Shipping FAQ
Yes, you may visit to shop in-store at our location in Florida, USA. See our Directions page for details about visiting our Pompano Beach store. In addition to in-store purchase or pickup, we also offer contact-less curbside delivery of pre-paid on-line orders to your car, see Curbside Pickup page for details.
The easiest way for you determine our domestic or international shipping costs is to simply add your product choices to the shopping cart, select a checkout option, and then enter the ship to address to see all the shipping options available and their exact cost. Once you reach a minimum order value that depends on the products and destination, most orders have a Super Saver FREE Shipping option.
For all the details visit our Shipping & Delivery page.
Carrier money-back delivery date guarantees are available for US Postal Service - USPS Priority Mail Express® and United Parcel Service - UPS Next Day Air® domestic US services. Regardless, estimated delivery dates are based on "best effort" services by the carriers and there is never certainty they will be able to deliver by their estimated date, even for these two expedited services.
Keep in mind the carriers are not promising to deliver on-time, they only offer a refund of monies paid for shipping if their guaranteed service does not deliver on-time due to circumstances within their control. If carrier tracking indicates the first attempt to deliver your package was later than the delivery estimate for these two services only, contact Dive Gear Express within one week of delivery to claim a refund of your paid shipping fee.
The carrier money-back guarantee of on-time delivery does not apply when the delay is due to circumstances beyond their control as determined solely by the carrier, including (but not limited to) the following:
- Disruptions in the air or ground transportation networks, such as weather phenomena and natural disasters
- Emergency situations, such as transportation accidents
- Public authority exercising statutory powers, such as police or fire department
- Riots or civil commotion, strikes or other labor disputes
- Force majeure or acts of God
Although we do not guarantee same day dispatch, most orders with paid shipping and all Items marked In Stock, paid-in-full usually dispatch the same day, weekends and holidays excepted. Most other orders dispatch within 1-2 business days. We'll always e-mail a tracking number when the order has shipped.
There is no weekend or holiday pickup carrier service for any of our expedited shipping options. Therefore, an expedited order that was fulfilled on a Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday or holiday does not actually reach the carrier systems and begin transit until the next business day.
Yes, we offer Super Saver (Continental US) and US Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail shipping to APO/FPO and DPO addresses via the MPSA for most of our products, subject to some APO/FPO/DPO restrictions for specific addresses. Please see our Shipping to APO/FPO/DPO Addresses page for details.
A precise answer for delivery time ultimately depends on the carrier, service level and delivery address as well as exactly what and when you order. The short answer for most orders: about a week for US addresses and about two weeks for international addresses, with expedited service options available for delivery in one to three days. Once your order ships, you will always receive a tracking number. All the details are available on our Shipping & Delivery page.
However, due to congestion with package carriers, orders may experience Transit Delays (more info).
In most cases the answer is NO for domestic residential addresses. However, the answer ultimately depends on the carrier, service level and delivery address.
ADVISORY: Dive electronics are always shipped as "Signature Required", but you may use the appropriate USPS, UPS or DHL website to authorize delivery without signature. However, by doing so you are accepting liability for the risk of loss or theft.
International shipping almost always requires a signature, but packages might deliver without signature when no duties or taxes are due. Packages shipped with DHL can be delivered without signature required if you have made prior payment arrangements via DHL On Demand™.
USPS Priority Mail domestic service does not require signature on delivery for most orders. You can manage delivery of your package via USPS Informed Delivery®.
UPS domestic services theoretically all require signature on delivery unless they have your specific request via UPS My Choice® to release without signature. While UPS drivers on commercial routes seem to almost always get both a name and signature, drivers often do not get either at residential addresses. Recently, UPS has begun waiving signature requirements for some commercial addresses. However, in locations where UPS has a history of non-delivery claims they may not deliver without signature regardless of service level or address. Our experience also suggests drivers usually ignore requests we write on packages such as specific placement or leave without signature.
Super Saver domestic shipping can use carriers with a variety of different policies and so we are unable to predict if signature will be required until the carrier has been determined, but in most cases the answer is no.
Although rare, we know a problem can be frustrating when it happens to you and we will work with you to resolve any issue as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Please visit our Shipping Exceptions and Problems page for additional details.
Dive Gear Express guarantees safe arrival of your order.
The rates are based on our estimated weight and dimensions of the package. We send those estimates for your shopping cart contents to the real-time online rate calculators from the USPS, UPS and DHL website application program interfaces. The online rates quoted to us by the carrier are the exact same rates we show you during checkout, including our negotiated rate discounts from UPS and DHL. Then you are in control to choose between the carriers, service levels and prices that best meet your needs for that specific order.
The carriers determine their shipping rate to a specific destination using dimensional weight based on price per pound or fraction thereof (i.e. any fraction is rounded up to the next whole number), which sometimes means seemingly small changes in the shopping cart contents can have a significant effect on the shipping rate. The minimum rate is based on a package weight of one pound, which can make charges for an extremely small order of a low weight inexpensive item seem excessive. In a very few cases, the rates might be wrong for extremely heavy orders (example: large quantity of tanks or rebreather absorbent) or orders that contain large quantities of very low weight items (example: small hardware items like D-rings.) Occasionally, there is an error in our database for the weight of a specific product. If you think the shipping price quoted is incorrect, contact us and we'll immediately investigate further.
Please keep in mind that for a low value order the minimum shipping fees can be disproportionate to the value of the order, so consider carefully before ordering low value goods with expedited shipping. This is especially true for international shipping with expedited customs clearance fees or remote destination surcharges. Once you reach a minimum order value that depends on the destination, Super Saver shipping for most orders is FREE.
No, our carrier accounts are blocked from shipping with payment other than on our account number. For logistics and security reasons we are unable to ship with customer supplied pre-paid labels, carrier pickup call tags, or any other shipping service arranged by the buyer.
For those few countries that we are unable to ship and guarantee safe arrival, we recommend hiring a third party package forwarding service. For more information see Forwarding Services for International Customers.
Dive Gear Express is willing to ship directly to some countries for which we are unable to guarantee safe arrival, upon receipt of non-refundable order payment by international wire transfer. For further information see Non-guaranteed Shipping.
We understand the shipping price can be most painful when greater than the price of the item being shipped! When you need one or two relatively inexpensive low weight items, the best strategy is to find some other items on our website that you or a dive buddy can also use. Combine those with your order so that the cost to ship the small item you wanted becomes insignificant. Keep in mind that once you reach a minimum order value that depends on the destination, Super Saver shipping for most orders is FREE.
The difference is the estimated time of day the carrier will deliver the package. Ground packages are delivered anytime between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (and sometimes later) to residences, and to business addresses during their normal business hours. Expedited shipments have best effort early delivery times-of-day that vary by service level. Money-back delivery date guarantees are also included for US Postal Service - USPS Priority Mail Express® and United Parcel Service - UPS Next Day Air® domestic US services.