Returns, Refunds, Cancellations, and Shipping Policies:
Below I've outline our Returns, Remakes, Refunds, and Shipping Policies. Please keep in mind that these policies are subject to change, and that you should treat your jewelry in the way outlined in the section on this page titled "Storage of Your Breast Milk Jewelry." If anything is unclear on this page, please do not hesitate to email us at info@breastmilkjewerly.com and we'll do our best to clarify! :)
0. Terms and Stipulations Outlined in our Policies That You May Find Helpful When Reading our Policies:
Milk Archives: Any excess breast milk that wasn't used in the creation of your jewelry will be stored for 1 year after you receive your jewelry. This gives you the option to create another beautiful piece of jewelry using the same milk sample. Storing your excess milk is also helpful in case your jewelry becomes lost, damaged, or something happens to your jewelry otherwise. This also allows me to recreate a mother's lost or damaged jewelry if I was unable to create any excess stones at the time her jewelry was created.
Proper Treatment and Storage: Your breast milk jewelry should be treated and stored properly to ensure that the stone and setting hold up over time. This means that your jewelry should be stored long-term in an air-tight container with an oxygen-absorbing agent. It should be stored out of direct sunlight and should be gently cleaned periodically to rid your jewelry of tarnish. Dyes from purses and pouches can leech into breast milk stones and cause discoloration, so please store in a proper jewelry box with the stone not touching the fabric of anything that may have been dyed or bleached. For short-term storage, you may store in a clean, dry container outside of a moist environment (examples of moist environment could be a pool house, bathroom, and even some environments that are chronically moist such as beach locations--for such environments, we do recommend storing in an air-tight container with an oxygen-absorbing agent no matter if the storage is short or long term). Breast milk stones should not come into contact with lotions, hair products, chlorinated water, cleaning products, hand sanitizers, or jewelry cleaners. The stones are scratch-resistant, but not scratch-proof. Proper treatment and storage includes storing unworn jewelry out of direct sunlight, away from heat and moisture, and in a proper storage case such as a secure jewelry box. We strongly recommend not wearing our jewelry in the shower or while swimming.
Stone Archives: Whenever possible, I try to create excess stones for mothers at the same time I create her jewelry. I do this in case her jewelry becomes lost or is somehow damaged after she receives her jewelry. These extra stones are stored *indefinitely* in our archives! We consider this a huge plus when ordering from us, as it provides mothers with enormous peace of mind should anything happen to her jewelry.
Undue Stress: Undue stress can be determined by the type of activity that was being performed when the setting was damaged. For example, if you work in a facility where your hands may repeatedly come into contact with a piece of equipment, wall, or other structure, and your rings may make contact with a hard surface repeatedly, this is considered undue stress. Breast milk stones have roughly the same hardness level as a pearl or an opal. They are delicate stones and should not be subjected to this type of activity, so we ask that you safely store your ring during such activities.
About Milk Archives:
Any excess breast milk that wasn't used in the creation of your jewelry will be stored for 1 year after you receive your jewelry. This gives you the option to create another beautiful piece of jewelry using the same milk sample. Storing your excess milk is also helpful in case your jewelry becomes lost, damaged, or something happens to your jewelry otherwise.
**Even though I store excess milk for 1 year after a mom receives her jewelry, it is always a good idea to store extra breast milk yourself! I do eventually discard a mom's breast milk to make space, and I strongly encourage you to keep some milk in the back of your freezer!**
I. Breast Milk Stone Issues:
Repair or Replacement of Breast Milk Stones:
Breast Milk Stone Falls Out of Setting and You Have Your Stone:
In the unlikely event that your breast milk stone falls out of your setting and you are able to locate the stone, we will repair it free of charge (ie. we will reset your stone for you into the original setting) within 60 days of you recieving your jewelry. After the 60 day mark and before the 1 year mark, we will repair your breast milk jewelry for you (reset the stone back into your jewelry) for the price of shipping. You are responsible for shipping your jewelry back to us. Please contact us before shipping your jewelry so that we can provide you with the best address to which to ship.
After 1 year, we are happy to replace the stone into your setting provided that you ship your stone and setting to us for $45 plus the cost of shipping.
We take quality assurance very seriously and carefully inspect all jewelry before it leaves our shop, however, if you noticed a flaw in your stone, we will replace your stone for no charge within 60 days of receiving your original jewelry piece (this timeline doesn't apply to previously-replaced stones or settings). Please e-mail us at info@breastmilkjewelry.com with any pictures of the issue and we will be in contact with how to fix it.
Breast Milk Stone Has a Flaw From 60 days to 1 year of Receiving Your Jewelry:
If you notice your stone has a flaw after 60 days from the date you received your jewelry, we will replace your stone for you for no charge minus the cost of shipping. This means that if you ship your jewelry back to us, we will replace the stone for you at no charge. You just pay for your jewelry's return shipping to you. To pay for shipping back to you, please e-mail us with pictures of the issue with your stone, and we will provide you with instructions on how to ship your jewelry back to us as well as a link where you can pay for return shipping of your jewelry to you.
Please note that the free replacement only applies to the original jewelry piece and not to any subsequent jewelry pieces that you were sent for free as a result of a repair.
Remakes or Return of a Breast Milk Stone due to Dissatisfaction:
I am unable to accept returns for completed breast milk jewelry pieces. Each piece of jewelry I make is hand-made and made-to-order which allows for some artistic variation. Variations may include but are not limited to: swirls, dots, air pockets or bubbles, and even translucency may vary. I put a lot of pride into the making of my pieces, and will not send out a piece of jewelry that I would not be proud to wear myself. Each piece that I make is completely unique to the mother and no two are ever alike. Each person's breast milk may react differently to my specific process for making preserved breast milk jewelry, and some breast milk is more difficult to work with than others.
*I will not refund or exchange due to buyer's remorse. I will not refund due to a customer ordering an a different piece than was wanted (for example, I will not refund due to a husband mistakenly ordering his wife something other than what she wanted).
*I will not remake promotional items (items received for free or at a discount due to a promotion).
II: Ring Setting, Earring Setting, or Necklace Issues Not Related to Breast Milk Stone:
**All of our settings are hand-made, therefore will have a natural variation in each piece, but flaws are not at all common. If you notice a flaw that detracts from the beauty of your ring or pendant, please bring it to our attention, preferably with pictures attached to your e-mail (info@breastmilkjewelry.com).
Issues With Settings Within 60 days of Receiving Your Jewelry:
If a setting is broken and was not under any undue stress, we are happy to repair our sterling silver settings for 60 days from the date you received your *original jewelry piece*. After the 60 day mark, a fee will be charged to replace or repair a setting. This is likely less than what your local jeweler would charge, and we are happy to provide the service for you. Solid gold settings are more costly to repair and will not be offered for free with the 60 day window. If you purchase a ring that comes in a stacking set and one of the non-breastmilk/DNA rings becomes damaged (and again, was not under any undue stress while working or at home), we are happy to repair or replace the setting for you within 60 days as a one-time courtesy. Any replacements after the first will be the responsibility of the customer. For any and all repairs, the customer is responsible for shipping, even within the 60 day repair window.
Issues With Settings After 60 days of Receiving Your Jewelry:
Please contact us for a link in which you can pay for a repair if you are outside of the 60 day window or a link to pay for shipping for a repair if you are within the 60 day window.
III. Refunds and Cancellations:
If No Milk Was Sent for Your Order:
You may cancel your entire order with a full refund **minus the cost of our merchant fees, which are not refunded to us when we issue a refund to customers** within 5 days after purchase if you have not already sent your breast milk to me. Between 5 days and 14 days, if you have not already sent your milk, you may cancel your order for a 95% refund to your card or payment account plus the cost of our merchant fees. Between 15 and 90 days, if you have not already sent your milk, you may cancel your order for an 75% refund to your card or payment account plus the cost of merchant fees. We file taxes quarterly (ever 90 days), and we may have already filed taxes on the money from your order (meaning that we paid taxes on money that you are now requesting a refund for), so this policy does try to take that into consideration. In other words, the longer you wait to request a refund, the less you will receive back.
If Your Milk Was Sent But You'd Still Like a Refund:
Once I receive your breast milk, it is naturally preserved and I order the pieces required to make your custom piece of jewelry for you. If you would like to cancel your order after you've already sent your milk, you may do so within 90 days from purchase for a fee of 35% of the purchase price (restocking fee and materials used for preservation do factor into this percentage). After 90 days, no refund will be issued.
If you decide to cancel your order and I have begun making your breast milk jewelry, you may receive a 40% refund, and no preserved breast milk pieces will be sent to you.
If you decide to cancel your order after I have completed your piece of jewelry, no refund will be issued. I can either ship your breast milk jewelry to you or dispose of it for you.
I will not refund if your order was shipped to an incorrect address. Customers are expected to enter a correct shipping address at checkout. I do my best to update shipping addresses for customers if they've moved, but cannot refund for incorrect shipments based on a new address.
I will not refund any amount for a damaged promotional item or add-on (any item received free or for a discount).
IV. Shipping and Receipt of Breast Milk:
Timeline for Shipping:
If you live within the Continental United States, you have the option to ship your breast milk jewelry to you using Priority Mail or Priority Express shipping. Priority Mail usually takes 2-6 business days, and Priority Express can take 1-3 days depending on location within the US. I provide tracking numbers for all orders which can be found in your account on my website so that you can track your packages. All US Packages receive at least $400 insurance in case your jewelry is lost on its way to you.
All international orders will receive First Class shipping unless an option for Priority Shipping is requested and paid for and can take anywhere between 1-6 weeks between the US and the destination country depending on your location. First Class shipments do have a tracking number which I will enter into your account on my website, but I cannot guarantee that your package's movements will be updated outside of the US. This depends on your own country's postal carrier service and the postal carriers.
Special Considerations for Shipping When Paying with PayPal:
Orders placed with PayPal cannot have their shipping address updated because of a move. PayPal has buyer and seller protections contingent on the buyer's shipping address. We *must* ship to the shipping address verified on your PayPal account in order to have these protections extended to us. If you need to update your shipping address and you've paid with PayPal, we can cancel your order and allow you to re-place the order using a credit card, or we ask that you allow your mail to be forwarded using USPS's forwarding service. USPS allows mail to be forwarded to new addresses up to 6 months free of charge, so if you are unwilling to cancel the order and re-place it, this is the option we recommend.
If You've Moved:
I will not refund if your order was shipped to an incorrect address. Customers are expected to enter a correct shipping address at checkout. I do my best to update shipping addresses for customers if they've moved (as long as the order wasn't paid for using PayPal), but cannot refund for incorrect shipments based on a new address.
Timeline for Breast Milk Being Entered Into Our System:
I strongly encourage everyone who sends me breast milk to please use a mailing service that provides you with tracking information as I am unable to give individual updates on whether or not I have received your breast milk. To see if I have received your package, check your tracking number. If your tracking information says that it has been delivered, rest assured that I have it in my possession and have stabilized it for use in your jewelry. I do try to enter newly-received milks into my system with 10 days of receipt, but they are preserved much sooner than that. Once I enter them into my system, you will receive an update to your email stating that your order status has been updated.
Due to a large influx of orders, I am unable to provide individual updates on order status via e-mail. To check the status of your order, login to your account on my website. I update all orders in client accounts on my website.
V. Timeline for Replacements or Repairs:
Sterling silver jewelry is usually shipped out to you within two to three weeks from the date I receive your setting back from you. I do my best to return repair items back to my customers as quickly as possible, but sometimes circumstances are beyond my control (for example, if a setting is too badly damaged for repair and a new setting is needed but is backordered, I may not be able to get that setting in the timeline mentioned above). I will also do my best to update you of any progress made on your repair as it proceeds. As always, any repairs or replacements will of course receive priority treatment and be worked on ahead of all other orders.
VI. Additional Information and Considerations:
Custom Order Inquiries:
I used to do custom designs, but due to being overwhelmingly busy, I no longer have time to price out individual custom orders and will no longer take custom orders. This does not mean that I will not eventually add a design like the one you're wanting, so feel free to e-mail me with any design ideas you'd like to see my store offer in the future. I have several designs that were born of customer requests, so let me know what you'd like to see!
The Nature of Breast Milk Jewelry:
My breast milk jewelry is hand-made, made-to-order, and completely unique to you. Natural variations may exist in your breast milk jewelry piece and include but are not limited to: swirls, dots, air pockets or bubbles, indentations, and even translucency may vary. Even though I use the same process for each person's breast milk, each person's breast milk behaves differently than anyone else's, making this an entirely unique piece of jewelry for just for you.
Acts of God and Lost Packages Either To Us or From Us:
Unfortunately, I cannot be held liable should my home fall victim to an Act of God such as earthquake, hurricane, landslide, etc. For this reason, I *strongly recommend* that you do NOT send me all of the material you wish to use in the creation of your breast milk or DNA jewelry. Furthermore, though it is rare, USPS does occasionally lose a person's package coming to us or shipping from us. Please hold back some extra breast milk or DNA material just in case!