| About Us/FAQ |
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Pandora's Puzzle Boxes But Were Afraid to Ask"
1. Who's Pandora?
2. Who's Agate Road, and why does their name appear on my credit card statement?
3. How safe is my credit card information?
4. How much is the shipping for my order?
5. How long before I get my puzzle box?
6. Do I have to pay sales tax?
7. What's your returns policy?
8. What's your privacy policy?
9. Isn't it risky to buy a puzzle box off the Internet without seeing it in
person?
10. Do you have a printed catalogue?
11 . Do you wholesale?
12 . Where else can I buy Pandora's Puzzle Boxes?
The original Pandora was a woman whose curiosity got the best of her. According to Greek mythology, she opened a mysterious closed box and let out all the human ills into the world. (Too bad it wasn't one of our Turkish puzzle boxes.)
Who's Pandora's Puzzle Boxes? We're Jim and Karin Thomson. Jim
has been in the crafts business since 1977, creating handcrafted burl wood boxes
with stone lids. (You can see them on our other web site, http://pweb.jps.net/~jthomson/woodandstone
.)
People frequently asked for puzzle boxes, so several years ago we
decided to branch out. We started with Costa Rican puzzle boxes, added
Japanese Himitsu-Bako, found a great Turkish puzzle box, and have recently added
a line of puzzle boxes from Vietnam. We're always on the lookout for new
ones--if you discover any, let us know!
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2. Who's Agate Road, and why does their name appear on my credit card statement?
Agate Road is the official name Jim chose for the business before we started selling puzzle boxes. The merchant account we use to process credit cards is under the name Agate Road, which is why it appears on your credit card statement. (If you pay through PayPal, your purchase will appear on your credit card statement as PAYPAL * PUZZLEBOXES.)
3. How safe is my credit card information?
Very. Our Shopping Cart is hosted by a company called Mal's e-commerce, which uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to encrypt and collect sensitive data like your credit card number. Your data is stored on the company's secure server, where we can access it only after entering a password through a secure browser. After we've processed your order, we delete it from the server.
Your credit card number is never transmitted via e-mail. Our e-mail notifications contain only your order information, not your credit card number.
For more information,
please visit the Mal's e-commerce web site at www.mals-e.com.
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4. How much is the shipping for my order?
Shipping anywhere in the United States is a flat $7.00 per order, regardless of the size of the order. Shipping to Canada is a flat US$12.00 per order. Shipping anywhere else on Planet Earth is US$22.00 per order.
For international orders,
please note that we can't be be responsible for any duties, fees,
delays, or
other hassles with the Customs Service in your country.
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5. How long before I get my puzzle box?
In most cases, we will ship your puzzle box within one business day of receiving your order. We ship to the U.S. via both Federal Express Ground Service and U.S. Priority Mail.
Orders shipped via Fed Ex Ground take one business day to reach addresses in northern California, or five business days to reach the East coast. If you live somewhere in between, the time is . . . somewhere in between.
Priority Mail is more unpredictable, but in general the shipping times are 2 - 3 days for all U.S. destinations.
International orders are
sent via U.S. Airmail Parcel Post, which the Post Office claims will arrive at
most international destinations within 4 to 7 days. In reality, it can
take up to one month, although that would be unusual.
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6. Do I have to pay sales tax?
Only if you live in California. Sales tax is required when online shoppers live in the same state where the retailer has a physical ("bricks-and-mortar") presence. Because we're located in California, we have to charge 7.375% sales tax on all orders shipped to California addresses.
Note that these rules are constantly being debated in Congress, so they could
change. But for now, no sales tax unless your order is being shipped to a
California address.
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7. What's your returns policy?
We want our customers to be happy! If you're not satisfied with your
puzzle box for any reason, you may return it (in original condition) within 30
days of purchase for a full refund. Please contact us
before returning any puzzle box.
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8. What's your privacy policy?
We keep all your private information private. We do not share, sell, or gossip about it with anyone. Heck, we don't even use it to create our own mailing list! (If you're like us, your Inbox is already jammed with too many messages.)
Our Shopping Cart
provider, Mal's e-commerce, keeps all customer information absolutely
confidential. They do not reveal your information to anyone but us.
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9. Isn't it risky to buy a puzzle box off the Internet, without seeing it in person?
Any time you buy an item without actually seeing it first, there's a chance you won't get what you expected. That's why we take great care to describe each puzzle box in detail, including a picture, so that you'll know what you're getting. In addition, our returns policy lets you return any puzzle box in original condition within 30 days. On top of all that, purchasing with a credit card protects you against fraud, non-delivery, and defective goods. (Pandora, of course, would never do that to you.)
We carefully inspect every puzzle box before we send it to you. That
means we open and close it to make sure all the moving pieces slide
smoothly. We examine the wood for scratches, nicks, flaws in the finish,
or any other defects. We pick out the "best" puzzle box we can find for
you. Why? Unlike shoppers who buy in person, you don't have
the advantage of inspecting the merchandise before you pay. So we do it
for you. We want happy customers, not returns!
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10. Do you have a printed catalogue?
Nope! It costs too
much to print one, especially keeping it up-to-date.
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At this time, we are not
able to offer wholesale pricing.
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12. Where else can I buy Pandora's Puzzle Boxes?
Summer/Fall/Winter 2008
June 27 - 29 - Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival in Laytonville, California.
September 6 - October 12 - Northern California Renaissance Faire at Casa de Fruta, near Hollister, California. Weekends 10 AM - 6 PM. Huzzah!
November 28 - December 21 - The Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Weekends plus the Friday after Thanksgiving, 11 AM - 7 PM.
Pandora's Puzzle Boxes
15590 Poverty Pond Road
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Phone Toll-Free 1-877-PUZZLEBOX
(1-877-789-9532)
E-mail puzzleboxes@jps.net
www.pandoraspuzzleboxes.com