Here's what to do!
If you have questions or concerns about your order, you are always welcome to contact the Scottish Tartans Museum staff for an update. You can reach us by phone or email. Our email address is tartans@scottishtartans.org. Our telephone number is (828)524-7472 or toll-free at 1-866-898-1192. We are open from 10am to 5pm EST Monday through Saturday.
We do receive a large volume of emails each day. While we give priority to emails regarding gift shop orders, it is possible that it may take some time to reply to your email. For this reason, if you need information about your order quickly, it is best to phone us.
Before you email or call, here is some basic information about us and our ordering process. We are a small, non-profit organization. Sometimes people are tempted to treat all e-commerce like one of the major on-line retail outlets. This is not us. We do not have a warehouse, very little of what we do is automated, and most of our order records are still kept on paper. We have a small staff consisting of three paid employees and a few unpaid volunteers. Further, many of our suppliers are also small family owned businesses or individual artisans.
We keep our order records filed by customer name. So when you call, just let us know your name and that you have a question about your order. We'll pull your file so that we can help you. You may be asked for additional information, such as whether you placed the order on-line or by phone. If it's an on-line order, we may ask for the confirmation number or the email address you used to place the order.
Generally, here is what you can expect our staff to be able to tell you immediately on the phone: we can confirm that we have record of your order; we can confirm whether or not the order has been shipped, and if so we can tell you the shipment date and method; if the order has not yet shipped we can confirm that it has been ordered from our supplier and give you our best estimate of when it might be ready for shipment.
If you require more specific information about your order, it will likely involve our staff phoning the particular company or artisan who is supplying the item for your order. Given that we order from suppliers located in Scotland, Canada, and various parts of the United States, it may take some time for us to gather information about your order. If your order contains multiple items it is possible that we will need to contact several of our suppliers to obtain a complete order status for you.
Please read below for answers to some common concerns and questions:
Why did you take my money if you have not shipped my order yet?
We use PayPal for our e-commerce system. It is the largest and most trusted payment facilitator for making electronic payments. When you submit your order via our PayPal shopping cart, PayPal automatically charges you the order total and sends that amount to us, along with your order information. We receive your payment at the same time as we receive notification of you order. If the item is not in stock, this means that there can be a period of time between when your payment was made and when your order can be shipped. If you need to cancel your order for any reason before it is shipped, we are happy to refund the PayPal payment. The only exceptions would be for custom made items already in progress. Please read the item description carefully. If you have questions about whether your item is custom made, please let us know. This will generally include made-to-measure items such as kilts, skirts, trews, and custom jackets.
If you want to avoid being charged before your item is shipped, please phone in your order. We will take your credit card information over the phone, but won't charge your card until the order is ready to ship (the exception would be for items requiring a deposit).
Your web site said the item was in stock, but when I placed my order I received an email saying it was not in stock. Why did you lie to me?
We did not lie to you. The green text you will find with many of our item descriptions is meant to give a general stock status of that item and is not meant as a guarantee that any particular items is in stock at any given time. It is there to tell you whether an item is normally stocked, or will always require special ordering. For example, our Lewis kilt hose are normally kept in stock for immediate shipment. However, we may be out of stock of the particular color and size you need at the time you place your order. Likewise, even though our spring weight tartan scarves are normally stocked, we may be temporarily sold out of the individual tartan you require. This is why we will always send an email confirmation when we receive your order to let you know the stock status of your particular order.
If you need to know in advance whether the item you require is in stock, simply email or phone us to verify that we have what you need on the shelf. If you phone us, we'll be happy to complete your order while we have you on the phone.
Why have I not received any communication about my order?
You should always expect at least two communications from us regarding your order.
1) You should receive an email confirmation within 24 hours (48 on weekends and holidays) letting you know we have received your order, and whether or not all items are in stock.
2) You should receive a shipment verification from either USPS or FedEx (depending upon the shipment method you selected) to let you know when your package has shipped. The only other reason we would have to contact you about your order is if there is a problem with the order that we need to bring to your attention. So no news is good news!
If you have not received an email confirmation of your order within 24 hours (48 on weekends and holidays) it could mean one of three things. 1) Our confirmation email may have been picked up by your spam filter. Please check your spam folder for emails from the Scottish Tartans Museum. 2) There could be another problem with your email address that is keeping our email from being delivered to you. Please call us to confirm the details of your order. 3) It could also be an indication that we never received your order request, so you need to contact us immediately about your order.
If you have not received a shipment notification, it likely means that your order has not yet shipped. If it has gone beyond the estimated delivery time for your order and you have not received shipment notification, please 1) check your spam folder for any email from USPS or FedEx, and then 2) contact us and we can verify whether your order has been shipped.
Can I send back my order for a refund or exchange?
Stock gift shop items may be returned for a refund up to 10 days after receipt. Stock items may be exchanged for other items, or store credit, up to 30 days after receipt. Shipping and handling fees are non-refundable. Tailor made or custom ordered items are non-refundable. If you have a question about your particular purchase, please ask for details. Deposits on kilts and kilted skirts are non-refundable. Thank you.
If you have questions or concerns about your order, you are always welcome to contact the Scottish Tartans Museum staff for an update. You can reach us by phone or email. Our email address is tartans@scottishtartans.org. Our telephone number is (828)524-7472 or toll-free at 1-866-898-1192. We are open from 10am to 5pm EST Monday through Saturday.
We do receive a large volume of emails each day. While we give priority to emails regarding gift shop orders, it is possible that it may take some time to reply to your email. For this reason, if you need information about your order quickly, it is best to phone us.
Before you email or call, here is some basic information about us and our ordering process. We are a small, non-profit organization. Sometimes people are tempted to treat all e-commerce like one of the major on-line retail outlets. This is not us. We do not have a warehouse, very little of what we do is automated, and most of our order records are still kept on paper. We have a small staff consisting of three paid employees and a few unpaid volunteers. Further, many of our suppliers are also small family owned businesses or individual artisans.
We keep our order records filed by customer name. So when you call, just let us know your name and that you have a question about your order. We'll pull your file so that we can help you. You may be asked for additional information, such as whether you placed the order on-line or by phone. If it's an on-line order, we may ask for the confirmation number or the email address you used to place the order.
Generally, here is what you can expect our staff to be able to tell you immediately on the phone: we can confirm that we have record of your order; we can confirm whether or not the order has been shipped, and if so we can tell you the shipment date and method; if the order has not yet shipped we can confirm that it has been ordered from our supplier and give you our best estimate of when it might be ready for shipment.
If you require more specific information about your order, it will likely involve our staff phoning the particular company or artisan who is supplying the item for your order. Given that we order from suppliers located in Scotland, Canada, and various parts of the United States, it may take some time for us to gather information about your order. If your order contains multiple items it is possible that we will need to contact several of our suppliers to obtain a complete order status for you.
Please read below for answers to some common concerns and questions:
Why did you take my money if you have not shipped my order yet?
We use PayPal for our e-commerce system. It is the largest and most trusted payment facilitator for making electronic payments. When you submit your order via our PayPal shopping cart, PayPal automatically charges you the order total and sends that amount to us, along with your order information. We receive your payment at the same time as we receive notification of you order. If the item is not in stock, this means that there can be a period of time between when your payment was made and when your order can be shipped. If you need to cancel your order for any reason before it is shipped, we are happy to refund the PayPal payment. The only exceptions would be for custom made items already in progress. Please read the item description carefully. If you have questions about whether your item is custom made, please let us know. This will generally include made-to-measure items such as kilts, skirts, trews, and custom jackets.
If you want to avoid being charged before your item is shipped, please phone in your order. We will take your credit card information over the phone, but won't charge your card until the order is ready to ship (the exception would be for items requiring a deposit).
Your web site said the item was in stock, but when I placed my order I received an email saying it was not in stock. Why did you lie to me?
We did not lie to you. The green text you will find with many of our item descriptions is meant to give a general stock status of that item and is not meant as a guarantee that any particular items is in stock at any given time. It is there to tell you whether an item is normally stocked, or will always require special ordering. For example, our Lewis kilt hose are normally kept in stock for immediate shipment. However, we may be out of stock of the particular color and size you need at the time you place your order. Likewise, even though our spring weight tartan scarves are normally stocked, we may be temporarily sold out of the individual tartan you require. This is why we will always send an email confirmation when we receive your order to let you know the stock status of your particular order.
If you need to know in advance whether the item you require is in stock, simply email or phone us to verify that we have what you need on the shelf. If you phone us, we'll be happy to complete your order while we have you on the phone.
Why have I not received any communication about my order?
You should always expect at least two communications from us regarding your order.
1) You should receive an email confirmation within 24 hours (48 on weekends and holidays) letting you know we have received your order, and whether or not all items are in stock.
2) You should receive a shipment verification from either USPS or FedEx (depending upon the shipment method you selected) to let you know when your package has shipped. The only other reason we would have to contact you about your order is if there is a problem with the order that we need to bring to your attention. So no news is good news!
If you have not received an email confirmation of your order within 24 hours (48 on weekends and holidays) it could mean one of three things. 1) Our confirmation email may have been picked up by your spam filter. Please check your spam folder for emails from the Scottish Tartans Museum. 2) There could be another problem with your email address that is keeping our email from being delivered to you. Please call us to confirm the details of your order. 3) It could also be an indication that we never received your order request, so you need to contact us immediately about your order.
If you have not received a shipment notification, it likely means that your order has not yet shipped. If it has gone beyond the estimated delivery time for your order and you have not received shipment notification, please 1) check your spam folder for any email from USPS or FedEx, and then 2) contact us and we can verify whether your order has been shipped.
Can I send back my order for a refund or exchange?
Stock gift shop items may be returned for a refund up to 10 days after receipt. Stock items may be exchanged for other items, or store credit, up to 30 days after receipt. Shipping and handling fees are non-refundable. Tailor made or custom ordered items are non-refundable. If you have a question about your particular purchase, please ask for details. Deposits on kilts and kilted skirts are non-refundable. Thank you.
