4 You acknowledge and agree to not send any prohibited content over our Website. Prohibited content includes:
(a) Any fraudulent, libelous, defamatory, scandalous, threatening, harassing, or stalking activity;
(b) Objectionable content, including profanity, obscenity, lasciviousness, violence, bigotry, hatred, and discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
(c) Any product, service, or promotion that is unlawful where such product, service, or promotion thereof is received;
(d) Any content that implicates and/or references personal information of a third party; and
(e) Any other content that is prohibited by applicable law in the jurisdiction from which the message is sent.
14. Liability
14.1 You expressly agree that your use of, or inability to use, our Website or the Service is at your sole risk. The Service and our products delivered to you are (except as expressly stated by us) provided 'as is' and 'as available' for your use, without any representation, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, durability, title, and non infringement.
14.2 If you are a business user (i.e. you are using our Website in the course of business or for commercial purposes), to the fullest extent permissible by law, we accept no liability for any loss or damage, whether foreseeable or otherwise, in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising out of or in connection with the use of (or inability to use) our Website or Service, or the use of or reliance upon any Content included on our Website. We accept no liability for (i) loss of profit, (ii) loss of sales, business, or revenue, (iii) loss of business opportunity, goodwill, or reputation, (iv) loss of anticipated savings, (v) business interruption or (vi) or for any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
14.3 If you are a consumer and digital content from our Website damages other digital content or a device belonging to you, where that damage is caused by our gross negligence, we will either compensate you or repair the damage. Note that this right to compensation or repair will be lost if (i) the damage in question could have been avoided by following advice or instructions from us, (ii) if the damage resulted from your failure to follow instructions, or (iii) if the minimum system requirements provided by us for the digital content in question were not met.
14.4 We waive responsibility in the event of force majeure. Unexpected circumstances that we could not have foreseen count as force majeure. This includes, for example, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, Act of God, civil disorder, interruption in the sourcing of the products, industrial disputes, strikes, currency restrictions or pandemics.
15. Viruses, Malware, and Security
15.1 We exercise reasonable skill and care to ensure that our Website is secure and free from viruses and malware. However, we do not guarantee that this is the case. You are responsible for protecting your hardware, software, data, and other material from viruses, malware, and other internet security risks.
15.2 Unauthorised access to, or attempted access to, protected parts of our Website or information about other users, for example through unauthorised data intrusion, is prohibited. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of our Website, the server on which our Website is stored, or any other server, computer, or database connected to our Website.
15.3 It is not permitted to use our Website to spread malicious programs, such as viruses or trojan horses. You must not deliberately introduce viruses or other malware, or any other material which is malicious or technologically harmful either to or via our Website.
15.4 You must not attack our Website by means of a denial of service attack, a distributed denial of service attack, or by any other means.
15.5 By breaching the provisions of this section 15, you may be committing a criminal offense. Any and all such breaches will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will cooperate fully with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. Your right to use our Website will cease immediately in the event of such a breach.
16. How We Use Your Personal Information
16.1 How we handle personal data protecting your privacy is of utmost importance to us. As a user of our Website, you should feel confident that the information you provide us with is only used for the purposes you have approved and that it is stored securely. The use of our Website is regulated by the data protection regulation (GDPR).
16.2 We will only use your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy that can be seen at https://theoceanstraw.com/pages/privacy-policy
16.3 You understand that your content (not including credit card information), may be transferred unencrypted and involve transmissions over various networks and changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. Credit card information is always encrypted during transfer over networks.
17. Communications From Us
17.1 If we have your contact details, we may send you important notices by email from time to time. Such notices may relate to matters including, but not limited to, changes to our Website or to these Terms of Use & Service, or special offers.
17.2 We will not send you marketing emails without your express consent. If you do consent to marketing, you may opt out at any time. All marketing emails from us include an unsubscribe link. If you opt out of emails from us, it may take up to 10 days for your request to take effect and you may continue to receive emails during that time.
18. Other Important Terms
18.1 The headings used in these Terms of Use & Service are included for convenience only and will not limit or otherwise affect these Terms of Use & Service.
18.2 We may transfer our rights and obligations to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under these Terms of Use & Service.
18.3 You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these Terms of Use & Service to another person or legal entity if we agree to this in writing.
18.4 This Terms of Use & Service and any contract entered into is between you and us. No other person or legal entity shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms. Neither of us will need to get the agreement of any other person in order to end any contract or make any changes to these Terms of Use & Service.
18.5 Each of the paragraphs of these Terms of Use & Service operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
18.6 If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of you breaching this Terms of Use & Service, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.
18.7 These Terms of Use & Service and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be construed in accordance with and governed by Swedish law.
18.8 Any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use & Service shall be settled, if possible by friendly negotiation and in good faith. If settlement cannot be reached by negotiation, the dispute shall be finally brought to the courts of Karlstad, Sweden, and each party waives any right to object to an action being brought in those courts, including on the basis of an inconvenient forum or those courts not having jurisdiction.