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| About Us The original business was started in the late 1800's by Maurice Shave in the market town of Newbury, and although over the years it had several owners, it continued to trade as M. Shave (Tobacconist). In 1991 when it was about to close down it was purchased by the current owners Paul and Karen Gilmour who set about revamping the shop, and trade began to flourish again. Several years later they opened another small shop in Reading, and this also grew steadily, but due to the loss of parking and the town being closed to cars, trade began to fall in Newbury. So in 1998 the Newbury shop was closed and the Reading shop enlarged to its present size. Ever since Paul and Karen came into the tobacco trade they had a special person who they could call on for help and advice, Alan Coster of Coster & Son Ltd, Marlow, Bucks. Alan's Grandfather started the business over 100 years ago, and when at the age of 76, Alan closed his doors for the last time. At a time when Specialist Tobacconists were on the decline it was a shame to see the Coster name disappear from the trade, so Paul & Karen as a tribute to Alan incorporated the Coster name into their business, thus becoming (Shave & Coster) Shave & Coster is a family run business for as well as Paul & Karen, their son James has worked in the shop full time for 11 years and part time before that. James is now the manager of the Reading shop. Then three years ago the Lewis Darby shop was about to close in Cardiff, which would have meant there was no specialist shop left in Wales, so this shop was taken over in an effort to save it from closure. Over the next three years business has boomed and it is again a busy shop, but due to the workload it was sold to another Specialist Tobacconist in mid 2010. Much of the success in Cardiff is due to the hard work by Don & Trisha Higgins, who have managed the shop for many years. Over the years Reading has won all 3 of the major awards in the industry, first was the Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders Retailer of the Year Award in 2000. Then in 2005 they won the Perterson Of Dublin Retailer of the Year Award. The hat trick was complete in 2009 with the winning of the Silver Chaveta, Havana Cigar Retailer of the Year. The Company motto of "The customer always comes first" still stands as it always has, without the customers you have nothing states Paul |
| Making A Purchase Making a purchase could not be easier. Just browse our store, and add any items that you wish to buy into the shopping cart. After you have finished your selection, click on 'Checkout' and you will be asked for a few details that we need to be able to complete the order. We accept card payments. If you are shopping from outside the UK, place your order and your card company will convert the transaction to your own currency. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Switch and Amex. We do not charge for any item until it is ready to ship. Backordered items are not charged until they are shipped. If you do not wish to pay online, you may send your card information via phone, fax or by post. If you have made a mistake in your order and cannot correct it in the shopping cart, contact us and we will correct the mistake. When confirmation of your order is received, this is to indicate that we have received your order. It does not indicate that a contract exists between us. We will indicate acceptance of your order, and hence a contract between us, when we send you an invoice. We have included this term to protect us in the case that a mistake has been made in pricing, we have inadvertently under-priced goods, or we are no longer able to supply a particular product for some reason. In the case of a change of price, we will always contact you first to ensure that the price is acceptable. |
| Shipping And Handling Postage in the UK will be charged on the weight of the parcel, below gives an indication. Large items, humidors and boxes of cigars may be sent FOC. Orders will be sent by the selected postage class, as indicated on the order. Below is a guide to the charges 2nd Class Postage 0-1000grms £3.50 1001-2000grms £4.60 2001grms or more N/A 1st Class Postage 0-1000grms £4.00 1001-2000grms £6.20 2001-5000grms £16.70 5001-10,000grms £22.80 Special Delivery 0-1000gms £8.00 1001-2000gms £9.00 2001-10000gms £12.00 10000gms or more £27.50 Orders from over seas please contact me for delivery charges, please note we are unable to send out leaf tobacco products outside of the UK. Please note goods will only be sent to the registered address of the credit card used in the transaction. We reserve the right to amend the postage if a higher level of insurance is needed. |
| Delivery Schedule We deliver your order right away. We will normally send your order to you in three business days. International orders are generally received in under twenty eight days. You must inform us within two working days if the goods are lost or damaged in transit so that we can make a prompt claim against the delivery company and correct the problem. Please quote your order number in all correspondence. You agree that proof of delivery supplied by our delivery company is sufficient evidence to establish that goods have been received. |
| Back Orders If your item is not in stock, we will back order for you. You will always be emailed with the option to cancel your order if you would rather not wait. |
| Tax Charges All goods within the online store are inclusive of VAT at 17.5% except the postal charges which are fixed. If the goods are being sent to a destination outside the EU VAT will be deducted from the price of the goods, but cannot be deducted from the postal charges. We will confirm receipt of your order and send an amended invoice without VAT as soon as possible. We will then require conformation that you are happy with the amended invoice. We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause you but it is in the best intrests of the customer. Please note the customer is solely responsible for any import fees, customs duty and credit card surcharges impossed by the card issuer. |
| Credit Card Security We know of no documented cases of credit card fraud using our shopping system over the Internet. All credit card numbers are encrypted in the software when the order is placed using 128 bit encryption. They are only decrypted after they reach our computer. They are not held in clear text on any web site. |
| Guarantee If you are unhappy with any purchase that you made from us, we will be happy to give you a full refund. We regret however that we are unable to refund any shipping costs unless the product is defective. If you wish to return any goods to us please contact us for full instructions, if the customer does not follow our guide lines the customer will be responsable for any duties incurred. |
| Reaching Us We are always intrested in hearing from you - wether it be questions, comments or orders - let us know what you think. You can reach us by the following ways: Phone: 0118 9595670 Fax: 0118 9594420 Email: paulgilmour@tobacconistonline.com Office Address: Shave& Coster, 4/5 Harris Arcade, Reading, Berks,RG1 1DN |
| Privacy Policy Shave & Coster do not disclose buyers' information to third parties other than when order details are processed as part of the order fulfilment. In this case, the third party will not disclose any of the details to any other third party. Cookies are used on this shopping site to keep track of the contents of your shopping cart, to store delivery addresses if the address book is used and to store your details if you select the 'Remember Me' Option. They are also used after you have logged on as part of that process. You can turn off cookies within your browser by going to 'Tools | Internet Options | Privacy' (in Internet Explorer) and selecting to block cookies. If you turn off cookies, you will be unable to place orders or benefit from the other features that use cookies. Data collected by this site is used to: a. Take and fulfil customer orders. b. Administer and enhance the site and service. c. Only disclose information to third-parties for goods delivery purposes. |
| Returns Policy Your rights to return goods are protected under the EU Distance Selling Directive. You are entitled to cancel your order and return the goods within 7 working days for a full refund, including the cost of delivery. Do this by contacting us by email or telephone and quoting the order number supplied to you. Your refund will be paid within 30 days. You are responsible for the cost and risk of loss or damage when returning the goods, so you should take out enough postal insurance to cover their value. This cancellation policy does not affect your rights when we are at fault - for example, if goods are faulty or misdescribed. Any goods returned should be in saleable condition. These terms apply to your order. We may change our terms and conditions at any time, so please do not assume that the same terms will apply in the future. None of these terms affect your legal rights and these are not diminished in any way. If any term is held to be invalid under any applicable statute or rule of law, that term is automatically omitted from the terms to minimum extent necessary to comply with the law and without affecting the validity or enforceability of the remainder. |
| Remittance Terms Receipt of credit card details or cheques drawn in Pounds Sterling prior to dispatch. |