Policy on Refunds
All puppets purchased are puppets that you will have had the chance to completely examine from the photograghs provided to you. Study each photo carefully. If need be we can take another photo for you at your request.
Once you commit to the purchase of a puppet, ALL SALES ARE FINAL. We are not unreasonable however. If you receive the puppet and there is a quality issue on a feature that we missed, we only want to deliver top notch quality. We will determine if the problem is one that can be repaired, or fixed to correct the problem. We promise to be fair but our decision is final.
Policy on Lay-a-ways
First, all payments are non-refundable. (We have to do this or we run the risk of unwitting people stretching things out and then cancelling the purchase after we have already waited several months and then leaving us hanging out to dry.)
Basically the way it works is easy. Take the total cost of the puppet including shipping (shipping will vary depending on your location. Send us an email and we will tell you what the shipping costs to your location).
Here is an Example: If the Puppet is $ 550.00 and shipping is $ 30.00 the total cost would be $ 580.00.
Divide the total cost by 4. 1/4th of the total cost is $ 145.00. When we receive the first $ 145.00 (down payment), that will secure your purchase of that puppet. One month later the first of the remaining three payments is due. Two months later the second payment is due, and three months later the final payment is due. When we receive the final payment, a box goes out to you within 24 hours containing your new puppet.
We do not want any interest for your puppet. The purpose is to get you the puppet that you want with the least amount of hardship for you. If you wish to make payments early, that is not a problem but is not required. If at any time you would like to pay off the balance of your new puppet and get it headed your way early, that is also fine with us.
Policy on Repairs
In the event that a puppet is determined by the puppet owner to have a defect or has gotten an “injury” on the job, we ask that the Ventriloquist first contact us by email or by phone and discuss the problem. If it is something minor, such as a loose fingernail, we will be happy to walk you through the small repair or point you to the section on “Hints and Tips” on the website.
Effective immediately, any repairs done by the puppet owner will be done at the peril of the owner. We will not be responsible for correcting damage caused by well intended puppeteers that then cause major work for us. All time charged to the puppets account will be billed at $ 25.00/hr.
It is not our intention to be mean or unfair, but when we spend hours fixing problems that we did not create, those are hours we cannot use to create other new puppets.
Policy on Puppet Rights
At The Dummy Shoppe, we specifically are not looking to create problems for our wonderful customers with lots of mountains of fine print in the area of the Rights pertaining to your puppet.
Rights fall into a couple of different categories.
- Normal everyday performing rights.
The mere purchase of a puppet from The Dummy Shoppe grants all the rights you need for the use of your puppet. This includes live performances before groups of people. It is inclusive of groups up to 15,000 people. Buy the puppet and perform up to your hearts content. - Television Rights – Local Television
If you have the good fortune of getting your own show on television or just doing small local station commercials with your puppet, your rights are pre-granted without any additional need for purchasing the rights. We expect this will cover 98% of all situations.
- Television Rights – Network Television
Although we are not wanting to get involved with lots of legalities in the puppet world, nor are we completely stupid. If you are fortunate enough to get a deal on Network Television, defined as five (5) or more stations, we will need to negotiate a case by case basis for those rights. The deal to be negotiated will be dependent on the type of production involved. For instance, a large series of national commercials for a big corporate interest will of need be a bit more costly then a one time national special. In the event of such a deal, just contact us and we will come to a fair deal for all parties concerned.