Shipping Policy

The Interstitial Cystitis Network (ICN) is a small business located in Northern California. Customer service is always a priority for us. The absolute best way to work with us is by phone. We invite you to contact us on our order line at: (800) 928-7496 or the main ICN assistance line at: (707)538-9442. Please note that we have an extremely high volume of emails and may not be able to respond your emails in a quick manner. If we are unable to answer the phone, please leave a message and we will contact you within one working day (and often within an hour or so). Our staff work between 10am and 5PM Pacific Standard Time, Monday Through Friday. We are closed on weekends, during US holidays and the week between Christmas and New Years.

Expected Delivery Times

The most frequent question we receive is “When I can expect my order to arrive?” This is determined by several factors including: (1) the method of shipping you select, (2) the day of the week you placed your order and (3) the orders placed ahead of yours. In general, we function on a first come – first serve basis. We do try to get orders out of our warehouse within 24-48 hours, however, there are times of the year when shipping times are increased, such as during the holidays or if weather (heat) prevents us from mailing perishable products.

Your delivery date will be determined by the shipping method you select. There are four methods of USPS shipping that you may be able to select when you place your order:

First Class Mail – Applies only to orders under 13 ozs, such as a CD, Special Report or IC Optimist. First class mail is NOT trackable thus we will not be able to tell you where your item is after it has been placed in the mail. If tracking is important to you, please select Priority or Express mail. PLEASE ALLOW 2 WEEKS for shipping and delivery first class items.
Media Mail – Media mail can only be used if you are selecting printed or audiovisual items like books or CD’s. Yes, it is very inexpensive but also takes much longer to arrive. These are not trackable. PLEASE ALLOW 3 WEEKS for shipping and delivery of media items.
Priority Mail – Priority mail is the most commonly used shipping method for shipping in the USA and delivery is relatively quick. PLEASE ALLOW 3-5 days FOR THE SHIPMENT AND DELIVERY of Priority Mail.
Express Mail – Express mail is the most reliable and most expensive form of shipment. You must be available to sign for a package when you select Express Mail. PLEASE ALLOW 1-3 days FOR A EXPRESS MAIL ORDER TO BE SHIPPED AND DELIVERED – Express Mail is NOT overnight or second day delivery but is the speediest shipping method offered by the US Postal Service.

When We Require a Signature For Delivery

Postage Alert – Due to a dramatic increase in mail theft, all orders over $300 are sent via USPS with signature required, including supplement three packs. Please make sure that you have this delivered to a location where someone is available to sign (perhaps work) or to a PO Box. If you want to waive the signature confirmation, please call our office directly.

Urgent Packages

If you require an item to be delivered at a specific period of time, it is ALWAYS suggested that you call us and place your order by phone so that we can determine if we can meet your needs. This is particularly true if you are running out of an item or going on vacation. Orders placed on-line are completed on a first come, first serve basis.. thus even though you may have selected Express shipping, there may be fifty orders ahead of you.

Damaged Packages

International and Domestic Customers – If you receive a package that is damaged, please do NOT open it at home. You must open it in front of a postal representative (either at your door or at your postal office) who can then see that the package was damaged, the items are damaged and then request reimbursement. If you open the package at home and then claim it was damaged, the postal service and/or UPS will NOT BELIEVE YOU and they will not provide compensation for the damage.

Back Orders or Sold Out Items

While we try to keep all of our stock current, there are times when shipments are delayed, such as manufacturers shortages, power outages and evacuations during the fire season here in California. These are out of our control. If you place an order that includes an item which is out of stock and that item is scheduled to arrive within a few days, we will hold your order until that item is received. If it looks like that item will not be available within a reasonable period of time, we will remove that item that you’ve ordered and indicate on your sales receipt that the item is sold out or on back order. We will then contact you when the item is available. We are often given estimated arrival dates that are off by a week or more. We are doing our best but this is beyond our control.

Tracking Your Package

We try to update accounts online with tracking information when time permits. If you have any questions about your orders, you can contact us directly by phone at: (800) 928-7496 and we can verify tracking status and email that to you.

Unclaimed Orders

It is always sad when we receive an express mail package that has been unclaimed by the recipient. Express mail costs a lot of money. While this is rare, we attempt to contact the customer to determine if they would still like their item and/or to determine what the problem was. If we are unable to contact the customer and the items are returned undamaged, we will issue a refund or store credit as per our return policies. If a mistake is made on our end, we will reship the item no cost. If an addressing error is made on the customers end, we will ask the customer to pay the shipping fee a second time. Please PLEASE pick up your packages quickly!!! You do not want to become part of the slow boat brigade. It is extremely frustrating for all of us.

Shipping Rates

All USPS shipments were originally based primarily on weight and destination. Thus, the closer you were located to the shop and the lighter the package, the cheaper the shipping would be. Those good times changed when USPS joined UPS and FEDEX by adding in the DIMENSIONS of the package shipped. We have done our best to keep First Class and Priority rates as low as possible by using flat rate envelopes and boxes when possible!

Do We Ship By UPS or FEDEX?

We would be happy to ship via UPS however it is frequently much more expensive than USPS. UPS shipments cannot be processed via this web store and those customers requesting UPS service must call in their order to our order phone number (800) 928-7496. We cannot ship via FEDEX as there is no longer a package dropoff location near our shipping center.