Shipping to Customers

When shipping sales or repairs to the customer:

• Up to $500 value of item – ship USPS Priority Mail insured Adult Signature Required.
• From $501 to $50,000 value of item – ship FedEx Overnight Hold for Pickup (via IFS).
• From $50,001 to $100,000 value of item – ship USPS Registered Mail Restricted Delivery.

Payment in the store

If the customer paid cash, bank wire, check (once cleared), or credit card in the store and wants something shipped to their own address or to someone else, he or she must sign a shipping release form.

It will then be shipped to the requested address and person by same means at top.

The release must be filled out by the customer, not the salesperson. The entire address must be in the customer’s handwriting and signed by the customer to be 100% valid. That way the customer cannot claim that we made a mistake on the shipping address. Have the release approved by the CFO Robin Hart or Controller Cheryl O’Donnell.

Payment on phone or internet orders

We only take American Express over the phone. We cannot take other credit cards over the phone.

If the customer paid by American Express over the phone the item must be shipped to the credit card holder at his or her verified billing address only or by FedEx Hold for Pickup. We cannot ship to any other address or to any other name even with a release form for phone credit card orders.

We cannot accept any kind of financing as a form of payment over the phone. We cannot ship to any address using any financing over the phone.

If the customer paid by any kind of financing in the store (including Wells Fargo Financing) and wants something shipped to someone else’s address, he or she must contact the financing company and have that address added to his or her account. Otherwise, we cannot ship to any other address or to any other name even with a release form.

What is a chargeback?

A credit card charge can be disputed by the customer; they contact their credit card company and say they never received the item. The credit card company will ask us for proof that the customer received the merchandise. “Proof” means that the customer signed for the package at the customer’s billing address or at a FedEx office. Nothing else is accepted as proof of receipt.

In 99% of the cases, this proof will cause the credit card company to uphold the charge and we will get to keep our money. If we can’t prove delivery and receipt, then the credit card company will charge back the amount of the sale (takes all the money back from us that the customer paid). We lose not only the revenue from the sale and all the profit of the sale but also all the cost of the item because we do not get the item back and we still have to pay the vendor from whom we bought the item.

It is not okay to ship other than the ways specified at the top even if the customer paid by credit card or financing in the store. The customer can still deny receipt of the item and we will be back charged by the credit card/finance company. Only payment by cash, cleared check, or wire transfer allows us to ship other than the ways specified at the top and only then with the customer’s written authorization to do so.

If the phone customer using a credit card has another address that he or she wishes us to ship to that is not the current billing address, he or she can contact the credit card company and get that address added to his or her account, and once we can verify it with the credit card company, then we can ship to that address.

How to verify the customer’s credit card billing address

For all phone orders, you must verify the billing address using this method (updated policy to follow). It is NOT good enough to just run the credit card through the terminal and get a Y for AVS check. AVS only checks the street number, not the street name. Please verify the billing address BEFORE you run the credit card.

Only the bank that issued the credit card can verify the customer’s billing address. Our credit card processor does not have access to that information. The issuing bank is listed on the back of the card, but we don’t use that number to obtain authorization for charges or to verify the billing address in case the credit card is a phony (which would mean the phone number is also fake). We must look up the issuing bank and their phone number on our own.

You can call our credit card processor, Streamline, 800-200-5965 x1926 and they should be able to look up the issuing bank and phone number.

If you need help verifying a billing address, Reception or Accounting can assist you.

Verify the credit card billing address before running the card through the terminal, so that if something is wrong, we don’t have to cancel the charge and pay the fee.

For in-store sales, you must call to verify the billing address while the customer is in the store. If you try to do it later and there is a problem, the customer will be annoyed at having to come back to change the shipping release to a different address! (Remember that the customer must fill out the shipping release, we cannot do that for him or her.)

It is not okay

• It is not okay to ship to a hotel where the customer is staying, not even by FedEx Hold for Pickup. It is not possible to restrict delivery or verify cardholder billing address when shipping to a hotel. Even if the customer signs a release here, we cannot prove delivery without the customer’s signature and we cannot rely on the hotel employees to get it. Time-share condos are the same thing as a hotel.
• It is not okay to ship to an apartment building in care of the doorman. The doorman is not the customer. Only the customer can sign for the package.
• For phone orders, it is not okay to ship as a “gift” to someone other than the cardholder at other than the billing address. If that person says he or she did not receive the package, even if we can prove that someone signed for it, we will be back charged by the credit card company. Gifts can be shipped for in-store orders with the shipping release filled out by the customer.
• It is not okay to use the customer’s FedEx account, not even FedEx Hold for Pickup. We do not ever ship using the customer’s FedEx account, not for repairs and not for purchases, not for any customer merchandise no matter who owns it. Regular FedEx only insures jewelry and watches for $500 maximum and because it’s the customer’s FedEx account, our insurance company will NOT pay for any loss.

Repairs

We ship customer repairs back to the customer to the verified billing address only in the ways specified at the top, just as we do with any merchandise being shipped to a customer.

A repair is merchandise, it just happens to be merchandise that the customer owns. It still must get to the customer, and we still must prove that it got there.

Possible shipping alternatives under certain circumstances

PayPal

We can ship to customers who have paid us via PayPal ONLY if the transaction is eligible for PayPal’s Seller Protection program. To know if your item is covered, check the Seller Protection section of the Transactions Details page, and ensure that it states “Eligible.” The Sales Manager/COO or the HR Director can login to PayPal for you to check on the payment received.

All PayPal sales must be shipped by USPS Registered Mail, Restricted Delivery OR FedEx Hold for Pickup to the address on the Transaction Details page. Print out the Transactions Details page and attach it to the shipping slip to prove that you are shipping to the correct address and that it states it is “Eligible” for Seller Protection. Items without the printed Transactions Details page attached to the shipping slip will not be shipped.

Sales where the customer made multiple payments by PayPal are not eligible for Seller Protection. The entire sale must be paid for in one payment that shows on the Transaction Details page.

Tracking the package

Get the customer’s email address, then go to www.usps.com or https://www.fedex.com/en-ph/tracking.html. With USPS you can register the tracking number with their email address and yours. That way you and the customer will get tracking updates when the package arrives. Don’t forget to enter the customer’s email address into their Business Mind file!

Written authorization of CFO Robin Hart

Remember you must get the written authorization of the CFO Robin Hart before shipping by any method other than the ways specified at the top to customer’s verified billing address.

Violations of this policy

If a salesperson or other employee ships merchandise to a customer in violation of this policy that employee will be suspended without pay for one week, during which time no commissions can be earned even on split sales. Repeated violations may lead to progressive disciplinary actions up to and including termination.