Refund policy

Our product is live and perishable

Ardeva supplies living beneficial nematodes — biological control organisms that are produced to order, kept in cold storage, and have a short shelf life. Once produced and dispatched they cannot be returned, resold or reused. For that reason, our returns policy is different from a typical retailer's, and it's important you read it before ordering.

Cancelling or changing an order before dispatch

Because every order is consolidated into a weekly production and import batch, you can cancel or amend your order for a full refund at any time up to the weekly order deadline of 10:00 (Irish time) on Wednesday. Just contact us before the deadline quoting your order number.

After the 10:00 Wednesday deadline your order is committed to that week's production batch with our supplier. From that point we have incurred the cost of producing living product specifically for your order, so we are generally unable to cancel or refund it.

Change-of-mind returns

Under consumer protection law in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, distance-sale purchases normally carry a 14-day cooling-off (cancellation) period. This right does not apply to live nematodes, because they are goods that are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly (RoI: European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013, reg. 13; UK/NI: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, reg. 28). We therefore cannot accept change-of-mind returns of live product once your order has been produced.

The pre-deadline cancellation window described above is our own, more flexible arrangement offered in place of it.

If something is wrong with your order — damaged, dead on arrival, wrong, or missing

This is the situation our claims process is built for, and where your statutory rights are fully protected. Your goods must be of satisfactory/acceptable quality, as described, and fit for purpose (RoI: Consumer Rights Act 2022; UK/NI: Consumer Rights Act 2015). If they arrive damaged, non-viable, incorrect or incomplete, you are entitled to a remedy.

Why prompt reporting matters: nematodes are living organisms, and their condition can change quickly after delivery depending on how they're stored. Refrigerating your order immediately on arrival and reporting any problem the next day is what lets us tell a genuine dead-on-arrival claim apart from product that has simply had time to decline because it wasn't refrigerated promptly. A claim reported well after delivery is one we usually can't attribute reliably to us rather than to delayed refrigeration in the meantime — so the window below isn't just an administrative deadline, it protects your claim as much as it protects us.

To let us investigate and put it right quickly while the product is still fresh, please:

1. Inspect your order on the day it arrives.
2. Report any problem by the end of the next day after delivery (this is a calendar day, not necessarily a working day), to sales@ardeva.ie or +353 87 4574554, quoting your order number.
3. Include photos of the product and packaging, and the batch/lot number on the pack.
4. Keep the product refrigerated (2–8°C) until we've advised you — please don't discard it, and please don't post it back to us without asking first, as we'll usually resolve this from your photos and may need to investigate with our supplier before arranging anything further.

Where a claim is valid we will, at our option and in line with your legal rights, replace the product in the next delivery cycle or issue a full refund (including any delivery charge on that item). Reporting within the window above helps us resolve claims fast; it does not limit or replace your statutory rights.

If we do ever need the product back, we'll contact you directly with instructions — please don't return anything to us unprompted, as we don't operate a walk-in or drop-off location.

Storage, application and results

Nematodes are living organisms and their performance depends on how they are stored and used:

• Refrigerate immediately on arrival (2–8°C) and apply by the use-by date on the pack.
• Follow the application instructions — soil temperature, moisture, dosage and timing all matter.

We can't offer refunds where product has failed because it was left unrefrigerated, applied after its use-by date, applied incorrectly or outside the recommended conditions, or where a treatment doesn't fully clear a pest despite correct use. This is also why claims reported outside the window above are difficult for us to assess fairly — by that point we usually can't distinguish a genuine dead-on-arrival product from one that declined due to delayed refrigeration. Biological controls reduce pest populations under the right conditions but are not guaranteed to eradicate them. If you're unsure about the right product, timing or method, contact us before you apply — technical support is what we're here for. Nothing here affects your statutory rights if the product itself was faulty.

Failed or refused deliveries

Because this is temperature-sensitive perishable product, please make sure someone is available to receive it and refrigerate it promptly (see our Shipping & Delivery Policy). If a delivery fails because of an incorrect address, no one available to receive it, or a refused delivery, the product may perish and we may be unable to offer a replacement or refund for that order.

Trade and business accounts

Purchases by businesses (trade/professional accounts) are made under our separate trade terms. The consumer cooling-off rights above do not apply to business purchases. Quality, replacement and refund arrangements for trade orders are as set out in your account terms; contact us if you need a copy.

How to reach us

sales@ardeva.ie · +353 87 4574554 · Ardeva Limited, 88 Mornington Court, Mornington, Co. Meath, A92 V0D5, Ireland.