Shipping Policies & Deadlines

At Rose City Chocolates, we take great care to ensure that your chocolates arrive fresh, delicious, and when you want them. We can ship your order promptly, or take an order now to ship at a later date—for example, to arrive for a birthday, holiday, or other special event. We ship year round and use insulated packaging in the warmer months to assure that your order arrives safely. See below for details on Summer Shipping.

Domestic Shipping Rates

Rates for shipping in the 48 United States (excludes Hawaii and Alaska) start at $7.95. Each additional item adds $2.00 to the shipping cost. Baskets and Towers incur an additional handling charge of $3.00 or $4.00 depending on the size. Shipping for the Chocolate of the Month gift is included the price of that item. During warm weather months from April to mid October, we ship in special insulated warm-weather packaging using an insulated carton with a reusable gel ice-pack. This increases the cost by $3.00. These rates apply for each address to which you want an order sent.

Time in Transit

The time in transit is how long that package takes to be delivered to the destination address once it leaves our facility. Shipping times are calculated based on the business days (Monday through Friday). Delivery is not available on Sundays. Packages leave Rose City Chocolates by 3 PM in the afternoon. Time in Transit is the time it takes a package to arrive at its destination once it leaves our facility. If you place an order on a Thursday morning that needs to be at its destination by Sunday, there is only 1 business day for that package to travel.

Ground Shipping	up to 6 business days
Expedited Shipping	2 to 3 business days
Express Shipping	1 or 2 business days

Express 1 - 2 Day Shipping

We offer Express Shipping as an option to reduce the time in transit of your order. Using this shipping method means that your order will arrive at its destination in proper condition, and not necessarily one day from the time you place the order. Since your order is packed fresh, there may a delay of one or more days before your order can be shipped, especially at peak times during the holidays. We offer Express Shipping service as a means of protecting the freshness of your order during its time in transit.

1 Day Shipping is not available to every address in the 48 United States, so we may not be able to get your order to its destination in the time frame that you need.

I Need To Get it There Tomorrow!

We realize that there are those times in life when things get done at the last minute. If you provide us with an expected delivery date in the COMMENT / SPECIAL DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS section of the CHECK-OUT page, or send us an e-mail directly after placing the order we'll do our best to get your order to its destination when you need it there. If we can't meet your deadline we'll let you know using the e-mail address you provide on your order form, and you can decide if you wish to proceed with the order. Note that this notification process may itself entail a delay. If we cannot get it there when you need it, we reserve the right to cancel any such order.

For deliveries to Hawaii or Alaska, please contact our customer service e-mail or call 1-877-431-0927.

Here is a map showing approximate transit times from the time of shipment from our location to your address in the United States:

We can ship to most rural route numbers and PO boxes, but all destinations must be valid UPS or USPS addresses. Please note that shipping to these addresses may be slower than to a numbered street address. We can also ship to APO and PFPO military post destinations. We cannot, however, guarantee when these shipments will arrive. We ship to the address you provide to us and we cannot be responsible for the shipment if the address you provide to us is incorrect.

See below for information on deadlines for shipping during peak seasons.

Due to the perishable nature of our chocolates, we are not able to ship outside of the US except for most APO & PFPO addresses.

Summer Shipping & Warm Weather Destinations

During the warm weather months from April to mid-October and to destinations that are warm all year (e.g. Florida), we will use insulated cases and ice packs to assure that your order arrives safely. During this time period (and perhaps slightly before or after these dates, depending on weather conditions and your destination), we will ship your order only on a Monday, a Tuesday, or a Wednesday. In order to minimize transit time, orders received after Noon Eastern Time on a Tuesday may not be shipped until the following Monday, depending on destination and weather conditions. We do not guarantee a Monday delivery. We reserve the right to select the best shipping method and time for your order based on the prevailing weather conditions.

For destinations that are 3 or more days from us, you must select our Insulated Expedited 2-day Shipping or Insulated Express (1 or 2 day) Shipping service to assure that your order arrives safely. This is because the insulated packaging cannot keep your order fresh for longer than 3 days. See the map above for help in deciding on the best shipping method. If you select Express Service, this does not mean that your order will arrive the day after the order is placed. Please be aware that one-day delivery service is not available to every delivery address in the 50 United States. We will advise you if the shipping service you select is inadequate.

When shipping in the warm weather, you must provide us with a ship-to address where someone will be available to accept the package at the time of delivery. A doorstep is not a safe place for chocolates! We cannot be responsible for packages delivered on time to an address where no one is present to accept your order. If UPS or the USPS attempts a delivery on a Friday where there is no one present, they will try again on Monday, but the contents will be melted.

Shipments to business addresses are better than those to a residential address, but please make sure the post office delivers to the business. PLEASE NOTE: We cannot be responsible for melted chocolate if you supply us with the incorrect shipping address.

Holiday Ordering Deadlines 2012

Orders must be placed using these deadlines to assure delivery.

For arrival by Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 2012

(delivery by Saturday, June 16)
Ground Shipping: order by Noon ET on Tuesday, June 12th.
Expedited 2 - 3 Day Shipping: order by Noon ET on Wednesday, June 13th.
Express 1 - 2 Day Shipping: order by Noon ET on Thursday, June 14th.