Occasionally products are damaged in shipping. We will replace the damaged product if you adhere to the following protocol:
Inspect all of your packages carefully upon receipt. We must be informed of all damages within one week of you receiving the product.
If there is damage, retain all shipping materials (including all outer and inner packaging boxes). Please re-pack the damaged product in the shipping box with the original packing material as we may put in a UPS/FedEx claim for the damages. If a product is damaged we retain the right to put in a damage claim with UPS/FedEx. UPS/FedEx retains the right to inspect any damaged merchandise, and they require that the customer retains the all shipping boxes. In many cases UPS/FedEx will not pay a claim unless the outer shipping box is damaged--and if you throw away this important evidence we can not put in a claim with UPS/FedEx and we can not replace your damaged product.
Call us at Toll Free 877.878.9349 or Email sales@marineandreef.com regarding the damage and we will put in a claim with UPS/FedEx. If we need the damaged product returned either UPS/FedEx will pick up the product and return it to us or we will send you a UPS/FedEx Return Label (a pre-addressed, pre-paid shipping label). In most cases we will send out replacement products prior to when the damaged product has been returned to marineandreef.com.
How will you ship my order and when will it arrive?
Ground orders can be shipped by UPS, FedEx or the USPS (United States Postal Service).
For orders that are 1 pound or less you will be given the option of having your order shipped USPS Priority Mail for $7.99. (Keep in mind that the shipping box and protective paper weigh about 1/2 lb, so the products available for this option can only weigh a total of 1/2 lb). For USPS Priority Mail orders you will be Emailed a tracking number. For orders over 1 pound we do not have a USPS option. We realize that in some cases we could put some very small products in an envelope and mail the product for under $1. However, we will not ship anything without a tracking number and the least expensive option for shipping with a tracking number is USPS Priority Mail.
We ship about half of our Ground orders through UPS and the other half through FedEx. FedEx delivers to residential addresses on Saturday, but not on Monday. UPS delivers to residential addresses on Monday, but not Saturday. FedEx delivers to certain states a day quicker than UPS. We keep these factors in mind and choose the option that will get your products to you the quickest.
Expedited orders are sent via FedEx. However, if there is a problem with shipping FedEx at a particular time, due to the driver not showing up or a problem in a particular FedEx delivery area. We will send the order via the equivalent UPS service.
Canada orders are shipped UPS Standard.
Orders are usually shipped in one to two business days (business days are Monday through Friday, non-holidays). Orders placed before noon Tuesday through Friday will usually be shipped the same day, and orders placed after noon on Tuesday through Friday will usually be shipped the following business day. Monday orders will either be shipped on Monday or Tuesday. Weekend orders are usually shipped on Monday. In general, we do our best to ship as quickly as possible.
Almost all products are shipped from Tempe, AZ, and Ground orders shipped from Tempe will take anywhere from 1 to 5 business days to arrive.
Expedited Orders Times:
FedEx Priority Overnight takes one business day. Packages will be delivered by 10:30 AM, but there are some remote areas where the package will not be delivered until 5:00 PM.
FedEx Standard Overnight takes one business day. Packages will be delivered to most areas by 3:00 PM, but there are some rural areas where it will not be delivered until 5:00 PM.
FedEx 2Day takes two business days. Packages will be delivered to business by 4:30 PM and to residences by 7:00 PM.
FedEx Express Saver takes three business day, and will be delivered to a business by 4:30 PM and a residence by 7:00 PM.
Please keep in mind that business days are Monday through Friday, non-holidays. For example: An order placed on Wednesday after noon using FedEx Express Saver will not arrive until the following Tuesday (or later if any of the weekdays are holidays). Although FedEx does have a Saturday delivery service and Saturday pickup, for various reasons we do not use these services.
We do not ship on UPS holidays. For 2012 the holidays are:
Memorial Day - May 28, 2012 Independence Day - July 4, 2012 Labor Day - September 3, 2012 Thanksgiving Day - November 22, 2012 Christmas - December 25, 2012 New Year Day - January 1, 2013
The above listed days do not count as business days. UPS will not pick up or deliver packages on these days (except for UPS Express Critical, which we do not ship), with the exception of the day after Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve when UPS will deliver and pickup expedited shipments.
The following products are drop shipped from manufacturers:
Red Sea Max Aquariums (shipped from Houston, TX via commercial trucking companies--can take up to 10 business days)
Emperor Aquatics UV Sterilizers, bulbs and quartz sleeves over 40 watts (shipped from the East Coast--can take up to 10 business days)
1/2 HP JBJ Arctica Chillers (shipped from the West Coast via commercial trucking companies--can take up to 10 business days)
1 HP and larger SeaLine and Pacific Coast Imports chillers (shipped from Oregon via commercial trucking companies--can take up to 10 business days)
Hamilton Technology lighting fixtures and retrofits (shipped from the Los Angeles, CA--can take up to 10 business days)
For all the products shipped from Tempe, AZ (from where 99% of our products are shipped from) consult the UPS/FedEx Shipping maps below for the exact shipping time to your area. We try and ship orders so that they'll arrive in the shortest time possible. When choosing a carrier we take into account that FedEx delivers to residential addresses on Saturday and not Monday, while UPS doesn't deliver on Saturday but does deliver on Monday. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, we always ship FedEx as the package will arrive one day sooner than with UPS. USPS shipments quite often takes less time to arrive than FedEx or UPS shipments.
International Shipping
Marineandreef.com will only ship to the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico locations (for other countries please read the information about Bongo International below).
Canada Orders
NOTE: We changed our policies regarding Brokerage Fees, COD Fees, Bond Fees, duties and taxes on 8/7/2012. These policies do not apply to orders shipped prior to 8/7/2012.
We are now including all Brokerage Fees, COD Fees, Bond Fees, duties and taxes in the UPS Shipping price. You will no longer need to pay the UPS driver. Please keep in mind that if our Canada shipping prices appear high, it's because we're paying the following on your behalf:
Brokerage Fees. For orders under $200 these Fees are only $10. For orders over $200 they jump to $45.60.
Taxes. As I'm sure you realize, the combined GST, PST & HST can be as high as 15%.
Duties. Most products we sell are non-NAFTA and can have duties as high as 8%.
Bond Fees
COD Fees (when we had the customer pay Brokerage Fees, Taxes, Duties and Bond Fees they also had to pay COD Fees)
Bongo International Shipping
We have partnered with Bongo International to service our customers Worldwide!
Bongo International provides our customers with their very own US address. Once you have a US address, you will be able to make purchases with us as well as other US based online retailers. Bongo receives your purchases and logs them into their online system which you can use to view your items and consolidate them with multiple orders.
International customers can save up to 82% off typical international shipping rates by following these four easy steps:
Register with Bongo and receive a U.S. shipping address.
Enter the Bongo address as both your billing and shipping address.
Use the credit card that you have on file with Bongo as the payment method.
Once the order arrives at Bongo, log into your account to forward to your country.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Bongo through live chat or by e-mail. They will be glad to assist you.
Click on the Bongo Banner below to get started!
How much is my shipping & handling?
Shipping and Handling Fees are automatically calculated prior to submitting your payment information if you enter you country, state and zip code/postal code, and then choose the "Recalculate" button. For orders under 1 pound we offer a flat rate $7.99 USPS Priority Mail option.
We offer free freight on all orders over $150 to the 48 contiguous states of the United States and our policy has no exceptions for heavy and large items. Quite plainly, we encourage customers to place large orders and we're willing to lose money on shipping to make this happen.
Return to Help Index
