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SHIPPING INFO AND LIVE GUARANTEE

      Shipping Information & Schedule
• Orders Placed Monday Ship Tuesday
• Orders Placed Tuesday Ship Wednesday
• Orders Placed Wed. before 9am (PST) Ship Wed.
• Orders placed Wednesday after 9am through Sunday Ship Monday

We do not ship orders on Thursday and Friday to ensure quality - live critters cannot be delayed over the weekend.
Hi and Welcome
"Please Read This
Page Carefully"

We ship via United States Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail. Priority Mail is generally 2-3 Day Service, however neither we nor the USPS guarantees a three day delivery time, so it can occasionally take longer.

If you need a 1-2 day guaranteed delivery time, please contact us regarding shipment via USPS Express Mail. We will then give you a quote for your order and await your response.



      Live Guarantee and Terms
Your purchase of live animals is guaranteed to arrive alive. There are a number of situations under which we do not offer a live guarantee. Orders arriving dead (DOA) are rare and when they do happen, it's almost always because of high temperature at the destination. Please be aware of our terms regarding heat (below). You'll be fine- as long as someone will be home upon delivery. The shipment cannot sit outside in the sun or heat where it is exposed to the elements or in a hot metal mailbox. Even in mild temperatures, direct sun will kill
    Conditions of Live Guarantee and Terms:
  • We DO NOT guarantee live delivery to daytime high temperatures of 90° F and above or to daytime high temperatures of 40° F and below (regardless of time in transit). This is the daytime high temperature, not the temperature at time of delivery. Temperatures determined by weather.com for your zip code.
    Shipment to such temperatures is at your own risk.
  • If orders are delayed or late in arriving and temperatures are within our live guarantee range, we will replace any doa's, but will ask the customer to share the cost by paying postage for reshipment.
  • In order for the live guarantee to remain in effect, you must notify us of doa's or other problems within 24 hours after receiving the order. Notifications must be made via Email so that we will have a written record of the problem.
  • In the event of a DOA, DO NOT DISCARD THE DEAD ITEM(s). We will require at least a photo or that the item(s) be returned to us or USPS may need to inspect and document the damage when filing a claim.
  • We cannot accommodate special delivery instructions, such as "leave package at the side of the house behind bush" or "deliver between 1 and 2pm" or "deliver to front door, not mail box." Postal carriers may not read or follow such instructions written on the box, and we have no control over what time orders are delivered.
  • We cannot offer reshipments, refunds or credits after a second DOA failure.
  • If your egg case does not hatch, there will be no refunds. But, we may replace it if the customer pays shipping. If egg cases are out of season, you can wait until next season or choose a living juvenile instead. Other items purchased with egg cases or items in a kit (such as fruit flies or other living food for the mantises) will not be replaced in the event your egg case does not hatch or is late in hatching.
  • Claims due to mail carrier mistakes or delay must be handled through the mail carrier.
  • We will not be held responsible for delays and/or DOA's resulting from incorrect addresses, including wrong zip codes.
  • We do ship to Alaska, but do not guarantee live delivery.
  • Egg cases may take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to hatch. Therefore, while we do recommend that you order mantis food with the egg case, we cannot guarantee that the mantis food you buy with the egg case or that is included with our kits will still be alive and/or propagating when the egg case actually does hatch.


      Refunds and Returns
We DO NOT ISSUE REFUNDS, except for order cancellations. Living items cannot be returned or credited. Non-Living items can be returned unopened and unused at the buyer's expense for a store credit. Store credit will NOT include the original shipping cost.



      Order Cancellation
If you would like to cancel an order that is not yet in the shipping process, there will be a $3.50 fee. This is in compensation for any fees and administrative work involved in processing an order and then cancelling it.



      Payment
We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, personal checks, money orders and PayPal. Your credit card charge will appear as "The Silkworm Shop," our DBA. Orders cannot be shipped until payment is received and/or verified. Personal checks will be held for 7 days to ensure sufficient funds. If you are paying by personal check or money order, after you check out at our store, make checks and money orders payable to The Silkworm Shop (Our DBA) and mail to:

The Silkworm Shop
PO Box 84773
San Diego, CA 92138



      Guarantee After Arrival
Once the customer has taken possession of the live merchandise, we cannot offer a further live guarantee. The product may be subject to an adverse environment, such as hot sunlight, airborne bacteria, moist conditions and/or cigarette smoke. We provide care sheets and we attempt to educate the consumer about product care on this website, however, the live merchandise may quickly die due to any numbers of circumstances beyond our control.



      International Shipment
We ship neither living nor non-living items outside the U.S.
We do not ship living items to Hawaii or Puerto Rico.



info@PrayingMantisShop.com    |   PO Box 84773, San Diego, CA 92138    |   Copyright © 2023 The Silkworm Shop


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