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How we deal with Shipping, Returns and Your Privacy.
How You deal with our Web Site.
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Sprout School & Shop Sprouting Seed Info Center
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Product Returns
We will accept return of un-used items (ie: sprouters and juicers) only. We are a tiny company and our margins are very low. If you have not used your item and you have all the original packaging: you may return it to us (you have to pay the shipping) for a refund. We will credit your card the cost of the item minus a 15% restocking fee.
We do not accept returns of used items.
We do not accept return of seed - though we will credit your account if your seed is in fact not good at the time you receive it. Since we sprout these same seeds we know they sprout well, so instead of returns, we force you to learn how to sprout the seeds correctly. We can teach you that, and that's why we're here - to teach you how to sprout! If you are having problems sprouting something, try this:
1. Read the in-depth page for the seed you are sprouting.
2. Visit our Help page.
3. Join our Web Group.
4. Write us an E-mail.
Try and see this our way: We sprout the same seeds you get from us. We sprout them in the same Sprouters we sell. We get great sprouts from these seeds. We've grown over 200 TONS of sprouts and tens of thousands of trays of Grass and Greens. If we can't help you - who can??? If we accepted seeds back - we'd have people giving up on sprouting instead of learning. We'd go out of business and the quitters would never know what they were missing! To us this seems like the height of logic.
We have to point out that we do not make any false claims to sell products - in fact we warn customers to avoid certain products. We feel that our honesty compensates for our strict return policy. We also point out all over our site, that we are a small family business, and frankly you just can't expect a family business to run like a big corporation.
Finding your way around.
The Header: There are links at the top of every page which will take you to the most popular areas of our site. Take a look up there and you'll see: SEEDS, SPROUTERS, GROWING, COOKERY, KITS, etc. There is also a link to our Home page, HELP page and to your SHOPPING CART up there. That logo and link combo is called a HEADER. Underneath these is a SEARCH field. We pay for this search function - it does a pretty gosh darn fine job - so use it - it can get you where you want to be faster than I can.
The Navigation Bar: Along the left side of this and virtually every other page is a NAVIGATION BAR. At the top are links to info on the page you are on. If you take a look down the list you'll find links to every important and some not-so-important pages of sproutpeople.com. For the most part the navigation bar shows you one level of pages deeper than the links in the header. For example: The link SEEDS in the Header is the same as SPROUTING SEED INFO CENTER in the Navigation Bar. The links below that show you the pages you will find links to on that page.
The Footer: Almost exactly the same as the Header, the FOOTER lives at the bottom (foot) of the page. It contains a few more links as there is room at the bottom of the pages for such things.
Most of the General Pages (Seed Info Center, Sprouting Device Info Center, Leafy sprouts, Bean sprouts, etc.) provide easy access to the DETAIL PAGES - for example: If you want a recipe, go to our COOKERY page and you'll see all of the recipe's page links. The one place that the pages are deeper is in the case of seeds. If you are looking for ALFALFA, you could go to SEEDS - then to LEAFY SPROUTS - and then to ALFALFA (or use the Navigation Bar to get straight to LEAFY SPROUTS and then to ALFALFA). These pages - like ALFALFA - we call DETAIL PAGES. There is a DETAIL PAGE for every seed you can buy from us and some you can't buy from us. These are the pages with very detailed sprouting instruction, links to recipes that use that seed or mix, links to Sprouters that sprout that seed or mix best, and more. If you are missing those pages you are missing the heart of our site!
So here it is again, Detail Pages: Choose the Header or the Navigation Bar (or use the SEARCH field) and navigate to the type of seed you are sprouting: LEAFY, BEANS, BRASSICAS, GRAINS, etc. - then scroll down that page to find the seed or mix you are sprouting and click it's name. You will find amongst the wealth of information, a link to a printable (text only) version of the sprouting instructions for that seed.
Shopping is integrated. You may buy products from the Detail Pages and from the pages one level above. When you are ready to checkout you may click any VIEW CART icon/link - they are located in the Headers , the Footers and in the left side Navigation Bar (near the bottom of the bar) The VIEW CART icon/link (in the Navigation Bar) looks like this:
This same Icon/Link appears TWICE more on every Seed, Sprouter or Juicer Detail Page, and also on "General" Pages. Click it and you'll see any items that are in your cart. When you do checkout, choose the correct SHIPPING OPTION and your PAYMENT OPTION from the 2 pull-down menus on that first shopping cart page, and then click the button just below them. The Checkout button is labeled either CHECKOUT or (if you have a java enabled Windows browser) PURCHASE FOR $XX.XX. The resulting page is where you enter your ADDRESSES. Read the paragraph at the top of that page to make sure no problems arrise. Our site sets a cookie (if you allow cookies) which will fill that form in for you in future visits. After the form is filled, click the button: CLICK TO PROCEED, on the bottom of the page. If you are paying by credit card: The next page is where you enter your credit card information. We accept VISA, MASTERCARD AND AMERICAN EXPRESS. Fill in the info and click I AUTHORIZE THIS TRANSACTION. The next page shows you what you have entered and asks that you click SUBMIT TRANSACTION FOR PROCESSING. Do so. If you have to go back because something is wrong you MUST use your BROWSER's BACK BUTTON! CLICK AND HOLD it to show a list and choose the page that is 2ND IN THE LIST. This is a common thing on the Internet when moving from a secure page. You can then fix what you need to and move forward once again. After you click SUBMIT TRANSACTION FOR PROCESSING you will get to the last page of the cart. You need to click one more button to send the order to us - so click it - it tells you that you MUST click it too. AHHH the joys of shopping online =;-DEnjoy our site! Eat More Sprouts! Grow More Often!
Shipping
We'd like to explain how shipping set up here - and elsewhere so that you have the big picture.
We ship orders as soon as possible - almost always within 2-3 business days, though we reserve the right to take the ocassional day off - or even a family vacation every once in a great while, so perhaps longer. We insure all shipments. Our shopping cart lists several shipping options.
You choose your shipping method via a pull-down menu on the Shopping cart page.
So as not to delay your order,
please keep in mind:
UPS Ground may be used ONLY if we are shipping to a STREET addresses in the lower 48 United States.
If you are in Alaska or Hawaii you must choose Priority Mail.
If we are shipping to a PO BOX, APO or AFO you must choose Priority Mail.
If you are outside of the US, you must choose the location closest to you. Some countries are listed individually, while some are not. To prevent delay please choose the best possible choice - not based on price but based on proximity. ALL shipments outside of the mainland US go via the US Postal Service. How they get delivered in your country will vary from place to place, but it is from the USPO that your delivery person got your package.
Be sure you provide the EXACT SHIPPING ADDRESS! If we ship to the wrong address it will come back to us and you will have to pay both the cost of that return (UPS charges us to return packages) and also to have it shipped again. If UPS delivers to an address other than that which you give (ie: You forget to put the apt. number or you give us 4700 when the address is 4722), they charge us $5. We can not charge that to you - we just have to eat it, so make sure your address is EXACT. That will help us keep our prices down!
You must provide the EXACT Address your credit card bills are sent to as your BILLING address. If the address or zip/postal code don't match, your order will never get to us. You may ask us to ship anywhere as long as you provide the correct billing address.
We charge actual shipping (Note: In addition to published UPS rates, we are charged a SURCHARGE by UPS - due to the high cost of fuel - which is only going to get worse - it has been over 10% for years!!!! Shipping is a huge expense for us as well as you - we wish it weren't so.) plus $1.50 handling on all orders, regardless of size. We are as small a business as you are likely to find - we are not able to lose more money than we already do on shipping. Our handling charge helps us offset the actual packaging costs (boxes, tape, labels, ink, postal meter.....) and we feel that keeping shipping separate and up front is the most honest and least costly option for our customers.
Others offer "free" or "discounted" shipping, but if you look just a bit closer you discover that they have hidden shipping costs in their product's cost and that they are in fact, more expensive than we are when you add it all together (especially if you purchase a lot of items).
Shipping is a cost we must pay as a retailer. We are billed by package weight. Order (dollar) value is not in any way relevant when figuring shipping cost (except as relates to insurance). We have filed formal complaints with UPS regarding their burdensome price structure and their fuel surcharge (which we have not added to our customers cost in any way). Besides the outrageous prices UPS and the Postal Service charge us all, UPS charges us more for customers they consider "remote". They add $1.85 to every such package and their concept of remote is often ludicrous. When Sproutpeople was in Wisconsin, we were located 30 miles from the UPS shipping center in LaCrosse, but if you ship to the town of Viroqua it costs an extra $1.85 per package (no extra charge is made on our outbound freight) even though they have 3 trucks in that town all day - M-F. It is wrong, but we have to cover the costs of the many "remote" customers we have, so all of you pay a bit more. We are working with a professional company now - building a new shopping cart that will make it so everyone pays just their share, but it is harder than you might think, and it will cost us many thousands of dollars to have such a custom solution built for us, so if you can grin and bear the imperfections for now we'd appreciate it.
All things considered, we generally prefer UPS to the Postal Service as they offer package tracking (you receive that info from UPS on the day of shipment, if you provide us with an e-mail address and their server does its job). We no longer list Standard Mail as the Postal Service now charges more for that than for Priority Mail (on packages weighing between 15 ounces and 20 pounds) and it is never cheaper than UPS at the higher weights.
Please note that there is only one choice for customers in Hawaii + Alaska - Priority Mail. We ship All International Orders by the Postal Service.Canadians: We now have listed rates for you via Air Mail. Please select it on our shopping cart page. All other Countries: We will ship your order via Insured Postal Air Mail - Priority or Express. We will always ship orders outside the continental US, via the methods listed whether you choose them or not. Sorry - these are limitations we all have to live with.
Remember: Be sure to choose an available shipping option on the first page of our shopping cart. Your order may be delayed or even cancelled if you choose a shipping method that won't work for you. We have no way to charge you. When you place an order online, our site security blocks even us from seeing your credit card number. So take the time to click the "pull-down" Shipping menu and choose wisely.
We have looked at all of the other seed suppliers on-line and off and we humbly believe we are by far the best; our seed and product prices are lower, our e-mail support is beyond compare, we are committed to organics and our variety - both seeds and sprouters is without question the most diverse. We have long considered factoring our shipping cost into our seed and product pricing but feel that would penalize those who purchase large quantities unfairly.
As it is, all that our customers pay is $1.50 more than we do for their shipment (whether it is one 4 ounce envelope or ten seventy pound boxes), and that only just covers the costs. If you have any ideas that you think would improve our service, we would love to hear. We always try to do better.
The Sproutpeople consider your personal information PRIVATE!
- We will never allow anyone other than ourselves to see it.
- We will not sell it, give it away or misplace it.
- We will not use it to send you spam, though we hope to someday offer a newsletter (we'll warn you first).
- We will never use it for the telemarketing of sprouting supplies.
We do appreciate you giving us all the information you can so that we may serve you better.
- Including your phone number allows us an easy means of contact if we have a problem or question regarding your order.
- Providing us with your Credit Card's ACTUAL Billing Address (the place your bills are mailed to) allows us to verify that you are the owner of the card we are charging. Without it we are unable to complete your order. You may have us ship it anywhere - as long as we have that billing address too.
We hate junk mail and we loathe telemarketing (try telling them that the person they are trying to reach is dead =;-) and we are disgusted by the junk faxes we receive constantly advertising cruises!
We have an address to share with you which is intended to stop junk mail.
Just send your address and ask to be removed from junk mail lists
Mail Preference
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 90028
Farmingdale, NY 11735
SPROUTPEOPLE®
170 Mendell St.
San Francisco, CA 94124
Toll Free:
877/777-6887
(877/SPROUTS)
We only use the phone for emergencies.
Back in 2001 we were still using the phone. One day I was talking to a long-time customer while pushing my (then 4 year old) daughter on the swing in our backyard (this is what a mom n' pop business is like on the internet). It dawned on me that my priorities were severely messed up, so I stopped using the phone. I love to talk and I love to help, but my family would never see me if I picked up the phone again, and that's just wrong don't you think?!
The very best way to contact us is through E-mail =:-)
We are quite fast and VERY thorough. We love to help.
We have been an internet only business since 2001. We are not a big corporation. We are but 2 people, Mom n' Pop Sprout. We decided after years of juggling our family's (kids, dogs, cats and even our own) needs, and the needs of Sproutpeople, that we had to make more time for our kids, so we stopped talking on the phone. All calls go to voice mail and have since 2001.
We are very fast to fill orders and answer e-mail, and though we wish we could make the time to talk, we just can't seem to get more minutes into a each hour. We are many years older than when we started and our days are too short and made up of too few hours to do everything. This limitation in our business has not kept us from pleasing our customers, nor from growing (as we have every year since 1993). We do what we do as well as we can, and we think we do it very well indeed.
We appreciate your patronage more than we can say. We ask that you use the phone for emergencies only and that you search our site for answers before e-mailing us. This site is bigger than any 4 sprout books put together, it is always available and it is free, and we know that almost all questions are answered here.
Thanks again for your support and your many kind words.
Sproutpeople