Helpful Information

Hours of Operation:

Central Time
8:00 - 5:30 Monday-Thursday
9:00 - 5:00 Friday

At other times electronic voice mail will take your calls. If you leave an order on voice mail, we will call you back with confirmation the next business day.

How To Order:

Call Toll Free: 1-800-442-9722
Español: 1-877-627-8673
International Orders: 1-847-403-0000

Our Fax Number:1-847-680-9250

Mail Orders to:
Windy City Novelties, Inc.
300 N. Lakeview Pkwy.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

Order Online at www.windycitynovelties.com

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BUSINESS, WE LOOK FORWARD TO FILLING YOUR ORDER!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
We value your business! To avoid any possible confusion or misunderstanding, please read our following Terms of Sale. All orders are subject to management review and approval. Generally we request payment via credit card, pre-payment or C.O.D. Open account is available to companies or organizations furnishing acceptable trade and banking references. Payment for all open account orders are due within 30 days of shipment. Please allow extra time for the credit approval process.

PRODUCT AVAILABILITY:
We try to keep a large inventory of over 16,000 different items. Occasionally, we are out of specific items. If this were to occur, we will attempt to call you at the daytime number you provided to suggest a possible alternative product. In the event we cannot reach you at that number we will delete the item from the order and ship immediately. Some of our merchandise is not suitable for children under 3 years of age.

SHIPPING OF ORDERS:
All orders are processed promptly. It is our goal to ship your NON-IMPRINTED order within 5 business days of its receipt. Generally, we ship via UPS, FED-EX or USPS (our discretion). All shipping charges including duties and broker fees, (when applicable to overseas locations) are the customer's responsibility. Please allow enough time for transit and customs clearance when ordering for a particular event. We recommend that you, (our customer) be at the delivery location to sign for and take possession of the shipment directly from the transportation compnay. We take NO responsibility for lost, stolen or pilfered cartons left at unattended locations. If we have your e-mail address, you will be sent tracking information the day your package leaves our warehouse. PLEASE NOTE: Timely deliveries of product hinges on UPS, FED-EX or the USPS keeping to their posted shipping schedules. Rarely, but on occasion, deliveries are delayed due to "Acts of God", such as poor weather. If an "Act of God" is blamed by the shipping company for a delayed delivery and you miss your required in hands date, we will allow you to REFUSE the order (for that reason only), and offer a refund for the cost of MERCHANDISE only. Shipping charges (both directions) will NOT be refunded.

EXPEDITED SHIPPING:
Expedited shipping is available using two methods. First: An expedite fee of $7.50 will put your order on a high priority list and it should leave our warehouse within 48 hours of the order being placed. Second: Orders can be expedited using a variety of Air Freight shipping options, they are: UPS ORANGE (3-day), UPS BLUE (2-day), UPS RED STANDARD (next day afternoon) UPS RED EXPEDITED (next day A.M.) or FED-EX (same options as UPS). These services are significantly more expensive than normal shipment by ground and you will be charged accordingly. New non-open account customers (less than 30 days) MUST prepay these Air expedited shipping charges by Credit Card, Western Union, or Bank Wire Transfer. A faxed credit card authorization MAY be required when pre-paying by credit card. Air Expedited orders will go signature required and our company is not responsible for missed packages as a result of non delivery if signature cannot be obtained by Fed-Ex, UPS or USPS. In the event a delivery is missed and the package is returned back to our warehouse, a refund will be given minus shipping charges and a 25% restock fee.

PRODUCT RETURN POLICY:
Internet images and descriptions may not always accurately reflect the color, style, packaging or size of a particular product. Since our merchandise is NOT SOLD ON APPROVAL any AUTHORIZED return requesting a refund will be subject to the following charges: a 25% restocking fee, the original shipping charges (plus return shipping charges) and charges for any product not returned. Refunds will be made to the original payment method. No returns will be accepted past 30 days from delivery. AUTHORIZED returns accepting an in-store credit for future purchases will receive a non-expiring store credit minus shipping charges for any unopened and unused product.

DEFECTIVE, SHORTAGE & LOST CARTON POLICY:
When appropriate, replacements for defective merchandise will be shipped out only upon AUTHORIZED return and inspection of the goods claimed defective. Authorized returns due to defective merchandise will have new merchandise replaced or, (at our discretion) a credit or refund will be issued, solely for the returned merchandise. That credit may be used for future purchases. Balloons that have been punctured, cut or over inflated will not be replaced. Claims for defective products must be made and returned back to us within 30 calendar days of the customer's date of receipt. Shipping charges for returning defective products are the customer's responsibility. Claims of product shortages must be made within 5 business days from date of customers receipt. SUBSTANTIATED CLAIMS for shortages will be replaced. Replacements for product shorted will ship via UPS, Fed Ex or USPS (our discretion) GROUND ONLY. Under NO circumstances will we ship product using air expedited shipping, although we will give the replacement orders our highest possible priority leaving the warehouse UPS, FED-EX and USPS require prompt notification of claims for shipments not received within 14 days of you placing your order. Therefore, you MUST notify us within 14 calendar days after placing your order should it not be received. Without prompt notification of Non-Delivery, UPS, FED EX and USPS will reject all claims for lost shipments.

DAMAGED MERCHANDISE CLAIMS:
Most damage to products occur due to rough handling by the transportation company. We will not be held responsible for breakage, damage or loss of merchandise while in transit. All transport companies require damage claims to be reported immediately (within 5 days of receipt) of the damaged shipments. To accomplish this, call us immediately (within those 5 days of receipt of damaged shipments), we will initiate a claim with the transport company on your behalf. The original carton(s) must be held for carrier inspection. Claims of breakage on inflates will not be credited due to nature, price and origin of merchandise.

REFUSED or UNDELIVERABLE SHIPMENTS:
Shipments refused or deemed undeliverable by either UPS, FED EX or USPS are subject to a 25% restocking fee plus the shipping charges (both to the customer and return to us) associated with sending your order.

IMPRINTED GOODS:
Our company offers a large variety of custom imprinted items including but not limited to: Banners, Invitations and Pens. All customization and final proof approval must be done on the web by the customer. It is the responsibility of the customer to proof and check all of the details entered such as but not limited to: colors of fonts, spelling, grammar and placement of wording. Our company accepts NO RESPONSIBILITY for any mistakes made by the customer. Returns, credits and refunds will NOT be issued for any custom and/or imprinted item.

SPECIAL REQUESTS – INSTRUCTIONS & ERRORS or OMMISSIONS:
From time to time we are given specific requests on how to prepare invoices or how to handle shipping and delivery. Although it is our intention to honor those requests and instructions, sometimes it is impractical or occasionally we may inadvertently error and miss those instructions. We apologize to you in advance should that occur, but regardless, this company does not accept any responsibility should those instructions not be followed. It will still be the customers responsibility to pay for the invoice in full including all shipping charges and foreign duties, customs and service fees (when applicable).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Unless the laws change, sales tax will not be charged on orders shipped out of the state of Illinois. Within Illinois, we will charge sales tax on all orders unless (prior to shipment or pickup) we are provided with both 1. CURRENT Resale Tax ID certificate (or Not for Profit Tax Exempt certificate). 2. A SIGNED copy of the Illinois form CRT61.

PLEASE VISIT: WWW.COOLNOVELTYPRODUCTS.COM FOR PRODUCT SAFETY INFORMATION.