Privacy - Our Promise To You

Privacy and Cookie Policy

The data controller is Charlies Stores Ltd (referred to in this policy as “we” or “us” or “Charlies”).

Last Updated: 22nd May 2018

Our Promise To You

Below is a list of what personal data we may collect from you when we may collect it and what we may receive from other sources.

1) When you register on-line for our Services you may provide us with:

  • Personal details, including postal and billing addresses, email address, phone number, date of birth and title
  • Account login details, such as your username and the password

2) When you shop with us on-line (including our own website and third party platforms) we may collect:

  • Information about your purchases (for example, what you have bought, when and where you bought it and how you paid for it)
  • Information about your on-line browsing behaviour and when you click on our adverts (including those shown on other organisation’s websites)
  • Information about devices you have used (including the make, model and operating system, IP address, browser type and mobile device identifiers)

3) When you apply for a Trade Account in-store you may provide us with:

  • Personal details, including postal and billing addresses, email address, phone number, date of birth and title
  • Bank account details to enable us to collect payments by direct debit

4) When you shop with us in-store we may collect:

  • Information about your purchases (for example, what you have bought, when and where you bought it and how you paid for it). This may be used to provide warranty information to manufacturers and to contact you with regard to workshop servicing
  • Personal details, including postal and billing addresses, email address and phone number in order to follow up on your purchases or for local home delivery
  • CCTV footage in which you feature when you visit our premises
  • In the event that you have an accident whilst on our premises that you bring to our attention, we may record details of that accident and any injury in the relevant store’s accident log.

5) When you contact us or we contact you or you take part in promotions, competitions, surveys:

  • Personal data you provide anytime you contact us (for example, your name, username and contact details), including by phone, email or post or when you speak with us through social media
  • Details of the emails and other digital communications we send to you that you open and which links you click on
  • Your feedback and contributions to customer surveys and questionnaires

6) Other sources of personal data: We may also use personal data from other sources, such as specialist companies that supply information, online media channels and public registers. This other personal data helps us to:

  • Review and improve the accuracy of the data we hold.
  • Improve and measure the effectiveness of our marketing communications, including online advertising.

How And Why Do We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to:

  • Manage your customer accounts, to provide you with the goods and services you want to buy and to help you with any orders and refunds you request.
  • We use cookies and similar technology on our website to improve your customer experience. If you wish to prevent your computer or mobile phone from accepting cookies you can disable them but it may negatively affect your browsing experience. For more information on cookies and how to switch them off see the Cookies and Similar Technologies section.
  • We rely on personal data as market research to help improve our product range, services, stores, and information technology systems.
  • To help detect fraud or other crime.
  • By better understanding your shopping behavior we are able to provide you with more personalised offers and services to best meet your needs.
  • To provide you with relevant marketing communications that match your interests. To do this we also measure your response to marketing communications. You can change your marketing choices with us at any time.
  • To contact you regarding our services, customer service queries you have (including via phone, email, post of social media), warranties, and updates on repairs.
  • To manage any promotions or competitions you have chosen to enter.

Sharing Your Personal Data

We work with selected Service Providers and Suppliers that carry our certain functions on our behalf. For example, companies that assist with processing payments, delivering orders, processing warranty claims, providing finance, technology services. We only ever share data that enables our Partners to provide their services. These companies are required to keep your personal data safe and must not use it for their own marketing purposes.

We only share personal data with other organisations in the following circumstances:

  • If the law or other regulatory/government authority requests we do
  • To establish, exercise or defend our legal rights

Social Media

  • If you share our content through social media, for example by liking us on Facebook, following or tweeting about us on Twitter, or giving us a '+1' via Google Plus, those social networks will record that you have done so and may set a cookie for this purpose.
  • In some cases, where a page on our website includes content from a social network, such as a Twitter feed, or Facebook comments box, those services may set a cookie even where you do not click a button.  As is the case for all cookies, we cannot access those set by social networks, just as those social networks cannot access cookies we set ourselves.

Google Analytics & Remarketing         

  • Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.  Further information about Google’s privacy policy may be obtained from http://www.google.com/privacy.html.
  • Our website uses cookies to create a remarketing list, we use remarketing lists to advertise to you on our own website and third-party vendors, including Google. We serve you ads based on your past visits to our website which we believe to be of interest to you, this information is collected with the use of Cookies, please see details further below on Cookies and Similar Technology.

Klarna 0% Finance & Remarketing         

  • In order to be able to offer you Klarna’s payment options, we will pass to Klarna certain of your personal information, such as contact and order details, in order for Klarna to assess whether you qualify for their payment options and to tailor the payment options for you..
  • General information on Klarna you can find here. Your personal data is handled in accordance with applicable data protection law and in accordance with the information in Klarna’s privacy policy.

How We Protect Personal Data

Protecting and managing your data is vital, and we have the following measures in place to do this:

  • We use computer safeguards such as firewalls and data encryption.
  • We enforce physical access controls to our buildings and files.
  • We only authorise access to employees who need it to carry out their job responsibilities.
  • We protect the security of your information while it is being transmitted by encrypting it using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
  • We enforce physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in connection with the collection, storage and disclosure of personal data.
  • We may occasionally ask for proof of identity before we share your personal data with you.
  • We will never reveal full credit card details when confirming an order.

Whilst we take appropriate measures to safeguard your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of any personal data that you transfer over the internet to us. 

Marketing Communication

When you register with us or take part in any competition we will ask you if you would like to receive marketing communications from us. You will only ever receive advertising if you have opted in and agreed to receive it. At any time, you can change your marketing choices online, over the phone or in writing.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small data files that allow a website to collect and store a range of data on your desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. We use them for:

  • They provide us with information on how you prefer to view the information on our website so we can personalize our website and improve your experience, such as remembering your preferences or the content of your shopping basket.
  • They inform us of how our websites is being used, for example by telling us if you get error messages. We cannot identify you personally by using a cookie and cookies are not used to store or gather personal data.
  • To help us deliver relevant advertising and remarketing on our website and third party organisation’s websites, including Google, based on your past visits to our website. They also help us to control how many times you see an advert.
    You can opt out of Google's use of cookies by visiting Google's Ads Settings. Alternatively you can out of a third-party ventor's use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt out page.
  • They enable us to track the effectiveness of our marketing, for example by telling us if you have opened an email we have sent you.

If you would like to accept, reject or delete cookies you can do so in your browser settings. Disabling cookies can have a significant impact on your browsing experience. More information on switching off cookies within individual browsers can be found via these links:

When we display digital adverts on other websites the AdChoices icon will normally be displayed. You can click on this icon for guidance on controlling your advertising preferences. For more information please visit http://youradchoices.com/

Your Rights

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have the right to see the personal data we hold about you. This is called a Subject Access Request. If you would like a copy of the personal data we hold about you, please contact us via:

  • Post: Data Protection Officer, Charlies Stores Ltd, Unit 7, Offas Dyke Business Park, Buttington, Welshpool, SY21 8SS
  • Email: [email protected]

We want to make sure that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and up to date. If any of the details are incorrect, please let us know and we will amend them.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about how we collect, store and use personal data please contact us via:

  • Telephone: 01686 626313
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Post: Data Protection Officer, Charlies Stores Ltd, Unit 7, Offas Dyke Business Park, Buttington, Welshpool, SY21 8SS.

We reserve the right to change the policy at any time, so please check back regularly to keep informed of updates to this Policy.

From May 2018 a new EU regulation called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) becomes law. Charlies will act in compliance with this regulation in recording and safeguarding your personal information.