Terms & Conditions / Trial & Return Policy

Terms & Conditions

Trial & Return Policy
Sales from Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. (via the www.kesslerandsons.com website, phone / e-mail orders or through any eBay auctions operating as eBay user “kesslermusic”, excludes special order items) are accompanied with a 3-day trial period. The customer is allowed 3 days (72 hours) from the date the merchandise is received (dates verified through UPS website and tracking numbers), to evaluate and test the merchandise. If the customer is not completely satisfied with the quality, condition, or overall playability of the instrument, they must notify Kessler & Sons Music inside the 3 day trial period before returning the product. Customer then can return product(s)for a full refund less Shipping and Handling charges with the following exceptions:

    • Damage to the merchandise by the customer’s own misuse.
    • Accidental damage while merchandise is in customer’s possession.
    • Special Order Items
    • Reeds/Perishable Items
    • Special Finish Instrument Cleaning (more details below)
    • Multiple Instruments were sent for trial by customer request (more details below)

The customer is responsible for inspecting the merchandise upon arrival. If damage has occurred in shipping, the customer MUST notify Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. immediately using the phone number provided inside the package or via e-mail so that Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. may instruct the customer on the steps that need to be taken. All claims of damage will have to be inspected by the Shipping company. Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. fully insures all packages up to or over the replacement value of the merchandise being shipped. Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. will not refund any item(s) damaged in shipping if the customer has failed to file a claim or has failed to meet any of the above mentioned conditions.

Any return that does not meet all criteria mentioned above may be subject to at least a 20% restocking fee. Kessler & Sons Music reserves the right to not allow for refund/return if return does not meet stated criteria.

Excessive Return/Refunds
Credit card processing fees are not refunded to retailers when refunding monies to customers. As a result, every return sees a “loss”. Many companies will institute restocking fees as a standard procedure to help cover these fees as well as processing time/costs as a result of the return. We try to limit these types of fees, but customers who return multiple items will eventually be considered “excessive return customers”. This will occur on the 3rd return for refund by a customer. On the 3rd return by a customer where a refund is processed, we will assess a 5% return-restocking fee (to cover all lost processing fees). On 5 such returns, this will increase to 10% fee (5% for fees, 5% for manpower processing time). This can be avoided by instead of requesting a refund, customer applies the monies towards other product as a credit.

Signature Requirement Removal Request
Allof our instrument shipments are sent with Signature Requirement by default. Small orders (i.e. a box of reeds) will typically be sent without signature requirement by default. Any request by a customer to remove the signature requirement on a shipment that would otherwise require signature, must be made before the order is placed. Such requests are limited to UPS based shipping options only and carry certain restrictions. Such requests require additional verification before processing. This can include, but is not limited to, ID verification via text or email. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us before ordering.

Air Shipping Upgrades
Due to the increasing occurrence of fraud online, most of which request an overnight or other form of air shipment, any orders from non-verified customers with an air shipping option will require additional verification before processing. This can include, but is not limited to, ID verification via text or email. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us before ordering.

“Included Shipping” Terms for Returns
Items that are sent with “Included Shipping” still obviously incur a shipping cost. This cost is included in the price paid when purchased. However, in the case of returned instruments that have “Included Shipping”, the original cost of the outbound shipping will be deducted from the final refund unless specifically stated with the product before purchase. This policy is effective October 1, 2025. This shipping cost will be shown on the final invoice (paper invoice) sent with the item.

Special Finish Instrument Cleaning
Most instruments can be cleaned/serviced in our shop with minimal time and thus do not require any cleaning fees charged to the customer. However, certain finishes OR instruments that have heavy signs of use from the player, may require additional service and cleaning time in order to be re-sold. This will be billed at the customer’s expense at a rate of $60/hour (a 20% discount from our normal shop rate of $75/hour). This fee will be deducted from the customer refund.

Some special finishes require this cleaning more regularly than others. For example, raw brass / unlacquered saxophones commonly tend to need 1.5 – 2.0 hours of additional cleaning upon return. If you have questions about this policy, please contact us BEFORE ordering.

Return to Sender Shipments
Any shipment that is returned to sender, due to customer not being available to sign for the shipment or due to customer error in the ordering process, will be responsible for all shipping fees. Any return to sender due to customer order error that is then cancelled by customer is also subject to a 3% restocking fee on top of shipment costs.

“Upgrade” Items
Many items can be purchased with discounted “Upgrade” options. These options receive special discounts (or are “Free”) with purchase of qualifying product. If the qualifying product is returned but “upgrade” items are kept by customer, the final refund of the qualifying purchase will be reduced to reflect the standard sale prices of the “upgrade” items as these discounts/bundle prices are only valid with qualifying purchase.

Processed & Cancelled Orders
Orders that are fully processed but cancelled by the customer before shipment will be charged a 3% fee plus the cost of materials used for the shipment. In some cases, shipping (if non-refundable by the carrier) will also not be refunded.

Holiday Season Terms
During the Holiday Season, additional terms can apply to both trial/return policies as well as shipping policies. These additional terms can be found at the following pages:

Kessler & Sons Music gladly accepts all major credit cards. However, on first time orders, we can only ship to an address that is verified by the issuing bank or payment institution. In the case of a credit or debit card, this has to be the primary billing address on file with the card used for the purchase. In the case of PayPal, it must be a “PayPal Confirmed Address”. There are no exceptions to this rule

First Time Instrument Orders:
On first time instrument orders, Kessler & Sons Music will only deliver to an address that can be verified by the banking institution that processes the payment (billing address in the case of Credit Card purchase – “Confirmed Address” in case of PayPal processed order), as this serves as our only form of ID Verification. First time instrument orders are considered separate from customers who only ordered accessories in previous orders.

For orders that are cancelled after they have had their funds fully captured will have a processing fee for the cancellation. This processing fee will be limited to only cover the credit card / PayPal fees that we paid by your order being placed. This can range from 2-3% on average. On cancelled orders, once the funds have been captured, we are unable to retrieve the processing fees and so we ask that customers cover this cost.

This policy only applies on orders that were placed by the customer, funds have been captured by the retailer, but are then cancelled before shipping. This does not apply to returns.

Due to a high rate of fraud, Kessler & Sons Music unfortunately does not accept Personal Checks, Money Orders or Cashier’s Checks for out of state orders.
Shipping for Website Orders:
Kessler & Sons Music ships most instruments via UPS and most accessories through the USPS unless otherwise specified by the customer during checkout. All shipping costs will be pre-paid (unless otherwise specified by Kessler & Sons Music) by the customer. ALL shipments from Kessler & Sons Music require a direct signature. Items will not be shipped without a signature unless pre-approved by Kessler & Sons Music prior to order being placed.

First Time Orders:
On first time customer orders, Kessler & Sons Music will only deliver to an address that can be verified by the banking institution that processes the payment (billing address in the case of Credit Card purchase – “Confirmed Address” in case of PayPal processed order), as this serves as our only form of ID Verification. First time instrument orders are considered separate from customers who only ordered accessories in previous orders.

Freight Forwarders
Please note that we cannot accept any order shipped to a Freight Forwarding company. As they are not the “end consumer” for the product, many of the manufacturer’s policies prohibit shipment to anyone other than the end consumer. Any order that is shipped to a freight forwarding company will be rejected.

Customers may request to try multiple instruments/product variations. However, this process increases the credit card processing fees for merchants. These fees are not refunded to us when we refund the payment to a customer. So in these instances, we will impose a 3.5% automatic restocking fee on all additional instrument/variations refunds regardless of whether the customer keeps one of the items or not.

So for example, if a customer requests to try 3 instruments at $1,000.00 value each, we will end up paying $60-$70 more in processing fees than we would if the customer has us ship only 1 instrument. So regardless, in this case, the customer would be assessed a 3.5% restocking fee on the additional returned instruments.

The only exception is when the customer is paying by American Express, in which case our standard American Express Payment Terms (4% restocking fee on any item returned for refund) stated above would take precedence.

“Free Shipping” on Multiple Instruments
If customer is ordering multiple items that would include Free Shipping, this would only apply to one item. Customer will be responsible for actual, non subsidized, shipping cost on all additional instruments, regardless of shopping cart calculations on shipping. In the case where customer orders multiple instruments and only one has free shipping, customer will only receive the shipping cost associated with the instrument(s) that they end up keeping. So if the instrument that contained Free Shipping is returned, then the customer is responsible for the original shipping cost which will be automatically deducted from the refund.

In addition to standard terms, on a first time national rental account, we will only ship to the address that was verified through TransUnion during the approval process. This address must also match the address that is on file with the credit card used for payment. There are no exceptions.

All International Transactions must be paid with either an International Money Order or Direct Bank Wire Transfer. Credit Cards will NOT be accepted for any International Transaction. The customer will be responsible for any and all applicable Taxes or fees associated with the shipment. International transactions will be shipped via the United States Postal Service (www.usps.com) or through UPS (www.ups.com) at the sole discretion of Kessler & Sons Music. All costs for shipping we will be prepaid by the buyer. The method of shipment for International Transactions will be solely at the discretion of Kessler & Sons Music.

For more information on Kessler & Sons Music shipping & payment policies on international transactions, please click here.

International customers dealing with Kessler & Sons Music over eBay (as eBay user: “kesslermusic”) MUST pre-arrange all payment and shipping details with Kessler & Sons Music prior to bidding. If customer does not pre-arrange these details, Kessler & Sons Music has the right to refuse the transaction without any negative or neutral feedback retaliation from the customer. Should the customer post feedback of this sort, you agree to have this feedback removed. The ONLY acceptable proof of pre-arrangement is written e-mails.

It is understood that any purchase through Kessler & Sons Music, Inc. via the www.kesslermusic.com website or through any eBay auctions operating under eBay user “kesslermusic”, that the customer has already read and agreed to the terms above. Kessler & Sons Music is committed to 100% customer satisfaction but we need the help of the customer to do this. We ask that all customers do take the time to read these terms to ensure satisfaction. If the customer does not agree with the terms, they should exit the site.

Additional international terms & conditions apply. Please visit our International Order Terms page for more information.

Any photos of actual product that was not provided by manufacturers (also known as Stock Photos) throughout all Kessler & Sons Music sites (including eBay postings and social media posts) are the sole property of Kessler & Sons Music and may not be used without written permission.