Our program is designed to benefit and accommodate students of any age or playing experience, as well as their teachers and parents. We provide a high level of customer service and assure you that renting an instrument from The Violin Shop of Old Carmel will be a wise and satisfactory investment. Each violin and viola is outfitted with a shaped or oblong case, a wooden bow with horsehair, four fine tuners, and rosin. Each cello and bass is outfitted with a nylon zipper bag, a wooden bow with horsehair, four fine tuners, and rosin. The Violin Shop of Old Carmel has four rental plans available; however, we do request an initial contract of at least three months.

Insurance is a wise investment, especially for beginning musicians. Although our insurance is optional, we highly recommend insuring rental instruments.  Our program covers all major and minor damage, including broken bridges, open seams, or neck damage.  If for any reason there is damage to the instrument, simply bring it in and our experts will repair it for free.  Theft or loss of the instrument and/or accessories and string breakage are not included under The Violin Shop of Old Carmel’s insurance coverage.  If you choose to opt out of our insurance, please consider putting the instrument on your homeowner’s insurance.    

All renters are required to present a valid credit card with an expiration date at the signing of the contract.  Payments, however, can be accepted in any form of cash, check, or credit card.  It is the renter’s responsibility to update the shop with any changes in the credit card information (expirations, thefts, cancellations, etc.).

At the expiration of the rental period, it is the renter’s responsibility to either re-new the rental contract or return the instrument to the shop.  The Violin Shop of Old Carmel will allow a grace period of one week following the contract expiration date for the renter to re-new or return the instrument.  After one week, we will automatically re-new the contract and charge the credit card given at the signing of the contract for the same amount and length as the previous contract, plus an additional $10.00 late fee.

The renter can agree to be automatically charged monthly or quarterly by credit card on the day of the contract’s expiration. If the renter decides to stop the payment and return the instrument before the expiration date, the credit card will not be charged automatically that month.

Note:  Rental customers who returned the instrument before the end of the 12 months paid in one lump sum rental contract will not receive a refund, because they had received a 10% Discount on Rental Fees and a Free Insurance for the 12 months period, and we in return request a commitment for the 12 months term. 

However, they still retain the full 12 months equity (as a Store Credit), that can be used toward the purchase of the same type of instrument, i.e. Violin credit – to buy any Violin in The Shop, Cello credit – to buy a Cello etc. 

The Violin Shop of Old Carmel occasionally increases the rental and/or insurance rates. All new rental instrument contracts signed after the date of increase will be charged the new rate. Rental contracts which were signed before the date of rate increase will be allowed to continue paying the rate available at the time of contract signing. However, after one year all rental renewals will be required to pay the most current rental rate.

Our RENT-WITH-EQUITY plan makes buying an instrument very easy, by allowing a purchase equity to build during the rental period.  Rental payments (not including tax and insurance payments) during your first 12 months of renting will automatically accumulate to establish equity toward purchasing the instrument.  We do not require you to purchase your current rental instrument, you may apply your equity toward the purchase of any size or price range of the instrument you are currently renting. We do not, however, allow an equity to be interchangeable between violins, violas, cellos, and basses. The accumulated rental equity can be applied to the purchase price within 3 (three) months of returning the instrument.

For our renters, purchase steps are easy:

1.  We would be glad to help you select an instrument for purchase. 

2. We apply equity accumulated from your first year’s rental, and you pay the balance. 

3. Take your instrument home and enjoy!

Children often grow during the rental period, outgrowing their instrument size as well.  Should you need to change instrument sizes, you may do so at any time during your rental period at no cost to you.  We will re-size you for a bigger instrument, and make every effort to replace your small instrument with one of equal or better quality.

Please familiarize yourself with the sizes of your particular instrument:

*A 12 inch viola is roughly equivalent to a 1/2 violin.

Once you purchase your instrument, you may trade it in at any time for a higher quality, more expensive instrument.  The Violin Shop of Old Carmel will accept the undamaged instrument at full value towards the more expensive instrument, allowing the customer to pay the difference of the new item and the original purchase price. Take into consideration that re-hairing bows, replacing strings, touch-ups, and re-gluing will be taken out of this total. Instruments and accessories with broken wood make this policy invalid.

• Renters of instruments from The Violin Shop Of Old Carmel are required to present a current credit card with an expiration date at the signing of the contract. 
• It is the renter’s responsibility to inform the shop of any changes of credit card information (expirations, thefts, cancellations, etc.).

• Delinquent renters are subject to late charges of $10.00 per week.

• If the renter fails to pay for an entire month (starting from the first day the contract expires) or fails to return the instrument accordingly, The Violin Shop Of Old Carmel will charge the credit card given at the signing of the contract. This will be done only if the renter has failed to contact us and make other payment arrangements.        

• If the credit card that was given to The Violin Shop of Old Carmel is false, has expired, or is declined on the day of the appropriate charging, the renter will automatically be turned in to a collection agency. The amount will total the entire value of the instrument that is indicated on the renter’s contract agreement and a $20.00 insufficient funds fee.

Options to Avoid Payment Delinquency

• The renter can agree to be automatically charged monthly by credit card on the day of the contract’s expiration. If the renter decides to stop the payment or return the instrument before the expiration date, the credit card will not be charged automatically that month.

• The renter can pay upfront for the entire year. By doing this, the renter can receive free instrument insurance and a 10% promotional discount.

Note:  Customers who return rental instruments before the end of the rental contract period will be refunded money for only whole months that are left, except those who used our Promotional Discount on the 12 months lump sum payment.

The Violin Shop Of Old Carmel wants to provide the best customer care for our clients. We pride ourselves on being very understanding with our customers. If for any reason the renter cannot make the payment on time, we always try to work with our customers to attain their needs.  

Tracking down a delinquent payee takes a lot of time and effort. This is why this policy has been created.  The Violin Shop of Old Carmel is giving the renter an entire month to pay or return their instrument after the expiration date, if the renter contacts us before that date. Please try to be understanding of our policy and follow it accordingly. Thank you.