CCS Auction and Sales Terms

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CCS Auction and Sales Terms

Before we go into the details, let us just put this into perspective. We are more than reasonable and so are most of our customers. There is really no reason for most folks to read this. However, there is always someone who is a lawyer or "plays one on the Internet" and worries about every possible problem and has to ask a thousand questions where the answers should be obvious. For the benefit of that person, here are the details. Happy reading.

What do our customers think about us? Just check our ratings on ebay

Auction and Sales Terms

Please read this carefully, particularly if you are new to auctions or Internet purchases. If you have questions, feel free to email.

Do your homework before you buy or bid. Check prices before you buy or bid. Ask your questions and get the details before you buy or bid. Don't wait until after the the item has been shipped or the auction closes to decide that you are only taking the item under certain conditions never mentioned. To answer some of the most commonly asked questions in advance:

Payment: We accept many different forms of payment (which appear after "We accept:" at the top of the page), and in the United States and Canada we accept money orders, personal checks (in US dollars), Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express with conditions credit card terms. We accept Paypal and Google. We accept Bidpay, which lets you use your credit card internationally. However, Bidpay requires that the transaction be for an auction, so we will have to go through the extra step of posting an auction on Yahoo with a buy-it button for you to click. All of these payment services charge you NO fees.

We do not send items COD. We do NOT use Escrow. For credit card payments, your shipping address must match the cardholder address. If you have a special requirement, ask before you buy or bid. We make it very easy to pay. Upon winning an auction or submitting an order inquiry, you will receive a detailed email explaining where to mail payment or how to submit payment via online services.

Shipping and Handling Fee: We ship almost everything USPS and usually priority. We charge a S&H fee that is often a bit less than we pay and sometimes a bit more. We charge a flat fee per order, so where you might pay $5 and discover that our shipping cost was only $4.80, remember that you could have ordered more items and still paid just $5 even if our costs were higher. As a matter of fact, the MORE items you order the LESS shipping you will pay. We even offer free shipping on many orders. Insurance is optional, but we have only had one package get lost out of thousands shipped and it was going overseas. If tracking for an item we ship shows as not delivered to you, we will replace it.

Item condition: All the items we sell are NEW, and NOT refurbished, refills, open box, etc. In some cases, they come to you direct from the distributor and don't even pass through our store. If you want to know what items we sell and which are in stock or come from the distributor, click the link for our online catalog.

Foreign sales: We very rarely sell out of the country (except for Canada). This is only because our experience has been that too many people from overseas don't seem to understand the reality of overseas shipping. It can be expensive. It can take a long time. It is virtually impossible to track items. Sometimes Customs intercepts the shipment and adds their own charges. Accepting foreign credit cards introduces its own complications (which is why we accept Bidpay). If you understand the process, then feel free to email. We have shipped out of the country to "educated" buyers successfully. If you have unrealistic expectations and want your item to arrive the day after payment, then please look elsewhere.

Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, APO, FPO: Yes, we know that you are all part of the United States. Since we ship via USPS, we can fill your orders and shipping will be the same as in the lower 48. We'll even accept payment in Hawaiian money :).

Canada: Most items can be shipped to Canada for the same costs as in the US. However, on rare occasions they get held up by customs for a few weeks and even assessed extra VAT taxes. (This happened once or twice in many years.) You assume the risks of this. The only proof of shipping we can offer is a scan of the postal receipt. Again, not one package going to Canada ever got lost. We have good friends in Canada and visit each other regularly. It is possible that we can even arrange to have your item shipped from within Canada, so don't hesitate to ask.

Contacting us There is very little that can't be handled via email, which also leaves a clear understanding of what you want. If you feel a need to chat, email with your phone number and a time to call and some indication of what you want to discuss and we would be happy to call you. You can call us as well.

Processing time On items that come straight from the distributor and are going UPS, your order is placed as soon as payment arrives. Delivery time depends upon the originating warehouse and the destination and is typically 2-3 days. Do not ask for the tracking number unless there is a problem. We can not bother our distributors to get every tracking number. By the time the tracking number is posted on the vendor's site, the item has usually arrived at the destination. If we ship the item, we will have the tracking number and will email you automatically when it ships. On smaller items that we ship ourselves, we print out postage and delivery confirmation slips right from our PC and ship almost daily, so except under rare circumstances, there is rarely more than a one day delay. If it is going to Canada, we have to take it to the Post Office, which we typically do Sunday and Friday, so there might be a slight delay. If you have not heard from us, please contact us quickly. Don't let a few weeks go by. If there is a problem, the sooner we hear about it, the sooner we can correct it.

Delivery Responsibility Our responsibility is to get it to the deliverer. If you choose free shipping, YOU accept all risk of loss or damage. We will put the item in an envelope or small box, affix postage and drop it in the mailbox. We use electronic delivery confirmation but this often does not get scanned until delivery. This means we will have no way to track the package or prove it was sent. So far, we have had only one package get lost going overseas and one in the U.S. which was probably stolen at the customer's address. We chose to replace both items, even though the customers did not take insurance (they kindly offered to pay half, but we declined). However, we do not promise to do this in every case. If you choose not to take insurance, you accept all risk of loss or damage.

Loss or Damage UPS may take a month or two to reimburse for a lost or damaged package. The Post Office may take several months. In order to avoid this unpleasantness, if you take insurance, we often self-insure on USPS-shipped items. This means that we will replace the item ourselves. However, we will do this only when it becomes clear that UPS or USPS is accepting the responsibility. If UPS, FEDEX or USPS shows proof of delivery, it becomes your responsibility to pursue it further. We had only one USPS package going overseas get lost out of thousands shipped in over 3 years. Fortunately, it was insured. As soon as USPS told us they believed it was lost, we shipped a replacement to the customer. We had one UPS package left on a doorstep that disappeared. Since UPS had no signed delivery slip, UPS reimbused us. As soon as we made the claim and were told that we would probably get reimbursed, we shipped the customer a replacement (within a week of the first one getting lost). We did not make him wait until the claim was paid over a month later. But don't expect us to reimburse you until the deliverer has agreed to pay the claim. We are not responsible for items stolen AFTER delivery. We have heard of items shipped by other sellers at the customer's request to a company or army base and then stolen from that location. We are not responsible for the security of your neighborhood or workplace.

Warranty: Except for ink cartridges, we do not guarantee a refund. We will replace with an identical item or the next model up. Items that are sent to you directly from the distributor and fail within 30 days must be returned to the distributor for replacement. We often work out cross-ships, where we send the replacement before receiving the defective item back. You pay for the replacement or provide a credit card and the payment is refunded or the charge voided upon receipt of the defective item. We also have items such as certain monitors, where the manufacturer ships out an express replacement and picks up the defective monitor. Email us and we will assist you in arranging the replacement. We try to test every expensive item that we ship out (such as digital cameras). If you insist that you want a sealed box, we will be unable to test it. If we are unable to test it, then any warranty claims must be made with the manufacturer. If we have tested it, contact us for warranty issues. Item must be returned in the same condition in which it was sent and must carry the same serial number.

Our policy can best be summarized as "be reasonable." Our items are covered by a manufacturer's warranty. As a service to our customers (and because we can get faster service from our distributors than you can), you can contact us if you have a problem and we will do out best to solve it. Occasionally a customer is unable to get an item working, whether due to a problem on their end or with the item itself. We do our best to solve the problem and work out an equitable arrangement for the return, if it must be returned. However, we expect our customers to be reasonable. In most cases, the item has to be returned to us or the distributor or the manufacturer for replacement. Certain items are picked up. We do not issue call tags to have it picked up. Remember, we did not manufacture the item, so even if it is defective, it was not our doing. If you bought an item at a store and it didn't work, you have to return it to the store. You don't call the store and ask them to come to your home and pick it up. After you have had the item for 30 days, it can hardly be called defective. However, you can notify us and we will still do our best to help you. Take a look at our feedback. Notice the number of repeat customers.

Exchanges of wrong items ordered: If you ordered the wrong item, it is typically handled this way: If you have not opened the item, we will give you full credit of the purchase price (not the shipping) toward the item you actually need. If there is a price difference, you will either owe us or we will send you a refund. If you have opened the item or want to send it back for refund only, we will take it back but you will not receive the full purchase price. If we send you the wrong item (anyone can make a mistake. we have once or twice), we will exchange it for the correct one and reimburse you for your shipping to us. In all cases, claim must be made within ten days of receipt and the item must be returned within 30 days. Note for credit card users: If you paid by credit card and are returning an item for refund because you ordered the wrong item, you will be charged a restocking fee to cover our costs. We pay a fee for credit card processing and we are not refunded this fee when we give refunds. So expect to receive 95% of your original payment, less the shipping cost.

Exchanges of wrong items received: If you received the wrong item, we will replace it with the correct item at our expense. If you received the wrong printer cartridge, we will send you an extra to cover your shipping.

Exchanges of defective ink cartridges: When we get the rare claim of a defective ink cartridge, we handle it in the following manner:
We understand that people can buy cartridges and not use them for a long time, so though our warranty on most items is ten days, with ink cartridges we have extended it to a month per order or 10 days per cartridge, whichever is longer. If you order ten cartridges, you have a hundred days to report a defective one. (Not that we won't replace it on the hundred and first day, but we need to set some sort of reasonable time limit.)

one defective cartridge - an occasional defect happens, even with brand name cartridges. We will replace it.
two defective cartridges - this typically indicates that the problem is with the printer. When the heads get clogged, the printer will complain that the cartridge is empty. In that case, at your request we may replace or refund.
more than two defective cartridges - we will refund for two open ones and any closed ones. Once two cartridges failed, we consider it unreasonable for the customer to continue opening more cartridges to try on a defective printer. This condition was put in after a customer ordered a dozen cartridges, then returned a dozen empties months later claiming they were all defective.

Final note We have excellent ratings in over 300 auctions at Yahoo, ebay, Amazon and others. We work very hard to give 100% customer satisfaction. We do not have a single complaint from a customer. (We have one negative on Yahoo and one on ebay, both from deadbeats who never purchased.) With the fast, free and efficient method of email communication, there is no reason for miscommunication. Have a question? Email.

Complete Computer Services, Inc
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