What do I do if the items I received in my shipment are not what I ordered?

After my order is submitted, can I make changes to it or cancel it?

Unfortunately not. Orders on our website are automatically processed and transferred to our warehouse for picking, packing and shipping within seconds of when you click on the "Confirm Order" button and your payment has been approved. This is particularly critical during the months of September and October when we receive literally thousands of orders per day and we need to get them out as fast as possible. Pulling or stopping orders once they have reached our warehouse or distribution center would require that we halt the processing of all orders submitted during that time period thus unnecessarily delaying all orders - and negatively impacting other customers. For this reason we have a strict no changes, no cancellations policy and we go out of our way to alert customers of this policy before they submit their order.

If you make an error or you want to cancel your order after it has been submitted, we're sorry but there is nothing we can do to stop the order from shipping .

Still not certain what this paragraph means? Once you click that "Confirm Order" button and your order is in the "Processing" Status:

• We cannot cancel, delete or otherwise stop the order even if you only placed the order a few minutes ago.
• We cannot alter your "Ship To" address.
• We cannot add items to your order.
• We cannot remove items from your order.
• We cannot change the size selection of your order.
• We cannot change the color selection of your order.

And finally, if you're still confused on what the above means, PLEASE DO NOT PLACE YOUR ORDER.

We strongly suggest you take an extra minute or two to carefully review your order before clicking the "Confirm Order" button. Make sure you have selected the correct shipping method, the correct "Ship To" address and have confirmed you want the items (check sizes, styles, quantities and colors) in your shopping cart.

Do you charge sales tax?

How can I check the status of my order?

If I place an order today, when will I receive it?

How can I track my order?

Once we ship your order you will receive an email from us which may include a tracking number and the link to the carrier’s website where you can track your shipment. Not all carriers offer this option at this time so it doesn’t apply to all orders. We use mostly UPS and USPS which do provide tracking capabilities. If you haven’t received your tracking number yet, here’s how our notification process works. When you place an order, we will send you three emails:

• Order confirmation email
• Processing confirmation email
• Shipping confirmation email

I received a partial shipment. What do I do?

My shipment was returned to you. What can I do?

I received my shipment but one of the items is broken or missing. What do I do?

I received the wrong item in my order. What do I do?

I'm not receiving any order status emails from you. Should I be concerned?

Yes you should be concerned. As with all ecommerce web sites, the primary method we use to communicate with our customers is via email. When you create an account and order something with us we have to assume that a) the email account you provided is valid and b) you're able to receive inbound emails from us. If you're not receiving emails from us, then something is potentially wrong requiring your attention.

The order status emails we send are in an HTML format. Some ISP's (Internet Service Providers) will by default automatically filter out email that is sent with photos or html code embedded in them (AOL is particularly bad about this). If you received your original Halloween Express account setup email (which is a text only email) but are not receiving any of the order status emails our systems send to update you on the status of your order, the problem is with your email account setup. You need to check your email filter settings (aka "SPAM" filter setting) to make sure the emails we are sending you about your order are not being filtered and/or deleted without you viewing first. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do to assist you on this.

How do I know if my order has been received OK?

The most reliable way to check to see if your order has been received is to log into your account online with us. To do this simply click on the "MY ACCOUNT" icon found in the top right hand corner of every page on our website. Once you have logged in (requires your email address + your password), you will be taken to the page in your account that shows the orders you have placed with us. If we have received an order from you, it will appear here. To see the specifics of the order, click on the "VIEW" link next to the order and you will see the order detail. Note that if your order has been received and shows up in your account, by definition your credit card has already been charged (approved).

Another means by which to determine if your order has been received by us is to check your email. Each time your order status changes, we generate an email which is sent directly from our servers to the email account you gave us when setting up your account. Upon successful completion of your order, we will send an email advising you that we have received your order setting the order status to "Order Received". Then, as soon as your order is sent to one our warehouse or distribution centers, you'll receive another email advising you of the change in status to "Processing". And finally, once your order ships, you'll receive a third email advising you of the change in status to "Shipped".

One important note here . . . In today's digital world many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have tight filters on their email systems to block unwanted email (commonly referred to as "SPAM"). If you aren't receiving our order status emails it is highly probable that the emails we've sent are caught and/or deleted by your ISP's SPAM or Junk Email Filters. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about this other than to make all of our customers aware of it. Usually you have some control over how tight the SPAM or Junk EMail filters are set for your particular email account, but not always. Some ISPs are worse about this than others. AOL is particularly difficult in this regard. If you have an AOL email account registered with us, we can almost guarantee that you will not receive any of these order status update emails. This is why we always recommend customers access their online account with us to check an order's status.

I'm trying to determine which shipping method I should select so my order will arrive in time for my event. Can you tell me where my order will ship from?

Unfortunately it is not possible for us to tell you in advance where your order will ship from. We can however give you some insight into the process.

If you are a domestic customer living within the United States, your order will likely ship from our distribution center in North Carolina. Some of the merchandise on our website is shipped directly from the manufacturer or distributor to keep shipping and handling costs to a minimum so it is possible your item could ship from another location in the country. We of course try to ship from the closest facility and ship from one location versus splitting orders across multiple locations. This however is not always possible. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you precisely which items in your order are being shipped from which location in advance of placing your order. By the time we know which location your order is being shipped from, the order has already been sent to the fulfillment center.

I received an email confirming my order has been processed. When can I expect to receive the tracking number indicating my order was shipped?

Tracking numbers are posted to your online account and an email is sent once we have received confirmation from the shipper the package has been sent. These tracking numbers and emails are typically posted late each evening or very early the next morning (e.g. 2am) once the package has been shipped.

How can I determine what the shipping costs for my order will be?

When you place items into your shopping cart, you'll see a shipping calculator at the bottom of the page. Simply click on the shipping calculator icon. You will be prompted to enter your Zip Code and click on the 'Calculate Shipping' button. You will then be presented with the approximate shipping costs for each shipping service level we offer. Please note that our shipping calculator works for US domestic shipments only.