Aquatic Plants SA

We always strive to keep our clients happy, but in some cases, the client may not always be right. Therefore, we have outlined some guidelines in our terms and conditions to assist.

 

1.    Insurance
•    This is an option with your order. Highly recomended for expensive plants or large orders,
•    This will be calculated by the courier company and not us.
•    Should you want to take this option please state so in the notes with your order and we will notify you of the cost.
•    Neither we nor the courier company can be held responsible for any losses during shipping without insurance
•    The cost of insurance is for the customer's account.

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2.    Payment 

Payment terms if you ship - Is via: 
•    EFT into our account, before we will prepare the products for shipping.
•    Via Credit Card (CC), is automatically available when you order – To prevent fraud, You cannot pay with a CC after you have placed your order.
Pick-up is via
•    EFT must be cleared into our account before you can pick-up
•    CC when you process your order OR when you pick-up.
•    Cash when picking up is acceptable.

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3.    COSTS - Including packaging(subsidised) for shipping
•    R145 to major centers
•    R100 EXTRA to outlying arears as dictated by the Courier Guy
•    Additional costs can be incurred if the box size exceed the current maximum threshold, due to the amount of plants ordered

• When you send your own courier, a packaging charge of R95 is applicable 

Packaging – 
•   We try to pack all aquarium plants in polystyrene boxes for shipping, but we can change this if needed, due to order size or other circumstances.
•   Invertebrates (Shrimps & Cleaning crews) are packed with the rest of the order in carton boxes, BUT we highly recomend you pay for the extra poystyrene box to ensure live arrival.

•   Carnivorous plants are packed in a carton boxes

•   Pond plants & Terrarium plants are packed in a carton box – this is due to :

• Uncomfortable size of the individual plants

• Cost of large polystyrene boxes is prohibitively expensive.

Courier costs-
•    All major cities/centres are only R145 per order.
•    All regional/outlying areas incur a fee of R245,as dictated by the Courier Guy. Parcels are collected at our Pretoria, Gauteng location, processed at the JHB depot, and distributed to the nearest main depot. From there, it is transferred to the hub closest to your location for final delivery to your door.
•    Additional costs can be incurred if the box size exceed the threshold, due to the size and or amount of plants ordered

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4.    Dispatch/shipping dates – This is governed by the courier service to your address
We REFUSE to send out any order that stand a chance of sleeping in a warehouse over the weekend!
•    This is a door to door service governed by the systems and protocols of the courier service,
•    This is normally on Monday or Tuesday for all orders received and paid the previous week 
•    We will also send on Wednesdays and Thursdays to all major cities/centres but not to Cape Town OR any outlying/regional areas 
•    We don’t want to see our valuable plants spending a weekend in a warehouse and therefore will only send on other days if the customer insist on it. In these cases it is without any guarantee of any form.

• PUDO is not an option – our experience with damaged packages and plants with this option was unacceptably high

• We exclusively dispatch orders directly from our premises, and options involving post offices or non-door-to-door services are not available. Regrettably, we do not have the capability to deliver packages to pickup points at this time.

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5.     Pick-up guide

• You will receive a notification once your Pick-Up order is prepared and ready for collection.

• Please provide us with at least 1 day's notice in advance to allow us sufficient time to pack and prepare your order. In other words, Pick-Up orders can only be scheduled for the day following the placement of the order.

• Payment for Pick-Up orders can be made at the time of collection. However, it is essential to inform us in advance so that we can coordinate a suitable date and time for your visit.

• Pick-Up orders are typically available after 15:00 and before 17:00, as we need to prioritize packing and dispatching shipping orders earlier in the day to meet courier deadlines.

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6.     Guarantee 
•    We guarantee that we will send you plants that are in great condition when we pack them. To ensure this we have a system where every order is inspected by 2 separate individuals for quality, quantity and identification purposes.
•    We don't claim to be the definitive experts on all plants, so we depend on our breeders and suppliers. Every plant we receive is meticulously labeled upon arrival, ensuring that you receive the correct plant sourced from our trusted breeders. In the rare event of a mistake by a breeder or within the supply chain, we address it on a case-by-case basis.
•    All our plants are carefully packed in individually marked bags.
•    We take pride in our packing protocols that ensure healthy and undamaged plant delivery’s. So please be careful to remove the packaging material and sellotape, when you unbox the plants.
•    We recommend you take the insurance IF you want to guarantee safe delivery as we cannot guarantee the courier services service as it is out of our hands.

• There are no guarentee an live arrival of livestock - IE invertabrates or fish as we have no control over the coyrier service after they left our facility's

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7.     Claims

• Claims will not be entertained under the following circumstances:

  • Free plants can be claimed under any circumstances.

  • If you insisted on a dispatch date that we did not recommend.

  • If you failed to pick up your parcel on the agreed-upon date and time.

  • If you used your own courier.

  • If you sent someone else to collect on your behalf.

• Damaged boxes - Please ensure that any damaged boxes are RECEIVED AND NOTED on the delivery note before signing to receive the package from the courier, as failure to do so may invalidate any potential claims.
  DO NOT RETURN THE BOX! You will not be credited if you did not receive the box. The reason being, the plants may be in good condition upon delivery, but they could potentially perish by the time they return to our facility. In 5 years we found only 1 damaged box that the client could not keep the plants.!

• If your box arrives damaged, it must be reported to us within 30 minutes.

• In the event of a lost box, we will replace or credit the plants, but we cannot cover courier fees unless you selected the insurance option, in which case courier fees will also be replaced.

• Dead plants while this is not common it does happen, in these cases plants:

  • ​must be reported within 6 hours from receiving the box from the courier service.

  • All claims must be accompanied with good quality pictures.

  • As these are live plants and we cannot control the actions of the courier service, we typically only approve claims that were insured.

  • Approved claims will either be replaced or credited with your next order. 

• Damaged plants that are still alive, while this is not common it does happen, in these cases plants:

  • should be immediately planted to ensure their survival.

  • Do not leave them in the box while contacting us.

  • Any damaged plants must be reported within 6 hours of receiving the box from the courier service.

  • All claims must be accompanied with good quality pictures.

  • We will assess each case individually to determine the best course of action for your claim and the plants.

  • As these are live plants and we cannot control the actions of the courier service, we typically only approve claims that were insured.

• Sadly no claims on invertebrates or fish can be given at all, But we guarentee we will pack only health stock and in such a manner as to ensure their safety as far as possible.

• We cannot accept any claims on products that you ordered by mistake, or don’t like after you received it.

• If you receive a plant that is the wrong species, and the breeder acknowledges the misidentification, we will refund your purchase once we have received the plant back in good condition. However, if the breeder can provide evidence proving their identification to be correct, no return or refund will be applicable.

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8.    Should a product need to be shipped back to us, this will always be for the account of the buyer and the responsibility to ensure healthy/undamaged arrival is the sole responsibility of the client.
 
9.    We have the right to cancel orders and refund the client for whatever reason, or refuse to assist a client. In very rare cases we might have to replace a plant with a similar plant, but this has not happened in the past 3 years.