Terms of Sale / Use
FAQ / Questions and Answers
For "How to Order", please see Order Info
I. Ordering, Payment, & Delivery questions
• My credit card is good, but it won't work
• Why don't you accept Visa / MC over the phone?
• Why is there a $100 minimum for American Express phone orders?
• Why doesn't someone answer the phone every time I call?
• Missing rod from my support stand?
• Purchase Orders - How To Place
• Returns - Will you pay return shipping?
II. Products, Availability, & Uses questions
• Do you sell larger containers of Hardman epoxy?
• Can you answer my questions about adhesives?
• How do I use the Brownlee Electrolysis Apparatus?
• How do I distill water?
• How do I make a sand bath?
• Are your stoppers OK for analytical work? How about winemaking?
• Can you run a lab test to see if a product will suit my application?
• Can you fabricate a special product you don't normally sell?
• Can you tell me where to get a product you don't sell?
• Do you have any pitchblende?
• Where can I buy a particular chemical?
III. Miscellaneous questions
• What's with the "excess verbiage" on some of your web pages?
• I emailed you a technical / science question. Why didn't you answer?
• Why will you sell me a small quantity of tubing, but VWR / Fisher won't?
• Can you direct me to literature that supports one of your articles?
• What if my question isn't answered here?
Ordering & Payment questions
Q: I tried placing an order with a known-good credit card. Why won't it work?
A: If your card is a debit or check-card (even if it has a credit card logo on it) this may be the cause of the problem. It is our understanding that address verification systems sometimes reject debit cards, even when the card is good. Please note that this issue seems to be intermittent; you might use the card on-line 10 times with no problem, and the 11th time it might not work. It appears this can happen with any site that accepts on-line payments, even the US government.
There is, however, a possible work-around. If you tried making the payment via Google Checkout and it rejects your card, try using Paypal instead. If all else fails and you don't have another card to try, we can of course accept money orders through the mail.
Q: Why don't you accept Visa or MasterCard over the phone?
A: Our new payment provider (Google Checkout) does not currently enable phone orders, nor does Paypal.
These providers do allow you to pay via all four major credit cards over the Internet, however. This is a secure, convenient on-line method of shopping.
If you need to place your order by phone, we can currently accept American Express over the phone for orders $100 and over (please see below). We also accept company, school, and government purchase orders.
We can also accept cashiers checks and money orders via mail. Please call 1-877-260-6039 if you need assistance.
Q: Why have you stopped accepting American Express for small phone orders?
A: American Express fees are too high on the smaller sales. We are glad to accept Google Checkout, Paypal, money orders, or cashiers checks for these orders instead.
Q: Why doesn't someone answer the phone every time I call?
A: Hiring full-time phone operators would drive up our prices considerably. We answer the phone whenever someone is within earshot of it, but if nobody picks up at the time you call, we'll gladly call you back.
If you did leave a message and nobody called you back, please be sure that (1.) you spoke clearly on the voicemail, and (2.) your question wasn't something that's already answered on this website.
If you call and the phone is not answered right away, please try emailing.
Q: How Do I Place a Purchase Order?
(And, is there anything special I should know about P.O.'s?)
A: There are a few simple requirements on purchase orders:
1.) It is our company policy to reject "Terms of Purchase" that run contrary to our own Terms of Sale / Terms of Use. Thus, if your company's purchase order attaches terms that attempt to bind sellers into indemnity clauses (etc)., please be advised that this can delay your order until we get a signed waiver of these terms.
We will
require a signed waiver of such terms, signed by someone in
your
company who is authorized to make that decision. Otherwise, we
cannot
fill such orders. CR
Scientific LLC does not in any way agree to terms which attempt to
bind
us into obligations above and beyond refund of purchase price of goods,
or
other stipulations not directly required by statute. Our having filled
an order shall in no circumstance
signify acceptance of such terms.2.) Minimum Purchase Order amount is $100 net (as of July 2009).
3.) We can receive PO's via email if that is convenient for you. We can handle PDF, JPG, TIFF, and Excel / Word 97 or 2000 format.
Products, Availability, and Use questions
Q: Do you sell larger containers of epoxy?
A: No; we sell only the single-use packets and the cartons of single-use packets.
We have been unable to obtain larger-sized containers of any of the epoxy types. The company that manufactures Hardman adhesives does not appear to be interested in making larger containers available, except on special orders of very large size (i.e., multiple pallets).
We continue to sell the Hardman products for the benefit of our existing customers.
Q: Can you answer my questions about adhesives?
A: If they pertain to the Hardman epoxy products we currently sell, then yes.
We're sorry, but we do not have the time or resources to answer questions about products we don't sell.
We also cannot answer questions about those Hardman items not available on the web site (e.g., Hardman "purple", "black", etc.). The company that manufactures Hardman has given us no support and does not seem interested in expanding their sales, despite our repeated attempts.
Q: How do I use a specific product?
Q: How do I use the Brownlee Electrolysis Apparatus?
Q: How do I distill water?
Q: How do I make a sand bath?
A: Although some of our articles contain usage information to add some interest to the web site, you are responsible for knowing the basics of how to use a particular item properly.
It is entirely your responsibility to know, at the very least, how to use the item in such a way as to avoid any and all harm to yourself, other persons, property, or any combination of these.
We're sorry, but we cannot provide individualized usage instructions.
Q: Are your stoppers OK for analytical work? How about for wine making?
A: The black and the blue stoppers are probably not suitable for either purpose. They are economy / student grade stoppers.
The black variety have some kind of conditioner or oily residue on / in them; it seems likely this will end up in any liquid that contacts them, especially at elevated temperatures (e.g., distillation).
The blue variety are not noticeably oily, but they almost always arrive dirty from the factory. It is too time-consuming for us to clean every batch of stoppers that arrive; the end user must do this. That is why they are economy stoppers.
We are working on adding food-grade stoppers to our line, since we get requests for wine-making stoppers from time to time. We do not know when this will be; at such time they become available, we will add them to the web site.
Q: Why don't you carry Whatman brand filter papers?
A: Their company representative told us we had to buy a minimum of $50,000 worth of Whatman products each year in order to become a distributor.
Q: Can you run a lab test for me to tell me whether a product will work for my purpose?
A: We're sorry, but we don't have time to do this.
If we have already tested something in a particular way, we will say so.
If we have not yet tested it, it is unlikely we will have time to do so.
Q: Can you fabricate for me a special product that you don't normally sell?
A: We're sorry, but we don't do custom work.
Q: After I ask for an item that you don't carry and aren't able to get, will you tell me where else I might be able to find it?
A: We do not have the resources to devote to giving advice on products that we don't sell.
We're sorry, but we can answer questions only about products that we sell; we also cannot teach you how to use a product.
Q: Do you sell pitchblende? Do you know where I can get it?
A: No. We do not normally have pitchblende, since we focus primarily on displayable minerals.
Q: Do you sell / can you tell me where I can obtain a particular chemical?
A: We're sorry, but no. Though our website has free chemistry articles for science teachers and the like, we can offer no additional information on where to get chemicals. You might try a web search, look on Ebay, and/or become a member of one of the science discussion boards on the Internet. All such ventures, of course, are at your own risk.
Miscellaneous questions
Q: I emailed with a technical question / comment regarding one of your articles. Why wasn't it answered?
A: We may have emailed you already. Please be sure that your spam filters (or those of your ISP or organization) are not deleting the reply.
We do encourage reader responses to articles, especially if someone finds an assumption that is questionable or not verified.
You may notice that some of our experiments conclude with very tentative assumptions and more than a few unanswered questions. With the number of projects going on (packing customer orders, responding to product inquiries, and so forth), we have a tendency to leave experiments somewhat open-ended. They are provided as-is. The reader is expected to fill in some blanks or even correct some of our preliminary conclusions.
For example, if we'd had more time, we might have been able to rule out sulfur as the identity of the precipitate in the "yellow snowstorm" reaction. We left that part of it "up for grabs", so to speak. Recently a reader came along and did the tests himself. He got a result that showed it was not sulfur, but a complex.
Q: What's with the "excess verbiage" on some of your product pages?
A: Please define "excess verbiage". Many customers find our detailed product explanations very helpful.
Quite a few sellers on the Internet offer no explanation for anything. We find it hard to imagine how customers could want that.
Q: Why will you sell me a small bundle of glass tubing if I want, but VWR and Fisher Scientific will only sell me a whole case of it?
A: We cannot speak for other companies, but from experience we have learned that it's not profitable to deal in small lots of low-priced items. Nevertheless, we continue to do it for the satisfaction of our customers.
Q: I'm a university student. Can you tell me more about something you've said in one of your articles / experimental write-ups?
A: Please see the heading, "I emailed you a technical / science question. Why didn't you answer?"
Q: What if my question isn't answered here?
A: It may already be answered on our order info page. We will also update this FAQ page with more questions and answers in the future.
Q: My support stand arrived without the upright rod. What are you going to do to fix it?
A: We learned early on that these upright rods were the most popular item on which to make false claims of non-delivery. Even to this day, we are still not sure why.
We have had to become pro-active in addressing this issue. We do this in two ways:
1.) We pay very careful attention to the packing of every support stand, making sure there is exactly one rod for every base. Occasionally, we even photograph the packing of the order.
2.) We now reinforce the areas of the box with which the rods come in contact. The chance of a rod breaking through the box during shipping is even slimmer now.
We are quite certain when we put the rods in the boxes, which is every time. That certainty will be the basis for all our further comment and activity with regard to a "missing parts" claim.
While this may seem inflexible, we have been left with no choice. We cannot continue to take losses because some people think it's fun, cute, or convenient to steal.
We will not soft-pedal on this issue.
Q: Will you pay return shipping on item(s) I'm sending back?
A: Although we're glad to accept returns on most items, return shipping is the customer's responsibility.
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