We receive Citizen Watches from all over the great USA. When we are done, we ship them back to our good customers. We offer FREE shipping both ways. That means we spend a lot of time and money shipping packages back and forth. To complicate the issue, what we ship are valuable timepieces, many of which also have sentimental value. We do our utmost to ensure your watch gets to us and then back to you safe and sound.
US MAIL WINS THE DAY
In the past we used one of the big private carriers. We used them for years...many years. We started having serious delivery issues including theft inside their sorting facilities! We worked with them to address the issue and eventually fired that carrier and started shipping with USPS, that would be the US Postal Service. We ship almost all of our packages First Class Mail with tracking. We can offer free shipping only because we keep those costs down. We not only save our customers about $12 for each shipment, we have LESS issues of watches disappearing. In fact once a package is delivered to one of our good customers we almost never, ever hear of a watch taking a walk. That is due, we believe, to the fact that our boxes fit inside all regulation US Mail boxes and it is a federal crime to tamper with the mail. The private carriers typically leave packages out in the open and packages would disappear.
SENDING US YOUR WATCH
You are welcome to send up to THREE (3) watches in a box. If you have more than that, great, but please request a second label by clicking here. It is very important that you use a sturdy box. Do not use a padded envelope, damage may occur in transit. Please do not send us the Citizen Watch display box that the watch originally came in since all packing materials will be discarded. Instead wrap up the watch(es) in bubble wrap, newspaper, paper towel, etc. Also, please do NOT use Express or Priority boxes provided by the post office. Any other sturdy box is just fine. Use plenty of tape to seal the box well.
We are happy to provide insurance for packages containing Citizen Watches for up to $400. Note that sentimental value is not insurable. The only requirement is a pick up scan from the US Postal Service indicating that they received the package. Any package damaged during shipping will be covered only if the watch(es) were: A) Shipped in a sturdy box B) Taped well C) Wrapped well
INSURANCE
We insure each and every package that leaves our facility. We stopped buying insurance from the carrier some time ago which is why you will not see any insurance information on the package. Moreover, if you call USPS with your tracking number you will be told there is no insurance. Why do we skip the carrier's insurance? Their prices are high and the claim process is fairly onerous. That means one of our good customers who suffers a loss would not get reimbursed for months. If a watch or band is deemed lost we will replace the item with another Citizen Watch or genuine band. We do not issue cash reimbursements. Moreover, this coverage applies only once per package. If the replacement package is also lost we will no longer be held accountable.
SIGNATURE NOT REQUIRED
We specifically do NOT require a signature for delivery. The reason for this is simple: requiring a signature for delivery forced folks into having to go down to the post office to get their package. Most deliveries happen while folks are at work. The shipper leaves a note, and will try again, usually three times. After that you have X number of days to pick it up before they return it to us as undeliverable...not good. If folks specifically ask for Signature Required we certainly will add that service to their delivery.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
We do not ship watches overseas. That means we must have a valid US mailing address. We do ship to the the US Territories and to military addresses, again as long as we have a valid US Mailing address...in short we require a US Zip Code.
We DO ship watch bands and parts to many overseas locations. However a band order that is being shipped overseas is NOT covered by any insurance. Once the US Postal Service shows a pick-up scan we are not longer responsible for international shipments. The reason is simple: delivery scans stop at the border in almost all cases. Even when shipping to Canada when delivery scans do continue, we lose our ability to intervene in that delivery.