Payment and refunds

How an order is paid for

Nothing is charged before you have approved a written quotation. The quotation carries the unit price at the pack size stated, shipping itemised separately, any hazardous-materials surcharge shown on its own line, and tax where it applies.

We accept institutional and district purchase orders quoting the quotation number, payment by card, and net terms where they have been established in advance. Tax-exempt institutions send a certificate once; we hold it on file and apply it to later orders. A W-9 is available on request for supplier setup.

The one-week window on preserved material

If anything is wrong with a preserved order, tell us within one week of receipt and we will put it right: a replacement, or a full refund of that item. That is the whole policy and there is no restocking charge inside it.

Wrong means what you would expect it to mean: the wrong species, the wrong grade, the wrong size, the wrong holding fluid, the wrong count, a specimen that arrived dried out or damaged, or something that does not match the packing list.

Unpack against the packing list on arrival rather than on the morning of the lab. A box opened six weeks after delivery is a box nobody can now say anything useful about, and the window exists so that both of us are talking about the same consignment.

The same-day window on living material

Living material is replaced on the next available shipping day, at no charge, where it is reported dead or in poor condition on the day of arrival. Telephone us the day it lands.

A shorter window for living material is not us being difficult. After a few days on a windowsill nobody can tell whether a culture arrived dead or died in the prep room, and a policy that pretended otherwise would just be a slower way of saying no.

Where a replacement cannot reach you in time for the lesson it was bought for, we refund it rather than sending it late.

Returns we do not accept

Living material cannot be returned. Once it has left us it cannot be re-sold to anyone else, and sending it back would only kill it more slowly. Problems with living material are handled by replacement or refund, not by return.

Opened or used instruments and supplies cannot be returned. Unopened instruments and supplies can be returned in resaleable condition within thirty days.

Special orders — anything sourced specifically for you that we do not carry — are not returnable unless they arrive wrong or damaged. Where an order is a special order we say so on the quotation before you raise a purchase order, not afterwards.

Cancelling an order

Before it is picked, at no charge. Telephone and it is cancelled.

After it is picked but before it ships, at no charge for preserved material. Living material scheduled against a specific ship date may already have been set aside and may not be cancellable at short notice; we will tell you on the call which of those applies.

After it ships, it is a return rather than a cancellation and the rules above apply.

Shortages and substitutions

If an item is short we telephone you before the order ships. We do not substitute a species, a grade or a size for another one without asking, even where the substitute is more expensive, because a specimen that is not the one the lesson was built on is not a favour. The substitutions page sets out what happens.

How refunds are made

A refund goes back the way the payment came: to the card that paid, or as a credit against the invoice where an order was paid on a purchase order. Where an institution prefers a credit note against a future order, we will do that instead if you ask.

Refunds are processed within five working days of the item being agreed; how long it then takes to appear is a matter for your card issuer or your finance office.

How to start any of this

Telephone (916) 386-2665, Mon–Fri 8:00 AM–4:30 PM PT, with your quotation or invoice number if you have it to hand. If you do not, the delivery address and roughly when it arrived is enough to find it.