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Finer Points About Shipping

Freight and Ground Shipping

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, all shipments are F.O.B. Shipping Point. Natural Playgrounds will determine the point of origin of shipment, the method of transportation, and the routing of shipment. Unless otherwise noted, all freight charges are the sole responsibility of the purchaser. Purchasers requesting shipment by a different method will be billed for any additional charges incurred. Natural Playgrounds, when possible, will attempt to make shipments by the routing requested by the purchaser, but makes no guarantee. All added accessorial fees will be charged to the customer (examples: lift-gate, re-consignment, etc.). If your product is shipping to a residential address, a university campus, a military base, a farm, a construction site, or any other nonbusiness location, the freight companies assess a surcharge to your delivery charge. Someone must be present to accept and sign for the delivery or the freight company will have to return and may charge for additional delivery attempts. The receiver is responsible for unloading all merchandise. Trucking companies allow a limited amount of time to offload your product, because they normally have a daily route with multiple deliveries and pickups. If that time is exceeded, you will be assessed additional charges for waiting time.

Loss, Damage or Delay

Shipping dates are approximate and are based on prompt receipt of all necessary information and approvals from the purchaser. Natural Playgrounds shall not be liable for failure to perform or for delay in performance due to fire, flood, strike, or other labor difficulty, acts of God, act of any governmental authority or of the purchaser, riot, embargo, car shortage, wrecks or delay in transportation, inability to obtain necessary labor, materials or manufacturing facilities from usual sources or due to any other cause beyond its reasonable control. In the event of delay in performance due to any such cause, the date of delivery or time of completion will be postponed by such length of time as may be reasonably necessary to compensate for the delay.

Claims

It is of utmost importance that receivers/customers make note of any damage to deliveries. All orders are shipped from Natural Playgrounds and/or its vendors only after they are inspected for accuracy and quality inspected to insure there is no damage. Title is passed to the carrier at time of pickup and it becomes their responsibility to safely handle the product to ensure that it arrives in the same condition as it was in when it left Natural Playgrounds’ facility.

When you receive your merchandise, make sure to inspect it carefully to ensure it is in good, undamaged condition PRIOR TO SIGNING FOR IT.

If you accept it and sign that you received it in good condition, the freight company is NO LONGER RESPONSIBLE for any damages that you discover later. The act of signing for delivery is acceptance: (1) that your product has arrived undamaged, (2) of ownership of the property (the shipment) from the shipping carrier to the receiver. The person who signs the Bill of Lading when products are delivered MUST note any damage on the Bill of Lading (Delivery Receipt). Make sure the delivery driver also signs that the product is damaged. Please take pictures if possible. Oftentimes, the damage is done to a part that can easily be replaced. If there is no indication of damage, trucking companies will deny claims for damage in transit.

Natural Playgrounds is not responsible for damage caused by freight carriers. Natural Playgrounds and its vendors (if any) take great care to ship products that are in excellent condition. Once they leave their sites, damage can occur while the products are in the hands of the trucking company. If there is no notation of damage on the signed Bill of Lading, trucking companies often deny claims of damage. It is their right to do so. SO - it is important that whoever receives the products be trained to look for damage and note it on the Bill of Lading (Delivery Receipt) ND TAKE PICTURES OF IT AS PROOF. Even if there is no designated space for such a notation, it must be written on the Bill of Lading (Delivery Receipt).

It is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify Natural Playgrounds of all damages within 5 business days from delivery. Claims for damage or shortage or any other reason must be made within 30 days from the date invoiced and must be noted on the Bill of Lading (Delivery Receipt).

We have set this limitation because we found that some of our customers kept the stuff in storage for months and months, and then when they got around to opening it up, they found mold, or that squirrels had nibbled away at stuff, and they asked that we replace the items!! Also, after that long a period in storage, there was no way to know whether some stuff got thrown out by accident, or moved to another location without telling anyone, and then they’d tell us part of the shipment was missing.... :(

We value our customers and will do everything to provide a replacement product at no extra charge, as long as the damage or missing elements are noted at the time of delivery. We will NOT accept responsibility for damage done to the product if the receiver of the product does not note damage. At this point you will accept ALL responsibility for the product and can file a claim directly with the carrier for the damage. We will be happy to assist you with this process.

Errors on Our Site

Prices and availability of products and services are subject to change without notice. Errors will be corrected where discovered, and Natural Playgrounds reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions including after an order has been submitted and whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is canceled, Natural Playgrounds will issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the charge but reserves the right to add a small restocking fee (5-10% of the order total not including shipping) depending on the timeline for the cancellation.

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