| Java menu knowledge base
Payment / Purchasing FAQ
Regional sales tax.
A regional sales tax called VAT may apply if you are inside the European Union. Prices quoted exclude VAT sales tax if this applies. VAT sales tax does not apply in North America - it only applies inside the European Union and even here it can be avoided outside the UK by supplying your company VAT number. Payments are handled by Image Intelligence Ltd, whose VAT number is GB 489 1699 75. (There is more information about this further down the page).
Which credit (debit/charge) cards do you accept?
American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Eurocard, JCB.
I'm afraid of sending a credit card number over the net - what can I do?
Fax and phone are quick as well as safe.
Fax (+44) 1600-890281 (from the USA: 01144-1600-890281). You
can fax at any time of day.
Phone (+44) 1600-890283 (card details only; no advice).
You can phone your order between about 08:00 and 20:00 GMT seven
days a week. Please observe time
zones if phoning from outside Europe.
GMT is now:
(assuming your local time is: ).
Please also note that our order forms use high standards of security
and are by far the most convenient method of ordering. Even if you
phone/fax your card number to us, please fill in an order form first
(for the technical details) and just leave a blank for the card number.
What's the fastest way on earth to get one of your applets?
Fill in and send off the order form (correctly); then give our accounts
department a call (see above for numbers)
after ensuring that it's not the middle of the night in Europe.
Our accounts staff cannot give technical advice, but they may
be able to cut the delivery speed to a few hours or less in urgent
cases.
Are you open at weekends or on holidays?
We operate a 7-day week, 16-hour day, 365-day year for our
customers. We are almost never closed, except briefly at night.
Can I order directly over the internet without faxing?
Yes. This is what is called "a secure transaction". Our standard
order forms are secure forms with encryption facilities for
safely accepting card details.
How do I know how much the prices are in my local currency?
You can use this free
independent currency converter.
Can I pay by purchase order?
Please see the next two questions below.
I'm a Purchasing Officer in a large organisation and this doesn't
seem to conform to my usual procedures - what do I do?
If you are in a purchasing department and you have received a request
from a software engineer to purchase some of our software, please do the
following:
- Get the software engineer to submit an order form here
without entering payment details (i.e. leave payment method
as "other"). This is necessary so that the technical details of the order
are complete and correct. The form will return you an email with an order
ID attached which can then be used by you or your accounts dept. when paying.
- Ensure that you or the technician have sent us a fax number and requested
a proforma invoice. If
you request a proforma invoice, we will fax you one. This will contain bank
account details for electronic transfer, surface mail addresses, phone numbers
and all other administrative details. You can pay by cheque, electronic transfer
or credit card.
- The proforma invoice should be with you the same day. Note that until
payment is received we cannot dispatch the software.
I'm a web designer / software engineer in a big company and I'm not sure how to pay
Here are several possibilities:
- Purchasing departments: these are designed to manage large payments, typically
to regular local or national suppliers. They are often not suited to small international
payments. Purchasing departments are subject to strict procedures which their
staff have to follow. Often they do not have the option of credit card payment,
with the result that delivery will be severely delayed.
(For example our experience shows that our average delivery time under 24 hours
when a payment is made by credit/debit card. However the average
transaction time from placing an order and paying by corporation accounts
department electronic transfer is six weeks.)
A purchasing/accounts department may even decline to accept proforma invoices
which will make a purchase impossible.
- Corporate cards: the senior personnel of most companies (including
government bodies) usually have corporate cards for fast, convenient
buying of small items. In our experience, purchasing officers
and other staff often aren't informed about this, but if you approach the right
person, this is an excellent way to get your software fast and conveniently.
- Personal cards: most organisations routinely reimburse their employees for small
purchases, but check with your organisation first. We will, of course, fax
you a receipt immediately - make sure we have your personal fax number for this
as many faxed receipts seem to get lost in some companies. We can also
snail-mail you a copy of the receipt on request. This is a fast,
convenient method for obtaining software from us.
- Local supplier: some large companies make it a regular practice to order
small software items through a known local store or through a small company
set up just for supplying such items - this seems to be a method
of avoiding the slower procedures of internal company purchasing. A local
supplier won't have our software in stock, but they can order it online as
fast as you can, and provided their payment is good we can send an additional
copy of the software directly to your own email address. However such procurement
methods may fall foul of the problem that the middlemen try to negotiate too
large a profit margin on both sides - be prepared to pay a higher price or
find that the supplier claims not to be able to buy from us (because we refused
to offer a large discount).
Can I pay by cheque / electronic transfer?
Yes, but on small orders you will have to pay the UK banking charges as well - please ask us
for the current surcharge.
I'm a UK company and I'd like to get my VAT back - how do I do it?
We will endeavour to supply you with a VAT receipt. Please ensure that
you have given your correct contact details.
I'm a European company - can I avoid VAT?
Yes. Agreements exist between the EU countries for VAT-free
sales between EU companies, provided that the purchaser sends the
supplier their "VAT number". Send us your VAT number by email
before purchasing. We will then tell you how to ensure
that the order form does not add VAT.
What is VAT?
VAT is a European Union sales tax applying only to people
paying from within the European Union. It must be paid at the
rate of the supplier's country (UK = 17.5%), not the
purchaser's country. In some other European countries, VAT
is also known as TVA, IVA, USt (Umsatzsteuer),
BTW (Belsting over de Toegevoegde Waarde), ALV (Arvonlisavero),
FPA (Arithmos Forologikou Mitroou), and MOMS (Mervardeskatt).
Can I have a receipt?
Just ask for one. Receipts will be faxed - a fax number
must be given when requesting a receipt.
|
|
