Shipping, Returns, & Warranty Info
SHIPPING
We use UPS Ground as our standard method of shipping. All of our shipments are full insured by UPS. If your product arrives damaged please take pictures of the packaging and damage done to the product and contact UPS to submit a damage claim.
RETURNS
- All products are drop shipped by our supplier, Hawthorne Gardening Company. If you have a product that needs to be returned, contact us via phone, e-mail, fax or website for an RMA# (return merchandise authorization). Hawthorne Gardening Company warrants to the original purchaser of this product against defects in material and workmanship under normal use from the date of purchase. Every product that is returned needs an RMA# in advance of return. Shortly after you contact us you will receive a written RMA confirmation via e-mail or fax. This confirmation is provided for your records and a copy must be used as a packing slip. Credit will not be given if a product is returned without prior RMA authorization. Each item returned needs to be included in the RMA issued to you. Please do not send back ANY items not included on your original RMA. You will need to request an additional RMA if you have additional items that you want to send back. When contacting us for an RMA be prepared to tell us the original invoice that a product was purchased on (except warranty defective ballasts and lamps). Additionally, please advise us the reason for the return.
- Shipments back to Hawthorne Gardening Company: We are now using prepaid, UPS ground labels for warranty returns that have the Vancouver, Samoa, Livermore, Ontario, Denver, Detroit, York, Nashville, or Pompano Beach address on them. These will be either emailed or faxed to you. If you need additional labels, please contact us. Terms of use: These labels are only to be used if you have a defective product that you purchased from us, and it is currently under warranty. In addition, it must be a product that qualifies for return to us. In all other situations, you are responsible for the freight and shipment of a product back to us. Many products that we distribute need to be sent directly back to the manufacturer. See the included list of Vendors who handle their RMA’s directly. See the Direct Vendors tab for list of vendors.
- Whenever possible ship products back to us in protective over wrap boxes. If you send something to us, please do not affix the freight sticker directly on the original product box. If an over wrap box is not available, please put a couple short strips of clear tape on the box and attach the shipping label to the tape defect returns only. In this way the original product box will not be destroyed when we try to remove the shipping label. All products that are damaged in transit because of deficient packaging may not be eligible for warranty credit or repair.
- All Sun System brand reflectors, socket assemblies, Titan Controllers, Ideal-Air, EcoPlus Chillers and Sun System Ballasts except Electronic Ballasts will be handled as a repair. Most other distributed items that Hawthorne Gardening Company authorizes to be returned will be credited if deemed defective and is within warranty period. If you have a product that needs repaired, we will turn the product around promptly. Please test all items and verify they are still in warranty before you return them. Unless otherwise specified, all returns will be shipped back to you on your next order. If we receive a unit and after thorough testing it is found to be fully functional, we will have to pass on a charge to you of $45.00 to cover the inbound and outbound freight. If you return a light system that is found to be out of warranty, we will gladly fix it, but we will have to charge you inbound and outbound freight, parts and labor ($60.00 per hour).
- If you are returning a product for credit (i.e. mis-ordered item), you will be responsible for paying the freight back to us. In addition, we will need to pass on a 20% restocking fee. The credit will be reduced by 20%. This restocking fee will be used to cover the original outbound freight (if applicable), administrative costs, labor, etc. The appropriate credit will be applied to your account and you will be sent a copy. *Please note that payment terms on your account will be applied to all credits.
- We are not able to offer credits or replacements on items that are outside of the manufacturers’ warranty. If you return one of the products that we distribute (non-lighting products) and it is found to be out of warranty, we will contact you for resolution. When you return distributed items that are found to be defective and under warranty we will credit your account. *Please note that payment terms on your account will be applied to all credits.
WARRANTY
Warranty Information: Warranty on all items will be the manufacturer’s standard warranty. Please consult the manufacturer’s packaging or literature for specifics. Most manufacturers’ will require a receipt and many will also need the original packaging.
If you are having difficulties with one of our other distributed products, (i.e. missing parts, defective product, etc.) you can contact the manufacturer directly or phone us. If you contact us, we will work with the manufacturer on your behalf to get the problem resolved. In most cases, it will not make sense to bring the product all the way back to Hawthorne Gardening Company. We will have the manufacturer send you a missing part, replacement product, return authorization, etc.
Electronic Ballast Warranty - Galaxy, Digital Logic, and Sun System digital ballasts all have a 3 year warranty (some have a shorter warranty). During the warranty period, at the sole discretion of Hawthorne Gardening Company, we will repair, replace or credit the purchasing dealer at the purchased cost (if credited) non-functional defective product. Formerly, the warranty was given starting from the purchase date. This is no longer the case given that the original purchase receipt is rarely available from the consumer. The new warranty is 36 months from the manufacturer’ date which is printed on the ballast, plus a 3 month grace period for a total of 39 months. Thus, a ballast which is under 39 months from the manufacturing date (month and year) label will be considered in warranty while a unit over 39 months will be considered out of warranty and will be denied.
If you have any questions about our return or warranty information don't hesitate to reach out.