Important Order & Shipping Updates 5/23

We will not accept orders that require Online Portal interfacing -- We apologize, but we are a very small company, and we do not have staff or time to set up and maintain Online Portal presences for orders that we receive from our institutional customers. We expect to be emailed a Purchase Order, and at shipment, we will email/mail the Invoice, and we expect payment directly from one of these two documents.

All International Sales are Final -- We apologize, but due to a recent attempt to scam UFI for hundreds of dollars from an international location where we had zero visibility and zero recourse, UFI management has decided that all international sales are final, with no refunds or exchanges. Please let our sales team help you make sure you are ordering the right item!

With all due respect to the people of China, their government has made business relationships too difficult for our small company. We apologize, but we will no longer sell our products to customers located in or companies based in this partiular country.

I Just Want That Gizmo!

Payment via Credit Card (MC/V only) is the fastest way to place your order if you already know what you want. This is the information we need:

How can we Contact You?
• Your Name
• Your Email Address
• Your Phone Number

What Do You Want?
• Which Gizmo?
• How Many Gizmos?
• (Repeat both for other Gizmos)

What Are the Credit Card Details? (MC/V only)
• Credit Card Number (double-check!)
• Expiration Date (month/year)
• 3 Digit CVV Security Code
• Exact Name on Credit Card
• Credit Card Billing Address

Where do you want it Shipped?
• Destination Name
• Exact Destination Address (if different)
• Phone Number At Destination (if different)

If simplicity is your game, just copy the outline above, then paste it into an EMail. Of course you need to change it to show your details. Next, change the EMail 'Re:' field to say 'UFI Gizmo Order' or something similar. The EMail address needs to be mail@ufiservingscience.com and maybe double-check that!

Hit Send... boom... done!

How to Place an Order

We apologize, but our web site is currently NOT set up for on-line purchasing. Note however, that orders received via email, fax or phone generally begin processing no later than the next business day. Note also that we can't always have your gizmo in stock! Please be patient with us.

As a general rule, all sales must be paid for prior to shipment. The only exception is that we generally accept Purchase Orders from Universities and Schools, along with Corporations and Companies, as long as they are located in the continental US. All international orders must be paid for prior to shipment.

Our standard restocking fee for our USA customers is 25%, assuming the equipment is received back in pristine condition. If the equipment is damaged, accessories or instructions are missing, or the return process incurs additional fees, the overall restocking fee can be more. And we will not issue any restocking refund until after the equipment in question is returned to our USA office for evauation. As mentioned above, we will no longer accept returns from international customers.

And this is a suggestion. Here at UFI, we realize that research can be a stressful undertaking. And in spite of our best efforts, even UFI equipment may fail at an inopportune time. If your subject schedule or research protocol cannot accommodate the 'down-time' of returning UFI equipment for repair (typically 1-2 weeks), we recommend that you do yourself a favor, and order back-up equipment. The cost of this additional equipment is probably substantially lower than the costs of delaying your research! And this simple step can help minimize your frustration as well.

Please work through the steps below to place your order.

Step 1: Obtain price information

• All customers are directed to our price list for our current pricing on standard items.
• UFI products are priced low for the institutional markets we serve. We are frequently asked about educational and quantity discounts. These are not often granted, but the process is that we will need to ask management about a discount on a case by case basis.
• Note that Sales Tax may need to be included on some orders, depending on rules in place at your destination.
• Our standard Handling Charge is $25 per order, and you should add this to your order total. However, for large orders requiring special packaging, or for complex shipping or billing methods, we reserve the right to increase the Handling Charge, in order to recover our costs.
• International customers should contact UFI for a Quote or Proforma including shipping and handling charges to your location. This is a good first step for many other customers as well. Note that, for any Quote, we need a full and complete 'ship to' address as well as a complete 'billing address' in order to supply any quote. Note again that duties and taxes required upon arrival in your country are the sole responsibility of the customer. UPS will contact you about payment.
• OEM, distributor and volume pricing is available, just call or email us.
• If you do not see the item you are looking for, contact UFI and tell us what you want. Our sales and engineering departments will be happy to evaluate your request, and supply you with a quote. Custom design and manufacturing are an important part of our business!

Step 2: Decide on your shipping method

(Please read our shipping philosophy below first!)

• We prefer to ship all orders by UPS (United Parcel Service), which has consistently provided us and our customers with good service over many years, especially internationally.
• However, if you prefer FedEx, Postal, DHL or another shipping method, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you. Note that we reserve the right to increase the handling charge if you request one of these alternate shippers! And by the way, should you set up your own shipping, and arrange for your shipper to pick up from our USA office, this almost always will require more time on our part, and we will increase the handling fee as a result.
• Shipping charges and any applicable local taxes are NOT included in the prices listed on our web site. International customers especially are solely responsible for ALL duties or other taxes that are required upon entry into their country, or prior to final delivery.
• Call or email us with any other questions.

Step 3: Place Your Order

• Please send your order to UFI via email: 'mail@ufiservingscience.com'. Make sure you include both billing and shipping information in the email, along with any special shipping or payment information.
• You can also send your order to UFI on our 24 hour Fax line; yes we still have that! (805-772-5056) Again, make sure you include all the information requested above.
• In the email or fax, simply indicate the items you wish to purchase, as well as what your current understanding is regarding pricing. For CC orders, you should include the CC information in the email or fax, but passing the actual card number to UFI can be done via phone or voicemail if you prefer.
• If you wish, you can simply call UFI, and we will take your order information and get your order in process. We would like to discourage this, because in our experience, this can result in extra hassle, due to the possibility of incorrectly transcribing some of the information! As a result, we generally prefer some sort of 'hardcopy' of your order to try to avoid these problems; email, fax, etc. Note that we are unable to place telephone calls to destinations outside the continental US!

Step 4: Make your payment

• UFI is setup to accept payment via Check, Credit/Debit Card using either Mastercard or Visa, as well as Wire Transfer through your Bank.
• Institutional customers (Universities, research institutes, corporations, etc.) may use a Purchase Order (PO). Faxed, emailed or surface mail purchase orders are all accepted. Our standard institutional terms are 'Net 30' for USA destinations only. We also accept faxed or telephoned credit card payments (MC/V only) for institutional customers.
• Individual customers (those not ordering through an institution) should either send a check in advance or make payment by credit card (MC/V only) or Wire Transfer prior to shipment.
• We frequently accept payments via Bank Wire Transfer. However, we charge an additional $25 to accommodate the transfer fees at our end, and the customer is responsible for any additional fees required at the sending end.
• International customers: Due to jurisdiction ambiguities, full payment prior to shipment is generally required for international orders.
• Call or email us with any questions.

Our Shipping Philosophy

All UFI products and repairs are shipped "FOB Factory / Ex Works" to our customers. Only this approach makes sense, since delivery across the county can cost dramatically less than across the ocean! But this also means that the customer is responsible for the actual shipping process and associated cost. As a courtesy, we generally arrange shipping for our customers, then add the shipping fees to the invoice. We do not ever mark up the shipping cost! We simply add our standard handling fee instead.

New UFI products leave our offices in top notch working condition looking brand new. Equipment we receive back for repair are often cleaned up as best as we can, but any operational problems are corrected. Of course our customers would be understandably unhappy if they did not receive the equipment just like we sent it, or if some of the items were missing. We agree that our customers should always receive what they pay for, and we approach our shipping with this in mind. Our preferred shipping partner has been UPS for many years. This carrier has consistently supplied reliable, timely service, even to our international customers. The use of a different carrier is always an option, should a customer request it. This hasn't happened often, and we evaluate each request on a case by case basis. This overall approach has served our customers well for many years.

The explosive growth of world-wide, on-line purchasing via well-known internet portals has forced regional government based postal services around the world to substantially improve the quality their service. Of course, there were a lot of 'lost' shipments early on, but the track record of 'the postal service' internationally, is slowly improving. In all likelihood, provincial governments are increasingly recognizing the financial value of this service. And as a government subsidized service, postal rates are fairly low. Yet as a free-market corporation, UPS has had to deal with increasing fuel costs and the like. UPS shipping rates, especially internationally, have had to increase over time too, even as the overall quality of their international service has improved substantially. All shippers book cargo space on the same daily international commercial airline flights for their items. But, besides that, the handling of the packages can be far different.

Still, if an international customer sends UFI equipment back to our office in California for repair, they might note the price disparity between the cost to ship the equipment to UFI via their local postal service, and our return shipment via UPS. The above discussion may help our customers understand why we prefer UPS. And we need to point out that there is a lot more at stake in the return trip for the repaired item; it is supposed to arrive fixed! However, it seems clear we need to provide our customers with a less expensive option, should they be willing to accept the risks involved.

Most UFI equipment includes sensitive electronics and fragile components. This is a lot different from a pair of shoes that can be stuffed into a thin plastic bag and be repeatedly thrown into large mailing bins without concern. And we should all want to avoid our $3,000 piece of equipment being left out on the front porch, and over night, over the weekend by a delivery employee. (This happens a lot...) Shipping involves risks, and we are trying to supply the best service that we can.

Our standard shipping carrier will remain UPS, for the reasons mentioned above. In addition, we will accept a customer request for shipment via Postal, FedEx, DHL etc., as long as our customer accepts full responsibility for the shipping process. If the equipment is damaged in shipment, we will handle it as a repair, and the equipment will need to be returned to UFI. Missing items will need to be purchased again separately. And our customer will need to address any claims process deemed necessary.

We hope our customers will understand!