FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Fante's is a small family retailer, based in Philadelphia since 1906.
We focus on specialty goods for the kitchen, which we sell in our store in Philly's historic Italian Market, and through this website.
For more information about us, please visit our History page.

Where We Ship.....destination limitations
We ship exclusively to Street and Post Office Box addresses within the 50 states of the USA.

Ground Shipping Charges:

Large Orders
We will try to accommodate orders for large quantities, however they may be subject to the actual UPS or USPS shipping charges we would incur based on excess weight and bulk.

When will you receive your order?
Within 1-2 weeks, during most of the year, depending on your distance from our Philadelphia warehouse.
Orders with items unexpectedly out of stock shipped in full when they become available.
There may be slight delays by USPS and UPS during the Christmas season.
Contact us before you place your order if quick shipping is crucial.

When we ship.....how long it takes under various circumstances
All orders are generally processed and shipped as quickly as possible, and usually within a few days of receipt. You will be advised by e-mail as soon as possible if we are unable to process and ship your order for any reason.

Item requested not in stock: If we don't expect its arrival within a week, we will notify you as soon as possible and let you make the decision to:
- Ship the item when we receive it, or
- If some items in your order are available, to ship what we have now or to hold off shipping until your order is complete, or
- You can ask us to notify you when we receive the item, or
- You can cancel the order.

Gift Certificate and Store Credit: When using as payment for your order, we will place your order in line for shipping when we receive those documents from you.

Holiday Orders: Mid-November to mid-January, shipping times will take longer due to heavy volume.

How We Ship....what transportation companies we use
Regular Handling orders are usually shipped via UPS Ground or USPS Priority. Large and bulky orders are usually shipped by UPS Ground or USPS Parcel Post.
Gift Cards are available immediately online, or can be e-mailed to your designated recipient.
Your signature may be required upon delivery, at the carrier's discretion. Their criteria is generally based on the value of the product being delivered, and their liability experience in your neighborhood.

Tracking Your Order.....ways to check on your order
If you ordered online, you will be notified by e-mail when your order is shipped. A Tracking Link will be provided in that email, so you can check on the anticipated delivery date.
(When we ship via UPS, the e-mail will come from UPS Quantum View.)

If you miss delivery:
- The carrier will leave a notice informing you of the next delivery attempt, the location where you can pick it up, and if the package requires a signature.
- The carrier may leave the package without a signature at their discretion, since they are the ones who insure the package.
- If you miss delivery and you authorize the carrier to leave your order without a signature, you do so at your own risk, since you will then be responsible for the products being delivered and in good condition. We urge you to refrain from doing this.
- If you authorize the Carrier (UPS or USPS) to deliver to a different address, you will incur a handling charge.
- If you miss delivery, you can usually arrange to pick up your order at the Post Office or UPS customer center (depending on how your order was shipped).

About our Shipping Charges.....how we charge and why
Our shipping charges are based on the amount of your purchase, as indicated on the rate charts on this page.
On small purchases, shipping charges may seem disproportionate to your cost. These are the most expensive orders for us to process, and the shipping charge is necessary to defray expenses (boxes and packing materials, shipping, insurance, etc.) that may be more than the profit we would otherwise make on the product's selling price.
Business Orders, Please Note: As a small family business, our chosen role as a retailer is to serve household consumers, and our published shipping charges apply to orders for quantities that a consumer would normally order.
We will do our best to accommodate orders for large quantities, however because the larger bulk and packing requirements are often more costly, we reserve the right to increase the shipping charge to reflect actual UPS or USPS shipping rates. Rest assured we will notify you of the alteration in advance, and you can approve the change or cancel your order.

About Where we Ship.....and where we don't
We would love to ship everywhere and to everyone. However, as a small company and with limited resources, we feel compelled to restrict our service area, and to only use services that we can confidently support.

Following are answers to some questions we regularly receive.
- Why don't you ship everywhere by UPS? The cost is much higher to certain parts of the US than US Postal Service, and prohibitive outside the contiguous U.S. We don't have the resources to quote individually on each order that wants to be the exception. Also, UPS isn't allowed to deliver to Army and Fleet Post Offices (APO and FPO), nor to Post Office Boxes.
- Why don't you ship outside the U.S.? Too risky, since credit card companies cannot verify the billing information on the order. And insurance is another problem.
- Why won't you use my third-party shipper? Because we can't verify the payer's identity, and ways to get around this are too time consuming and expensive for our small company.
- Why don't you ship to APO and FPO addresses? Though Army and Fleet addresses look like they're in the U.S., they are considered international shipments and require customs documentation. Overseas credit card billing addresses, which are not verifiable by their issuing banks, pose further risks for us.
- Why can't I Prepay for Pickup by a Third Party? Too risky, unable to verify identity of payer.
- Our apologies to all the wonderful people who want us to ship to other destinations. We understand how difficult it may be for you to obtain some of the products that we carry, however we hope you'll understand the limitations posed by our small family business.

Phone Orders
We prefer that you order online, if possible. Our small size and limited staff may preclude us from giving you expeditious service if you call us with your order. Do call us if you have urgent inquiries about products and services that cannot be answered via e-mail.

Paying by Credit Card
We must be able to verify your billing address with your Credit Card issuer before we ship your order. Only cards issued by U.S. financial institutions are accepted.
U.S. card issuers participate in the Address Verification System (AVS), which verifies the billing address and zip code when merchants like us request authorization for a purchase.
A Gift Card issued by the above providers looks just like a credit card, however you must register it with the provider before you use it online, or your purchase request will be declined due to missing address verification (AVS) information, which we and other online retailers require!
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express credit cards only.
If your purchase request is denied by your Credit Card issuer as a result of a discrepancy between the billing address you provided to us and the billing address they have on file for your account, your bank may place a temporary hold (not an actual charge) for the purchase amount on your available credit. If a charge does not result in a few days, the hold disappears and those funds are available again for you to charge against.
Your credit card number is encrypted and sent through a secure server with your order. (See How We Protect Your Privacy.)
We charge your credit card when we ship orders from our location.

Sales Tax.....what, where, and when
We are required to collect Sales Taxes on most products that we ship within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, New Jersy and Kansas. This is subject to change as tax laws are updated.

Tax exempt organizations must:
- Indicate your tax-exempt status in the Comments section of the order form;
- Indicate whether your are mailing or faxing the form;
- Download the Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (fill-in form);
- Mark the form for Unit Exemption (use a separate form for each order);
- Write your Order Number on the form;
- Mail or fax (215-922-5723) the form to us right away;
- We must receive the completed form within a week for Sales Tax to be deducted.

Service Charges.....when additional charges may be applicable
$16.40 Charge: For delivery address changes after your order is shipped:
- UPS charges $16.40 for corrections to the delivery after the order is shipped. This includes when the recipient changes/corrects the address after an unsuccessful delivery attempt, when we have to request that they intercept a package in transit to make address changes/corrections, and when a change is requested to the scheduled delivery date.
- UPS also charges for any additional shipping costs incurred in getting your order to its revised destination.

Re-Shipping Charge: If you give us a delivery address that is incorrect and the order is returned to us, you will not be reimbursed for the original shipping charge, you will be charged for the cost we incur for return shipping, and you will be charged for the cost we incur to re-deliver to the corrected address you give us.

Refusal Charge: If you refuse to accept delivery without prior authorization from us, you will not be reimbursed for the original shipping charge, and you will be charged for the cost we incur for return shipping. (If there was no original charge for shipping, you will be charged for both shipping and return costs.)

Return Label Re-Issue: If you don't retrieve an electronic prepaid return label within the 10 days after we notify you of its availability, or if you lose a prepaid return label, and we have to re-issue it, we will charge you $2 for its re-issuance. The charge is intended to reimburse us for the additional charge we incur from the carrier.

Return to Sender: If the Carrier is not able to deliver due to an incorrect or incomplete address, or because no one is available to receive the package and it is not picked up at the terminal after several delivery attempts (usually 3 by UPS, 2 by USPS), the order will be returned to us. You will be charged any fee we may incur for the return shipping and, if you ask us to re-ship, for the re-shipping charge.

Charge for Unauthorized Service: If you alter any shipping related services provided without prior authorization from us, you will be charged for the difference between what you paid us and what we were charged by the carrier.

Fantes.com.....you can store your shipping and billing preferences and view your orders
If you're a frequent shopper and would like to have your information automatically filled in on our Shopping Cart checkout, you can sign up for an account on our site. From your account you can track your orders, see past orders and re-order previous orders

Print Catalog.....alternatives
We don't publish a print catalog at this time. The high costs of printing and mailing, as well as the constant fluctuations in availability and prices from our wide variety of sources, prevent us from printing a catalog at this time.

Gift Cards & Certificates, Store Credits, .....how to redeem
For information on how to purchase Gift Cards, please see our Gift Cards page.
Online-issued: Fante's Gift Cards can be redeemed at checkout.
To redeem in our Philadelphia store, bring a printed copy with you.
Offline-issued: Fante's Gift Card or Certificate or Fante's Store Credit can be redeemed in our Philadelphia store. Reach us by calling (215) 922-5557.

Wedding/Gift Registry.....
Link directly to our products on your gift registry! See something in the store we don't have available on our site? Give us a call and we will do our best to add that item to our website so it can be available for your guests to purchase.

Gift Wrapping.....currently unavailable
Sorry, we do not currently provide gift wrapping.
When you specify Gift on the order form, we'll remove all price labels from the product or its packaging.
Include your Gift Message on the order form, and it will be printed on the Packing Slip that is shipped with your order.

Satisfaction Guaranteed.....when we're less than great, tell us
We're not perfect, so we promise to do our very best to take great care of you and your order. If we made a mistake or if you are not satisfied with our products or service, first e-mail us and tell us what you would like us to do, or what you expected from us when you placed your order. We promise that a real person will respond within 2 business days.
When an e-mail just won't do, take advantage of our personal contact via our toll-free number (1-800-44-FANTE - Wed-Fri 10-5 Eastern Time).

Warranties.....how to protect your investment in our products
Every product we sell is guaranteed to be new and free of defects in materials and workmanship when it is delivered to you. Any exception (such as the rare minor defect to be expected, marks on hand-made products, etc., and which don't impair the use of the product) is clearly indicated in the product's description.
Many manufacturers have warranties extending beyond the point of delivery, which information is posted on our pages with the product information.
Please review our Terms and Conditions page for details on the warranties offered by us and by manufacturers, to help you protect your investment in products that you purchase from us.

Returning Items.....a guide with our and your responsibilities
Details on our Returns Page.

Errors & Omissions.....how they affect you and how we correct them
We will do our best to make sure all the information on our website is correct. If you notice errors or omissions (which, being only human, we are apt to commit), we appreciate your letting us know, so that we may correct them.
If we make errors that impact your order, our liability is limited to the price you paid to us for our products and services. If your order has not yet been shipped, you will have the option to accept delivery under corrected terms that you and we agree upon, or to cancel the items ordered.
Though we will always do our best to ship products on a timely basis, when we fall short of expectations we'll do our best to rectify the situation in order to make you happy. After all, we only exist because of our satisfied customers.
If you are in any way dissatisfied with your order, and you don't feel that the measures we have taken to satisfy you were adequate, please send an e-mail to me, Mari. I will do my best to intercede on your behalf.

Humans take care of you!.....a message from us
We believe in the utility and promise of the web, but we value human interactions even more and want to ensure that they are always an integral part of our family business that was founded over a hundred years ago.
The intention of our family and staff is to always do our very best to personally treat you individually, fairly, and respectfully.
That is what you should expect every time you contact us and with every order you send us.

Sincerely,
Mari,
family and staff

Wholesale & Manufacturers Info.....where to look
We often receive inquiries for sources of our products and for wholesale discounts.
- Product Sources: In the interest of maintaining any competitive advantage we may have in product selection, we do not provide contact information of manufacturers or distributors that are not identified in our product descriptions.
- Wholesale Discounts: As a retailer, we sell primarily to consumers at the prices listed on our website. We do not stock merchandise in quantities that would be required for wholesale needs, and we thus do not provide Wholesale Discounts.

We Recycle!.....our re-use of cartons and packing
We recycle as much as possible.
When you receive your package, it may arrive in a recycled box. Our re-use of cartons that we receive from our suppliers helps all of us by saving some of our most valuable environmental resources. And it helps us by keeping our costs down on not having to purchase as many new boxes and to environmentally dispose the old boxes.
If you have a packaging preference, such as no styrofoam peanuts, jot that in the Comments section of the shopping cart or order form. Depending on the box contents, we may use a combination of styrofoam peanuts, corrugated paper, and cardboard.

Privacy Concerns.....how we treat your personal information
When you finalize an order on our web site, you are taken to our secure Shopping Cart. All personal information that you send and receive is encrypted when you click on an action (like Send or Submit).
Your credit card information is saved only on the credit card processor's secure server and is not accessible by us.
Any personal information that you provide is held in the strictest confidence. We will not share your e-mail address when you contact us, nor any of the personally identifiable information you include in any order or form that you send us.
As responsible citizens, we will work together with legal authorities whenever it may be necessary to comply with laws and court mandates. At such times, we may be required to provide private information that may be stored in our sales and related records.
We will not send you unsolicited e-mails. We will only contact you if necessary, or as a courtesy to provide you with information about your order or about products that you ordered.
For more information on your privacy and rights, please visit our Privacy Policy page.