Placing Orders
Is your server secure?
About secure servers and online ordering
How do I pay with PayPal?
Why is your website refusing my credit card?
Can I pay with my American Express card?
How do I enter separate shipping and billing
addresses?
Can I order over the telephone?
What is your refund / exchange policy?
When will you charge my credit card?
Account Issues
What's with the account you created for me?
I can't login to my account, and I'm using the
correct username/password!
Prewired Assemblies
Will you build a pickguard for me using my
pickups?
How do I make use of your pickup swap offer?
Will my pickguard be perfect?
I'm a lefty, what can you do for me?
U.S. Shipping
When will you ship my order?
Can I have my order shipped by FedEx or Priority
Mail?
I only ordered one item - your shipping is
too expensive!
How
long will it take to get my order via UPS Ground?
How do you handle backorders?
International Shipping
About International Shipping
About UPS
About the US Postal Service
Priority Mail International small flat-rate box
If your USPS package is taking longer than you think it should...
How much are customs duties and taxes?
What are my options to Canada?
Can you claim my package has a lower value than
it really does?
Is your server secure?
Yes. We have a valid SSL certificate for www.acmeguitarworks.com
from a known Certificate Authority (CA). Any page on our site
that displays or asks for your personal information is a secure
(encrypted) page. You can verify that a page is encrypted by looking at the address
of the page, encrypted page URLs will begin with https:// rather than http://. You can view our certificate from any encrypted page by double-clicking
on the padlock icon in the bottom right corner of the browser
window.
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About secure servers and online ordering
Occasionally someone will tell us that they feel uncomfortable
entering their credit card information online. This is usually
a result of all of the attention surrounding online fraud and
identity theft, so it's understandable. However, a clearer understanding
of the online credit card transaction process may help to alleviate
some concerns.
Online ordering via a secure server is just that: secure. Much
more secure than handing a credit card to a waiter at a restaurant,
or to a furniture store salesperson. When you see the padlock
icon in your web browser, this is an indication that the page
is secured by encryption. When you click on the padlock, you'll
find that a window pops up with details of the SSL certificate
that verifies the page's security, and you can verify that the
certificate is valid and current by reading the brief details
provided.
This certificate is reliable. There's a process that a company
like Acme goes through to get this on their web server, and it
involves long strings of code that are computer-generated (security
keys) which are simply beyond the ability of humans to forge.
These pairs of keys are installed on the merchant's web server
and the certificate-issuing CA's (Certificate Authority) servers
in an arcane process, and guarantees via solid algorithms that
your data is encrypted and secure. These encryption algorithms
are routinely tested using computers that try to crack them, and
for all practical purposes they can be considered to be un-crackable.
The level of security provided by this process is so high that
the banking industry regularly transmits secure data across computer
networks (read: the Internet) with little concern that the data
will be compromised. When we say "regularly", what we
mean is that every second, there are millions of bytes
of secure data flowing across the Internet.
When you pay at a restaurant with your credit card, your data
is transmitted across the Internet for verification and authorization.
When you pay with your credit card at Home Depot, your data is
transmitted across the Internet for verification and authorization.
When you pay with your credit card at the doctor's office, your
data is transmitted across the Internet for verification and authorization.
After all, how do you think all of these businesses are connected
to each other and to the banking system? In almost all cases,
via the Internet. Even your bank almost certainly uses "tunneling"
protocols and virtual private networks (VPNs) to connect its various
branches via the Internet.
So make no mistake, nearly every single time you use a credit
or debit card, your data is flowing across the Internet. But here's
the beauty of the system: no humans are involved. Because it's
those pesky humans that are responsible for almost all security
breaches:
Humans who should know better, but who either don't take their
role seriously or who are just uninformed, use weak passwords
to secure access to data, and then further compromise the data's
security by sharing the passwords with colleagues, or by transmitting
them in clear text (unencrypted email) across the Internet,
where they can be intercepted. Oh, and they sometimes allow
their employer-issued laptops to be stolen.
Humans respond to "phishing" emails like this one:
"Hi! We're (an organized crime syndicate in China posing
as) Citibank. Say, did you know that your Citi account has been
compromised? Better fix that right away, by going to this linked
webpage (which we've cleverly disguised to look just like a
Citibank webpage) to correct the situation. You'll need to login
using your Citi username and password, which will allow us to
steal, er, that is, verify your login credentials and
restore your account to an uncompromised condition!"
Humans give their credit card to the human sales rep at the
furniture store who walks to an area where the customer isn't
observing him, copies their card number/expiration/CVV number,
then returns the card to them. Then, armed with that additional
and handy information known as the cardholder's name and
address, goes on a spending spree until caught and arrested.
(Actual example as related by a friend.)
So, do thieves steal identities and money by tricking computers?
Or by tricking humans? By cracking huge prime-number encryption
algorithms with supercomputers? Or by capitalizing on the lapses of better
judgment, or the ignorance, or the simple fallibility, of humans?
This is a rhetorical question.
By the way, when customers call us on the phone to place orders,
we place the order on our website, just as if they did it themselves.
How else to submit and receive authorization
for their transaction, but to transmit the data across the Internet?
This is how the world works. The good news is that while the data
is captured and is stored in our system, there are only two humans
at Acme who have access to the credit card data, and they're the
owners. Also, the data is only available for 30 days, after which
time the card information is automatically masked by the system
(something we cannot control, it's done in order to be compliant
with Visa/MasterCard security protocols).
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How do I pay with PayPal?
We are a Verified PayPal Business Account holder, so you can
feel confident paying us through PayPal. When you place an order
on our website, there is a PayPal option on the last page of the
checkout process where you choose the payment type. Simply select
the PayPal option and click the "Place Your Order" button.
You will then be shown a link that says "PayPal - Click Here
to Pay". Click this link, and a new window will open that
takes you to PayPal's site. Login to the PayPal site and send
us the payment (the dollar amount and our email address are already
filled in).
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Why is your website refusing my credit
card?
Billing Address Not Entered Correctly
A common problem that we see is when a customer inadvertently
enters their shipping address as the billing address. For instance,
if you want us to ship to your office and you enter this address
as the billing address, the card will be rejected (unless your
office address is also the card's billing address). If you're
going to enter separate billing and shipping addresses, be sure
that the billing address you enter is in fact the address where
you receive your credit card statement.
Address Verification System Failure
Our credit card processor uses the Address Verification System
(AVS) to verify certain pieces of information (such as address
and zip code) on every transaction. This system helps protect
Internet merchants from credit card fraud.
When you enter an order on our website and pay with a credit
card, the transaction details are forwarded to the card-issuing
bank (your bank). Your bank accepts or declines the transaction
based on their own criteria (funds availability, card status,
etc.), but they also return an AVS code to our bank that indicates
how well the address you provided matches up with the address
they have on file for this card. There are many AVS codes that
may be returned (search for "avs codes" online for a
list), and our bank then makes an accept/decline decision based
on this code and other factors.
Most of the time, cards fail because some piece of information
does not match what the card-issuing bank has on file. If you
have recently moved, for instance, and the issuing bank still
has your old address on file, but you enter your new address,
the card will be rejected. Understand that small inconsistencies
(such as entering 7802 Any Street while your bank thinks you live
at 7802 Any Road) won't cause the card to fail, the banks realize
that these sorts of things are bound to happen. They're more interested
in whether the street number and zip code match.
When we tell customers their transaction failed because of AVS,
customers often respond that they can use the card successfully
with other retailers. There are several reasons why this might
be the case. First, AVS is only used by online retailers, as an
added measure of security since the card is "absent".
In card-present situations, such as at a restaurant or at Home
Depot, they're not using AVS, so the fact that the card works
there is not relevant. If the card can be used successfully at
other online retailers, then one of two things is occurring: either
the retailer's card processor isn't using AVS (unlikely), or they're
less conservative than our card processor and are allowing transactions
even though the address doesn't match what the bank has on file.
Our processor doesn't give us the option of circumventing this
situation though, if the address doesn't match, then they're not
accepting the risk whether Acme Guitar Works likes it or not.
The easy solution here is to call your bank at the customer service
number on the back of the card and get them to change the address
on file, since the AVS code they're supplying to us is the same
as the code they're supplying to everyone else. Note that we've
seen situations where the customer was receiving their statement
correctly, but somewhere in the bank's records was another address
for this customer, and this was the address being used for AVS.
We even saw one case where a customer had applied for a card while
living at his current address, had received every statement at
this address, but the bank had other addresses in its records
from older accounts, and was using one of these older addresses
for AVS. A quick phone call to the bank will resolve this issue.
Consequences of an AVS Failure - Funds Debiting
Understand that your bank may accept a transaction while our bank
declines it. For instance, if your bank accepts the transaction
but returns an AVS code of "N" (no address match), then
our bank will decline the transaction because it is deemed a poor
risk. In this case your bank will have debited your funds availability
for this transaction, but you will not ultimately be charged for
it.
In other words, your bank has been presented with a transaction,
and they have looked at your card balance and credit limit and
confirmed that you have sufficient funds available on the card
for the transaction. They have approved it. They assume therefore
that a charge for that amount will be presented by our bank within
the ensuing several days, so they reduce your funds availability
on the card by this amount. If you try the card again and the
same thing happens, then they will assume that two transactions
will now be presented by our bank, so they will reduce your available
funds again.
However, because your bank returned an "N" AVS code,
our bank has declined the transaction, and so to them the transaction
is dead and will never be presented for payment. Your bank doesn't
know this, so the debit on your funds availability will remain
in place for some specified period of time, then will fall off
automatically when no charge is actually presented by our bank.
This time period varies from one bank to another, but generally
it's 48-72 hours.
If your credit card is already charged nearly to its limit, then
this debiting of your funds availability might mean that even
if you sort out the AVS issue with your bank, you will no longer
have available funds with which to make a purchase. For instance,
if you have a $1000 limit and a $500 balance, and you present
a $300 transaction which your bank approves but ours declines,
then your bank will now show only $200 available. So if you were
to retry the $300 transaction, your bank would decline it because
your available credit is less than $300. Of course, since our
bank declined the transaction, it will fall off automatically
in a few days, and then you would be able to retry the transaction.
This can be infuriating, knowing that your available funds are
being tied up for several days by transactions that are already
dead and will never be presented. So if you run into this then
let us know, we may be able to call (or fax a letter to) your
bank stating that as the merchant, we won't be presenting the
transaction for payment. This will usually be sufficient to have
them remove the funds debit. However, we cannot research this
for you, it will be up to you to provide us with the following:
an appropriate phone or fax number and (if possible), a contact
name at your bank; your name; and the amount of the debit[s] you
want removed. We can login to our bank's website and confirm that
the transaction has been declined, and then we will contact your
bank.
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Can I pay with my American Express card?
Possibly. We don't accept Amex, but PayPal does, and PayPal is
one of the payment options available on our site when you checkout.
The only problems would be if the Amex card you want to use is
linked to a PayPal account, or if the email address you use is
linked to a PayPal account.
To use the PayPal system to pay with Amex, go through the checkout
process on our site, selecting the PayPal payment option, and
click the "Place Your Order" button. You will then be
shown a link that says "PayPal - Click Here to Pay".
Click this link, and a new window will open. This is where you
would login to your PayPal account in order to pay with PayPal,
but there is also a link on this page that says something like
"Click Here If You Don't Have A PayPal Account". Click
this link and you'll be able to pay with a credit card, including
Amex. The payment would be sent to our PayPal email address, which is orders@acmeguitarworks.com.
If either the credit card or the email address are linked to
a PayPal account, then you'll get a message that basically says
that you need to login to your PayPal account to make the payment.
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How do I enter separate shipping and
billing addresses?
During the checkout process, the first address the system asks
you for is the billing address (the address your credit card company
sends your bill to). If you are going to enter separate billing
and shipping addresses, please be sure to enter the billing address
first, or your credit card will be rejected!
The system assumes that this address will also be the shipping
address, unless you tell it otherwise by checking the box that
says Ship to a different address. Then you'll be able to enter a different shipping address.
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Can I order over the telephone?
Absolutely! We love all orders, even ones that come in over the
phone!
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What is your refund / exchange policy?
Prewired Assemblies
Refunds - Assemblies Ordered From Our
Website (restocking fee applies)
Stock assemblies may be returned within seven days of receipt.
You must contact us first for a return authorization number, and
you must include all items associated with the assembly, including
the jack, pickup packaging, etc. We will assess the condition
of the assembly when we receive it, and recondition it as required
to make it saleable. Returned assemblies will be subject to a
restocking fee of up to 20% based on their condition and the time
required to make them saleable, so it behooves you to return any
assembly in as clean and complete a condition as possible. Again,
please include all packaging.
Refunds - Custom One-Off Assemblies (restocking
fee applies)
Custom assemblies may be returned within seven days of receipt.
A restocking fee of as much as 30% will apply, since we'll need
to recondition (and in most cases, discount) the assembly in order
to resell it. You must contact us first for a return authorization
number, and you must include all items associated with the assembly,
including the jack, pickup packaging, etc. We will assess the
condition of the assembly when we receive it, and recondition
it as required to make it saleable. The restocking fee's percentage
will be decided on a case-by-case basis, less-popular options
and assemblies with unusual switching and control layouts will
incur a higher fee since they will appeal to a smaller percentage
of our customers. Again, please include all packaging.
Pickup Swap Policy - Stratocaster
We also offer a pickup swap service for Stratocaster assemblies, the cost is $30 plus shipping (plus/minus
any difference in price between the new pickups and the old pickups).
Use this option to have us swap the pickups out of your assembly
for another set of pickups. We offer this service because it's
impossible to know in advance exactly how a set of pickups is
going to sound in your guitar. We don't want you to get stuck
with pickups that you are not happy with. This option is available
within 30 days of receipt of your order. Please call first for
an RA number.
Please Note: You must return the entire assembly
to make use of this option (including all packaging), please don't return just the pickups. Send us the assembly just
as you received it (if you ordered your assembly on a template
and have transferred it to a pickguard, then send us the pickguard).
We'll remove the old pickups and install the replacements, and
send you back a tested, fully-functional assembly.
Pickup Swap Policy - Other Pickups
Please call to discuss options, we can usually work something
out.
All Other Products
Refunds
Within 15 days of the date you receive your order, you
may return as-new, unaltered merchandise in its original packaging
(where applicable) for a refund. All returns are subject to a
15% restocking charge.
Exchanges:
Within 15 days of the date you receive your order, we will exchange
as-new, unaltered merchandise in its original packaging (where
applicable) dollar-for-dollar for new merchandise. There is no
service charge, but you will need to pay all shipping costs.
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When will you charge my credit card?
If you select the credit card payment option during checkout,
then your card will be charged immediately upon completing the
transaction.
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What's with the account you
created for me?
Our system requires users to create an account before they can
place an order in our online store. Your account provides several
benefits for you:
- The system will remember your name and address so you don't
have to re-enter it every time you place an order
- Your credit card is retained for only 30 days, the system
masks it after that for security reasons
- You can check the status of orders in our system to see their
status (shipment pending, shipped, etc.)
- You can look up tracking numbers for shipments, and track
them right from our site
- The system maintains a record of any order you place with
us, so you can always log in and look at old transactions, and
print copies of invoices, etc.
Despite the benefits, some people don't like the whole "account
creation" thing, some people might think it's a privacy violation,
others might just think they already have enough usernames and
passwords to keep track of. However, we can't turn this feature
off, it's part of the shopping cart software we use, and it's
in keeping with e-commerce norms. Rest assured we won't spam you,
we won't EVER sell your email address to spammers, and we won't
EVER sell your personal information.
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I can't login, and I'm using the correct
username/password!
Most likely, you're experiencing a conflict between our shopping
cart and some security application you're running (such as personal firewalls). Your browser's security settings may also
be causing a conflict. Disabling your security application (or
modifying your settings) before logging into our site should fix
it.
This probably sounds like our problem, and asking you to disable
your security software while visiting our site may seem like a
poor suggestion, but software engineers will roll their eyes when
asked about interoperability issues between all the software used
on the Internet. Unfortunately, there's not always an easy solution,
as session-based software like shopping carts use cookies, which
are handled differently by different browser and security applications.
Throw in the fact that there are many different ways to configure
most of these applications, and you have a complex problem.
If you continue to experience problems, then please call and we'll see if we can work though the problem with you.
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Will you build a pickguard for me using
my pickups?
Sorry, we only wire pickups that have been purchased from us.
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How do I make use of your pickup swap offer?
You'll need to send the entire assembly (not just the pickups!),
plus all packaging to us here:
Acme Guitar Works, Inc.
4005 43rd Avenue
Unit 1
Vero Beach, FL 32960
Next, please click here and you will find a product called Pickup Swap Charge with a price of $30, you can add this to your shopping cart (the
website will treat it like it's a product), and checkout. The
web site will give you the shipping options, and you can pay with
a credit card or PayPal, whichever you prefer. In order to provide
you with accurate shipping costs, we've told the computer the
Pickup Swap Charge has a weight of 2 pounds, which is typically
the weight of a prewired assembly.
As soon as we receive your assembly, we will swap the pickups
out and return it to you. Turn around will be within 2 business
days, though we will strive to turn it around in 1 day.
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Will my pickguard be perfect?
Possibly. We use predominantly Fender and Callaham pickguards. Having
bought pickguards from other vendors, we've found some to be less consistent, so we offer
Fender and Callaham. That said, they are often not perfect. We
used to be more particular about this than we are now, and would
call Fender whenever we found minor blemishes on one, but we are
now of the opinion that this is unreasonable. The blemishes are
typically so minor that most customers won't even see them unless
they really scrutinize the pickguard.
The fact is, all of the larger vendors we've bought pickguards
from have similar problems with minor blemishes. We believe that
this is unavoidable in larger-scale production, so we've decided
to stop demanding perfection. (Callaham's pickguards, it must
be said, are consistently closer to perfect. This attests to their
quality control and care during manufacturing, as well as the
pride they take in offering top-quality products and workmanship.
But they are a small shop with a handful of employees; maintaining
their production standards in a company the size of Fender is
a whole different ballgame).
The Fender pickguards we sell are the same as the pickguards
on Fender's American products, including the Custom Shop guitars.
We reason that if they pass the scrutiny of those customers, they're
good enough. They are so easily marred that we believe it's nearly
impossible to manufacture them in large-scale production and keep
them perfect, so minor imperfections are allowed through.
We are now in the habit of removing the plastic masking from
pickguards when we build prewired assemblies, since removing the
masking cleanly once all of the components are attached is impossible.
This affords us the opportunity to have a close look at the pickguard,
and if we find anything other than very minor blemishes (very
small scratches, etc), the pickguard is not used. We still do
reject the occasional pickguard (maybe 1 in 20 or 25), we don't
let anything egregious through. But the bottom line is, if you
start looking for imperfections in plastic pickguards, you're
sure to find them. If this bothers you, then consider the pickguard's
function, which is to take the brunt of the pick's abuse. If you
think a new pickguard is imperfect, wait until it's been on the
guitar for a month!
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I'm a lefty, what can you do
for me?
We offer Strat assemblies with a lefty option, but not Teles.
The reason is that lefty Teles are the same as righty Teles, there's
no difference in the way that the controls are wired. And here's
why:
We don't have reverse-audio pots for use in Strats and Teles,
we use standard-audio (hereinafter referred to as just "audio
taper") pots. CTS will make reverse-audio pots, but we receive
such infrequent requests for them that we can't justify having
them made. As far as we've been able to determine Fender doesn't
use them either; it appears from the research we've done, and
from conversations we've had with owners of lefty Strats and Teles,
that Fender has done a couple of things: 1) used controls wired
in the conventional way (where turning a control clockwise "turns
it up", like on car radios and old televisions); and 2) used
audio taper or linear pots wired for reverse operation. We can't
confirm this latter point, but we've heard comments that the controls
in some lefty Strats and Teles, while wired for reverse operation
(counter-clockwise turns it up), don't operate in a smooth fashion.
That is, we've heard comments that the volume increase/decrease
is not smooth and controllable, but is instead ungainly. (Sorry,
couldn't resist a little pun there). If they have used
audio or linear taper pots (as opposed to reverse-audio), but
wired for reversed operation (CCW turns it up), then this would
explain the comments we've heard about inconsistent operation.
In any case Fender's documentation for the lefty guitars shows
the same part numbers for pots that their documentation for the
righty guitars shows.
So we don't have reverse-audio pots for Strats and Teles, and
we're not going to wire audio or linear taper pots for reversed
operation. So all of our assemblies that are wired for lefty use
will have righty pots, wired in the conventional way (CW turns
it up). And there you have it.
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When will you ship my order?
Our shipping cutoff is 2 PM Eastern time. If you place an order by this time, in most cases it will ship the same day. Orders placed after 2 PM will typically ship the following business day, but if you need something to go out in an expedited manner, please call and speak with us about it (please don't email), and we'll do our best to accommodate your requirements.
The exception to the above is where we're building a custom prewired assembly. In this case, we'll often be able to ship the following business day, but this is subject to workload. Again, if you have a deadline, please contact us via phone to discuss so that we don't disappoint.
If you need to receive an order by a certain date, please allow sufficient processing and transit time. If you're unsure of the transit time, please call us to discuss it. USPS Priority Mail will typically take 2-3 business days in the US. A UPS Ground delivery map can be viewed here. International transit times vary widely. Again,
please call in advance if you have an urgent or specific need.
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Can I have my order shipped by FedEx or
Priority Mail?
Yes to Priority Mail, but we don't offer FedEx.
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I only ordered one item - your shipping
is too expensive!
We typically get this complaint when someone has placed a very
small order. They'll email something like "$7.40 for
shipping?! The merchandise was only $10.50!".
Sorry, but we only offer UPS rates, and USPS rates. The cheapest option we offer is USPS Priority
Mail (with delivery confirmation).
USPS delivers to all US addresses at the same rate, regardless of whether the address is rural or urban, and whether it's a business or residence. This is not the case with UPS, so if you live on the other side of the country from us (we're in Florida), and in a small town or rural area, then you will be charged accordingly if you select UPS.
Please understand that we're not in the business to make a profit on shipping charges (in fact, we ship many orders at our expense). While some companies may see shipping as a profit center, we do not. That said, it is very complicated trying to cover shipping costs without overcharging, but also without undercharging. It's a fine line, but we try to walk it. We want you to feel good about doing business with us.
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How
do you handle backorders?
Acme strives to maintain a 100% fill rate, but we'll occasionally
be out of certain items. Typically, we'll ship the order with
what we have and delete the backordered item from the order, and refund that portion of the payment.
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About International Shipping
Acme Guitar Works ships to most countries. International customers
can go through the checkout on our website, where you'll be presented
with appropriate UPS and US Postal Service shipping options and
prices. Payment may be made via Visa/MasterCard, PayPal, or bank
wire transfer. International wire transfers cost us $20 (assessed
by our bank) which will be added to your order. If you want to
pay by wire transfer, please email
us for more information.
International shipping is fraught with headaches, which is why
many US merchants won't ship internationally. The costs can be
high, and there is usually some extra paperwork required. Additionally,
many consumers have a vague idea of how fees are assessed, so
their perception can be that the merchant is charging an exorbitant
amount and that they're getting ripped off. So here's a little
clarification of the process and the expenses.
International Shipping Options
Acme ships with UPS (United Parcel Service) and the US
Postal Service. When you checkout on our website, you'll be presented
with available UPS and USPS shipping options and prices.
About UPS
UPS offers some benefits to you that you may not be aware of,
though their prices will usually be higher than the US
Postal Service. Since UPS brokers their own packages, they offer
an end-to-end shipping solution for international customers. UPS
picks the package up from us and delivers it directly to you,
the package is never out of their possession or their system.
Consequently, there is total visibility into the package's whereabouts
and delivery status at all times. This virtually eliminates customs
delays, which we sometimes encounter with US Postal Service shipments
(which typically involve at least four government agencies: US
Postal Service, US Customs, destination country postal service,
destination country customs). Additionally, we use the UPS service
to email tracking information to customers when packages ship,
so you can track the package at any time from any web browser
in the world.
Typically, UPS Worldwide Express delivery times are quicker than
air shipments with the US Postal Service, with delivery times
of 2-4 days rather than 3-10 days. And again, customs delays are
usually not an issue with UPS since they carry the package end-to-end.
The shipping fee you pay when you place an order on our website
includes brokerage fees (except with UPS Standard to Canada, see
more below). However, because UPS brokers the package, they
have to pay any duties/taxes due the government before delivering
the package to you. They charge a fee for this that varies depending
on the country, usually it's a small percentage of the value but
it can also be a set amount if the value of the package falls
below a certain minimum. When they deliver the package to you,
you'll be responsible to pay any duties/customs that they've prepaid
the government, plus their fee (for more detail, please visit
the UPS website and select your country from the menu).
About the US Postal Service
Shipping via international mail can be problematic in terms of visibility into a package's whereabouts. There are typically four government agencies involved (the postal authority and the customs authority for each country), and these agencies don't always have good visibility into each others' computer systems. So a package might fall off the tracking interface for a week or so, and there's usually no way to know whether it's in the U.S. or in the destination country. While most mail gets through in roughly the time stated, it does sometimes take longer than expected. And while most international mail is trackable, it's not the same level of tracking that couriers like UPS and FedEx offer, where they keep the package in their possession from end to end, and the whereabouts of the package are always known and the tracking log regularly updated.
We offer two levels of international mail service:
Express Mail International (3-6 day delivery typical)
- Most expensive
- Fastest
- Trackable
- Insured
Priority Mail International (4-10 day delivery typical)
- Moderately priced
- Slower
- Trackable, but not always updated in a timely fashion
- Insured
We do not offer First Class Mail International, as we've had many problems with it. Our rates include insurance and delivery confirmation. Mail packages
will be trackable via the USPS
website.
Priority Mail International small flat-rate box
Small items can often be shipped in flat-rate boxes, but this isn't something our system can offer in an automated way. The reason is that many items, while light enough to qualify for flat-rate, are physically too large to fit into the small flat-rate box. A Strat pickguard, for instance, won't fit, though it weighs only a few ounces. Since our shopping cart software bases shipping rates on weight, it cannot calculate which orders will fit into a small flat-rate box and which won't. Therefore, this option is not shown during checkout.
However, we will always ship in the small flat-rate box where we're able to. If you've selected Priority Mail International as your shipping method, and your order will fit into a small flat-rate box, we'll automatically ship it this way and refund the overpayment back to you. The charge for the flat-rate box is $17.99.
If your USPS package is taking longer than you think
it should...
then check your local post office. Many times
we've had customers email that they discovered that their undelivered
package was sitting at the post office, simply waiting to be claimed
by them (usually this happens because there are duties that need to be paid). These customers had received no notification that the package was
there, no delivery attempt was made that they were aware of, but
when they went looking for the package it was readily found. Twice
(as of March 2011) we've had packages returned undelivered, with
stamps and labels from the destination country's customs and postal
service stating that they were unable to deliver the package.
In both instances when we scanned the packages and sent images
to the customers via email, so they could see all of the markings,
the customers determined that the packages had made it all the
way to their local post offices but that they hadn't been notified.
If your package is lost...
then we'll do what we can to locate it, and Express Mail and Priority Mail packages will be re-shipped if they cannot be found (First Class Mail is not insured - the customer assumes the risk of loss). If your package hasn't been delivered in 5 days (Express Mail) or 10 days (Priority Mail), then please contact your local post office to see if the package is there. You can find the tracking or delivery-confirmation number by logging into your account on our website, and looking at the order details. If your post office cannot locate the package, then let us know and we'll contact the USPS International Service Center to have them try to locate the package. There will be a lead time involved while they contact the destination country's postal authority and while that postal authority searches for the package. This lead time can be as long as 5-10 days. If we hear back that the package is lost, then we'll re-ship the order where possible, or refund your payment.
If the original package shows up after we've re-shipped the order...
then please keep the first shipment you receive, and refuse the second one. Refusing the second shipment - whether it's the original order or the re-shipped order - will result in it being returned to us at no expense or hassle to either you or us. Please note that we self-insure, meaning that any lost orders are shipped at our expense, we're not getting insurance money from anyone to offset the cost. So by refusing the second shipment, we get our merchandise back, and the only loss to us is the postage cost, and a little time.
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How much are customs duties and taxes?
Sorry, no getting around this one. Your order will probably be
charged customs fees (taxes, duties) when it arrives. Unfortunately,
we have no control over these fees (and neither do UPS or the
USPS), they're assessed by your government. If you are not familiar
with the customs fees in your country, please contact your local
customs office for more information.
Acme Guitar Works has no way of estimating customs fees, taxes,
duties, etc., so we won't be able to give you a quote. Please
contact your local customs office for more information.
The shipping charges you pay to Acme Guitar Works do NOT include
customs fees, import taxes, or duties (though brokerage fees are included on UPS air shipments). If you refuse to pay the customs
fees when your order arrives, the shipment will be returned to
Acme Guitar Works and we may be charged for customs fees and/or
return shipping costs. If any such fees are assessed, they will
be deducted from any refund due.
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What are my options to Canada?
Due to NAFTA, shipments of US-made products to Canada are duty-free.
This will apply to all shipments from Acme Guitar Works.
UPS Standard
Ground service. Delivery times vary depending on your distance
from Florida (where we are). Brokerage fees not included, you
will have to pay brokerage fees (plus a couple of other UPS fees)
in addition to GST and PST (or QST). We would suggest that you
consider Worldwide Express or one of the US Postal Service options
rather than UPS Standard, as they're often cheaper in the long
run, and almost always faster.
UPS Worldwide Express
Next-business-day delivery to Canada. Brokerage is included, but
UPS does charge a fee for fronting the taxes that are due to the
Canadian government. That is, because UPS brokers the package,
they pay all monies due the Canadian government (GST and PST or
QST) in advance, then are reimbursed by you when they deliver
the package. They charge a modest fee for this, so you will be
responsible for this fee plus the tax amount upon delivery.
US Postal Service Express Mail International
3-6 day delivery typical. All taxes apply.
US Postal Service Priority Mail International
4-10 day delivery typical. All taxes apply.
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Can you claim my package has
a lower value than it really does?
We get asked to do this all the time, but we cannot, because
if we get caught doing it then the US government won't just look
the other way. We're a business, and we're expected to conduct
ourselves accordingly, and committing fraud so that our customers
can save on their taxes is a serious and prosecutable offense.
The US government takes these matters seriously, and your government
might also.
We would love to help you save money, but we will not risk incurring
legal problems to do it. We hope you'll understand.
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