Shipping Policy
ORDER ACCEPTANCE & PROCESSING
Please read this. It will help you to know when to expect the arrival of your order. All orders placed by 2:00 p.m. East Coast Time will be processed and shipped the same day, with the exclusion of Saturdays, Sundays, and certain holidays. Orders placed on those occasions will be processed on the next business day. This applies to purchases by credit card ‘on the website’, by telephone, or by email when the card transaction has been ‘approved’. Approval, as used in this context, means that your ‘funds’ are being held by our bank or our Secure Server. If you wish to pay by any method other than credit card and you have any questions just email us at: sales@activpower.com We will quickly let you know how to proceed.
In the event of a back-order, we will notify you by phone or email, and, if you opt to cancel, consider it done. We will credit your card within 48 hours. If you prepaid with a check or money order, please allow up to 10 business days to be refunded. If you opt to ‘hang-in-there’, we will ship immediately upon arrival. We occasionally encounter an item that is out of stock here, and also back-ordered at the factory. Although frustrating for all of us, sometimes it can take weeks before that item becomes available again. Again, if you opt to ‘hang-in-there’, we will send any or all of these back-orders to you with no additional freight fee. Just click on ‘reply’, and let us know if you choose to cancel in a back-order situation. If we do not hear from you, then we will assume that your wish is to wait for it.
Note: PLEASE DO NOT PUT A STOP_PAYMENT OR HOLD ON ANY FORM OF PAYMENT.
This will only serve to confuse and delay the situation that we promise to take care of promptly.
ORDER CONFIRMATION & BACKORDERS
Receiving an email confirmation does not mean that your order has been accepted, processed, or approved. It simply is a confirmation that ACTIVPOWER INC. has received your email order request. It is to let you know that your order has arrived intact and complete, that it is not lost in cyberspace, that it arrived at the correct destination. ORDER PROCESSING is what takes place next. Verifying that your item(s) are in stock, verifying your credit card information, boxing and labeling. etc. – that is Order Processing. If there is a problem with your order, we will let you know what needs to be done to fix it. If there are no problems, we will let you know when we ship your order.
PAYMENT OPTIONS
PAYPAL, VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER and American Express are accepted on our website. Please email us first at sales@activpower.com if you wish to mail in your payment with your address and order information so that we can confirm the correct amount for you before you mail payment. Then mail your payment and order information to:
ACTIVPOWER INC.
6764 Old McLean Village Drive,
McLean, VA 22101
If you pay by credit card your order will begin processing the same day – Saturdays, Sundays, and some holidays excepted. If you pay by one of the other approved methods, we will process your order as soon as the funds have cleared ‘our’ bank. We will email you as soon as we receive payment and again when the order ships. To protect us from fraud, the ADDRESS to which your credit card was ISSUED, must match the address where we are shipping the item(s) or you need to make special arrangements ahead of time. Be sure to enter the address where you receive your credit card bill in the checkout. If you do not, there is a very good chance that your transaction will NOT be approved.
INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT OPTIONS: Please see section on International Orders below for our current international payment options.
TAXES
All Virginia orders will be charged the Virginia Sales Tax of 6%. By law we have to charge a sales tax on sales to any destination state where we operate a physical office. This means that at the present time, there is no sales tax charged on orders to destinations outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
HOW WE CALCULATE SHIPPING & PACKAGING CHARGES
In the checkout process you will have an opportunity to view your shipping costs and to make any changes, if options are available for your location, before submitting your order.
We are not in the shipping business and we only want to break even on our shipping and packaging. We only want to deliver your products to you safely and reliably at roughly the same rate we are charged for these services. Some of our competitors, not all, choose to cover some or their shipping/packaging/handling costs in their product cost to make you think you are somehow getting a great deal on the shipping cost. All we can tell you is that we don’t play any games with these costs, we just estimate them as realistically as we can. Our shipping/packaging bill is really what it costs to package and ship your goods to you – nothing more and nothing less.
SHIPPING CHARGES
Orders within the United States are shipped via USPS. Orders over $100 receive free shipping. Orders under $100 are charged a flat shipping fee of $10.
Orders to international destinations are charged shipping fees in accordance with what USPS charges for international delivery. International shipping is not calculated by our website and in those cases you will receive an email from us with a separate additional invoice for shipping charges to be paid before your order can be fulfilled. International shipping is EXPENSIVE and we have no control over those rates. We also do not control customs and excise duties at the destination country which would be your responsibility.
We understand if you prefer to not submit your order until you know exactly what your shipping cost will be, so just send us an email letting us know the ship-to address (include zip codes, postal zones whatever is applicable to your address. DO NOT ABBREVIATE, please).
List what items you intend to purchase, and we will let you know what the shipping cost will be as soon as we calculate it. We will contact you by phone or email once we have determined the exact cost. At that time, you may accept or reject the order.
PACKAGING (70lbs and more)
Orders placed for 70 pounds and over are eligible for discounted freight and we determine the lowest possible cost for you after you submit your order. NOTE: If you are a wholesaler or retailer, interested in buying in bulk quantity, special pricing and shipping options are available. Please contact us at: sales@activpower.com
We understand if you prefer to not submit your order until you know exactly what your shipping cost will be, so just send us an email letting us know the ship-to address (include zip codes, postal zones whatever is applicable to your address. DO NOT ABBREVIATE, please).
List what items you intend to purchase, and we will let you know what the shipping cost will be as soon as we calculate it. If you order on our website, and the delivery is going to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, or Mexico; the shipping costs will be calculated using a ‘default continental rate’ that will not be correct.
We will contact you by phone or email once we have determined the exact cost. At that time, you may accept or reject the order. If you accept, we will ask for your credit card number, as we do not have access to it for your security. If you wish to decline the order, we can either credit your card upon receipt of the number and expiration date, or, refund you with a business check by mail. All USA orders will be shipped by USPS Ground Delivery Service or USPS Priority.
Depending on the contents of your order you will sometimes have the option to use special delivery, overnight, 2-day, etc. – just indicate your preference in the comment line when you send in your order and we will determine the lowest cost method to deliver your order as you would like it to be delivered. We will phone or email you as soon as possible.
The merchandise will usually be shipped from Virginia, so it is likely that your items will arrive in 3-5 working days if you are in the Continental US. So, for those of you in a USA location there is usually no great advantage to spending the extra fee to get accelerated delivery – which will usually mean getting your order one day earlier.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS & INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
To place an order to be shipped to destinations outside USA, email us at: sales@activpower.com
Include a phone contact number.
Include the items that you wish to be shipped.
Include complete address, zip code or postal code.
We will calculate your shipping charges, and email or call you with the detailed information you will need. You will receive a PayPal invoice showing you the complete cost of your order including shipping to your destination. Once you pay the invoice, your items, in most cases, will be on their way to you the following work-day.
WHOLESALERS NOTE: If you are a wholesaler or retailer, interested in buying in bulk quantity, special pricing and shipping options are available. Please contact us at: sales@activpower.com
Shipping charges are automatically calculated on all online orders to all the Continental USA plus Alaska, Hawaii destinations. Shipments outside of the USA have more variability in our shipping options and a wider range of variability by specific address.
We understand if you prefer to not submit your order until you know exactly what your shipping cost will be, so just send us an email sales@activpower.com letting us know the ship-to address and what items you intend to purchase and we will let you know what the shipping cost will be as soon as we calculate it. All orders for USA will be shipped by the most cost effective, expedient method by default.
Depending on the contents of your order you will sometimes have the option to use special handling – just indicate your preference in the comment line when you send in your order and we will determine the lowest cost method to deliver your order as you would like it to be delivered.
We will email or call you as soon as possible. All USA orders will be shipped *USPS* by default. Once a parcel leaves the USA, we cannot be responsible for the delivery time*. We will make every attempt to assist you with tracking.
The merchandise is shipped from Virginia, so it is likely that your items will arrive in 3-5 working days if you are in the Continental USA. Completed orders received before 2:00 pm, East Coast Time, Monday through Friday, will be shipped the day of receipt.