Payment Policy

The journey begins before any figure is entered. Four card networks are accepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Credit and debit cards are both taken on all four.

PayPal is accepted as a wallet, funded either from a PayPal balance or from a card held inside the PayPal account. Selecting it takes the customer to PayPal's own site to authorise the payment.

Cash on delivery, bank transfers, cheques, cryptocurrency and account terms are all declined. Each either cannot be matched to an order automatically or leaves the transaction unsecured.

Where another method is preferred, write to support@tessasite.shop before ordering and a definite answer will be given rather than leaving the attempt to fail at the payment step.

At the payment step the details are entered, and this is where the arrangement with the processor matters.

Payments are processed by Stripe, a provider certified to PCI-DSS Level 1. Card details are entered on the processor's hosted page and pass directly to it; Table & Thyme receives only the result, the card brand and the last four digits.

A bank may ask for a card payment to be approved inside its own app under 3-D Secure, which is why an order can pause briefly at that step.

No card is stored between orders. The site does not offer saved cards, and each order is paid for individually.

The processor handles every accepted method, so the security position set out later on this page applies equally to cards and to PayPal.

When the order is submitted, the card is authorised, and this is the first point at which the bank becomes involved.

A pending authorisation may appear on the statement immediately. It is a hold rather than a completed charge, and it is released if the order is cancelled before dispatch.

Where the bank refers a payment for a routine verification, the order is held rather than cancelled and the customer is contacted so the check can be completed.

Where a payment is declined, nothing is charged, and another card or PayPal may be used straight away.

Where repeated declines occur on the same order, Table & Thyme will make contact rather than allowing the order to sit unresolved.

The payment is captured in full when the order is dispatched, and this is the point at which the money actually moves.

The figure confirmed at checkout is the figure charged, sales tax included and computed from the delivery address before the order is submitted.

No handling fee, card surcharge or currency conversion charge is added by Table & Thyme. Any fee applied by the customer's own bank for an international transaction is set by that bank, not by us.

If an order changes before it ships, the difference in value is settled one way or the other before the parcel leaves the building.

If an order is cancelled before it ships, any hold on the card is released and the customer is told once that release has been asked for.

Behind the scenes, the payment is handled inside a certified environment rather than on Table & Thyme's own systems.

All traffic to the site is encrypted in transit, and the payment step is served by the processor over its own secure connection. Full card numbers, security codes and PayPal credentials are never stored by Table & Thyme and never appear in its logs.

No member of staff will ever ask for a full card number by email. Any message that appears to do so should be treated as fraudulent and reported to support@tessasite.shop.

Where a customer believes a card has been used without authorisation, the issuing bank should be contacted immediately as well as Table & Thyme, so that the card can be stopped while the transaction is reviewed.

Not every payment attempt succeeds. A decline usually means the issuing bank has blocked the transaction, the billing address does not match the bank's records, or the card limit has been reached.

A declined attempt produces no charge, and the order can be submitted again straight away using a different card or PayPal.

A pending authorisation created by a failed attempt is released by the bank, normally within a few working days. That release cannot be expedited by Table & Thyme, because the hold sits with the issuer rather than with the merchant.

Where a decline appears inexplicable, send the order reference to support@tessasite.shop and the processor's response will be checked and explained.

The final stage of a payment is the reversal. Table & Thyme issues the refund to the original payment method within seven calendar days of the returned item arriving and passing inspection.

Money is returned to the card that paid, or to the PayPal account that funded the order. A different card, a different account or a cash refund is not possible, since the reversal has to follow the original payment.

Where the original card has since been closed, write to support@tessasite.shop once the bank confirms the closure, and an alternative arrangement will be made.

An email confirming release of the refund is sent at the point it leaves Table & Thyme. Where a refund has been released but has not appeared after ten working days, write in and the processor's reference number will be supplied for the bank to trace.

Questions about a payment, including an unexpected amount or a charge that does not look familiar, should be sent to support@tessasite.shop with the order reference and, where available, the date and amount.

Payment enquiries receive a reply within one working day on weekdays, and the finding is put in writing rather than left for the customer to infer from a bank statement.

Where a charge is not recognised at all, contact the issuing bank as well as Table & Thyme, so the card can be monitored while the transaction is investigated.

A short email is usually faster than a formal chargeback, and Table & Thyme would prefer to hear from the customer before the bank is asked to intervene.