Return and Refund Policy

Return and Refund Policy, version 1.0. Published at /returns/ on vipsupplyllc.com. Effective on the date VIP Supply first publishes it at that address.

This policy is published by VIP Supply LLC, a Delaware limited liability company ("VIP Supply"). Notices and claims under this policy go to VIP Supply LLC, Attn: Jayesh Patel, Partner, 1700 Market Street, Suite 1005, Philadelphia, PA 19103, email info@vipsupplyllc.com, telephone (267) 900-4229, fax (267) 900-4230.

Background

VIP Supply supplies professional and laboratory-use biologics, diagnostics, veterinary and related products, and releases them only to verified licensed purchasers. Many of those products are temperature-controlled, sterile or lot-controlled. Once a shipment has left VIP Supply's custody, VIP Supply cannot confirm how the products were held. This policy states when products can come back, what VIP Supply does about a shipment that arrives wrong, and how a refund reaches the cardholder.

1. Definitions and how this policy is read

1.1 "Business Day" means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, or a day on which commercial banks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are authorized or required by law to close.

1.2 "Customer" means the account holder of record that VIP Supply invoiced for an order or, where VIP Supply has not issued an invoice for that order, the person or organization to which VIP Supply issued the Order Confirmation for it. Customer is the same person that the Website Terms and the Shipping Policy call you.

1.3 "Qualifying Return" means a delivery, or a failure of delivery, that falls within one of the five cases in Section 6 and meets the notice condition in Section 6 and the documentation condition in Section 7.

1.4 "Return Authorization" means a written authorization issued by VIP Supply under Section 8 that names the order, the items, the lot numbers and the quantities, carries a Return Authorization number, and states the date it expires.

1.5 "Temperature Excursion" means a departure from the storage or shipping temperature range printed on the product label or on its certificate of analysis, shown by the temperature indicator, data logger or other monitor included in the shipment, or by the condition of the coolant on arrival.

1.6 "Order Confirmation" means the written confirmation VIP Supply issues that identifies the product ordered, the quantity, the price and the delivery arrangement for one order. Issuing an Order Confirmation is the only act by which VIP Supply accepts an order, and no other act of VIP Supply accepts one. The Website Terms and the Shipping Policy say the same.

1.7 "Shipping Policy" means the companion document published at /shipping/ on vipsupplyllc.com and titled Shipping and Delivery Policy.

1.8 "Website Terms" means the companion document published at /terms/ on vipsupplyllc.com and titled Terms and Conditions.

1.9 In this policy, a period of days begins on the day after the event that triggers it, and where the last day of a period is not a Business Day the period ends on the next Business Day. The words include, includes and including are not limiting. The word or is inclusive and means one, the other, or both. The singular includes the plural. A reference to a Section is a reference to a Section of this policy. Headings are for convenience and do not affect how this policy is read. Money amounts are United States dollars.

2. What this policy covers, and who may return

2.1 This policy applies to every order VIP Supply accepts, however the order reaches VIP Supply, and to every refund VIP Supply issues.

2.2 The website vipsupplyllc.com takes inquiries. It does not take orders and it does not take payment. VIP Supply accepts an order after it has verified the purchaser's license and eligibility, and VIP Supply then confirms the order in writing.

2.3 VIP Supply releases products only to a verified licensed purchaser. Only Customer may ask for a return or a refund under this policy. VIP Supply does not accept a return from, and does not pay a refund to, a person or a company that is not Customer.

2.4 This policy does not cover a product bought from a reseller, a distributor or any other third party. A purchaser in that position should go to the company that invoiced the purchaser.

2.5 Whether a product is available to a purchaser can depend on the purchaser's license type and jurisdiction, and some products are not available in every state or country.

3. Cancelling an order before it ships

3.1 An order may be cancelled at no charge by email to info@vipsupplyllc.com, quoting the order number, at any time before VIP Supply releases the order to the carrier or begins a temperature-controlled pack-out for it.

3.2 Once VIP Supply has released an order to the carrier or has begun a temperature-controlled pack-out for it, the order cannot be cancelled, and Section 4 to Section 11 apply instead.

3.3 VIP Supply shall confirm a cancellation in writing within one (1) Business Day after receiving the cancellation request, and shall refund the full amount charged for the cancelled order, including every shipping and handling charge on it, within ten (10) Business Days after sending that confirmation.

3.4 Where an order is cancelled in part, VIP Supply shall refund the amount charged for the cancelled items and the shipping and handling charge attributable to them.

4. Inspection on arrival, and the windows that matter

4.1 Customer must inspect a shipment on arrival, before the shipment goes into storage or into use.

4.2 The inspection must cover the outer carton, the cold-chain packaging, the coolant, the temperature indicator or data logger, the packing list, the identity of each item, the lot numbers, the expiry dating and the quantities.

4.3 A claim under Section 6 qualifies only where VIP Supply receives notice of it inside the window stated for that case in Section 6, counted under Section 1.9.

4.4 On a shipment that carries a temperature indicator or a data logger, Customer must do what the Shipping Policy requires on receipt of a cold-chain shipment: open the outer carton and read the temperature indicator or data logger within two (2) hours after delivery, and move each item into storage within the temperature range printed on its label or on its certificate of analysis within that same period. Opening the carton to read the device is what this policy requires, and doing it never defeats a claim.

4.5 Customer must then keep the outer carton, the cold-chain packaging, the coolant, the temperature indicator or data logger and the packing list undisturbed at the delivery address, and must keep each affected item in that storage, labelled as held for a claim and held apart from saleable stock, until the claim is resolved. A claim is resolved when VIP Supply has given its decision under Section 8 and either the items have been dispatched to VIP Supply under a Return Authorization or VIP Supply has told Customer in writing that it does not want them back. Before the claim is resolved Customer must not discard, use, resell, export or move any of those things to another facility. The Shipping Policy states the same period, in the same words, for the same things.

4.6 A claim made after the window in Section 6 has closed, or a claim where the items and the packaging were not kept under Section 4.5, does not qualify for a refund or a replacement under this policy. Where Customer did what Section 4.4 requires, the fact that the carton was opened and the device was read is not a failure to keep the items under Section 4.5.

5. The general rule: once shipped, these products are not returnable

5.1 A product VIP Supply has shipped is not returnable, and the amount charged for it is not refundable, except as a Qualifying Return under Section 6 or as a courtesy return under Section 10.

5.2 The reason is operational, and VIP Supply states it plainly. These products are temperature-controlled, sterile, lot-controlled or all three. Once a shipment has left VIP Supply's custody, VIP Supply cannot verify the temperature, the handling or the chain of custody, so VIP Supply cannot return the product to saleable stock or supply it to another licensed purchaser.

5.3 In addition to Section 5.1, the following are not returnable and not refundable in any case: (a) any item whose sterile barrier, tamper seal or packaging seal has been opened, broken or compromised; (b) any item that has been opened, used, diluted, reconstituted, aliquoted, pooled or combined with another material; (c) any refrigerated, frozen or cryogenically shipped item, except as a Qualifying Return; (d) any item held after delivery outside the storage conditions printed on its label or on its certificate of analysis; (e) any custom, made-to-order, cut-to-order, kitted-to-order or specially sourced item, and any item supplied to a purchaser's own specification; (f) any controlled, scheduled, prescription-only or otherwise restricted item, and any item Customer is no longer licensed to hold; (g) any item that has been resold, transferred, exported or moved outside Customer's own facility; (h) any item whose expiry or use-by date has passed, and any item whose remaining shelf life was shortened by Customer's own delay; (i) documentation, data, reports, certificates and anything delivered electronically; (j) shipping, handling, cold-chain packaging, insurance, dangerous-goods and customs charges, except where Section 11 provides otherwise; and (k) any item for which the notice condition in Section 6 or the documentation condition in Section 7 was not met.

6. The five exceptions: Qualifying Returns

6.1 A delivery, or a failure of delivery, is a Qualifying Return only in one of the five cases in Section 6.2 to Section 6.6, and only where the notice condition stated in that case and the documentation condition in Section 7 are both met. The five cases are a shipment sent in error under Section 6.2, damage in transit under Section 6.3, a Temperature Excursion on arrival under Section 6.4, a short or incorrect quantity under Section 6.5, and a shipment that was not delivered under Section 6.6.

6.2 VIP Supply shipped an item the Order Confirmation does not show, or shipped to a person who is not Customer. Notice must reach VIP Supply within three (3) Business Days after delivery.

6.3 An item, its primary container or its sterile barrier arrived broken, cracked, leaking, crushed or wet. Notice must reach VIP Supply within one (1) Business Day after delivery.

6.4 The shipment arrived showing a Temperature Excursion, or the temperature indicator or data logger included in the shipment records a Temperature Excursion. Notice must reach VIP Supply within one (1) Business Day after delivery.

6.5 The quantity delivered is less than the quantity on the Order Confirmation, or an item delivered is not the item on the Order Confirmation. Notice must reach VIP Supply within three (3) Business Days after delivery.

6.6 The shipment was not delivered. This case takes two forms.

• The carrier's record does not show the shipment as delivered at the delivery address within five (5) Business Days after the delivery date the carrier committed to when VIP Supply dispatched the shipment. A shipment in that position is treated as not delivered, and Customer does not have to prove what became of it. Notice must reach VIP Supply within three (3) Business Days after the end of that five-Business-Day period.

• Customer refused the shipment at the door, or the carrier returned the shipment to VIP Supply undelivered, and VIP Supply caused the failed delivery. Notice must reach VIP Supply within three (3) Business Days after the carrier records the refusal, or records the return of the shipment to VIP Supply, whichever happens first. That period does not run from delivery, because no delivery occurred.

A shipment Customer refused, and a shipment a carrier returned undelivered, where VIP Supply did not cause the failed delivery, is not a Qualifying Return, and VIP Supply does not refund it, because VIP Supply cannot confirm how the shipment was held while it was out. Section 6.6(a) does not apply to a shipment Customer refused or the carrier returned, which Section 6.6(b) covers, and does not apply where Customer named its own carrier or its own carrier account for the shipment and risk of loss passed to Customer on tender to that carrier under the Shipping Policy. The Shipping Policy separately requires notice within one (1) Business Day after Customer learns that a shipment is undeliverable, so that a redelivery can be arranged before the coolant in a cold-chain shipment expends; that notice does not replace notice under this Section 6.6.

6.7 Notice under Section 6 must be given by email to info@vipsupplyllc.com with the word RETURN in the subject line, and must state the order number, the invoice number, the delivery date or, for a claim under Section 6.6, the committed delivery date and the tracking reference, the item, the lot number, the quantity affected and which of Section 6.2 to Section 6.6 is claimed.

7. What Customer must send to support a claim

7.1 A claim under Section 6.2 to Section 6.5 qualifies only where VIP Supply receives all of the following within five (5) Business Days after the notice under Section 6.7: (a) photographs of the outer carton as received, showing every carrier label and every damage marking; (b) where the shipment was a cold-chain shipment, photographs of the cold-chain packaging and the coolant as found when the carton was opened; (c) where a temperature indicator or a data logger was included in the shipment, a photograph or a downloaded record of it showing its reading; (d) a photograph of the item, its primary container and its label, showing the lot number and, where expiry dating is printed on the item, the expiry dating; (e) a photograph of the packing list as received; (f) the order number and the invoice number; and (g) a written description of what was found, by the person who received the shipment.

7.2 A claim under Section 6.6 qualifies only where VIP Supply receives all of the following within five (5) Business Days after the notice under Section 6.7: (a) the order number and the invoice number; (b) the tracking reference for the shipment; (c) a copy or a screen image of the carrier's tracking record for the shipment as it stood on the date of the notice; and (d) a written statement by Customer that the shipment did not reach the delivery address or, for a claim under Section 6.6(b), a written statement of why the shipment was refused or returned. VIP Supply does not ask for a photograph of a shipment Customer never received.

7.3 Where a carrier is at fault, VIP Supply may ask for a signed carrier damage report or a carrier inspection, and Customer must give the carrier access to the shipment and the packaging.

7.4 VIP Supply does not ask Customer to open a sealed item to document a claim, and opening a sealed item is not a condition of a claim.

7.5 Where the documentation listed in Section 7.1 or Section 7.2 does not reach VIP Supply inside the window stated in that Section, the claim does not qualify for a refund or a replacement under this policy.

8. Return Authorization: nothing comes back without one

8.1 VIP Supply shall give a written decision on a claim under Section 6 within three (3) Business Days after receiving both the notice under Section 6.7 and the documentation under Section 7.1 or Section 7.2.

8.2 Where VIP Supply approves a claim and wants the items back, VIP Supply shall issue a Return Authorization with that decision. The Return Authorization states the items, the lot numbers, the quantities, the return address, the shipping instructions and the date it expires.

8.3 A Return Authorization expires ten (10) days after VIP Supply issues it. The return qualifies only where the carrier accepts the returned shipment on or before that date.

8.4 The Return Authorization number must appear on the outside of every carton returned and on the paperwork inside it.

8.5 VIP Supply refuses a shipment returned without a valid Return Authorization, does not refund it, and does not pay the cost of returning it or of sending it on.

8.6 VIP Supply may approve a claim without wanting the items back, because returning a temperature-controlled or sterile item serves no purpose once the item is out of specification. A refund or a replacement under Section 11 does not depend on the items coming back unless the Return Authorization says so.

9. The condition returned items must be in

9.1 A return qualifies only where the items reach VIP Supply in the condition they were in when the claim was made, with the sterile barrier and the tamper seal intact, in the original packaging, with the lot label legible, and with the original packing list and the Return Authorization paperwork included.

9.2 Customer must follow the shipping instructions in the Return Authorization, including every instruction about temperature, coolant, packaging, labeling and dangerous-goods documentation. A temperature-controlled item must not go back unless the Return Authorization instructs it, and must then travel in the packaging and at the temperature the Return Authorization states.

9.3 Where returned items reach VIP Supply opened, used, decanted, relabeled, outside the original packaging, or without the Return Authorization paperwork, VIP Supply may refuse them and may decline the refund, and shall tell Customer in writing within three (3) Business Days after receiving them.

10. Who pays return freight, and restocking

10.1 On a Qualifying Return, VIP Supply pays the cost of returning the items. VIP Supply shall send a prepaid carrier label with the Return Authorization, and no restocking fee applies.

10.2 Where Customer withdraws a claim, or where the documentation does not support the case claimed, Customer pays the cost of returning the items and the cost of sending them on.

10.3 A return that is not a Qualifying Return is a courtesy return, and VIP Supply is not obliged to accept one. VIP Supply may accept a courtesy return, in writing and before the items move, only where all of the following are true: (a) the item is an ambient, room-temperature item; (b) the item is unopened and undamaged and is in its original packaging with the seal intact; (c) at least six (6) months of shelf life remain on the item; (d) the request reaches VIP Supply within fifteen (15) days after delivery; and (e) the item is not excluded by Section 5.3.

10.4 On a courtesy return Customer pays the cost of returning the items, and VIP Supply charges a restocking fee of 20% of the price paid for the returned items. VIP Supply shall state the restocking fee in the written approval, before the items move.

10.5 VIP Supply does not refund a shipping, handling, cold-chain packaging, insurance, dangerous-goods or customs charge on a courtesy return.

11. Replacement or refund: what Customer gets, how, and how long it takes

11.1 On a Qualifying Return, VIP Supply shall, at Customer's choice, either replace the affected items from the next available lot or refund the amount charged for them.

11.2 A refund under Section 11.1 covers the price charged for the affected items, the tax charged on them, and the shipping, handling and cold-chain packaging charged on them where the whole order was a Qualifying Return or where VIP Supply shipped in error. On a Qualifying Return of part of an order, VIP Supply refunds the shipping, handling and cold-chain packaging attributable to the affected items.

11.3 VIP Supply shall issue a refund within ten (10) Business Days after approving the claim or, where the Return Authorization wants the items back, within ten (10) Business Days after the items reach VIP Supply.

11.4 VIP Supply issues a refund to the card or other payment method used to pay for the order. Where that card or account can no longer receive a refund, VIP Supply issues the refund by a method agreed in writing with Customer. VIP Supply does not refund in cash, does not pay a refund to a third party, and does not substitute a credit note for a refund unless Customer asks for a credit note in writing.

11.5 After VIP Supply issues a refund, the card issuer decides when the refund appears on the cardholder's statement. That usually takes five (5) to ten (10) Business Days after VIP Supply issues the refund, and it runs on the card issuer's timetable and not on VIP Supply's.

11.6 Where VIP Supply replaces items instead of refunding them, VIP Supply shall ship the replacement within five (5) Business Days after approving the claim or, where stock is not available, shall tell Customer the expected ship date inside that same period and shall refund instead at Customer's request.

12. Remedies under this policy, and what this policy does not limit

12.1 A replacement or a refund under Section 11 is the only remedy VIP Supply offers for a shipment that is short, incorrect, damaged in transit, affected by a Temperature Excursion or not delivered.

12.2 Section 12.1 does not apply where VIP Supply approves a Qualifying Return and then does not ship the replacement or issue the refund inside the period in Section 11. In that case Customer may require, on written notice to VIP Supply, a full refund of the price, the tax and the shipping and handling charged for the affected items, and VIP Supply shall pay it within five (5) Business Days after receiving that notice.

12.3 The notice periods in Section 4 and Section 6, and the documentation periods in Section 7, are conditions of a claim under this policy. They are not a limit on the time within which either party may bring an action. This policy does not shorten that time, which applicable law governs.

12.4 Nothing in this policy limits a right that applicable law does not allow to be limited, including a right under the consumer-protection law of the state where the purchaser is located.

12.5 This policy states no warranty and no warranty disclaimer, and states no monetary limit on liability. Section 12.1 limits the remedy for the five cases it names and does nothing else. The warranty disclaimer and the limit on liability are in the Website Terms, and that document governs them.

13. How a charge appears on the cardholder's statement

13.1 A charge for an order will appear on the cardholder's statement under a descriptor that names VIP Supply and carries the telephone number in Section 15, so that a cardholder can recognize the charge without calling the card issuer. No card processor has assigned that descriptor yet, and Section 13.2 states when the exact text is published.

13.2 VIP Supply shall publish the exact descriptor text on this page as soon as its card processor assigns it, and shall update this page within five (5) Business Days after the descriptor changes.

13.3 The Order Confirmation states the date VIP Supply charged the card or will charge it and, where an order ships in parts, states how each part is charged. A refund of a charge runs under Section 11.

14. Raising a problem with VIP Supply before disputing the charge with the card issuer

14.1 Where a charge looks wrong, the fastest route is Section 15. VIP Supply shall acknowledge a billing question within one (1) Business Day after receiving it, and shall give a written decision within five (5) Business Days after receiving it. A billing question does not have to state a Section of this policy.

14.2 The Website Terms state the notice a Customer gives before asking a card issuer to reverse a charge, and state the ten (10) Business Days a Customer allows VIP Supply to answer that notice. That obligation is stated once, in the Website Terms. This policy states no different period and no shorter one, and the ten (10) Business Days in the Website Terms is the only pre-dispute period in VIP Supply's published documents. VIP Supply asks a cardholder to use Section 14.1 first, because VIP Supply can correct a billing error faster than a dispute can.

14.3 Nothing in this policy, and nothing in the Website Terms, removes a cardholder's right to dispute a charge with the card issuer or any right the card network rules give a cardholder. A cardholder may raise a dispute with the card issuer at any time.

14.4 Where a cardholder raises a dispute with the card issuer, VIP Supply answers it with the Order Confirmation, the proof of delivery, this policy, the correspondence on the claim and the record of any refund already issued.

15. How to reach VIP Supply

15.1 Email info@vipsupplyllc.com, telephone (267) 900-4229, or fax (267) 900-4230. Post reaches VIP Supply at VIP Supply LLC, Attn: Jayesh Patel, Partner, 1700 Market Street, Suite 1005, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

15.2 VIP Supply answers email and telephone questions on Business Days. Section 6.7 requires a claim under Section 6 to be given by email, because the notice window and the documentation condition both turn on a written record.

16. Changes to this policy

16.1 VIP Supply may change this policy. The version of this policy in force on the date VIP Supply accepted an order governs that order, and a later change does not apply to it.

16.2 Each version of this policy carries a version number and the date it took effect on its face. VIP Supply keeps every superseded version of this policy, with no time limit, and will send Customer a copy of the version that governs an order within five (5) Business Days after it receives a written request for it. The Website Terms state the same obligation for every document they incorporate by reference, including this policy.

17. Governing law, venue and individual actions

17.1 Texas law governs this policy and every claim or dispute arising out of or relating to this policy, an order, a refund, or the supply of products by VIP Supply, whether the claim is in contract, in tort, under a statute, in equity or otherwise, without giving effect to any conflict-of-laws rule that would apply the law of another jurisdiction.

17.2 The state and federal courts located in Harris County, Texas have exclusive jurisdiction over a claim described in Section 17.1. Each party consents to personal jurisdiction in those courts and waives any objection to venue in them and any defense of inconvenient forum.

17.3 A claim described in Section 17.1 is resolved in court. This policy states no arbitration provision.

17.4 EACH PARTY MAY BRING A CLAIM DESCRIBED IN SECTION 17.1 ONLY IN THAT PARTY'S OWN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR A CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. NO COURT OR OTHER DECISION-MAKER MAY CONSOLIDATE THE CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE PERSON WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF EVERY PERSON AFFECTED.

17.5 Section 17.4 does not apply to a claim that applicable law does not permit a person to waive in advance. Where a court holds Section 17.4 unenforceable as to a particular claim, Section 17.4 does not apply to that claim and the rest of this Section 17 continues to apply. The individual-action provision in the Website Terms states the same position in the same words, and the two are read together.

18. General terms

18.1 A notice under this policy must be in writing. A notice under Section 3.1, under Section 6.7 or under Section 14.1 must contain what that Section states and does not have to state a Section number; every other notice under this policy must state the Section it is given under. A notice to VIP Supply arrives when it reaches the email address or the postal address in Section 15. A notice sent by email is given on the date it is transmitted where it is transmitted before 5:00 p.m. local time of the recipient on a Business Day, and otherwise at 9:00 a.m. local time of the recipient on the next Business Day, and in each case only where the sender receives no automated rejection or non-delivery message. The Website Terms and the Shipping Policy state the same rule in the same words. A notice to Customer goes to the email address on the order.

18.2 Where a court holds part of this policy unenforceable, that part is modified to the smallest extent that makes it enforceable while keeping its purpose or, where modification is not possible, that part is treated as deleted; the rest of this policy stays in force; and the holding applies only in that jurisdiction and only to that part.

18.3 VIP Supply waives a right under this policy only in a writing signed by an authorized representative of VIP Supply that identifies the right waived, and then only for the instance stated. A delay in exercising a right is not a waiver of it. Accepting a payment, a return or a late notice does not waive any other right.

18.4 This policy is for the benefit of VIP Supply and Customer only, and gives no right to anyone else.

18.5 Section 1, Section 12, Section 17 and Section 18 survive the delivery, the refund and the cancellation of an order.

18.6 The Website Terms state the ranking of the documents that apply to Customer, and that is the only ranking. Under it: first, a separate signed supply contract between Customer and VIP Supply; second, an Order Confirmation, and only for the commercial terms it states; third, each document the Website Terms incorporate by reference, on the subject the Website Terms state for that document; fourth, the body of the Website Terms; fifth, the exhibits to the Website Terms. On a subject the Website Terms do not state for a document they incorporate, the body of the Website Terms prevails over that document. Under that ranking this policy prevails on returns, cancellations, refunds and credits, and the Shipping Policy prevails on dispatch, delivery, transfer of risk, inspection, customs and duties, and a claim for shortage, damage in transit or non-delivery. A purchase order, a pre-printed term, a portal term or another document Customer issues changes nothing in this policy, whether or not VIP Supply signs or returns it.

18.7 Neither VIP Supply nor Customer is in breach of this policy on account of a delay or a failure in performing an obligation under it, other than an obligation to pay money when due, to the extent an event beyond that party's reasonable control causes the delay or the failure, and the period for that performance is extended by the length of the event. The force-majeure provision in the Website Terms states which events count and which do not, and this policy states no different list. As a condition to relief, the affected party must give the other written notice within five (5) Business Days after the event begins to affect its performance, stating the event, the obligations affected and its good-faith estimate of how long the effect will last, must take reasonable steps to reduce the effect and to resume performance, and must give notice within one (1) Business Day after the effect ends. This Section does not extend the period in Section 11.3 for issuing a refund.