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The Starpath ordering system will automatically compute an estimated (see notes below) shipping charge including insurance based on your purchase and destination — unless you have ordered electronic download options alone, in which case that shipping page will be skipped since downloads have no shipping charges. We send a confirmation by email when the package has been shipped, along with the tracking number. There are typically no earlier emails from us unless questions have arisen during the processing. Hence if an order is received on Friday afternoon, you may not here back from us until Monday.
Express shipping
Starpath International shipments are by DHL Express or by US International Express Mail. Delivery time varies from 2 to 5 business days depending on destination and products shipped. These are insured shipments that you can track yourself using the tracking number we include in the confirmation e-mail we send to you upon shipment. See important notes below.
Ground to Canada no longer available
We have had bad luck with ground to Canada. The main problem is the two carriers that offer it (UPS and FedEx) have often charged the customer a large "brokerage fee" to process the receipt of the package. Consequently, we no longer offer that option and instead DHL express or in some cases airmail options. In most cases, insured air mail is about the same price, in which case the express would be preferred. Air mail delivery to Canada can take a week or longer.
Have you considered the download option for software?
If you are purchasing software alone for overseas shipment, you may want to consider the download option if you have a broadband connection. Even a telephone modem connection would work for some products. This option saves all the shipping charges plus the base price is often lower. In all of our download options, the product delivered is identical to the packaged product. You can then burn the download file onto a CD if you want that backup, or remember you can always download another copy as needed once you have purchased the initial serial number. If the download option turns out to not work for you, you can always pay the difference in cost and have the packaged products shipped to you.
Duties and Taxes
Many Countries levy customs duty or taxes such as VAT or GST on products ordered from outside their borders. Some navigation equipment and educational materials may be exempt from some parts of the these fees, but that must be determined from your local agencies. All duties and taxes are the responsibility of the recipient and will most likely be collected by local agencies upon delivery of the products.
Actual charges
By placing an international order, you are committing to pay the actual shipping charge. In most cases the automatic computation will be right. In a some cases, however, especially for delivery to some remote areas, there might be an additional service fee of $20. This is determined by DHL. You can check their website www.dhl.com and compare delivery to your address to that of the nearest large city to see if this might apply. Use 98107 for the origin zip code. Note that our delivery charges will usually be significantly lower than the quotes you get, so you are only checking for the relative prices — direct to you, compared to nearest large city.
We will add or deduct from the computed shipping fee as required and adjust your credit card charge accordingly.
Street address and telephone required
Please include a building and street address, along with a telephone number that can be reached by DHL to call if they need assistance with the delivery. DHL cannot deliver to PO boxes. A contact telephone number is required for all international orders.
Delivery questions — Please let us know promptly if the package did not arrive
If you do not receive your package by the estimated time on the tracking number email we send you please let us know as soon as possible that the package has not arrived. If the tracking number email does not give an estimated delivery date, then let us know within 10 days if you did not get it. You can also track the package yourself at any time. If we do not learn of a missing package within 28 days of the shipment date, we can no longer apply for insurance refund, and consequently no purchase refunds would be available. In the unlikely event this should happen, and we can no longer apply for insurance (i.e. we were informed of this more than 28 days past shipment date) then if the products are still desired, we would need to send the shipment again and charge for replacement costs plus handling fees.
Larger shipments without larger shipping fees
Shipping weights are listed once an item has been placed in the shopping list, and they are summed in the pro forma invoice which is visible before the order is placed. Please note that some shipping charges overseas from the US are the same for 1, 2, or 3 pounds, or at least the proportional increase is much lower than the increase in weight.
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