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Shipping costs are now calculated while you place your order. If you encounter any problems, please let us know by sending an email to geocorn@finevinewines.com.
SHIPPING SCHEDULE
We ship orders daily, Monday through Friday, except holidays. Orders are generally shipped within 2 business days of receipt of your order, which means, if you place your order on Monday, it should ship no later than Wednesday. If you place your order on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it should ship no later than Tuesday. If we are out of anything on your order, we will advise you of the out-of-stock items and give you the option of shipping what we have, holding your order or cancelling it.
During the busy months of September through December, we try to maintain the same schedule; however, there are times, due to the volume of orders, that we can not meet the 2 business day turn-around, especially on Mondays when all of the weekend orders are processed. In this case, we normally process all orders within 3 days. If you are in need of your order on a specified date, please use the comments box on the billing information screen as you check out to advise us of your needs. We will do everything we can to accommodate your request.
NORMAL DELIVERY TIMES
To assist you in determining when to expect your order, we provide the normal number of days to your location on the shipping confirmation. As a general rule of thumb, you can use the map below to determine the number of shipping days required:
1 day - Pink
2 days - Blue
3 days - Brown
4 days - Green
It should also be noted that FedEx Ground delivers to residences on Tuesdays through Saturdays. As a result, even if you live in one of the states 4 days away, if you place your order by Monday, you should receive your order by Saturday.
HOW WE SHIP
We ship most of your orders via FedEx® Ground unless the weight of the shipment is 2 pounds or less. When this occurs, we use US Priority Mail. As soon as we ship your order, we will send you an email that informs you of the total amount charged to your credit card, the shipping costs and the tracking number(s).
Your charge for shipping will be based on our total shipping cost. For orders shipped US Priority Mail, we charge $6.55 to cover the cost of shipping and the additional time it takes to use the USPS system. We do not make any money off of the shipping charges. The shipping charges are based on the distance shipped, type of service, i.e., ground, overnight, priority, etc., weight and size of the package. As a general rule, the more weight, the less the charge per pound. For example, a 4 pound box might be charged $3.96; whereas, an 11 pound box to the same location would cost $9.80. As a result, we try to use as few boxes as possible to ship your order, except in the case of fragile items, where we ship in a separate box to reduce the chance of breakage.
If you want to keep shipping costs at a minimum, the following are our recommended guidelines:
- Include smaller items with your concentrate orders. We always place wine concentrates in a larger box with styrofoam peanuts to protect the kit and there is always room for smaller items like corks, capsules, airlocks, etc.
- Have your product shipped to a business address, if possible. FedEx Ground® adds a surcharge for home deliveries.
- Combine fragile items like glass wine thiefs, siphons, racking canes and bottle filler in the same order. We can them ship them in one box and the incremental cost of the second and third items will be nominal.
Place your order far enough in advance so we can ship FedEx® Ground. The savings over 2-day and overnight are significant.
CREDIT CARD CHARGES
Please note that we do not process credit card charges until your order actually ships. We try very hard to make sure we maintain an adequate number of each of our products in our inventory, but there will be times when we do not have items on hand that you order. If you place an order for any item that is out of stock we will contact you and inform you as to when you can expect to receive your items. At that point, you can choose to wait for your items or cancel your order. If you have multiple items on your order, we will also give you the option of allowing us to ship what we have and backorder the out of stock items or cancel them.
If we process credit card payments when an order is placed and an item is out of stock then you may be paying for something several weeks before you actually get it. This policy also prevents us from having to issue a refund if you decide to cancel your order for an item that is temporally out of stock. We just feel our way is better for you.
DAMAGED SHIPMENTS
We insure all our shipments, so if you ever receive a damaged item, please follow the procedure below to get your replacement items:
- Inspect the outside of the box. If you detect any damage to the outside of the box, save the packaging materials. If it contains juice that is leaking, place the entire box in a large plastic garbage bag. Place the bag in a location where if it leaks, it will not damage your floors or carpet.
- Call us, immediately! 866-417-1114
- We will make a determination as to whether to contact the shipper, or not.
- If we decide to file a claim, we will contact the shipping company. Based on the request from the shipper, we will call you back and tell you whether to keep the damaged item or throw it away. In addition, we will arrange to have the shipper contact you to schedule a convenient time to inspect the package.
We will deal with the shipper, so you won't have to. Just be sure to save the shipping cartons for FedEx® Ground to examine, if need be.
We will replace your items, as soon as we can, regardless of the outcome of the claim.
NO FREE SHIPPING?
We do not offer free shipping! In essence, nobody shipping wine supplies really does. The cost to ship is a cost to the retailer, just like products, boxes, rent, utilities and salaries. Those costs have to be paid by someone if the retailer is to stay in business. If you will compare prices, you will find that the prices at companies that offer free shipping are approximately 10-200% higher than us. That increase is necessary to cover the cost of their "free shipping".
Almost all shipping is distance based, which means, the farther the package has to travel, the more it costs. For example, if I ship a Vintner's Reserve Wine Ingredients Kit to a business address in Texas, my cost is around $7. If I ship the same box to Seattle, WA, my cost is around $16. If I were to raise all of my kits by $11.50 (the average), my customers in Texas, especially those visiting my retail store, would be subsidizing the shipping costs of those customers on both coasts and I don't think that is fair to either group.
In addition, we combine as many things in one box as we can to reduce the shipping costs. If you offer free shipping you have to raise all of your prices, in case you ship small orders. That is why items like my Tripple Ripple Airlock is $1.09, instead of $1.70, my Hydrometer is $5.99, instead of $9.15 and my Yeast is $.79, instead of $1.19. In addition, as our volume grows, we will get discounts from FedEx. By charging you our cost, we can pass these savings to you!
The only exception is that we have a minimum shipping charge of $6.25. This is necessary to cover the costs of small shipments.
Compare my prices with those offering free shipping and I think you will see my point. If not, please let me know.
Our shipping calculator is fairly reliable, but we will gladly give you a quote of the estimated shipping costs, before we ship. Just fill out your order and select the "Request Shipping Quote" option or give us a call. We will determine the shipping costs and send you a quote. The system will save your order, so if you decide to accept the shipping costs, you can finalize your order. If not, you can cancel the order yourself or let us know and we will cancel the order for you.
If you have any questions about our shipping policies, please ask us. Also, if you have any special shipping needs, let us know in the special instructions box on your order. |
