Legal guarantee

Every item sold here carries the legal guarantee of conformity for three years from delivery, under the Spanish consumer statute. This is a statutory right and costs nothing extra.

For the first two years, any lack of conformity that appears is presumed to have existed at the moment of delivery, and it is for us to show otherwise. In the third year the burden sits with you, and a photograph plus a description of how the item was used is normally all we need.

You have three years from the moment you notify us to bring a claim in respect of a lack of conformity you have reported.

This is the distinction that matters most for a straw hat, so it is set out here in specifics rather than in general terms. The same distinction appears on the straw and origin page.

Natural behaviour of the material — not a defect, disclosed on every product page before purchase:

• Cracking that follows dry heat: a hat left in a parked car or against a radiator becomes brittle and splits along the braid.
• Fading: colour lifting by a shade or two over a season in the sun, and unevenly where one side of the hat was exposed more than the other.
• Loss of shape after rain or pressure: a brim that has waved, a crown that has softened.
• Fibre ends lifting at the outer edge of a brim with normal wear.
• Visible gaps in the weave: every braid we sell has them, and the amount is described on each product page.

Lack of conformity — a defect, covered by the guarantee:

• The braid unravelling or the coil stitching coming apart in normal use.
• The sweatband lifting away from the crown, or its stitching failing.
• A brim failing at its structure — the wire or monofilament breaking through, or the braid separating at the join — rather than simply softening.
• A crown separating from the brim.
• A hat that arrives in a shape or a size materially different from the one described on the product page.
• A leather sweatband that does not meet the chromium VI conformity we state.

A worked example of each: a wheat hat that snapped at the fold after being packed flat is the material behaving as we said it would, and is not covered. A wheat hat whose brim braid has come apart at the join after a fortnight of ordinary wear is a defect, and is covered.

Write to support@signeshats.live or call +34 1815617068. Send us your order reference, a description of what has happened and photographs — one of the whole hat, one close up on the problem area.

We reply within one working day and tell you plainly whether we consider it a defect. If we do not, we say why, with reference to the four statements printed on that hat's product page.

You are not required to have kept the original packaging in order to claim under the guarantee.

Where an item does not conform, you may require it to be brought into conformity by repair or replacement, free of charge, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you.

You choose between repair and replacement unless the option you choose is impossible or would impose disproportionate costs on us.

Where repair or replacement is not possible, is not carried out within a reasonable time, or would cause you significant inconvenience, you may require a proportionate reduction in price or terminate the contract. For a minor lack of conformity, termination is not available.

Where the contract is terminated, we refund what you paid on return of the goods.

We keep spare parts and technical support available for ten years from the date an item is discontinued. For hats, that means two things in practice:

• Sweatband replacement — the part that wears out first, on any hat we have ever sold.
• Reblocking — steaming and reshaping a crown or brim over the original block.

Within the guarantee period, and where the problem is a defect, both are free of charge. Outside it, or for damage caused by use, we quote first and only proceed once you have accepted.

The legal guarantee runs alongside the right of withdrawal, which gives you fourteen days to change your mind for any reason at all. They are separate: withdrawal has a deadline and requires an unused item; the guarantee has neither of those conditions.

This guarantee is governed by Spanish law and does not affect the mandatory consumer rights you have where you live.

If we cannot agree, you may use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr, submit the matter to the Junta Arbitral de Consumo, or approach the consumer authority of the Comunitat Valenciana. Official complaint forms are available from us on request.