1. Is my transaction secure?
2. How do I purchase products from Astral Aspects?
3. What if I have problems ordering?
4. Who is responsible for delivering my purchases?
5. When is my credit card debited?
6. What happens if my card authorisation fails?
7. What risks are involved in buying on-line?
8. Will Astral Aspects give my details to other companies?



1. Is my transaction secure?
Astral Aspects use ishop as their payment solution company. ishop is an approved payment solution provider for Barclays Merchant Services, Nat West Streamline and The Bank of Scotland and their security systems are audited annually . Security is a main priority for ishop, and everything is done to ensure that any transaction performed through this system is done so safely and 100% securely. The systems are monitored 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Every on-line transaction made within the Astral Aspects on-line shop is transmitted across the Internet using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. This industry standard method ensures that information sent from your browser is scrambled whilst in transit and decoded when it arrives on our server. Your order is sent to us from the server using PGP encrypted mail. You are far safer using your credit card within Astral Aspects than you are in a restaurant in you local high street.

We take the issue of security very seriously and have taken every step possible to protect you. The secure servers sit behind a state of the art hardware firewall and the computer that handles the card services is a bastion host of the ishop mall servers, and not accessible from the Internet. Ishop have employed the services of one of the countries leading security experts who regularly monitors and updates their systems.



2. How do I purchase products from Astral Aspects?
We have made buying from us as secure and simple as possible and there are several ways to place an order:

(A) ORDER ON-LINE
This is the quickest and most secure way to place your order. We accept the following cards: MasterCard, MasterCard World Signia, MasterCard New World, Solo, Switch, UK Maestro, Visa, Visa Signature (US Issued), Visa Debit, Visa Delta, and Visa Electron.

- Just click the 'order' button on a product page to place the item in your shopping basket
- When you are ready to complete your order, click the grey 'checkout' button at top right of the screen
- You will then be in the secure area of the checkout, where you should follow the instructions for completing your purchase
Your card will be debited shortly after you have completed your order so that the items can be reserved for you

If you are not comfortable using your credit card on-line, one of the following methods will suit you

(B) ORDER BY TELEPHONE
- Telephone us with your order and credit/debit card details on +44 (0)1763 241455 [answerphone during busy times]

(C) ORDER BY MAIL WITH A CHEQUE [GB Pounds Sterling only]
- Download, save and print an Order Form
- Fill out the order form with items required
- Make your cheque payable to Astral Aspects and send it to our address with a copy of the order confirmation email/the order form
- Please write your order number and cheque card number on the reverse of the cheque
- Once we receive your cheque and it has cleared - usually 6 working days - your order will be processed and items despatched
- We only accept cheques in GB Pounds Sterling

(D) ORDER BY FAX
- Download, save and print an Order Form
- Fax your completed order form with credit/debit card details to us on +44 (0)1763 241455.
- We advise you to phone us to check we have received your fax

Astral Aspects reserves the right, without prior notification, to accept or decline any order or limit the order quantity for any reason. For credit card payments, such payment is subject to the approval of the financial institution issuing the credit card and we shall not be liable in any way if such financial institution refuses to accept or honour the credit card for any reason. We may require, at our option, that any order placed over certain amounts receive our pre-approval. We also may require additional verification or information before accepting any order.

Cookies are used to track a shopper's movements and purchases whilst they are shopping so that the shopping basket has a way of telling what items they require. The shopping basket will not function if the user sets their browser to reject cookies.

Given the continued high level of attempted fraudulent orders from Nigeria, we are unable to accept orders to or from that country.



3. What if I have problems ordering?
Common reasons for problems when pressing the order button are:
1. You are using an old browser that doesn't support SSL encryption
2. You are browsing from behind a corporate firewall that will not allow secure connections
3. You have not enabled cookies on your computer - this is required so that items can be placed in your shopping basket



4. Who is responsible for delivering my purchases?
All orders are despatched by ourselves - we do not use third parties to send orders out on our behalf. We currently use Royal Mail to deliver all orders - both within the UK and internationally by air mail.



5. When is my credit card debited?
Your card will normally be debited when you place your order, so that items can be reserved for you.

An authorisation takes place when you make your order, this simply guarantees that the funds are available on your card and that payment will be made to us.
This authorisation process is carried out over a secure X25 link. We operate card verification checks to help combat fraud in card-not-present situations - Address Verification System (AVS) and Card Security Code (CSC) - both these systems are recognised by most of the major high street banks. These systems enable us to run secure checks to ensure that your card is not being used fraudulently and also means that you should ensure the details you give us are accurate. If the details you give us do not match the details the card issuer holds for you, your order will be subject to delay whilst we contact you for further information. We also advise that you contact your card issuer to establish why your card was not authorised.

When the goods are dispatched, the order management system will debit funds from your account overnight.



6. What happens if my card authorisation fails?
If the authorisation fails, the most likely explanation is that you have input your card details incorrectly. If this happens, press the back button on your browser and you will be back in the card input page. Check that all the details are correct, and make any changes necessary before proceeding once more.

If all the details are correct then we advise you contact your card issuer to check for any reasons why your card was not authorised. We will have received details of your failed order and will contact you to let you know the order cannot be accepted.



7. What risks are involved in buying online?
From a shoppers point of view, the risks involved in buying online are virtually nil. All personal data, including your card number is transmitted over secure connections, meaning that no-one can 'eavesdrop' and capture your details. In addition to this, your card details are not passed to Astral Aspects at all, they are simply transmitted over the bank's private network for authorisation and payment transactions.



8. Will Astral Aspects give my details on to other companies to send junk mail?
No - we do not sell or make available your information to any third party.
In accordance with the UK Privacy & Electronic Communications Act (11 December 2003) we do not send random marketing emails to personal email addresses and we conform with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. We do use your e-mail address to send our newsletter to you which will inform you of any special offers, new products and latest articles. You can unsubscribe at anytime by using the unsubscribe link included in all newsletters or by replying to our emails with 'unsubscribe' as the message subject