Terms of service

1. Who you are buying from

This shop is operated by Nick Lombardo, trading as Mini Houseplants, Kanzleistrasse 137, 8004 Zurich, Switzerland (“we”, “us”). You can reach us at info@minihouseplants.com. These terms apply to every order placed through minihouseplants.ch and minihouseplants.com.

2. Who can order

You must be at least 18 years old and resident in Switzerland to place an order. We deliver within Switzerland only.

3. How a purchase is concluded

Our product pages are an invitation to order, not a binding offer. Your order is an offer to buy. The order confirmation we send by email acknowledges receipt; the contract comes into effect when we dispatch the plants and send you a shipping confirmation. If a plant is no longer available after you order, we will tell you and refund any amount already paid.

4. Prices and payment

All prices are in Swiss francs (CHF) and include Swiss VAT where applicable. Shipping costs are shown before you complete the order. Payment is due when the order is placed, through the payment methods offered at checkout.

5. Delivery

We ship with Swiss Post. Delivery times given in the shop are estimates and not binding. During extreme heat or frost we may delay dispatch to protect the plants, and we will let you know if we do. Risk passes to you when the parcel is handed to the carrier, but see section 7 for what we do if a plant arrives damaged.

6. Living plants

You are buying living plants, grown in 6 cm pots. Size, leaf count, shape and variegation vary from plant to plant and from the photographs, which are illustrative and show a representative specimen rather than the exact plant you receive. Minor transport stress such as a bent or yellowed leaf is normal and is not a defect. Care information on the shop and in our messages is offered in good faith as general guidance, not as a guarantee of a particular result.

7. If something is wrong with your order

Check your parcel when it arrives. If a plant arrives damaged, dead, or is not what you ordered, email us at info@minihouseplants.com within 2 days of delivery, with photographs of the plant showing the damage and a photograph of the packaging. Photographs are a condition of any claim: we assess every complaint from them, and we cannot consider one without them or one made after those 2 days.

We settle the claim on the basis of those photographs. If the plant is dead, dying or the wrong plant — a crushed stem, a destroyed growing point, roots torn out, rot, or any other damage that means it is unlikely to survive — you receive the full price of that plant back or a replacement, as you prefer. If it is badly knocked about but likely to survive, you receive part of the price back, and we tell you the amount before refunding it. Cosmetic damage such as a snapped, bruised or yellowed leaf is not refunded: a healthy plant replaces such a leaf within days. Whatever the outcome, we will help you nurse the plant back — write to us and we will tell you how to treat it.

You keep the plant in every case; we do not ask for it back. Where a plant is refunded, its share of the shipping cost is refunded with it, in proportion to the number of plants in the order.

Because plants are perishable and depend on care after they arrive, we cannot take back plants that are simply no longer wanted, and we cannot cover a plant that declines after those first 2 days. Your statutory rights in respect of defects under Articles 197 ff. of the Swiss Code of Obligations are not affected by this section.

8. Cancelling an order

Swiss law gives no general right of withdrawal for online purchases. If you want to cancel, write to us before we dispatch your order and we will cancel it and refund you in full. Once a parcel is on its way, section 7 applies.

9. Liability

We are liable for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence, and for personal injury, without limitation. Beyond that, our liability is limited to the value of the order concerned. We are not liable for the decline or death of a plant after it has arrived in good condition, nor for damage caused by plants being eaten by people or animals — please check the pet-safety information on the product page.

10. Your data

We handle personal data as described in our Privacy policy.

11. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms at any time. The version published when you place your order is the one that applies to it.

12. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

Swiss law applies, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The place of jurisdiction is Zurich, Switzerland, unless mandatory law provides a different forum for consumers.