Sales and Shipping Informantion:

     $25 Minium Order ( not including Shipping & Handling) on orders requiring Fed Ex shiping, USPS Express, or local delivery. If you purchase some of our fish through an auction, we recommend purchasing at least $25 worth of live stock to offset the high cost of overnight shipping, especially if your are outside of our ground next day zone.  
      $15 Minium Oder for Local Pick Up.     
      All our livestock shipments are carefully packaged, include water treatment, pure oxgyen, and heat packs in winter to assure live delivery. 
     Local deliveries and Local Pick Up Orders will be in bag with water treatment and pure oxgyen only, unless you choose to pay for a box container, or a used box is on hand.
     We guarantee Live Arrival on our shipments, by Fed EX Ground One Day or Fed Ex Express services, provided some one is available to receive our shipment on its first delivery attempt, and the shipment is taken inside immediately. We do not offer refunds on livestock left at the door, on the porch, in the garage, etc., or shipped to an improper address provided by the customer. 
    For Shipments by USPS Express, we do not guarantee Live Delivery. Use of USPS Express is at your risk only. Be aware, the USPS can hold a next day express pakage for up to three days without refunding shipping. The USPS does not offer insurance cover for live fish either. Delays in delivery can result in the lost of part or all of your order.  
     For Fish shipped by Fed EX, in the event a fish arrives dead, email us with-in two hours of its arrival, at your location. If possible send us a photo of the dead fish of fish in their unopened bags. We will check the delivery record for your shipment, before issuing a refund verification email. If you can not send us a photo, once you receive this email, place the dead fish in a plastic zip lock bag, in table salt. Next place this bag inside a padded envelope, and return this fish to us, through the US Postal system to: Cichlids Are Special, P.O. Box 3727, York, PA 17402. If you have more than one dead fish, place each one in a seperate plastic bag with salt, before placing them in a padded envelope. If case of a large loss, you may use a box rather than a padded envelope. Once, we receive your dead fish, or a Photo of the dead livestock in our unopened bag, we will issue a credit toward your next order from Cichlids Are Special or in some case a Pay Pal refund, provided you have followed the above preapproval procedure. 
          We are not responable for shippping address errors by the customer. Therefore, please be certain the shipping address for your order is correct on your order form. Address errors can result in loss, late delivery, and or death of your live shipment. 
     Sales are limited to the Continental United States only, none in Alaska, Hawaii, or countries other than the U.S., due to shipping, and customs restraints. 
     Deliveies by Fed EX are made to physical addresses only (sorry no P.O. Boxes or APO numbers) Fed Ex Orders will be sent by Next Day Air Service, except to customers in our Fed EX, One Day Guarantee, Ground delivery areas. Customers in the guaranteed ground, delivery areas will receive thier orders by Fed Ex Ground Services, in order to reduce their shipping expense unless they request and pay for more expensive Nex Day Air Service. USPS Express Orders can be delivered to a P.O. Box; but we do not recommend doing this. We are not responsible for delays in the USPS system. 
     Sales in the State of Pennsylvannia, including shipping & handling, and are subject to the PA State 6% sales tax. For Philadelipha and Allegheny Counties were are required to charge an additional 1% Local Sales Tax.
     For long distance customers that prefer not to use Pay Pal, we will acept prepayment by guaranteed check or money order. You fish will not be shipped, however, until we receive this form of payment. For local customers, we will accept cash during daytime deliveries, or pick ups. We aslo we accept guaranteed checks or money orders at the time of delivery or pick up for local customers. Local delivery is limited to low crime areas with plenty of parking, with-in five miles of our physical location, during daytime hours only. 

Special Orders

Some types of African Cichlid Fish are available by special order only. (See our New Arrivals Page for a list of these type fish) For these fish, I must have an email request by 5:00 p.m. on Monday of an order week as noted in expected items on my new arrivals page. Fish available, their price, and the required deposit amount will be listed on our new arrivals page under the tile "expected". If a fish is not listed, I will check to see if it might be available, and if so, I will email you a price and their 75% Deposit Fee. If you want to purchase these fish, you must return an email Ok in time, so I can send you a Pay Pal Invoice for the 75% Deposit Fee. For local orders, you can meet me like I would with a pick up to make this payment by cash, money order, or guaranteed check, if yyou do not want to use Pay Pal, as per the restrictions above. When the fish arrives, usually on Thursdays. The remaining 25% of your fish cost will be billed to you by Pay Pal invoice, or you will be contacted to pick up you fish. The additional amount will need to be paid in advance for long distance shipping of your fish. For local delivery or pick up, the remaining fee can be paid at the time of pick up or delivery. You will have one week to make arrangments to pick up, have your fish delivered, or have it shipped to you. Failure to do so will result in forfit of your deposit.  Fish of this type that are not picked up, delivered, or shipping with in a week of their arrival will be made available to anyone willing to purchase them at 30% of their normal price. Shipping and Handling Fees are additional. Exceptions will only be made for servere weather conditions.

Holds:

     In some cases we are willing to hold a larger order for a resonable time if you pay a 50% deposit and then pay the remaining 50% either at time of pick up, or just prior to shipment. One world of caution with holds, on a rare occasion, we lose a fish. If a fish is on hold and there is no other one like it in stock we will reduce your order and final payment accordingly.
   
Handling:  

      Our Handling cost is based on our cost for the supplies (Boxes, Bags, Rubberbands, Water Treatment, Oxgyen, Tape, and Heat packs) used for your individual shipment. If we can use a recylced box for your order, we reduce the box charge to $0.00. Its our aim to pass on savings to the customer when ever possible.   
     For long distance shippping, payment is to be made in advance of the actual shipment. Please note that our return address is listed as a P.O. Box for security reasons. The excat location of our buiness is not listed to comply with our local township requaltions.

Shipping:

     We ship by Fed Ex or USPS Express on Monday through Thursday, except on, or the day prior to, major holidays, or if using USPS on or the day prior to a Postal Holiday. We also do not ship during vacations, or during an emergency. On special occasions, arrangements can be made for Saturday Deliveries (Shipped on Friday). There, however, is a surchare for this service, where available, by Fed EX. USPS Shipments do not have a surcharge on Saturdays; but, the area covered by USPS Overnight Saturday Guaranteed Delivery is limited.  
     Cichlids Are Special offers local delivery for our York, PA area customers by appointment only. We also can make arrangements for local pick up at a near by shopping center parking lot. Payment for smaller orders of this type can be made cash, guaranteed check, money order or Pay Pal during day light hours only. Payment for after dark pick ups must be made in advance by Pay Pal, or at the time of delivery by guaranteed check or money order. Please note, the driver for our pick up and delivers carrys small change only.  
    
One Day Ground Guarrante Zones:

     Our One Day Ground Guarrantee Zones by Fed EX Ground Home Delivery Areas include: Most of the State of PA, except for a small north central portion of the state; the entire states of Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey; portions of Connecticut, Massahusetts, Ohio, New York, Virigina, and West Virigina; and all of Long Island, including New York City.
     We will check the avialability of this service to your location, when determining the lease expensive way to ship your fish. If ground service is not available, we will need to ship your fish by FED EX Overnight Express or by USPS Express. Our Fish can only survive for about 24 to 30 hours in their bags and shipping containers.  

Local Deiverly (York, PA Area Only) 
     
     Available by apointment only. This service is available for a limited number of locations in York, PA Area. We only deliver with in five miles of our physcial address, in low crime areas, with plenty of parking. Local pick-up at our street address is not allowed by our township. If we can not personally deliver to your location, and you are interested picking up your fish instead, arrangements can be made to meet us at a local shopping center parking area. Please let us know if you would like to take advantage of these services to reduce you shipping cost when you make your order.

Customer Service:

     Customer Service is avialable through our email address: cichlidsarespecial@comcast.net or by phone at (717) 843-7650. Our phone number is a state and Federal no-call number, and is currently shared with a Premium Refund Service. Please indicate that you are calling about a Cichlids Are Special matter and not about a Premium Refund issue when calling this number. 

     Thank you for choosing Cichlids Are Special as your African Cichlid supplier.