USPS Shipping Policies
All customers ordering though our online store must initial during purchase to accept all polices on this page. We strongly recommend that all customer read over all of our policies, before ordering birds. Exceptions to our policies will not be made because customer did not read the policies before placing an order.
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We do not ship outside the continental US.
All of USPS shipping is done via " priority express mail" through the USPS. This is the USPS's fastest service.
Using this service birds will arrive either next day or second day, depending on the connections the airlines have that transport the mail.
As an example birds shipped on Mondays will normally arrive on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
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In our experience most orders will take 2 days to reach their final destination regardless of what USPS tracking estimates.
USPS shipping has temperatures restrictions and can only be used when temperatures are less than 80 degrees throughout the entire shipping process.
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New for 2017- Due to many customer request we have set our web store to now allow the purchase of USPS shipping on orders placed in August and September. Orders placed in August and September will have a 30-60 day wait before shipping. This is to allow our temperatures here in TN to fall to safe levels for shipping. If you are ordering in August or September your birds will not ship the following monday. You will receive an email within 72hrs with your birds shipping date. This date will be subject to change depending on the weather.
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When placing your order please make sure your shipping info (address) is correct. The providing of an incorrect address will void your "live arrival guarantee"
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Orders that are placed thru our online store normally ship the following Monday after they were placed (this excludes orders for pinioned birds and also orders placed in August and September ).
If that Monday is a federal holiday (postal services closed) your birds will ship on Tuesday. We will not ship any orders on weeks that the post office will be closed on a Tuesday, Wednesday ,Thursday or Friday. This includes but it not limited to ,the week of Thanksgiving possibly the weeks of Christmas and New years. For these and other holiday weeks shipping is delayed to the next Monday.
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We reserve the right to delay shipping due to unsafe temperatures, holidays, or any other reason that we feel may cause unsafe shipping conditions for your birds.
Usually delays are 1 week or less.
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If the postal services in your area are being affected by a serve weather event (example, hurricane, flooding, wild fires etc,) please do report this to us so we can adjust your shipping date accordingly.
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We often print shipping labels the weekend before your orders actually ships. You may receive an automated email from the company we are using to print your label once the label has been created. This does not mean your order has already shipped, it is only a notification that your label has been created. We will never ship birds on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Orders that were paid for through paypal invoice outside of our online store, will be notified of shipping date on that invoice.
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Pinioned birds will require time to heal before shipping this can be 1-4 weeks. If you have ordered pinioned birds through our online store, you will receive an email with your shipping date within 72 hrs of placing your order.
Please note orders for pinioned birds can not be changed and are nonrefundable, no refunds will be given should customer choose to back out of a sale for pinioned birds.
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Orders for non pinioned birds can be changed or cancelled by the customers. 10% cancellation fee will be applied to all refunds. Because of the special preparation required for shipping live birds any request for cancellation must be made at least 48 hrs prior to shipping date.
Tracking # will be e-mailed after the birds are sent. These emails are usually sent by 5pm the day of shipping. These emails are only sent to the email address provided to us when you placed your order.
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Please make sure you provide us with a phone # that the post office can reach you at once your birds arrive. If a phone # is provided it will be placed on your box. If phone # is not provided we will still ship your order, however you will need to give the post office your phone # when you contact them prior to receiving your birds.
Please plan to pick your birds up from the post office.
We recommend that you contact your post office to let them know that you are expecting a shipment of live birds, and that you would like to be contacted as soon as they arrive. We do not recommend allowing the birds to be delivered to your address, this can cause delays in delivery and will void your "live arrival" guarantee. If your post office does not call you on the day your birds are expected to arrive please do call them. We recommend that you do not rely on any type of postal app or tracking to see if your birds have arrived, as theses can be slow to update or even incorrect.
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Customers are solely responsible for knowing and complying with any regulations set by their state, county and/or any other relevant party that may impose rules pertaining your birds.
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Our farms NPIP # and federal paperwork if needed for that species will be attached to the outside of the shipping box. If you need any other documentation please inquire as to if we can provide it before placing your order. Additional documents can not be sent after your birds are received.
For more information please visit our "Permits and Regulations" page.
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Please only use email for correspondence about your order, it helps us keep things much more organized. We will not guarantee any request made to modify orders that are sent through any channels other than email. Our email address is MallardLaneFarms@gmail.com
When emailing please include your order # and/or the email address used when placing the order.
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Shipping fees are charged at a flat rate, this rate is the rate that we will be charging to ship your order , it will not match the postage sticker on your box.
We ship only in USPS approved shipping containers, at this time Horizon and FeatherEx are the only manufacturers of these that I am aware of. The price of the properly sized Horizon shipping or FeatherEx container is included in our flat rate shipping fee. For more information on Horizon boxes please visit. horizon boxes http://www.hm-e.net/
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We feel that the post office provides us with a very valuable service, in transporting our birds, we do not ask the post office to refund postage for deliveries that arrive later than scheduled.
A few words about temperatures in TN and shipping through USPS.
Here in TN summer is long ,we commonly still have 80's into Oct and often beginning again March. Please keep mind the mail trucks that take the birds to and from the airports are not air conditioned, it is likely to be much hotter in the metal truck trailer than the temperature is outside. On a hot day it is would not be difficult for the temperature inside the birds shipping container to reach deadly levels.
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It also should be noted that these birds have a much higher tolerance to cold temperatures than hot ones, thus shipping to northern states in the winter is not a problem.
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USPS shipping prices
Approximate shipping prices per pairs of average sized ducks.
The following prices are approximate and may be more or less depending on your particular order.
1 pair $99-$110
2 pair $140.00- $190
3 pair $175-$299
4 pair $299-$399
5 pair $399-$499
6 pair $499-$599
6 pairs of average sized ducks is the maximum amount of birds that can be shipped in one box.
"Live Arrival Guarantee" for USPS shipments
We guarantee live delivery to your post office.
**If any bird arrives at your post office DOA we will refund you the price of that bird.
The following conditions and exclusions apply:
Birds must be picked up from the post office no later than 3 hrs after they are available for pick up.
--IMPORTANT --Birds must be checked before you leave the post office.
If you have any losses you will need to file PS form 1000 (7530-02-000-9931) with your post office. --IMPORTANT-- This will need to be done at the time you are picking up the birds, two copies of this form need to be turned in to the post office, you will keep one copy.
Please then e-mail a copy of the form along with photo of the bird to us within 12 hrs of the time you received the birds.
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All conditions above must be met to quality for a refund/replacement.
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** In some cases we may choose to replace the bird instead of refunding for the bird.
We reserve the right to choose between replacing the birds or refunding the cost of the birds.
All shipping charges, health papers, or other fees are non refundable.
We do not offer any additional guarantee for after the birds are picked up from the post office ,our farm or other place that you may receive your birds. We recommend that customers read over our Care Info page for information on how to care for your birds. A certificate of health from our vet is available at customer expense. Cost of health certificate is $85.00 for 1-50 birds, $185 for 50-150.
In the event that a bird arrives alive but there is an obvious problem customer must notify us with 1 hr of receiving the bird. Pictures may be required. Any situation of this nature will be handled on a case by case basis. Birds being very scared or nervous should not be reported to us as a problem as this is normal behavior for these birds.
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Cosmetic things such as feather damage, males not being in full color or other things that do not affect the birds health are not guaranteed. Most birds will be wing clipped. We strongly urge customers not to order live birds from us that you intend to use to for taxidermy proposes.
Please make sure that you understand our shipping policies and the conditions of our "Live Delivery Guarantee" before placing your order. If you have questions please e-mail us at Mallardlanefarms.@gmail.com or fill out the form below.
Pinioned Birds Policy
If you ordered pinioned birds and think your birds are not pinioned to pursue any type of compensation you will need send us a photo of the bird/birds with its wings spread out. NO EXCEPTIONS We strongly recommend looking at your birds wings before releasing them.
Please keep in mind wild birds that can fly almost always will fly away and not return upon release. When the birds stick around for a while but then begin disappearing one by one over a period of time, this issue is almost certainly related to predators and not that the birds flew away.
Refunds and Exchanges
Because of the nature of the items we sell we do not accept returns or exchanges or give refunds except under the terms of our "live arrival guarantee" which is explained in detail in the section above.
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