What are Besmo's opening hours?
Besmo's administrative offices are open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5.30pm.

Where can I get a Besmo brochure & price list?
You can download our brochure & price list once you have registered on-line. Simply click on the 'PDF Brochure' link on the home page and it will download automatically. The file size for the Besmo brochure is around 6mb and this should take around 10-15 minutes to download with an ADSL connection. A hard copy is also available which we are happy to post to you if you are retailer.

Do all products come tagged with stories similar to the brochure?
Around 80% of our current product range has detailed story tags attached. If you don't find it on-line you will find it in our brochure. We are happy to make up a simple tag for you which you can print off and affix to a product if you wish. Simply drop us an email and we will do the rest. Also note that you can download more detailed markerting help and product information from the Marketing Support section of our website.

What is the Besmo returns policy?
Firstly, please ensure that you always inspect the pallet/cartons you sign for and count them off against the consignment note. If the cartons look damaged or any are missing - you must annotate this on the carrier paperwork. Always sign the goods as UNCHECKED. Next, you must unpack the goods on receipt and notify us of any damages within 48 hours by phone and then in writing within 4 working days. We will then make a decision as to whether we will replace the goods or issue a credit note/refund. To faciliate our decision we may also ask you for images of the damaged products and we may also arrange a collection of the damaged items. In every case we will do our best to resolve the matter right away. As we use third party carriers please help us to ensure that we are able to take transit damages up effectively with these companies and our insurers.

Does Besmo have an Environmental Policy?
Our effort has always been to focus on sustainable resources. In East Africa we have always made a conscious effort to buy products carved from W.W.F.  managed forests. There has been much written in the press about the difficulty in tracing wood back to these forests and despite receiving letters from various authorities it has been difficult to be confident concerning the source of the wood. With this in mind we have stopped buying most of the hard wood or ‘Muhuga’ wood products from Kenya. We have also made a foray into working with the Good Wood (Neem Tree) project in Kenya with a long term objective to replacing all our East African wood lines with this wood.

We ask all our artisans, carvers and producers to ensure that they try & use natural materials in the production of our collections. Our Recycled & Fun range is probably the only one of its kind in the UK where every product sourced is made from recycled materials.

It is not just the environment we care about, our trade also helps preserve traditional skills which could easily be lost without the support of organisations such as ours. We buy nothing that is mass produced & we visit every producer we work with to ensure they meet our resposible business guidelines.

Does Besmo have a Fair Trade Policy?
The answer to this question is yes but we are not subscribed to any fair trade organisation. At Besmo around 70% of our product is sourced from small producers many of whom work on their own or employ two or three other artisans who might share profits between them. We buy nothing in China and nothing from large scale factories. Even our ceramics are produced in small runs for us by small producers. Our primary objective is to provide our artisans with regular and sustainable trade. We recommend visiting the Responsible Business link on the home page to obtain further information.

If I place an order how long will it take to receive my order?
This depends on whether your goods are in stock. We will call you on reciept of your order and inform you of your delivery date. In most cases we aim to deliver the bulk of your order within 7 working days of receipt of your order. It is usually quicker but tends to depend on the time of the year and availability. Please do bear in mind that we sell nothing that is factory produced - almost everything is entirely handmade usually resulting in longer order to delivery cycles if we do sell out due to unusually high demand.

How to pay for your goods?
By credit card using Visa or MasterCard on this secure on-line facility. Cards are only charged when goods are picked and despatched.

By Cheque in advance making these payable to Tilnar Art or by Bank Transfer. Please call us for our Bank details.

To open a credit account it is advisable that you fax or email us your letter headed paper showing clearly all your trading details and your legal status; our accounts department will do the rest.  An account opening form can also be downloaded from the 'marketing support & pdf downloads' section of our website.

 If you are in a rush for your goods it is advisable you pay by credit card and clearly advise our sales team your deadline to receive the goods.

Prop Hire
Our products have featured in a wide variety of Hollywood and BFI releases. These include Sahara, Alexander, Troy, Batman Returns and many more. Set designers are welcome to visit our show room and select from our collection of masks, figurines, fabrics and much more that changes regularly. Call us today to see what is available.

Press
Our products feature regularly across a range of publications. If you are a member of the press and would like to enquire about our collection we would be happy to help. We have a high resolution image library of all our products and alongside this we would also be happy to provide samples for photo shoot so long as they are collected and returned to us by you without damage.

What is the minimum order & transport costs?
Our minimum trade order is £100 + VAT. Due to recent increases in fuel prices we have had to pass on an increase in transport costs which took effect from 15th of May 2008. A summary of the new costs is listed below:

England & Wales
Carriage free order value -  £500
Carriage charges - For order values between £100-£300: £17. For order values between £300-£500: £10

Scotland 
Carriage free order value -  £500 (excluding Grampians & Scottish Highlands)
Carriage charges - For order values between £100-£300: £20. For order values between £300-£500: £17

Northern Ireland
Carriage charges - For order values £100-£300: £40. For order values greater than £300:£35

All other destinations not listed above will be charged at cost as per our received quotations.

This website is coded to compute the above costs automatically. We do not profit from transport and simply aim to pass this fee on at cost and therefore reserve the right to make changes as and when costs increases are passed on to us.

If you are not a trade buyer then please click on the retail link on our home page.

Need more help?
Don’t forget that we are here to help. Call us during office hours on +44 1277 362 815 between 9.30am to 5.30pm weekdays or leave a message outside hours and we will gladly help and advise you. Email enquiries on sales@besmo.com are also welcome and will be dealt with promptly. We aim to provide a level of service that is better than the rest. Also note that you should receive a questionnaire with your delivery about our service. Please do remember to complete this and send it back to us. A copy of this questionnaire can also be downloaded from the 'brochure & marketing pdf downloads' link on this website.