Shopping Guide & Terms of Use

Please read first!

Please read the following terms of use before using the shopping site of www.maruwa.com (referred to as the "site" hereinafter). By using this site, you agree to the terms of use. All purchased items will be delivered by UPS (www.ups.com), USPS. In some cases, where it is judged necessary by Maruwa.com, Inc., goods may be delivered by other couriers. If you wish to place an order which is destined to outside 50 states, inquire to prior to place that order. Please remark the country name and the postal code. To APO and FPO, we use USPS. The shipping fees (2 Business Days or Next Business Day's rate) to New York will be applied. Also, it may take 5 to 7 days to ship out the order. Prices are subject to change without prior notification. Previous transaction records may still be found in your PC due to cookies used for this site. To verify that your shopping cart is empty, click the [View Cart] button before you start shopping. Input "0 (zero)" if there is any information left in your shopping cart. The information on this site is based on a product's description or information provided by the manufacturer. Maruwa.com, Inc. shall not guarantee or be liable for the contents of the information. We do not accept orders by phone in order to prevent any misunderstandings about order content or delivery addresses. The order form on the site is the most simplified and secure way to place an order. Although we accept orders by fax or by mail (postal service), it takes longer to handle these orders. All prices are subject to change. Items with special sales prices may not be available. Contents of this "Terms of Use" are subject to change, deletion, or addition without prior notice.

- How to find items you want
The "Category Description" has a detailed list of products available for you. Related products are also listed in the same category.

- When you cannot find the item you want
In principle, you cannot purchase an item online that is not listed. If you give us details about the item you want (manufacturer, product name, weight/size) via email, we will let you know once the item is ready to be listed on our merchandise list. We will also contact you in case we cannot provide the product.

- How to select items (you can change or cancel your order any time at this stage)
Input the number of items you would like to purchase in the "Order" column in each category, and click "Add to Cart" at the bottom of the page.

- To continue shopping, go back to "Category Description" or "Home" after confirming the quantity in your order. Select the category of your choice.

- Check-out and shipping/ billing information
When you finish shopping, select the destination state, then click "Go to Cashier" to move on to the next screen. Confirm the contents of your order and complete the shipping and billing information, including your delivery address and contact numbers. Your information is encrypted and securely sent.

- Charge and Payment

• We accept VISA, Master card, and American Express. Your credit card information is encrypted and sent through a secure server. We do not accept money orders or checks.
• Total amount includes a. the merchandise subtotal, b. shipping fee, c. handling fee , d. CA Sales Tax (see the next topic). The charge is billed to your designated credit card once the items are ready to be shipped.
  - About b. handling fee:
  If your order contains more than one item from "Chilled" or "Fresh and Frozen" section (item number starts with "A" or "F"); the handling fee will be $5.00, otherwise it will be $3.00.
  Consider separating into 2 orders to save shipping fee when you are buying from "Chilled" or "Fresh and Frozen" section and other sections. We will WAIVE A HANDLING FEE for the separated "Dry Foods" order if the following conditions are satisfied. (It will be waived when the order is ready to be shipped.)
  1. Those separated orders should be placed within 2 hours.
  2. Those separated orders must be sent by the same customer and those destinations must be the same.
  3. The ORDER NUMBER of the first-sent order should be remarked into the second order's "Promotion Code" field in the Billing and Shipping Informaiton input page.
  

- CA Sales Tax
For California residents, 8.25% sales tax (as of January 2007, subject to change without notice) is added to goods such as non-food items and medicines as stipulated by the City of El Cerrito. The sales tax is not applicable for deliveries to other states.
(Sales Tax will be added when your order is ready to shipped.)

- When an item of your order is out of stock, you can choose one of the following options:

1. wait a couple of days to complete this order, then ship all available items even if some are still missing.
2. ship all available items ASAP, even if some are missing.
3. ask you if any of "Must Have" items are missing or short in the number.

We do not guarantee the next arrival schedule, timing, and price of out-of-stock items because most of the items at Maruwa.com are imported from Japan.
We do not guarantee the availability of special sale items, although we try to have them abundantly in stock. Every order will be handled on a first-come-first-served basis.

- Shipping Schedule

1. Shipping fees are caliculated based on the total weight, dimention, and its destination.
2. There are 4 options to choose: Ground (the most economical option. 2 to 7 business days from San Francisco, depending on your region), 3 Business Days, 2 Business Days , and Next Business Day.
   "Business day" is Monday through Friday, except holiday.
3. "Ship out" and "Delivery" will be made on "Business Day."
4. Ground shipment usually takes 2 to 7 business days depends on the destination. Please refer UPS Ground Transit Map.
5. When you are ordering items from "Chilled Foods" and "Fresh Foods" categories, select appropriate shipping options described in those category pages. If you select a slower shipping option, we do NOT GURANTEE its product quality during the transition.
6. To Hawaii and Alaska, 2 Business Days and Next Business Days options are available. Some shipments to Hawaii and Alaska require additional time in transit.
7. To estimate an approximate shipping fee to Hawaii and Alaska, refer Shipping Cost page.
8. About the details of transit time, please refer www.UPS.com "Transit Time" section. The origin Postal Code is 94530.
9. To APO and FPO, we use UPSP services. Select AE = "New York" or AP = "California" as its destination and choose 2 Business Days or Next Business Day for shipping option. ("Ground" and "3 Business Days" are not availale for APO and FPO.)
   - For USPS Priority Mail Service, 2 Business Days' rate will be applied.
   - For USPS Express Mail Service, Next Business Day's rate will be applied.
   
10. Orders placed before 10 am from Monday to Thursday: When an order is placed before 10am (Pacific time), items are shipped on the same or the next day.
    Orders placed after 10am from Monday to Thursday: When an order is placed after 10am (Pacific time), items are shipped on the next day or 2 days after the order. If it is Thursday, it will be shipped out on Friday or next week Monday.
    Orders placed after 10am on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday: Items are shipped on Monday or Tuesday.
11. If you wish to have the items shipped to another address, please provide any necessary information in "Different Destination" on the order form. For this shipment, we require a "Card Security Code" which is printed on a credit card. (VISA or Master: 3 digit number printed on the back side, right corner of the signature space, AMEX: 4 digit number printed on the face side, right above the card number.) Please remark the card security code in the Promotion Code field in the "Shipping and Billing Information" input page.

1. Print the confirmation page, showing the description/number/amount of your order and shipping and billing information and keep it until you receive your ordered items.
2. Please be advised that you may be charged a correction fee if a delivery company needs to correct or re-direct the destination address.
3. You will receive an automated reply order confirmation mail with order number when you finish an order process.
4. If you do not receive the automated confirmation mail or "Order Status" mail by the end of second business day (i.e. Monday to Friday), a communication error may have occurred during the transaction. Please let us know by email order@maruwa.com include your name, order number, date of order, and address.
5. We attach a statement in PDF format to the "Order Status" mail, so that you can browse it with Adobe Acrobat Reader (R). If you do not have a copy of this software, you can download it for free at www.adobe.com.
6. In case you do no want to receive the attached statement, send us an email and let us know your order number and "no attached statement" preference.

- Cancellation or change of order If you wish to cancel or make changes to your order, contact us before 11 am of the SHIP OUT day via email (order@maruwa.com). Let us know whether you wish to cancel or make changes to your order, along with your order number, your name, email address, and current phone number for confirmation. Cancellations/ changes made after 11 am, the customer shall bear the consequent shipping fee, handling fee and any other actual expenses already incurred.

- Defective goods, returns, and refunds

1. For purchases made at Maruwa.com, notify us about any defects by email within 3 days after the goods are delivered to you. Maruwa.com shall not be liable for any claims or complaints after 3 days of delivery.
2. Obtain an RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) number in case you wish to return goods. Failure to provide the RMA number may lead to rejection of refund, even if the goods are returned to us.
3. In case of incomplete delivery of goods, damages upon delivery, expired /or past "The Best Before Date" goods, or goods in unusable conditions, please inform us by email within 3 days after the delivery. The amount for such goods shall be refunded by check, or credited to your credit card. Please keep all merchandise, boxes, and filling materials for further investigation until problems have been settled. Some cases, you may not need to return the goods. We will contact you about whether the goods should be returned.
4. If you wish to return an item for your own reasons, the amount for the returned item shall be refunded by check or credited back to your credit card after we confirm the item you return. Obtain the RMA number as described in (1). You need to bear the handling fee and shipping fee for the delivery and the return.
5. Returns must be made within 7 days after you obtain the RMA number. Maruwa.com shall not refund any returns attempted anytime afterward.
6. Maruwa.com shall not accept any return of opened or perishables items to be kept refrigerated. (For goods with deteriorated quality upon delivery, we will refund the amount of the merchandise.)

- Limitation of responsibilities of Maruwa.com

1. Maruwa.com shall compensate for damage up to the total amount of your purchase, the shipping fee, and the handling fee from Maruwa.com to you.
2. Maruwa.com reserves the right to cancel your order at our discretion when the order is deemed impossible based on our operations. We will inform you if your order is cancelled.

Maruwa.com, Inc.
10562 San Pablo Ave.
El Cerrito, CA 94530
VOICE: 510-528-5210
FAX 510-528-3910
E-mail: