Return to Help Index| International Customer Policies | |
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| Can I get a shipping quote for [items] to my country? | |
| BEFORE you ask us to compute a shipping quote, please educate yourself about general carrier rates. Both the UPS and USPS websites have shipping cost calculators that will enable you to get an approximation of per pound (or Kg) rate to your country, and also give you an idea of speed of delivery so that you can select the ship method that we offer that best fits your budget and meets your needs. We require that all international customers first familiarize themselves with the general rates offered by the common carriers so that you are not surprised or dismayed by the cost of shipping to your country. In the past we have gone to a lot of trouble to pack and calculate shipping costs for international customers, only to have them cancel the order because of "shipping shock". We don't mark up the shipping cost appreciably, so it is not our fault that it costs what it costs to ship to your country. It is quick and easy for you to get an idea of general shipping rates online. Visit the following websites to familiarize yourself with general shipping rates and options for your country and get your "shipping shock" out of your system BEFORE placing an order or emailing us: The US Postal Service (USPS), at www.usps.com United Parcel Service (UPS) at www.ups.com You'll need the following information to use the shipping cost calculators recommended above: -weight and dimensions of a package - we recommend that you use "pretend" package information (i.e. 15 lb, 12" x 20" x 16") input on all cost calculators. This way you can get a comparative feel for rates using different carriers and shipping speeds for the same package -the "Zip" or "Postal Code" for the ship from field is "84107" -also, don't forget to input a package value for insurance purposes so that the cost of insurance will also be reflected - it is our policy to send all shipments fully insured for actual value to protect us and you from loss and/or carrier damage. To get a SHIPPING QUOTE for an order, you must PLACE YOUR ORDER VIA OUR WEBSITE Once you have researched and given yourself a feel for APPROXIMATE rates to your country, and you have determined that the shipping costs will be in line with your expectations, we will then comply with your request to provide you with a SHIPPING QUOTE for a specific order (for orders over $500USD -- Orders totaling less than $500USD will be processed without a shipping quote if you opt to pay by credit card). You must PLACE THE ORDER ONLINE via our website and during the checkout procedure put the following request in the SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS area: "I have read, understand, and agree to abide by the International Shipment FAQs and Policies posted on your website. I respectfully request that you calculate and send me a shipping quote for this order prior to proceeding with payment." Even if you submit credit card payment information at the time of order, YOUR CARD IS NOT CHARGED AT THE TIME OF ORDER ONLINE - it is not charged until your items are packaged and ready to ship. Once your order passes payment verification (if applicable) then you will receive a Payment Information Email from us that will give you current product availability, your shipping options and shipping cost quote. Sorry, but we will not calculate shipping requests that are submitted via email. In order to give a "shipping quote" that can be relied upon, the order has to be pulled, packaged and weighed. This procedure takes valuable time away from already submitted order expediting and causes delays for orders that have customers waiting for them. It has been our unfortunate experience that, overwhelmingly, after we go to the lengths necessary to provide an accurate shipping quote, 9 out of 10 times, the order does not occur. This is not to say that YOUR order would not come to fruition; this is simply the reason WHY we have implemented the policies regarding requests for shipping quotes on international orders. In response to your request for a shipping quote for a submitted order, we will provide a quote, based on the items in your order for the shipping method you selected, as well as a few other method options. This first shipping quote is processed free of charge. If you subsequently change the order by ADDING or DELETING an item, and REQUEST or DEMAND that we requote before shipping, you will be charged a Multiple Ship Quote Fee of $5 per additional quote. If you add or delete items and do NOT request a requote, then no Multiple Ship Quote Fee will apply. THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT for international shipping quotes/order processing If you submit any 3 orders in a twelve month period for which we provide shipping quotes, order totals and payment information, and then you do not proceed with those orders (i.e. say you will send payment, but it never comes; or cancel the order after finding out how much the shipping will be), Aircooled.Net will cease to quote and process future orders for you for a period of no less than one year. For obvious reasons, we won't continue to waste our time to assemble orders and quote shipping for customers who are not serious about proceeding with their transactions. This rule applies to ANY 3 orders in the past twelve months -- so be sure to use the online shipping information and cost calculators BEFORE you place your order so that you won't want to cancel an order just because the shipping was more than you had hoped. After you have received a shipping quote for your order, you CAN cancel items from an order that are not in stock and for which we either cannot provide an estimated time of acquisition (ETA) or if the ETA we quoted passes and the item remains unavailable. Item cancellation (different than Order Cancellation) under these conditions will not count against your 3 strikes. |
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| Can you schedule my shipment to coincide with my US travel dates? | |
| There are so many factors involved in fulfilling and shipping an order that, unless you give us a LOT of lead time (like 2 months or more), it is very difficult for us to accurately time the arrival of a shipment to a particular travel schedule. Although we are a parts warehouse that stocks close to 10,000 different products for aircooled Volkswagens, since there are close to 40,000 possible parts/products for the marque we serve, we quite often are more of a "parts acquisition service". There may be some items on your order that are not currently in stock and that may take several days, or even weeks/months to acquire before we could ship your order to you as a complete order. Then there are the time-in-transit variables that are totally out of our control once we place your shipment in the hands of your requested carrier. For these reasons, we cannot offer ANY guarantee that a shipment will meet a requested "ship by" or "receive by" date. | |
| How can I ensure that my order is processed as quickly and smoothly as possible? | |
| The best way to ensure that your order is processed quickly and smoothly is to: Read this ENTIRE "International Shipment FAQs and Policies" page. If you have any questions that are NOT addressed on this page, email custservice@aircooled.net and we will happily clarify and answer them. Please do NOT email us and ask questions for which the answer is already posted below. If you do, we will either point you back to this page, or we will cut and paste the applicable portion into our email response to you. At the time that you check out and submit your order, put the statement "I have read, understood, and agree to abide by all of your INTERNATIONAL FAQs and POLICIES" in the SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS area so that we know you are aware of the policies and procedures that apply to your order. Follow and cooperate with any procedures that apply to your order situation. |
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| How do I return an item that I don't need or that I ordered incorrectly? | |
| The following items are NOT returnable under ANY circumstances: -custom made, custom machined, custom-coated, cut to length, or items or kits that have ANY special-order component - these items also cannot be CANCELLED from your order once they are already under construction on your behalf. -discounted items (this includes all sale items, and any items that are price discounted for Fweembucks applied, reseller discount, or volume purchase discount). You must follow our posted Return Procedures to ensure proper processing of your returned item. The cost of return shipping is the customer's responsibility. Ship your return items with FULL VALUE INSURANCE to protect yourself against loss or damage to the items on the trip back to us. If we do not receive your return items, or received them back damaged, you will not receive a refund. Eligibility of items for return is at the SOLE discretion of Aircooled.Net. You must submit an RGA request and receive return authorization before shipping any return items to us. |
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| How do I return an item that is defective? | |
| Defects are an unfortunate fact of life in the auto parts world. Whenever possible we perform visual and mechanical inspections prior to shipping items, but since actual "testing" of every item in a full performance situation prior to shipment is not possible, there is that possibility that you may have to return an item under warranty. Be sure to inspect and/or install the items you purchase WHILE THEY ARE STILL WITHIN THE WARRANTY PERIOD of 90 DAYS from date of INVOICE. The cost of return shipping for defective items is the customer's responsibility (ship it with FULL VALUE INSURANCE to protect yourself against loss or damage to the items on the trip back to us). The cost of shipping the replacement for the defective item to you under warranty will be covered by Aircooled.Net. Shipment of your replacement method will be via an economical method, not necessarily the fastest nor the same method you requested for your original shipment. You must follow our posted Return Procedures to ensure proper processing of your returned item. Eligibility of items for return is at the SOLE discretion of Aircooled.Net. |
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| How do I return an item that was sent to me by mistake? | |
| This situation is RARE, because we have a triple check system in place to prevent wrong items going out. Despite putting forth our best effort, we can not guarantee perfection (i.e. catalog photos may differ from item shipped, there are differences between US vs. non-US cars that may not be foreseeable, etc). If it is determined that the wrong item was shipped to you due to OUR error, we will rectify the matter as best we can. You MUST follow our posted Return Procedures - ESPECIALLY the part about requesting RETURN AUTHORIZATION prior to shipping the items back to us and shipping the items back to us via the LOWEST COST INSURED METHOD available. In some cases we will not require that you return the incorrectly shipped items due to the high cost of return shipment. If you ship back to us without return authorization, you run the risk of not being reimbursed for the cost of return shipment. Eligibility of items for return is at the SOLE discretion of Aircooled.Net. |
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| How do you define an "International Order"? | |
| "International orders" are defined as any order where EITHER a) the ship to address is outside of North America OR b) the credit card payment information is for a card issued outside of North America So even if you are asking us to ship to a location in the United States or Canada, if you are submitting an internationally issued credit card as your form of payment for your order, then your order will be subject to our International Payment and Fulfillment policies. |
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| How expensive will shipping be? Do you mark up shipping? | |
| It is our policy to charge an honest and reasonable amount for each package shipped. Generally this equates to the actual shipping cost (see below for links to carrier shipping cost calculators), plus a nominal surcharge for packaging materials and labor (usually around $2). We do NOT mark up shipping by a % amount like many of our competitors do. We also ship as many of your items in one package as we possibly can SAFELY to help keep the cost of shipping to a minimum for you, but be advised that your shipping charges may reflect costs for multiple boxes since there are some instances where we cannot avoid shipping some items separately: -if some of your items are backordered and availability is either long, indefinite, or unknown, we will ship what we have in stock, and your backorders will be shipped later when we acquire them -if an item on your order is extraordinarily heavy, large, odd-shaped or fragile, it will ship in a separate package -if an item on your order is only available for shipment by direct dropship from the manufacturer, it will ship in a separate package -custom or made-to-order items (carpet, upholstery, cylinder heads, etc) often take longer than the 2-3 week acquisition period and may miss the initial shipment International orders are also subject to a Customs Paperwork Processing Fee that we charge for filling out the required forms that must be enclosed with international shipments. The Customs Paperwork Processing Fee is $5 USD for orders containing 1-5 items; $10 USD for orders containing 6 or more items. Multiple fees may apply to orders that must ship in multiple boxes. An additional handling/packaging fee may also apply on large, bulky or odd-shaped items that require an extraordinary amount of packing time or packing materials in order to ship safely internationally. |
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| How much does payment by Bank Wire Transfer cost? | |
| The amount that your bank will charge you, up front to initiate a wire transfer of funds will vary according to your country and bank. We charge a $35USD wire transfer payment processing fee to cover the receiving fees that are levied against our bank account upon receipt of your internationally wired amount. The $35 amount is exactly the amount that is deducted from your wire transfer by the US receiving bank, and any "intermediary" banks that are utilized by most foreign banks. We do not make any profit by charging you this $35 wire transfer fee, we are simply passing along the cost associated with your order's payment by wire transfer. The $35 bank wire transfer fee is waived for orders over $1000 USD (not including shipping). | |
| How will you handle back-ordered items on my order? | |
| Acquisition Period, Initial Shipments vs. Backorder Shipments, and Backorder Policies Whenever possible we will attempt to ship your order "complete" or as complete as possible. Generally, if an item on your order is not in stock, but is readily available within our 2-3 week "acquisition period", we will wait for the items to come into stock before sending your "initial shipment". After sending you your initial shipment(s) at the end of the acquisition period, we continue to attempt to fill backordered items for up to 90 days and these items will ship to you WITHOUT NOTIFICATION as they become available UNLESS YOU SUBMIT A CANCELLATION OF YOUR BACKORDER ITEMS IN WRITING (by email). Special Handling Requests We will do our best to honor special handling requests if you make them in the SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS area during order checkout. Special Handling requests made by email AFTER an order has been placed may not be matched up with your order in time to comply. Here are the "Special Handling Requests" you may submit with your order if you do not want us to default to our above stated order processing policies: "If my order cannot be shipped complete (all items) within 2-3 weeks (or by a certain date), please cancel my entire order." "I am in a rush. Please immediately ship ONLY what have in stock currently (do not hold my order for the acquisition period), ship it in as few packages as possible, and cancel any backordered items." "Please ship as much of my order as you can acquire within 2 or 3 weeks, ship it in as few packages as possible, and cancel any backordered items." |
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| I think my shipment is lost in transit...what do I do? | |
| At the time that you submit your order with us, you are agreeing to abide by ALL of our order policies. So you have agreed to work with us, be patient, and cooperate with tracking and claim procedures in the event a package is delayed, damaged or lost. Of course, we will provide proof of dispatch (shipment) to you upon request so that you can know the exact amount of time your shipment has been in transit. The incidence of "delayed" packages to international destinations is much more common if you select US Postal Service - if you are PATIENT, the US Postal Service method almost always arrives EVENTUALLY. In five years of shipping internationally via US Postal Service, we have submitted countless "lost" package claims at the request of worried customers, and all but ONE of them have ended up receiving their package before the lost package claim is complete (the Lost Package Trace and Claim process itself has been known to take anywhere from 4 – 12 MONTHS). It is true that the cost of shipping via US Postal Service Air Parcel Post and Economy Parcel Post is significantly less expensive than UPS; but what you save in cost, you may end up paying in time spent waiting for delivery or for claim processing! Also, we ship to EXACTLY the address that you submit at the time of your order. If you have submitted an undeliverable address, and your package goes missing and cannot be recovered, you will not receive any refund. This is because incorrectly addressed packages are NOT covered by carrier insurance policies. Regardless of the carrier your shipment was sent via, if you fear that your shipment is "lost in transit", this is how you should proceed: Step 1: Ensure that your expectation of delivery time is in line with the DOOR-TO-DOOR delivery time estimates below that are based on our years of experience shipping internationally via the US Postal Service and UPS. The delivery time estimates below are DIFFERENT than those posted on the US Postal Service's website -- the US Postal Service has informed us that THEIR estimates are for delivery to YOUR COUNTRY'S IMPORT/CUSTOMS AGENCY, not to your door!! US Postal Service Global Express Mail: 1-3 weeks, tracking available US Postal Service Air Parcel Post: 2-6 weeks, no tracking US Postal Service Economy Parcel Post (Surface): 1 - 3 months, no tracking UPS Worldwide: 4 days - 2 weeks, tracking available Step 2: Send us an email to custservice@aircooled.net THAT INCLUDES YOUR CURRENT SHIPPING ADDRESS (for verification purposes) and request that we send you the CUSTOMS CONTROL NUMBER, TRACKING NUMBER (if applicable) and shipment date for your shipments. Step 3: Contact your country's local delivery agency and/or your country's import/customs agency. Give them the Customs Control Number and ask that they use it to try to locate your package. Step 4: In the event your local delivery or customs agency cannot locate your shipment using the Customs, Tracking or Insurance numbers we provide, THEN we begin the process of filing a Lost Shipment Trace and Insurance Claim. The Lost Shipment Trace and Insurance Claim process is VERY SLOW, and REQUIRES the cooperation of the receiver (that's you!) If you do not cooperate with us to expedite the Lost Shipment Trace and Insurance Claim, you will not receive a credit or refund for the lost shipment, if indeed it is eventually determined that your shipment is truly "lost" (and not just delayed). Step 5: We cannot proceed with filing a Lost Shipment Trace and Insurance Claim until you have provided us with a SIGNED "Letter of Declaration of Non-Receipt of Shipment" via regular mail (email is not acceptable). The letter must make the following statement: I, Sincerely, Customer Name Once we receive this "Letter of Declaration of Non-Receipt of Shipment" from you, THEN we can officially file a Lost Shipment Trace and Insurance Claim with the carrier. Step 6: Now that the claim is initiated, you need to decide and let us know how you want to proceed: You can wait until we receive a response from the carrier regarding their investigation of the package whereabouts, and when we receive a payout of the insurance claim (this can take anywhere from 2 months to a year from the date of initiating the Lost Shipment Insurance Claim with the US Postal Service). Once they approve and send us payment for the claim, we then issue YOU credit for the insurance claim, and then we can reship your order without further charge to you. OR We can RESHIP your order immediately (before the claim is settled), BUT we will only do so if you are willing to PAY for the 2nd shipment. Of course, you will receive reimbursement for the first shipment if/when we receive payment from the carrier for the insurance claim. Step 7: Await notification of claim status and/or Notify Aircooled.Net if you eventually receive your original shipment. We routinely follow up on filed claims that are in processing with the carriers. At such time as we receive any news on the whereabouts of your "lost" shipment and/or we receive approval for payout on the claim for your lost package, we will promptly notify you! In the event that you locate or receive the wayward shipment, please notify us by sending an email to custservice@aircooled.net so that we can proceed appropriately to settle the matter. |
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| No refunds for Duty, Taxes or Brokerage Fees | |
| Import duty, taxes, and brokerage fees levied either by your country or by the US Postal Service or its associated carrier in your country are separate and unrelated to any order or shipping charges made by Aircooled.Net. These fees will not be refunded by Aircooled.Net in the event of an order problem or return. Be advised that MOST countries tax or assess duty on inbound shipments containing auto parts of the variety sold by Aircooled.Net. It is the customer's responsibility to inquire with their country's import agency and/or local carrier and be prepared to pay any levied import taxes, duty, or brokerage fees associated with any incoming shipments that they have requested from Aircooled.Net. Once we have shipped a package to you, if you REFUSE to pay assessed import costs at such time as the shipment arrives at your country, you will NOT receive a full refund from Aircooled.Net. Most often the carrier will return a "refused" package to sender, but sometimes they DON'T! If/when Aircooled.Net receives an international shipment back as "undeliverable as addressed" or "refused" or "unclaimed", the order will NOT receive a refund for the original shipping costs, the order MAY also be subject to a deduction for the cost of RETURN shipping (if it is charged to us by the carrier), AND the order will also be subject to a 20% restocking fee. If we do not receive your refused shipment back at our warehouse for any reason, you will not receive ANY refund or compensation. If a second shipment is being made to correct an error made by Aircooled.Net, we will enclose a notation on the replacement shipment invoice that states that the item is a REPLACEMENT for a previously incorrectly shipped item. You can then use that invoice with its statement to make application to your country's import agency to request that they waive or reimburse duty collected for either the first or second shipment. Aircooled.Net makes no guarantee that your application for reimbursement or waiver will be successful, nor do we assume any liability for duty, taxes, or brokerage fees levied by your country's import agency or local carrier. |
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| What are my payment options? Why can't I pay by credit card if my order is more than $500 USD? | |
| We have unfortunately been forced to implement payment method restrictions on international orders due to the prevalence of fraudulent international order requests and unwarranted charge reversals. At this time we will only accept credit card payments from international customers up to a total of $500 USD (including your quoted shipping amount) PER ORDER Of course this limitation does not prevent you from placing orders of value greater than $500 USD!! We just require that for orders totaling $500 USD or more, payment must be made by Bank Wire Transfer ($35 processing fee charged by Aircooled.Net to cover bank fees charged to us by the receiving bank upon receipt of an international wire transfer - the fee is waived for orders of more than $1000 USD, not including shipping charge) OR International Money Order (no Payment Processing fee charged by Aircooled.Net, but order shipment is delayed until verification of funds is possible due to the increase in the incidence of fraudulent money orders). International customers who place multiple small orders for payment by credit card in a short time frame (some people do this in order to circumvent the $500 per order limit) will also be required to pay via Bank Wire Transfer or International Money Order once they reach the $500 USD limit. In addition, we reserve the right to refuse payment by credit card even if you have not reached the $500 USD limit in the event your order information and credit card verification information does not meet our security and screening criteria. If you reside in a "high risk country" for credit card fraud, do not be surprised if we require that you pay by an alternate method. This is nothing personal - you have your fellow countrymen to thank for your country's "high risk" reputation. |
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| What are the steps to pay by Bank Wire Transfer or International Money Order? | |
| Step 1. Submit your order online; Put the message "I understand your payment policy and am prepared to pay by Bank Wire Transfer (or International Money Order)", whichever is applicable. Step 2. Within 1-3 days you will receive a Payment Information Email that will include: -shipping cost quotes -parts availability information (i.e. notification of long, or indefinite backordered items) -detailed Bank Wire Transfer information (There is a $35 Wire Payment Processing Fee charged by Aircooled.Net to cover incoming electronic funds transfer fees charged by receiving and intermediary banks. The fee is waived for orders over $1000 USD, not including shipping.) Step 3. Send us any clarification information we have requested (i.e. confirm the shipping method you want according to the quoted shipping costs; clarify how you want us to handle any backordered items.) Step 4. Go to your Bank to initiate Bank Wire Transfer Payment / mail your International Money Order Payment according to your Payment Information Email Instructions Step 5. Email us to advise us of which form of payment you will be sending (Money Order vs. Bank Wire Transfer) and any details pertinent to your payment method. We will then reserve your items for you and place your order in the "awaiting payment" queue in the warehouse. Step 6. It typically takes 3-5 days for the transfer of funds to finalize after you have initiated the transfer at your bank. If you do not hear from us to confirm receipt of your order payment within 2 weeks from the time you have either initiated payment by Bank Wire Transfer, or mailed your International Money Order, then contact us to request the status of your order -- we will respond either with Customs and/or Tracking numbers, or to tell you that we have yet to receive payment, or to tell you that we have received payment but are still in the acquisition period for your order. |
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| What do I do if my order arrives damaged? | |
| We work VERY hard to adequately protect items in the packages that we ship. We are proud and can boast that our incidence of damaged shipments is very low, so we are exceptionally sorry that your package was one of the few to be affected by carrier mishandling. We rely on and appreciate your cooperation with the claim process and will do everything in our power to expedite the claim and your replacement shipment as quickly as possible. Step 1: You should ACCEPT the delivery even if it is visibly damaged! If you refuse delivery on the package then the carrier will likely refuse to refund original shipping costs as part of a damage claim and, in addition, they often charge for the cost of returning a refused shipment. They also have been known to COMPLETELY DENY damage claims if the customer refuses to accept delivery. If you refuse a shipment or package for any reason, including damage to the packaging or contents you will not receive reimbursement for original shipping costs, you may also be charged for the cost of return shipping, and if the insurance claim is denied because of your refusal to accept delivery then no refund can be issued. Step 2: It is VERY important that you KEEP the damaged item, box and ALL the packaging until you are instructed by an AIRCOOLED.NET REPRESENTATIVE to surrender it to the appropriate carrier for inspection. Step 3: Notify Aircooled.Net immediately by email (custservice@aircooled.net) with the following information: What items are damaged? Describe the damage to the items (attach pictures if possible) Was the packaging visibly crushed, damaged or breached (opened, torn, etc)? You can also telephone us (NEED COUNTRY CODE!! 801-453-1906), if you would prefer to advise us of a damage problem, but since the carriers require a WRITTEN declaration of damage from the receiver, you will still have to either email or mail us the damage information above. Step 4: Immediately upon receiving the written damage declaration from you, we can initiate a damage claim with the carrier. Step 5: At this point, you will receive instructions from an AIRCOOLED.NET REPRESENTATIVE on when and where to surrender the damaged products, box, and ALL the packaging. UPS usually will pick it up from your location, but the US Postal Service(and associated international reciprocal carrier company) often requires that you deliver it back to them. Step 6: And finally, you need to tell us how you want us to proceed. If you are willing to wait for the damage claim to settle with the carrier (can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months). We can ship a replacement item to you at no charge when the claim is paid out. OR if you want/need the replacement item sooner, we can ship the replacement item to you at full charge (parts cost and shipping cost), and then you will receive a prompt refund for it at such time as we receive a pay out on the damage item claim. We are saddened that we have to do it this way, but we are denied any claims in which the receiver does not cooperate with the ongoing claim investigation. In the past when we reshipped without charging to replace damaged items PRIOR to finishing the claim, the customers often stopped cooperating, and as a result the claims were denied. We have had to implement this policy as a way of ensuring that customers are "motivated" to cooperate with damage claim procedures. Thank you, and again we are sorry that your package was one of the few unlucky ones. |
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| Why do International Orders take so long? | |
| There are a variety of potential delays that can affect the time it takes to process an International Order BEFORE IT SHIPS. They include, but are not limited to: Credit Card Verification - We verify EVERY credit card before processing an order. With language and time differences, it is often several days, and sometimes up to a week before we successfully contact a foreign credit card issuing bank and are able to verify the name and billing address information for a card. We will send you an email to notify you that we cannot accept credit card payment for your order if it does not pass our fraud screening criteria for any reason. Product Availability - We have a 3000 square foot warehouse with over 10,000 items in stock, BUT we also list an additional 10,000 items in our catalog that are either custom made (heads, carpets and upholstery, etc); that are only sporadically available; or that may be on short term or long term backorder from our supplier. For this reason, we have implemented what we call an "acquisition period" -- approximately a 2-3 week time period after you submit your order during which we assemble and attempt to acquire any custom, made to order, or short term backordered items that you have requested. Obviously, if we have all your requested items in stock, then your order will not be delayed before shipment. But if some of the items can be quickly and readily acquired, we may hold the in stock items for a week or two (the acquisition period) in order to ship more items together in your initial shipment. Credit Card Declined - We will send you an email to notify you if your credit card is declined, and your order will be placed on HOLD for 30 days until we hear back from you with further payment instructions. We may attempt to charge your card again within the 30 day hold period, and if the payment goes through we will ship your order without further notification. It is the customer's responsibility to cancel an order if they do not want it anymore. Until we receive written cancellation from you, we have the right to continue to try to charge your card in order to proceed with your order. Package size & weight restrictions - Whenever possible we will attempt to ship an international order in one package (to help save you on shipping cost), but if you have ordered large or oddly-shaped or fragile items, then we may have to split your shipment into numerous packages in order to meet the often strict and limiting packaging requirements that apply to your country of destination. We may or may not contact you to advise you of the need for multiple package shipping. Some items cannot be shipped at all to your country via the shipping method you may have requested due to the shipping carrier's size/weight restrictions. These items must either be cancelled, OR you may have to authorize shipping by a different carrier or method. This can delay your order. Package insurance limits - certain countries have inadequate or no reciprocal insurance agreements with the US Postal Service. If you select US Postal Service as your shipping method, and they do not offer insurance to your country, this will delay your shipment while we recalculate shipping cost via UPS or an alternate Postal Method, and then contact you for your approval of the change. We will not ship to your country by any method that does not offer insurance. Customs Paperwork - in most cases has to be filled out by hand, multiple copies; and the paperwork requirements can differ from country to country. Sometimes we get a package to the Post Office only to be informed that the customs paperwork requirements for that country have changed, and this can delay shipment by another 24 -48 hours. Carrier Delivery Time Estimates are NOT reliable AFTER we have shipped your package(s) WE DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO GUARANTEE ANY DELIVERY TRANSIT TIMES OR DELIVERY DATES. The estimated delivery times posted by both the US Postal Service and UPS have proven to be NOT ACCURATE. Our experience has been that most often, delivery delays are caused by slow processing at the import/customs agency of the destination country. If receiving your shipment by a specific date is crucial for you, you MUST do two things: 1. Specify the desired SHIPMENT date in the SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS area when you are checking out by stating "Please cancel my order if you cannot ship it by INSERT DATE HERE". SHIPMENT date is the date you are asking us to ship by, NOT the date you want it delivered. The only date WE can control is the date that your order is SHIPPED by. 2. Educate yourself regarding the shipping methods and carriers available to you and be sure to select an appropriately fast and/or trackable shipping method to meet your needs. This may mean paying MORE for a more reliable carrier (UPS) instead of saving money by going with US Postal Service (less reliable and less expedient). If we cannot guarantee SHIPMENT of your order prior to the specified date, we will notify you by email to tell you we have cancelled your order. If we are able to comply with your SHIP BY A CERTAIN DATE request, then we will provide proof of shipment date upon request. Once we have shipped according to your instructions, we are not liable for any carrier or customs agency delays that may affect your packages. |
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| Why do you have restrictive policies for international orders? | |
| The bottom line is that prior to restricting payment options for International orders, Aircooled.Net suffered a significant and increasing average dollar loss year after year due to fraudulent and other less-than-honorable international order transactions (use of stolen credit card for payment, unwarranted chargebacks, packages refused upon delivery, lack of cooperation to complete package loss/damage insurance claims, etc). We agree that it is both frustrating and disappointing that the unscrupulous actions of a relatively small proportion of our international customer base have necessitated the implementation of restrictive policies. We didn't come to our international policy decisions easily or lightly -- we struggled long and hard to find a solution that would be a happy medium, but in the end, in order to continue to offer service internationally we must ask that our international customers abide by our $500USD per order limit on credit card payment (more information below), and utilize payment by Bank Wire Transfer or International Money Order for orders above and beyond that amount. If you have suggestions or thoughts on the matter, email to admin@aircooled.net. |
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| Will you declare a value that is less than the real value for customs purposes? | |
| No. If we declare a lower than actual value on the packages at your request, then we cannot insure those packages for their full value. If your packages are not insured for the full amount, and they go missing or arrive damaged, then we do not have a way to recoup the loss of product and cost of shipping. Unfortunately, the rate of lost and/or damaged internationally handled packages is high enough that this is an issue that cannot be ignored. For similar reasons, we will not ship via any carrier method that does not offer package insurance as an option (i.e. the US Postal Service doesn't offer insurance to certain countries (i.e. Norway, Israel, among others)). UPS does offer insurance to all the countries it delivers to. |
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| Will you ship my order to a freight forwarder or to a "friend" or other location in the USA? | |
| Yes, but only under the following conditions: -Your order must be pre-paid in full by a non-refundable payment method: Bank Wire Transfer or International Money Order (no credit card payment) -You must make your own freight forwarder arrangements By requesting that we ship to a freight forwarder or other location in the USA on your behalf, you are explicitly releasing Aircooled.Net from any liability for damage to or loss of the packages once our shipments are delivered to and accepted by your addressee. It is the responsibility of the person at your US shipping address (whether they are a friend, colleague or freight forwarder company) to inspect our shipment upon delivery to them BEFORE they forward the items to you. If your proxy receiver does not report any damage at the time that they RECEIVE our shipments, then regardless of damage or loss sustained by your package(s) while in the care of your friend or freight forwarder, Aircooled.Net has fulfilled its delivery obligation to you and will not be held liable. |
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| Do you ship to my country? | |
| Please create an account by clicking the "My Account / Order Status" link at the top right hand side of our site. During signup we'll ask for your shipping address details including country. If your country is not in the dropdown menu of available countries, unfortunately we cannot ship to your country at this time. | |
| What are my payment choices? | |
| During the checkout process you may choose any of our current payment options and continue to place your order. Please note that we will not ship your order until we receive payment from you. | |