All shipments are FOB our factories and warehouses, unless otherwise specified. Unless a preferential car- rier is named merchandise will be shipped “Best Way”. We take no responsibility for variances for freight rates, classifications, charges, or delays in transit. The factory’s responsibility ceases when merchandise is received by the carrier in good order. Any damages should be marked on the bill of lading at time of delivery. Our shipping cartons are also printed with this information and clearly spell out these necessary procedures. Failure to sign the bill of lading properly will hinder the possibility of being compensated by the trucking com- pany for any loss or damage. All items should also be inspected within 24 hours of receipt for concealed damage, shortages and correctness of order. If damages have occurred, contact the delivering carrier and save all original cartons and packaging material for the carrier’s inspection. All claims for damages or short- ages must be filed immediately with the delivering carrier. It is the customer’s responsibility to file any freight claim. All shortages must be reported to the factory within 48 hours of receiving the merchandise even if the bill of lading was marked accordingly. We will assist in any way possible to help process and expedite a claim. Under no circumstances should a deduction be made from our invoice to compensate for any prob- lems incurred by a shipping company. Any open account customer requesting freight charges “Prepay and Add” will incur an additional charge of 10% of the freight costs. This fee is to cover the processing of paper- work submitted by the freight carrier. Third party billing instructions will only be honored for customers with open account status. All other accounts will have to pay for freight charges in advance or have orders shipped freight collect. We do not feel UPS or any other parcel services are a suitable means of shipping our merchandise. Please note, customers requesting UPS or other parcel services, when that service is avail- able, the items will ship at a “dimensional” weight, and may even incur an additional oversized package charge. This means regardless of the package contents, value or weight, the parcel services will take the cu- bic dimensions of the carton, use a formula, and calculate the dimensional weight. For example, a 15 lbs. chair may ship at a dimensional weight of 90lbs. due to the size of the carton. If needed, contact customer service for the carton dimensions for an item, if it must ship with a parcel service. Expedited shipping service, next day air, second day air, etc. are the sole responsibility of the customer. M. Deitz & Sons, Inc will not in- cur this type of charge. If you require this type of shipping service, the arrangements must be made by the customer/consignee and the factory is to be notified of the method of shipment.