Shipping Information, etc:
Shipping Expectations:
Items will be neatly packed and are processed and shipped on a weekly schedule in order of the later of payment date or date of completion of "Lye Release", if needed. To be fair to everyone else, we cannot give special preferences to specific orders upon request or expectation. We reserve up to five business days to properly, safely and legally batch-process the large amounts of caustic hydroxide chemicals and other items that we now regularly handle to satisfy demand. Regarding Sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, our highest priorities are safety and proper legal packing and shipment, thereby ensuring that we can keep this vital material available to the soapmaking community in the future. We trust that responsible soapmakers will agree with us in this.
Please allow up to 15 days for delivery
before considering your order overdue
Normal order contacts will consist of:
- Online and emailed acknowledgment of receipt of your order and online payment.
- Emailed acknowledgment of receipt of your completed 'lye release' online form, if needed.
- Emailed acknowledgment of receipt of your payment if not paid at time of order entry.
- Email from UPS Quantum View with tracking information when UPS shipping label is generated.
- Email from us when your package is out for shipment pickup.
- Email update from UPS if your package is rescheduled, etc while in transit.
We feel that these communications are quite adequate for normally processed orders. Therefore, to ensure adequate time for timely order packing and shipping of all orders, we will not be able to answer early order status inquiry emails received within five days of order payment date. Please note that if you send an early status inquiry and it goes unanswered, it is not due to lack of concern on our part, but is instead a matter of reserving proper attention for all orders in process, including yours. Please note also that UPS shipment will add 2 to 5 business days' transit time before delivery to you, depending on your location.
Other Order Information, etc:
Fully Accepted Payment Methods:
Our checkout system will accept payment from PayPal balance funds, PayPal e-check payments and all major credit cards. A PayPal account is not required to pay for your order. Please note that payment made by e-check will delay shipment three to five days until the transaction clears and therefore often causes some frustration for e-check users. For this reason, we suggest using another type of immediate online payment instead of e-checks.
Mailed-Payments Policies:
We accept order payments by USA domestic money order or by USA bank certified or "teller" checks. Such orders are considered "paid" upon receipt. Orders paid with personal checks, however, will be delayed for 15 days to allow such payments to clear both banks. Such orders are considered "paid" after 15 days have elapsed. Payment by bank "counter" checks or with non USA foreign funds will not be accepted. Checks returned as "NSF" or for any other reason will incur an added charge of $20.00 (the fee charged by our bank) and must be redeemed in the original amount plus $20.00 by payment with money order or with bank certified or "teller" check.
Shipping Costs, etc:
We recognize that shipping charges are a significant portion of any order's final total cost. By and large, soapmaking supplies are rather heavy for their sizes, with resulting proportionally higher ship costs for small orders. Per customer requests, we have settled on only a small minimum allowed order amount (to accommodate those who wish to order only one jar of sodium hydroxide at a time, for instance).
We urge, however, that customers consider ordering larger amounts
as this can greatly reduce per-item shipping costs.
NO SHIP COSTS WILL BE CHARGED FOR ORDERS PLACED
AT OUR WEBSITE WITH COMBINED PURCHASE PRICES
TOTALING $100.00 OR MORE.
We generally ship our products by UPS Ground service at wholesale rates. Except where noted in item descriptions, our checkout system no longer offers shipping by US Postal methods. This is because some items (hydroxides) must be shipped via UPS, only. Ship charges for multiple item orders are calculated based on the summed total of all items' individual packed shipping weights. Applicable shipping charges will be automatically calculated in our checkout process. We reserve the option to instead ship via USPS Priority Mail if this will result in a significant savings in ship cost. This may occur if only one smaller item is ordered, for instance. In this event, we will refund the ship cost savings to the buyer as soon as possible after completion of purchase.
Handling Charges:
We charge no handling or otherwise added shipping charges with the following exception: $0.80 will be added to the ship cost for each jar-pack of any caustic hydroxide containing product (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide) within any shipped order. This is to fairly reflect the extra secure packaging and handling attention required for safe shipment of these materials.
No "Hazmat" Charges:
We do not charge any "hazardous materials" surcharges for shipment of caustic alkali chemicals. This is because we properly and legally pack, label and ship these materials as "ORM-D Consumer Goods", exempting them from most "hazmat" restrictions. Note that our necessary concern with properly following all shipping regulations for these materials makes it impossible for us to ship caustic alkalis in any way other than we have presented herein. Do not ask us to make any other types of arrangements.
"Lye Release" Online Form:
Purchases including hydroxide chemicals require completion of our online "lye release" form before shipping. Items containing caustic alkalis (sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide) are available to customers in the 48 contiguous states only (no air transport).
You are responsible for your own ability to receive emails:
We will not participate in "gateway" systems that require action and information from us before passing emails to the recipient. We are also not responsible for "spam" filters intercepting our emails - This has been a particular problem with some AOL accounts. If these are anticipated factors for your personal email system, we suggest that you add "addresses containing summerbeemeadow.com" to your "allowed addresses" lists before placing an order with us to ensure that you will receive proper email notices from us as your order is processed.
Order Cancellations, Returns and Refunds:
Orders placed through our website may be cancelled by buyers if not yet packaged aand prepared for shipment (shipping label generated). Products properly shipped as per order specifications cannot be returned for credit or refund except with the prior approval of the seller (SBM). Note that if a buyer unilaterally refuses or returns a properly packed shipment, Summer Bee Meadow will not be responsible for and will not pay any return-shipping charges. Unless prior approved by SBM, any such return-shipment charges are the responsibility of the buyer. All refunds will be made through the PayPal Payments Pro processing system. Allow up to 30 days for verification and issuance of refunds. (This is because the occasional person will place an order, request a refund and then also request a refund through their own credit card company - sometimes innocently...sometimes not.)
Offensive Emails, etc. Policy:
Receipt of offensive emails will result in non-response to further contacts and refusal of future orders. We reserve the right to restrict future access to our website, its features and ordering system for any persons who behave unacceptably. This determination will be at Summer Bee Meadow's discretion only, and is not subject to debate.
If you have any questions, please e-mail us using the below link button:
Some background information:
Please note that the final removal of Red Devil Lye from availability nationwide produced a HUGE increase in demand for our hydroxide chemical products during 2006. In fact, the demand for sodium hydroxide became so high that it totally swamped us, with over ten times our usual number of orders in process at the peak of the rush. During that period, this completely overwhelmed all other aspects of our business. Steve's chronic endocrine illness also intensified, resulting in his being on disability for a two month period. This extreme demand for sodium hydroxide also attracted some 'less than desirable' persons, the likes of whom we will not tolerate. For these reasons, we have taken measures to reduce the amount of hydroxide chemicals that we sell relative to our other offerings. Good customers will receive coupons offering considerable price discounts on subsequent purchases. 'Less than good' customers may be blocked from further contact with us via email and at our website so as to prevent future distractions and disruptions. We will continue to offer sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, professionally packed and properly shipped.
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