HMD Scientific LLC
Effective Date: August 25, 2026 | Version 1.0
This Shipping Policy forms part of the Terms of Sale and Terms of Use and must be read with them and with the Refund & Return Policy. Capitalized terms have the meanings given in the Terms.
1. Where We Ship
1.1 United States only. HMD Scientific ships only to street addresses within the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. We do not ship internationally, and we do not ship to U.S. territories or possessions, APO/FPO/DPO addresses, P.O. boxes, freight forwarders, package-consolidation or reshipping services, or any address we reasonably believe is used to forward Products outside the United States.
1.2 State and local restrictions. Products are not available to all destinations. HMD Scientific reserves the right to restrict, hold, refuse, or cancel any shipment to any state, county, municipality, or address where the Product, the destination, or the carrier’s own terms make shipment unavailable or inadvisable, and to update the list of restricted destinations at any time without notice. Any current destination restrictions are shown on the Product page and applied automatically at checkout. Buyer remains solely responsible for confirming that receipt, possession, storage, and in-vitro research use of a Product is lawful at the delivery address.
1.3 Carrier certifications. Carriers require shippers to certify that shipments do not contain items intended for human or animal consumption. HMD Scientific makes that certification on every shipment. Placing an order confirms your agreement with that certification.
2. Order Cutoff, Handling, and Fulfillment
2.1 Cutoff. Orders received and cleared for fulfillment before 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday (excluding observed holidays) are shipped the same business day.
2.2 After cutoff. Orders received after the cutoff, or on a weekend or observed holiday, are shipped the next business day.
2.3 Verification holds. Orders may be held pending payment verification, address verification, or verification of any representation made under Section 3 of the Terms. A held order does not ship until the hold is released, and the cutoff and handling times in 2.1–2.2 restart when the hold is released. We will notify you by email if an order is held for more than one business day.
2.4 Fulfillment. Orders are fulfilled by HMD Scientific’s third-party logistics provider and tendered to the carrier from that facility.
2.5 Thirty-day undertaking. Consistent with California Business and Professions Code § 17538 and the FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, if we cannot ship your order within 30 days of accepting payment, we will either issue you a full refund or send you written notice of the delay together with the option of a full refund at your election.
2.6 Partial shipments. Where part of an order is available and part is not, HMD Scientific may ship the available portion and either refund the balance or ship it separately at no additional shipping charge, at HMD Scientific’s election, with notice to you.
3. Carriers, Service Levels, and Tracking
3.1 Carriers. HMD Scientific ships via UPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service. HMD Scientific selects the carrier and service level for each shipment based on destination, packaging requirements, and the service you selected at checkout. Available service levels and rates are shown at checkout.
3.2 Transit estimates. Transit times shown at checkout are carrier estimates only and are not guaranteed. Business days exclude weekends and observed holidays. HMD Scientific is not responsible for carrier delay, weather events, service disruption, mis-scans, or any consequence of delayed delivery.
3.3 Tracking. A tracking number is emailed to the address on your account when the shipment is tendered to the carrier. Please allow up to 24 hours for the first scan to appear.
4. Packaging and Temperature-Sensitive Handling
4.1 Standard packaging. Products are shipped in discreet outer packaging with no description of contents on the exterior. Inner packaging is selected to protect vials and containers in transit.
4.2 Temperature-sensitive items. Products identified on their Product page as temperature-sensitive are shipped in insulated packaging with gel or phase-change cold packs, sized to the expected transit duration and the destination’s seasonal conditions. Cold-pack shipments may be routed on an expedited service and may be held for a Monday–Wednesday tender to avoid weekend transit; where that occurs, the handling time in Section 2 is extended accordingly and you will be notified.
4.3 Arrival condition of cold packs. Cold packs are engineered to maintain the internal environment for the expected transit window and are expected to arrive partially or fully thawed. A thawed cold pack is not, by itself, an indication of a non-conforming Product and is not a basis for a claim. Lyophilized reference materials are generally tolerant of ambient excursion in transit.
4.4 On receipt. Buyer must inspect each shipment promptly on delivery and place Products into the storage conditions stated on the Product page and container label immediately. HMD Scientific is not responsible for any degradation or non-conformity arising after delivery, including any consequence of a package left unattended, of delayed retrieval from the delivery location, or of storage outside stated conditions.
5. Order Protection & Reship Guarantee (Mandatory)
5.1 What it is. Every order includes the HMD Scientific Order Protection & Reship Guarantee. This is a merchant guarantee: a direct contractual undertaking by HMD Scientific to reship your order, or to refund it where a reship is not possible, in the transit-failure situations described in Section 5.3.
5.2 What it is not. The Reship Guarantee is not insurance, not a policy of insurance, and not underwritten by, placed with, or backed by any insurer. It transfers no risk to any third party and creates no rights against any insurer. It does not alter title or risk of loss, which pass to Buyer on tender to the carrier under Section 8.2 of the Terms. HMD Scientific’s obligation is limited to the remedies in Section 5.3 and is subject to the limitation of liability in Section 12 of the Terms.
5.3 What it covers. Subject to the claim windows in Section 8 and the exclusions in Section 5.4, HMD Scientific will reship the affected items at no charge (or, where the item is unavailable or discontinued, refund the amount paid for those items) where:
(a) the shipment is confirmed lost in transit by the carrier or is declared lost under Section 8;
(b) tracking shows no movement for 7 consecutive calendar days after tender and the carrier cannot locate the shipment;
(c) the shipment is marked delivered by the carrier but is not received, and the conditions in Section 8.4 are satisfied; or
(d) the Products arrive physically damaged in transit such that the primary container is broken, leaking, or compromised, as evidenced under Section 8.2.
5.4 What it does not cover. The Reship Guarantee does not cover: delivery to an incorrect address supplied by Buyer; refusal of delivery; failure to retrieve a package held for pickup within the carrier’s hold period; carrier delay, including delay affecting temperature-sensitive items; thawed cold packs absent damage to the primary container; degradation, contamination, or loss occurring after delivery; theft or loss occurring after delivery; seizure by any governmental authority; any claim submitted outside the applicable window in Section 8; or any shipment to a destination Buyer was not permitted to select under Section 1.
5.5 Charge and disclosure. The Reship Guarantee is included with every order at no separate charge. Its cost is contained in the displayed Product price; no separate guarantee fee is added at checkout.
6. Delivery Signature and Address Accuracy
6.1 Signature. An adult signature (21+) is required on delivery for every shipment. Shipments are not released without signature. Do not instruct the carrier to waive the signature requirement, leave the package unattended, or redirect the shipment; doing so voids the Reship Guarantee for that shipment and terminates any claim under Section 8.4.
6.2 Address accuracy. Buyer is solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the delivery address, including unit, suite, and building numbers, and for ensuring that a person aged 21 or older will be present to sign. Address changes cannot be guaranteed once an order is released to fulfillment; submit any request immediately to support@hmdscientific.com.
6.3 Carrier-corrected addresses. If a carrier applies an address-correction fee because of an address supplied by Buyer, that fee is charged to Buyer.
7. Undeliverable, Refused, and Returned Packages
7.1 Undeliverable. If a shipment is undeliverable because of an incorrect or incomplete address, because no eligible signature was available within the carrier’s attempt schedule, or because the package was not retrieved from a hold location, the carrier will return it to the fulfillment facility.
7.2 Refused. If Buyer refuses delivery, the shipment is returned to the fulfillment facility.
7.3 Chain of custody. Returned Products cannot be restocked or resold under any circumstances, because chain of custody and storage conditions cannot be verified once a package has left our control. All returned Products are documented and destroyed.
7.4 Remedy. For a shipment returned under 7.1 or 7.2, HMD Scientific will, at its sole discretion, either (a) reship the order at Buyer’s expense, including a new shipping and handling charge, or (b) cancel the order and refund the Product price only, less a 20% handling and disposal charge and less all shipping and handling charges, which are non-refundable. No remedy is available under the Reship Guarantee for a shipment returned under 7.1 or 7.2.
8. Transit Claims — Windows, Evidence, and Process
8.1 Summary of windows. These windows are the same windows stated in the Refund & Return Policy. No claim is accepted more than 30 calendar days after the ship date.
| Situation | Report by | Evidence required |
|---|---|---|
| Damaged or defective on arrival | 5 business days from delivery scan | Photos of outer box, inner packaging, and affected item; lot identifier; order number |
| Wrong or missing item | 5 business days from delivery scan | Photos of everything received including packing slip; order number |
| Marked delivered, not received | 7 calendar days from delivery scan | Written statement; confirmation of premises search; carrier case number |
| No tracking movement | After 7 consecutive calendar days with no scan | Order number; tracking number |
| Declared lost | Automatically, on the earlier of carrier trace closure or 15 calendar days from last scan | — |
8.2 Damage evidence. For a damage claim, retain the outer box, all inner packaging, cold packs, and the affected items until the claim is closed. Photograph, before discarding anything: the outer box on all sides including labels; the inner packaging as opened; the affected vial or container showing the lot identifier; and any leakage or breakage. Claims without the lot identifier cannot be processed.
8.3 How to file. Email support@hmdscientific.com with the subject line “Transit Claim — Order #” and attach the evidence listed above. We acknowledge within 1 business day and resolve within 5 business days of receiving a complete claim.
8.4 Delivered-but-not-received. Before we can open a claim, Buyer must confirm in writing that: the premises, mailroom, reception, and surrounding area have been searched; household members, colleagues, and neighbors have been asked; and no delivery instruction was given to the carrier to waive signature or leave the package. Because an adult signature is required on every shipment (Section 6.1), we will also request the carrier’s signature record. Where the carrier produces a signature record and no signature waiver was requested by HMD Scientific, the shipment is deemed delivered and no remedy is available.
8.5 Carrier trace. HMD Scientific opens the carrier trace and manages it. Buyer must not open a parallel carrier claim, as duplicate claims cause carriers to close both. Domestic traces typically close within 8 business days.
8.6 Remedy. The sole remedies for an approved transit claim are those stated in Section 5.3 and in the Refund & Return Policy: reship at no charge, or, where the item is unavailable or discontinued, refund of the amount paid for the affected items. Remedy selection is at HMD Scientific’s discretion. No other remedy is available.
9. Costs, Taxes, and Rates
Shipping and handling charges are calculated at checkout based on destination, service level, weight, and packaging requirements, including insulated packaging where applicable. Shipping and handling charges are non-refundable except where an entire order is cancelled by HMD Scientific before shipment or where required by law. Sales tax is applied as required by the delivery jurisdiction and may apply to shipping and handling charges.
10. Questions
support@hmdscientific.com — Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.