Why this page exists

Trust is our most important value.

Not because it sounds good underneath a company logo.

Because without it, everything else we do becomes rather pointless.

We sell products people need for their buildings.

We provide professional services people rely upon.

People give us their money before they've necessarily ever met us.

That's a responsibility.

Still on trust

This page won't make you trust us.

It shouldn't.

This page can only show you who we are, where we are and give you the information to check for yourself.

Trust comes afterwards.

When we do what we said we'd do.

That's the bit that matters.

Your checklist

Here's what to check.

• Check who we are.
• Check where we are.
• Check our company registration.
• Check our VAT number.
• Check how you're paying us.

And if you're still not sure, phone us.

There's an actual human at the other end.

Usually.

Who we are

First things first.

The Stickman is real.

Which is reassuring, considering you're thinking about giving him money.

We'd rather you checked us than trusted a Stickman simply because he has a nice website.

Who we are

Since 2015.

We've been around since 2015.

Not because being around for a long time automatically makes someone trustworthy.

It doesn't.

But it does give you a reasonably long trail to follow if you're wondering whether the Stickman suddenly appeared on the internet last Tuesday.

He didn't.

Where we are

Yes. You can come and find us.

That address two steps back is our core office, in Glenhazel, Johannesburg.

You're welcome to pop in, say hello and ask us for help.

We'll happily assist you with door hardware, insulation or figuring out exactly which product you actually need.

There is, however, something rather important you should know before arriving with a bakkie:

Where we are

We do not hold stock at our physical address.

None.

No secret warehouse behind the office.

No mountain of locks in the boardroom.

No door closers hiding underneath someone's desk.

Our office is where The Stickman people are.

Our products are held by our suppliers.

How it reaches you

So where is my door handle?

Good question.

Rather than having your order travel:

we generally arrange for our courier to collect directly from the supplier and deliver directly to you:

How it reaches you

No sightseeing tours.

We don't believe your lock needs a sightseeing tour of Johannesburg before reaching your door.

It also means we don't need to keep shelves full of products waiting for someone, somewhere, someday to order them.

We order the product you require and arrange for it to travel from the supplier to you.

Simple.

Which, conveniently, is rather the point of The Stickman.

Your first order

“But I've never bought from you before.”

We know.

Every customer has a first order.

And handing money to a company you've never dealt with before can feel uncomfortable.

So we're not going to solve that problem by writing:

“We are 100% trustworthy.”

in enormous letters.

That would be surprisingly unhelpful.

Instead, we're giving you information you can actually check.

Paying us

Giving the Stickman money.

A surprisingly important part of online shopping.

For online payments, we use Payfast, an established South African online payment provider.

That means we're not asking you to type your card details into a mysterious little box the Stickman built over the weekend.

Prefer EFT?

No problem.

We'll gladly provide the banking details for our FNB account ending in 152.

But there's an important rule.

Read this one twice

The Stickman banking rule.

We would much rather spend five minutes confirming banking details with you than spend five days trying to work out where your money went.

Talk to us

There are humans here.

This is another useful feature.

If you're not sure which lock you need... Call us.

If two products look suspiciously identical... Email us.

If you have absolutely no idea what the product code means... WhatsApp us.

If you just want to make sure The Stickman actually exists before placing your first order... Call us.

You don't have to understand door hardware before buying door hardware.

That's what we're here for.

Not a double life

Two websites. One Stickman.

Yes, we have two websites.

No, the Stickman isn't leading a double life.

Same company.

Same people.

Same Stickman.

Just considerably fewer door handles on the XA side.

What we do

We don't just sell things.

Door hardware is a major part of our business.

We also supply insulation products and provide professional SANS 10400-XA Rational Design and energy-efficiency services to the South African building industry.

Why should that matter when you're buying a lock?

Because you're not buying from an anonymous website that appeared yesterday.

You're dealing with a South African business that has been working in the building industry for years.

We're planning on being here tomorrow too.

Being straight with you

Sometimes we have to give you bad news.

A supplier may be out of stock.

A product may have been discontinued.

A lead time may change.

The thing you desperately need by Friday may stubbornly insist on arriving on Monday.

We can't promise these things will never happen.

We can promise that we're not going to solve them by pretending they haven't happened.

If there's a problem we're aware of, we'll tell you.

And then we'll work with you to find the most sensible way forward.

Being straight with you

What if something goes wrong?

We're human.

Suppliers are human.

Couriers are human.

This was perhaps a questionable system to begin with.

Occasionally, something will go wrong.

What matters to us is what happens next.

Tell us.

We'll investigate it.

We'll communicate with you.

And where the problem is ours to resolve, we'll work to resolve it.

We don't believe customer service should suddenly become more difficult to find after you've paid us.

That's precisely when it matters.

Our promises

Things the Stickman won't do.

• We won't knowingly tell you something is available when we know it isn't.
• We won't knowingly substitute the product you ordered without telling you.
• We won't pretend to know something when we don't.
• We won't hide a problem and hope you forget about it.
• We won't ask you for your banking PIN or password.
• And we won't deliberately disappear when something goes wrong.

Although we reserve the right to hide briefly when someone asks where the 3 mm grub screw went.

Our promises

Trust doesn't mean we'll never make a mistake.

We'd love to make that promise.

Unfortunately, we've met humans.

Trust isn't about pretending mistakes never happen.

It's about what you do when they do.

If we make a mistake, we want to own it, communicate with you and put it right wherever reasonably possible.

No smoke.

No mirrors.

No twelve-paragraph explanation of why technically it was someone else's fault.

Just people trying to do business properly.

Almost there

One last thing before you pay.

You've already got the company, the registration and the VAT number. Two more worth a look:

• Check the email address it came from.
• Check the banking details.

Call us if you're uncertain. Come and meet us if you'd like to.

Just don't come looking for the warehouse.

There isn't one.

You'll find some desks, some people and a Stickman.