What is your “SIMPLE AS THAT” shipping guarantee?

We try to keep our business as simple as possible – and that includes our shipping and handling policy.  We know how complicated some of our competitor’s shipping and handling policies are; we’ve read them.  In fact, we don’t even totally understand some of them.  Our competitors have pages and pages of shipping and handling terms and conditions and policies.  We like to try and keep it as simple as possible.

Many of the companies who offer “Free Freight” on their websites actually make a ridiculous amount of profit margin on your “shipping”, especially if they can find a way to combine your shipment with others, etc.  Let’s face it, when it comes to shipping, there is nothing “free” about it.  Someone is paying and that “someone” is you.  In fact, freight tends to get more and more expensive each and every day, and the carriers find new and innovative ways to raise their rates and invent new surcharges all the time. 

We value your business and we will do everything possible to ship your product to you for as little cash as is humanly possible. That’s why we don’t offer free freight – we don’t have any “hidden costs” or the heavily inflated profit margins that our competition needs to offer you “free freight”.  You know exactly what you are paying for with us.   It’s as simple as that.

  • WE ONLY CHARGE ACTUAL FREIGHT!  Now that’s pretty simple. 
    • We use the best and lowest-cost shipping method available unless you tell us differently.  We use standard ground UPS, UPS Priority or USPS (US Postal Service) for parcel shipping.   If you are a business and a regular customer and want to use your own UPS account number, click on the Third Party Shipping option on our site and enter your UPS account number.  Keep in mind that we ship TONS of packages, so our UPS rates may be better than yours.  REMEMBER - if you choose the "Third Party Shipping" option on our site, you MUST enter a valid UPS account number, otherwise your order will sit in our processing file until your UPS number is received and validated. 
    • We can ship via FEDEX but they are not one of our preferred carriers, and therefore they do not stop at our buildings daily to make pickups.  We've that UPS is the most reliable partner for us, but if you insist on using FEDEX as your carrier, we will comply with your wishes, but you will need to generate the FEDEX shipping label and email or FAX it to us and you will need to schedule FEDEX to stop by our building to pick your package up since they do not do a daily pickup with us.
    • If we can find a way to save money on shipping your product, we will refund the difference to you.  For example, if your order is larger and we can palletize it and ship it by common carrier, we can very likely save you money over the small package (parcel) delivery carriers.  If we can combine items into a lesser number of boxes to save you money on freight, we will do that.  Our talented Logistics Team will quote your carrier freight with more than 30 carriers to get you the best possible rate and delivery time.  That means that we, and you, get the best possible rates available for your shipment.
  • Larger orders  - If you are ordering flexible PVC that is larger than 2 inch or 3 inch in diameter or if you are ordering multiple rolls of hose or tubing, it is usually best to let us quote you an actual, delivered freight rate.  Many carriers charge what they call an “oversized freight rate” on these larger diameter products.  That’s also why you will see that many of the “free freight” websites exclude these products from their “free freight” policy.   That’s because they can’t build enough money in to cover the freight to you on these items and still look “competitively priced”.  It’s just another game they use to try to get your business.  We’ll use the massive power of our Logistics Team and their carrier contracts to shop around for you and get the best possible freight rate to your door.
  • Expedited or “Rush” shipping - We know that sometimes you just need to get it now.  We will do all that we can to make certain to get the product to you as quickly as possible if you specify expedited shipping.  But there are a few things that you need to know in order to help us help you get your order on time:
    • You must place your order before noon EST in order for it to be processed and shipped the same day.  Sorry, but we need time to pull your order, pack it and have it ready in time for the expedited carrier to pick it up.
    • The product must be in stock at our warehouse.  Obviously we can’t ship what we don’t have.  While we generally have everything in stock that is showing on our website, there is always the possibility that “order clusters”, or batches of orders that arrive within minutes of each other, may have depleted our stock temporarily on an item.  If we don’t have the product that you want shipped on an expedited basis available in stock, we will be certain to get back to you with options right away.
    • For “money back, guaranteed overnight shipping” with most carriers, the shipment should be shipped to a business address.  UPS, for example, does not guarantee next day delivery to residences or to all U.S. zip codes.  Some zip codes are guaranteed, but others are not and there doesn’t appear to be any real pattern to the “exclusions”.  The US Postal Service will usually guarantee overnight shipping from post office to post office, but not guarantee overnight delivery directly to your residence or business.  The other thing you need to know - all of the shippers claim “exemptions” from guaranteed overnight shipping due to “severe weather” and “other conditions beyond their control”.  If in doubt, send us an email or give us a call.  We will do our level best to get your expedited shipment to you in the least amount of time possible.
    • Our shipping "defaults" to UPS Ground.  If you order an expedited shipping service (like UPS 2nd Day Air for example) and we can get the product to you faster for the same cost, we will automatically RUSH your order through our system (with no additional rush fee) and do so at the same cost to you.  These decisions are at our discretion and are dependent upon where we are shipping from, where we are shipping to and order flow.  It's all about getting your "urgent" package to you the fastest way possible.
  • Handling fees – You’ve heard us say this before.  We are not in business (like some of our competitors) to make money by charging you inflated shipping or handling fees.  We DO NOT use shipping and handling as a profit center, like many companies do.  What we will do however is package your product in a manner that will prevent it from being damaged during shipment and also prepare it for carrier pickup.  There is a cost for doing that, like the shipping container, the labels, etc.  We guarantee that our handling fee covers ONLY the handling fee that we need to charge to cover our cost of packing the item properly for shipping.  We’re not in business to make money on cardboard and packing materials – other people run their businesses that way, we don’t.  It’s as simple as that!
  • Order correction fees -  We know that everyone is busy, but taking just a quick moment to double-check your shipping and contact information  can save you some $$$.  UPS (as does FEDEX) charges a delivery "exception" or "correction" fee if they cannot validate your address as submitted.  Generally they will try to contact you and correct your address, so please be certain that your phone number and email address are correct when you place your order.  If they cannot reach you, the shipment will be returned to us.  If UPS needs to make an address correction, the generally charge between $9 and $15 to us to do so, and we will pass that fee along to you if charged.  If they need to return a package to us as undeliverable or refused, they will also charge us the return shipping fee as well as a return processing fee.  We will pass that fee along to you as well.  we don't do this to try to profit - we do it to keep our costs in line for all of our customers - so PLEASE double-check your address and contact information before you submit your order!
  • Order tracking and visibility - You will have complete visibility and be able to track your shipment from start to finish as long as you provide us with a valid email address at the time you place your order and your SPAM and/or JUNK filter does not block our communications with you.   If you place an order with us and do not get an email confirmation within 30 minutes via email, kindly check your SPAM and JUNK filters for our order confirmation email to see if our message is trapped.  Chances are if you don't get a confirmation email from us, your order was not received properly for some reason.  We have nothing to hide and we think you should know at all times where your order is.  After all, it is your order!