Remember when life was simpler; when you call a number and someone just picks up? This experience is often lost in today's world of automation; but we love it and aim to hold on to this part of the customer experience. Our representatives are in the office from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. During this time most calls are answered in the first few rings . . . no attendant, no routing operator, just a friendly representative ready to help you out.

However, if things get busy (lunch time is usually the heaviest call volume), you may reach a recording. If you do, it means our representatives were tied up and you will be forwarded to one of our many cell phone equipped technicians. These techs are available for product questions as well as product support; however they may not be in the office and cannot transfer you or look up an order - but they would be more than glad to take your number and have the office staff return your call as needed.

We realize that most interactions with products purchased form us do not happen during traditional work hours - so we make ourselves available to you 7 days a week for product questions and support. When you call after 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, after 5 p.m Saturday, or any time on Sunday you will first reach a recording that will ask you to choose which store you made a purchase from. The recording and your selection process helps in this case due to the nature of our specialty stores. This selection will then route you to the cell phones of after hours support technicians with the best knowledge to assist you. This cell phone routing system helps us to control cost on our products and gives our employees a better quality of life by not chaining them to the office 7 days a week. Please bear in mind however that customer records like tracking, return numbers, or other clerical details that require a computer will not be able to be performed after hours.

Our hours of accessibility rate us among the most available customer support companies around. The overall hours you can reach someone are 7 days a week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Plus, we are available by request 24 hours a day; so if you are in Hawaii and know you are going to be setting up a pool fence in the late afternoon for example, let us know the time and we will give you a number to call.

Freight shipments are necessary on some products like fitness equipment, driveway gates, bounce houses or other large and heavy products. We recognize that freight shipping is something that our customers may not be familiar with but, we try to make this process as painless as possible.

Once your product is shipped out via freight truck you will be sent an e-mail from your sales representative with a PRO number or Bill of Lading number. This is essentially the same thing as a tracking number. We utilize a network of freight companies for our products because all areas of the country have different trucking companies that best reach and service those areas. When you receive your tracking information you can most often follow the progress of your shipment on the trucking companies' website. The best way to find the shipping companies website if you do not have the link from the e-mail handy is by taking the name of the freight company (Example: Roadrunner) add the word Freight to it and type this into a Google search (example: Roadrunner Freight). In most cases the freight companies' site will be one of the first in the results.

When having something shipped via freight truck there is a difference between a residential delivery address and a business address in regard to price. All freight companies add a surcharge to ship to residential. This is because of the additional risk and work for the truck drivers. Commercial addresses are designed to accept large trucks daily. Residences are not. If you can deliver the product to your work and then bring it home you can spare yourself a residential fee.

Residential deliveries always require a call prior to delivery. Because it is difficult for truck drivers to go to a residential address in the first place, they do not want to risk showing up when no one is home to receive the delivery. They will always call first and set up a delivery window. Please check your contact information closely for accuracy when placing the order. If the shipment reaches the delivery station and they cannot reach you over a period attempts (usually spanning a week, but changes depending on Freight Company) they may charge storage fees or turn the product around and you will have to pay shipping again to get it back out. This is something no one wants; and we make every effort to assist them in contacting you in these cases, including looking you up in the yellow pages. Prompt deliveries make for happy transactions.

Lastly, we like to point out that most items will need assistance being unloaded from the back of the truck. In most cases the individual parts will be cut loose from the pallet and you will need to assist unloading these from the back of the truck. If this is not possible please contact us before the sale. Most freight companies have services to eliminate some of this work for a fee.

If you are present when the product is being delivered via UPS, Fed Ex, or US Mail, tell the driver that you would like to note the suspected damage and then accept the package. If you are not there or you don't initially suspect damage; it is okay - your claim won't be affected - it is just good measure to document something if you see it.

Once you open your box and you see that there is damage; please contact us right away so we can get a claim started. Retain all packing material - this is one of the shipping companies' rules and we will need this to follow through with the claim. It is very helpful to take pictures of the damage - this can help us to evaluate the correct course of action: the shipping companies' require us to make a determination of partial damage or complete loss. You pictures will tell us this crucial information.

We will submit the claim after pictures are received and a determination has been concluded regarding partial damage or complete loss. We will inform you about re-shipment options. This may vary depending on circumstances (some products we sell are one of a kind or custom; others are stock) but we assure you that we will not drag our feet - your claim and replacement will be a top priority.

The other thing to note is in these unfortunate circumstances we like to be as reliable and consistent as possible. This is why you can rest assured that we follow all the procedures set forth by the shipping company.

When a freight company damages a shipment there is one key point we would like to make. Always look over your delivery carefully and if you see anything at all that looks like damage please note it on the Bill of Lading the driver will have you sign.

There are a few scenarios to consider with freight, one is that there is minor damage or scratches visible upon delivery. This is the most common damage. In this case note the damage on the Bill of Lading, take some pictures before unwrapping your shipment, and retain all your packing material. Then contact us and we will evaluate what will need to be replaced or if the whole shipment needs to be picked up and handle the claim for you.

Another scenario is the delivery arrives and it looks significantly damaged. This may seem like it is much different from the above but it really isn't that far off. If you are fairly sure the shipment needs to be replaced entirely call us while the driver is there and explain what you are seeing. It is important however to follow our directions from there on, accepting with notes or refusing delivery because each freight company has rules that need to be followed and we are experts on making this as smooth as possible for you. If we are not available by phone at that time please accept the delivery and note the damage on the Bill of Lading. It is important to know, the safest thing to do with freight is when in doubt - simply note damage, sign and accept delivery. You can never go wrong if you do this. The entire shipment can still be picked back up if need be but this will always allow you the fastest way to rectify a situation.

The last scenario to note is hidden damage. The shipper may show up and everything looks fine so you have no notations to make. Then you open the packaging and unfortunately you see some damage. Simply take some pictures of the damage and retain the packing material and contact us. We will evaluate what will need to be replaced or if the whole shipment needs to be picked up and then we'll handle the claim for you.

We embrace e-mail technology for communications. As a company comprised of internet sales, we love e-mail for its timeliness, its clarity, its ability to be referenced and expanded on. It just makes for clearer communications all around and if you like e-mail too - please try contacting us this way. We think you will find that we are very responsive through this method. However if you are not quite on the internet bandwagon - our phones lines are open for you.

You can expect to see e-mails for confirmation of your order, introduction to your sales representative, notification of back order(s), tracking information, maintenance tips if your product requires such, as well as product updates, quotes and specials.

Unlike other companies, any e-mail you receive form us - if you hit reply and send an e-mail back it will go to someone specific in our company. We will forward your correspondence to the correct person to address your questions or concerns.

Some of our product lines may require questions of a technical nature when installing or throughout the course of ownership. We are a unique company in this aspect as we provide technical support directly to our customers instead of immediately handing you off to a manufacturer. We have the most number of factory trained technicians on staff in the US (and they are all talking to you from the US). Often we resolve issues without having to involve a manufacturer.

For optimal technical support, we believe it is important to follow the provided manual. We will ask you to have it on hand and also to get information from certain pages. We will guide you, explain to you, clarify for you; but ultimately when it comes to certain actions we will insist that you read the information off a certain page. And the key is correctness. No one wants to cut twice, drill twice or apply power incorrectly because something was misheard. That is why when it comes down to it we would like you to follow the black and white.

Secondly, we use technology to help us diagnose. Expect to be asked for digital pictures if we are having trouble identifying the issue. We have all heard the saying that a picture speaks a thousand words - in our case we have increased our in-field troubleshooting solution rate from 68% to 92% simply by making pictures a standard procedure. We also use pictures to send customers alternate views and explanations. These visual aids help on both ends. Below are some examples of the pictures that we have sent to our customers in the past to clarify information.

Each product has unique warranty procedure depending on the manufacturer. Some companies (and brands) have a large presence in the U.S. and they wish to handle all their warranties direct with the consumer. Other companies have agreements with us in which we process the warranty from them by collecting and testing the product and getting the information to them for approval.

In either case our staff will assist you as much as we can to help you through the process. Some customers feel comfortable contacting the manufacturer but others do not want to make the first call. We will gladly make that call for you upon request. We cannot promise they will not want to speak with you direct but we will do everything in our means to make the process as simple as possible.

If we are the processer of the warranty in most cases our manufacturer requires pictures of the defect on site or of the installation prior to disassembling for warranty return. We will, in turn, request these pictures from you. These digital images are to be e-mailed prior to issuing a return authorization. Since our manufacturers' have enacted this picture policy we have actually solved 65% of perceived warranty issues without anything having to be sent or tested just by looking at pictures . This saves time and frustration on all sides. The old saying "A picture speaks 1000 words" rings true in these situations.

Once you have your return authorization number we will ask you to ship your return to us with that unique number on the outside of the box. Shipping should be pre-paid. However, if the product issue is covered under warranty and you include a receipt for a United States ground shipping method (USPS first class, UPS ground, or Fed Ex ground) we will refund your return shipping costs. It is hard to believe that this is not the norm for the warranty to also cover transportation - but compare us to our retail counterparts in the industry - we believe you will find that we take a refreshing approach to making a warranty issue the manufacturer's problem and not yours.

In the event your order arrives and it is incorrect, we will work to our best ability to remedy the issue. We have a state of the art inventory system that double checks through computer and human contact what is going in each box prior to shipping. However no system is ever perfect and sometimes mistakes are made. In the event a mistake is made on our part we will cover the costs of the product being returned to us and we will ship the correct unit utilizing the same shipping method originally chosen . If you are missing an item please report this within 10 days so we can try to recover costs from the shipping and distribution companies involved.

We would like to take this opportunity to establish our policy on replacement item shipping. As you may have seen our prices are some of the lowest on the web, we price match most items by 110% and then change our prices to compete. In doing so we had to make a decision; that is to commit to our main customers: do-it-yourselfers. Whether it is the gate customer building their front entrance, the autoharp enthusiast restringing their autoharp, or the tomato grower making their own preserves; they all share one thing in common - they love savings and that is what we deliver. However, occasionally a situation will come up where someone is buying one of our DIY products for a professional to install for them or to perform a professional use. We support professionals and their usage of our product lines. We recognize professionals are on a time constraint. However, in order to maintain our low prices we will not be able to upgrade your shipping to express/overnight for incorrect orders (but if your original was express we will ship the replacement express as well). When our customers are polled they overwhelmingly come back: save the money, ship ground and pass the savings on to me upfront in low prices. This is why many installers buy from us retail because we still beat the wholesale prices of their distributers that budget for time sensitivity. If you are using a professional we suggest ordering and receiving product in advance, checking the shipment for anything missing or any question you may have, and then scheduling your installation. This will make the process smoother and save money in the end.

As an established online retail business we recognize there are a variety of reasons you may need to cancel your order. We will gladly cancel any order that has not shipped out yet. If it is canceled prior to shipping, no cancelation charges will be applied. Please let us know as soon as you realize you'd like to cancel as we strive to pack and ship all orders in 1-2 business days. If the order has already been shipped then this becomes a return. You will need to review our return policy, obtain an RA# and ship the item back to us for credit after it arrives.

Our diverse product lines are popular. Many specialized items become instant best sellers due to their hard to find nature. However this being the case we can get runs on products that push us out of stock. If this occurs you will be notified as soon as we make this discovery that we don't have enough product to fill all our orders (which is usually same day) otherwise it is noted on the site when the item is expected to ship.

Keep an eye on your inbox because notification will be sent via e-mail along with updates on shipping times. Our standard procedure is to keep the charge in place to guarantee the immediate shipment upon arrival of the product. However if you do not wish to keep this charge in place we will gladly and immediately refund your payment. When the product comes back in we will contact you for permission to reinstate the charge and when we hear back from you with the O.K. we will re-charge your account and ship the product.

We have a large warehouse facility in Florida where many of our products are stocked. However some of our manufacturers prefer to ship direct off their production line to your door to keep the selling price down and stay competitive with lesser brands in the market. We believe this is a great way to save you money on premium brands. Just note that factory direct lead times differ from our normal times when we ship from a location outside our warehouse. Some manufacturers are quick and some take a little extra time. You can find lead times in most product descriptions of factory direct shipping, on this information page, or from one of our helpful representatives through phone, e-mail or live chat. Please keep in mind shipping times are estimates and while we aggressively push manufacturers to keep their estimates ultimately they have control of when it leaves their shipping dock.

You have 30 days to return your product - no explanation needed. It is your right to return your product (special or custom orders do not apply) for any reason at all. It is that easy with no hassles regarding your motivation.

Please call or e-mail us, prior for a return authorization number and then ship the product(s) to us pre-paid with that unique number on the outside of the box. Return credits will be applied using the same method of purchase. The credit will be for the purchase price of the product(s) minus a 15% restocking fee and original shipping charges.

If you are past 30 days we cannot accept a return. Warranties will still apply. Even if the product was never opened and is in perfect condition; the sales information is available to the manufacturer to initiate the warranty period - with a 30 day grace window. This is a process that we don't control. After 30 days, the product cannot be resold as new as it has no warranty except to the original purchaser. If after 30 days you no longer have use for your item, and we will not accept the return you still have options to recoup your money. You could sell it locally on Craigslist.com or nationwide on eBay.com. There are even local stores that will sell your products on eBay for you for a fee! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding the returns process as you are a valued customer and we would nothing more than for everyone to win in a transaction with us.

A special order or custom build product have their own time tables and windows for production time. You can find lead times in most product descriptions of custom or special orders, on this information page, or from one of our helpful representatives through phone, e-mail or live chat. Please keep in mind the time frame offered is an estimate- sometimes there are delays that arise and change the estimated production date. One thing we can assure you is we strive to be the leader in customer information - to keep you informed from sale to delivery.

It is important to note special order and custom items cannot be returned. In most cases, we implement pre-production checks to make sure it is what you would like. Please review all e-mails or print outs carefully for any errors to ensure you are getting the desired end result.