Privacy policy

PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY

1. Introduction

HATFORD LTD respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy & Cookie Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share your personal information when you:

  • visit or use our website at hatford.shop;

  • create a customer account;

  • place or attempt to place an order;

  • purchase portable fireplaces or related products from us;

  • contact our customer support team;

  • subscribe to marketing communications;

  • interact with our advertisements, social media pages or other online services.

This Policy also explains how we use cookies and similar technologies.

For the purposes of applicable UK data protection legislation, HATFORD LTD is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

Company details

Company name / Trade name: HATFORD LTD
Company number: 17331859
Contact address: 70 Brinksway, Stockport, SK3 0BY, United Kingdom
Email: contact@hatford.shop

2. Our Business and Fulfilment Model

HATFORD LTD operates an online retail business selling portable fireplaces and related products.

We work through a fulfilment model. This means that products may be stored, packed and dispatched by third-party fulfilment warehouses, logistics companies, suppliers and delivery carriers acting on our behalf.

To process and deliver your order, we may provide these partners with information such as your name, delivery address, telephone number, email address, ordered products and delivery instructions.

Our fulfilment and delivery partners are only permitted to use your personal information for providing the services required to fulfil and deliver your order, unless they are independently required by law to process the information for another purpose.

3. Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal information.

3.1 Identity information

This may include:

  • full name;

  • title;

  • username or customer account identifier;

  • date of birth or age confirmation, where required;

  • signature, where required for delivery.

3.2 Contact information

This may include:

  • billing address;

  • delivery address;

  • email address;

  • telephone number;

  • communication preferences.

3.3 Order and transaction information

This may include:

  • products ordered;

  • order number;

  • purchase date;

  • order value;

  • payment status;

  • delivery status;

  • returns, refunds, cancellations and warranty claims;

  • discount codes or promotional offers used;

  • correspondence relating to an order.

3.4 Payment information

Payments are normally processed by independent payment service providers.

We may receive limited payment-related information, such as:

  • payment method;

  • billing address;

  • transaction reference;

  • payment confirmation;

  • last digits of a payment card;

  • fraud or payment verification results.

We do not normally receive or store complete payment card numbers, card security codes or online banking credentials. These details are processed by the relevant payment provider according to its own privacy and security procedures.

3.5 Technical and device information

This may include:

  • IP address;

  • browser type and version;

  • device type;

  • operating system;

  • language and time-zone settings;

  • approximate location based on IP address;

  • device identifiers;

  • website session information;

  • pages viewed;

  • links clicked;

  • referring website;

  • date and time of visits;

  • website errors and performance information.

3.6 Account information

Where customer accounts are available, we may collect:

  • login details;

  • encrypted password;

  • saved addresses;

  • order history;

  • wishlist information;

  • account preferences.

3.7 Customer service information

When you contact us, we may collect:

  • the contents of your message;

  • email correspondence;

  • telephone or chat records;

  • complaints;

  • photographs or videos of products;

  • proof of damage or defects;

  • documents supporting a return, refund or warranty request.

3.8 Marketing information

This may include:

  • whether you agreed to receive marketing;

  • marketing preferences;

  • email engagement information;

  • advertising interactions;

  • responses to promotions, surveys or competitions.

3.9 Fraud prevention and security information

This may include:

  • suspected fraudulent activity;

  • payment verification results;

  • account login history;

  • blocked transactions;

  • chargeback information;

  • information used to protect our website, customers and business.

4. How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information:

Directly from you

For example, when you:

  • place an order;

  • create an account;

  • complete a checkout form;

  • contact us;

  • request a return or refund;

  • subscribe to marketing;

  • submit a review;

  • participate in a promotion or survey.

Automatically

We may automatically collect technical and usage information through:

  • cookies;

  • pixels;

  • tags;

  • local storage;

  • server logs;

  • analytics technologies;

  • advertising technologies.

From third parties

We may receive information from:

  • payment providers;

  • e-commerce platform providers;

  • fulfilment warehouses;

  • suppliers;

  • delivery and logistics companies;

  • fraud prevention providers;

  • analytics providers;

  • advertising and social media platforms;

  • customer service and communication providers;

  • publicly available sources, where permitted by law.

5. How and Why We Use Personal Information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes.

5.1 Processing and fulfilling orders

We use your information to:

  • accept and process orders;

  • take or verify payments;

  • confirm purchases;

  • send order updates;

  • arrange fulfilment, packing and delivery;

  • provide tracking information;

  • process returns, replacements, refunds and cancellations;

  • handle warranty or product claims.

Lawful basis: performance of a contract and compliance with legal obligations.

5.2 Managing customer accounts

We use your information to:

  • create and maintain customer accounts;

  • authenticate users;

  • save account preferences;

  • show order history;

  • protect accounts from unauthorised access.

Lawful basis: performance of a contract and our legitimate interests in operating secure customer accounts.

5.3 Providing customer support

We use your information to:

  • respond to questions;

  • investigate complaints;

  • resolve delivery or payment problems;

  • provide product information;

  • handle damaged, defective or incorrect products.

Lawful basis: performance of a contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in providing customer service.

5.4 Preventing fraud and protecting our business

We may use information to:

  • verify transactions;

  • prevent fraudulent orders;

  • investigate suspicious activity;

  • protect customer accounts;

  • prevent misuse of our website;

  • establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Lawful basis: our legitimate interests, compliance with legal obligations and, where applicable, substantial public interest conditions permitted by law.

5.5 Complying with legal and regulatory requirements

We may process information to:

  • maintain accounting and tax records;

  • respond to lawful requests from authorities;

  • comply with consumer protection requirements;

  • manage product safety incidents or recalls;

  • comply with court orders;

  • establish or defend legal claims.

Lawful basis: compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests.

5.6 Improving our website and services

We may use information to:

  • understand how visitors use our website;

  • monitor website performance;

  • identify technical problems;

  • improve navigation and checkout;

  • develop products and services;

  • measure customer satisfaction.

Lawful basis: your consent where required for cookies or similar technologies, and our legitimate interests where processing can lawfully take place without consent.

5.7 Marketing and advertising

Where permitted by law, we may use your information to:

  • send information about portable fireplaces and related products;

  • provide offers, discounts and promotional messages;

  • personalise advertisements;

  • measure advertising performance;

  • remind you about products left in your shopping basket.

We may send electronic marketing where:

  • you have provided consent; or

  • the applicable existing-customer marketing exception permits us to promote similar products and you were given an opportunity to opt out.

You may unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link contained in a marketing email or by contacting us at contact@hatford.shop.

Lawful basis: consent or legitimate interests, subject to applicable electronic marketing rules.

6. Information Required to Complete an Order

Certain information is necessary for us to enter into and perform a sales contract with you.

For example, we normally require your:

  • name;

  • billing details;

  • delivery address;

  • contact details;

  • order information;

  • payment confirmation.

Where required information is not provided, we may be unable to accept, fulfil or deliver your order.

7. Sharing Personal Information

We may share personal information with the following categories of recipients.

7.1 E-commerce and website service providers

These providers may host or operate our online shop, customer accounts, checkout system and website infrastructure.

7.2 Payment service providers

Payment providers process payments, refunds, payment verification and fraud checks.

7.3 Fulfilment warehouses and suppliers

We may share order information with warehouses, suppliers and fulfilment partners responsible for storing, selecting, packing or dispatching products.

7.4 Delivery and logistics providers

We may provide delivery companies with the information necessary to deliver an order, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, order reference and delivery instructions.

7.5 Technology and communication providers

We may use providers of:

  • cloud hosting;

  • business email;

  • customer support systems;

  • live chat;

  • order notifications;

  • SMS services;

  • cybersecurity;

  • data backup.

7.6 Analytics and advertising providers

Subject to your cookie preferences, we may share or make information available to analytics, social media and advertising platforms.

7.7 Professional advisers

We may share information with accountants, auditors, insurers, banks, legal advisers and other professional consultants where necessary.

7.8 Public authorities

We may disclose information to courts, regulators, law enforcement agencies, tax authorities or other public bodies where required or permitted by law.

7.9 Business transfers

If HATFORD LTD is sold, reorganised, merged or transfers part of its business or assets, personal information may be disclosed to professional advisers, potential buyers or the acquiring organisation, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection measures.

We do not sell personal information to third parties in exchange for money.

8. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful. Depending on the destination and recipient, these measures may include:

  • transferring information to a country covered by UK adequacy regulations;

  • using an approved International Data Transfer Agreement;

  • using an approved UK Addendum to recognised contractual clauses;

  • carrying out a transfer risk assessment;

  • applying other safeguards permitted by UK data protection law.

You may contact us for further information about the safeguards used for relevant international transfers.

9. Data Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including legal, accounting, tax, fraud prevention and dispute-resolution requirements.

Indicative retention periods may include:

  • Order, payment and accounting records: normally up to six years after the relevant transaction or financial period, or longer where required by law;

  • Customer service correspondence: normally up to three years after the matter is resolved;

  • Returns, refunds and warranty records: for the relevant warranty period and for a reasonable period afterwards;

  • Customer account information: while the account remains active and for a reasonable period after closure or inactivity;

  • Fraud prevention information: for as long as reasonably necessary to protect our business and customers;

  • Marketing information: until you withdraw consent, unsubscribe or object to marketing;

  • Marketing suppression records: for as long as necessary to ensure that your opt-out preference is respected;

  • Cookie information: for the period described in our cookie settings or by the relevant cookie provider.

We may keep information for longer where:

  • required by law;

  • necessary in connection with a complaint or legal claim;

  • a transaction is subject to investigation;

  • a regulatory authority requires retention.

When information is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise or securely dispose of it.

10. Security

We use reasonable administrative, organisational and technical safeguards designed to protect personal information against:

  • unauthorised access;

  • accidental loss;

  • misuse;

  • alteration;

  • disclosure;

  • destruction.

These measures may include:

  • access controls;

  • account authentication;

  • encryption in transit;

  • secure payment processing;

  • staff and contractor confidentiality obligations;

  • system monitoring;

  • backups;

  • fraud detection;

  • restrictions on access to customer information.

However, no website, internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential. Please contact us immediately if you believe that your account or personal information has been compromised.

11. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have the following rights.

Right of access

You may ask whether we process your personal information and request a copy of that information.

Right to rectification

You may ask us to correct inaccurate information or complete incomplete information.

Right to erasure

You may ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.

This right does not apply where we must retain the information to comply with a legal obligation, establish or defend legal claims, or for another lawful reason.

Right to restriction

You may ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.

Right to data portability

Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may request certain information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

Right to object

You may object to processing based on our legitimate interests.

You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.

Right to withdraw consent

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Rights relating to automated decision-making

You may have rights relating to decisions made solely through automated processing where those decisions have legal or similarly significant effects.

We do not normally make decisions about customers solely through automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. Automated fraud or payment checks may, however, result in a transaction being referred for further review or declined.

Exercising your rights

To exercise your rights, contact:

Email: contact@hatford.shop
Address: HATFORD LTD, 70 Brinksway, Stockport, SK3 0BY, United Kingdom

Please describe your request clearly. We may ask for information reasonably necessary to confirm your identity and protect personal information from unauthorised disclosure.

We normally respond to valid data protection requests within one calendar month. This period may be extended where permitted by law for complex or multiple requests.

Data protection requests are normally free of charge. However, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to act where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, as permitted by law.

12. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have concerns about how we use your personal information. We will attempt to investigate and resolve your complaint.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the independent supervisory authority responsible for data protection matters in the United Kingdom.

Making a complaint to us does not affect your right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office or seek another legal remedy.

COOKIE POLICY

13. What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files or pieces of information stored on or accessed from your computer, smartphone or other device when you visit a website.

Cookies and similar technologies can be used to:

  • operate website functions;

  • remember customer preferences;

  • keep products in a shopping basket;

  • maintain secure customer sessions;

  • process checkout;

  • understand website usage;

  • measure advertising;

  • personalise content.

References to cookies in this Policy also include similar technologies such as pixels, tags, scripts, local storage, software development kits and device identifiers.

14. Types of Cookies We May Use

14.1 Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are required for the website and online shop to function.

They may be used to:

  • maintain website security;

  • prevent fraud;

  • remember products in your shopping basket;

  • enable checkout;

  • process payments;

  • maintain customer login sessions;

  • remember cookie consent choices;

  • distribute website traffic.

These cookies do not normally require consent where they are strictly necessary to provide a service requested by you.

Blocking these cookies through your browser may prevent parts of the website from functioning correctly.

14.2 Preference and functionality cookies

These cookies may remember:

  • language;

  • region;

  • currency;

  • display settings;

  • previously selected options;

  • customer preferences.

Where required by law, these cookies will only be used after you provide consent.

14.3 Analytics and performance cookies

These cookies help us understand:

  • how visitors reach the website;

  • which pages are viewed;

  • how customers navigate the website;

  • whether errors occur;

  • how quickly pages load;

  • which products or content are popular.

Information may be aggregated or pseudonymised where appropriate.

Analytics cookies will be used only where permitted by law and, where required, after you provide consent.

14.4 Advertising and targeting cookies

These cookies and similar technologies may be used to:

  • show advertisements that may be relevant to you;

  • limit how often an advertisement is displayed;

  • measure advertising performance;

  • understand whether an advertisement resulted in a website visit or purchase;

  • build advertising audiences;

  • support retargeting campaigns.

These cookies may be placed by us or by third-party advertising and social media providers.

Advertising and targeting cookies will not be activated unless you provide the required consent.

14.5 Third-party and embedded-content cookies

Some website functions may be provided by third parties, including:

  • payment services;

  • customer support chat;

  • social media content;

  • videos;

  • maps;

  • reviews;

  • fraud prevention systems.

These third parties may use their own cookies or similar technologies. Their use of information may also be governed by their own privacy policies.

15. Cookie Duration

Cookies may be:

Session cookies

These normally expire when you close your browser.

Persistent cookies

These remain on your device for a defined period or until you delete them.

The duration of an individual cookie depends on its purpose and the provider that sets it.

Where available, the current list of cookies, their providers, purposes and durations will be shown through the website’s cookie banner or cookie preference tool.

16. Managing Cookie Preferences

When you first visit our website, you may be shown a cookie banner allowing you to:

  • accept optional cookies;

  • reject optional cookies;

  • select cookie categories;

  • review additional cookie information.

Strictly necessary cookies may remain active because they are required to operate the website or provide a service requested by you.

You may change or withdraw your consent at any time through the cookie settings link available on the website.

Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of cookie use that occurred before consent was withdrawn.

You may also control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to:

  • view cookies;

  • delete cookies;

  • block cookies;

  • block third-party cookies;

  • receive notifications before cookies are stored.

Disabling cookies may affect website functions, including customer login, shopping basket and checkout features.

17. Do Not Track and Browser Signals

Some browsers transmit “Do Not Track” or similar privacy signals.

There is not currently a single universally accepted standard for responding to all such signals. We will respond to legally recognised browser or device preference signals where required by applicable law and supported by our systems.

18. Children’s Privacy

Our website and products are intended for adults and are not directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under the age of 18 without appropriate authorisation.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us without appropriate consent, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.

19. Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, payment services, social media pages or other external services.

We are not responsible for the privacy, security or cookie practices of independent third parties. We recommend reviewing the privacy and cookie policies of any third-party service before providing personal information.

20. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy & Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect:

  • changes to our business;

  • changes to our fulfilment or technology providers;

  • new website functions;

  • legal or regulatory developments;

  • changes to how we process personal information.

The latest version will be published on our website with an updated revision date.

Material changes may also be communicated through the website, customer account or email where appropriate.

21. Contact Us

Questions, concerns or requests relating to this Privacy & Cookie Policy may be sent to:

HATFORD LTD
Company number: 17331859
70 Brinksway
Stockport
SK3 0BY
United Kingdom

Email: contact@hatford.shop