Shipping policy
Shipping & Delivery Policy
Overview
Last updated: October 23, 2024
This Shipping & Delivery Policy describes how Van Hoesen House of Cheesecakes, LLC (the “Site,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) delivers our products to our customers. We are an online store providing gourmet, homemade style cheesecakes. As such, all products are generally purchased online (the exception being special events where our products can be directly purchased) and are shipped anywhere in the contiguous 48 states of the United States of America (hereinafter referred to simply as the U.S.). We currently do not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, any of the U.S. territories, or outside of the U.S. Customers ordering products within the boundaries of St. Louis City or County within the state of Missouri (our home base) have the option of having them delivered.
Changes to this Shipping & Delivery Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes in shipping carriers used, delivery locations, delivery charges, store locations, specific products that are not available for shipping, general changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised Shipping & Delivery Policy on this Site, update the “Last updated” date, and take any other steps required by applicable law.
Products Not Available for Shipment
Most of our products are available for shipment with a few exceptions. Products in the Connoisseur Collection may include trace amounts of alcohol as they are made with flavors from varying liqueur brands. Small amounts are used, and some is burned off during the baking process. The trace amounts remaining are much less than the Missouri legal limit of 0.5% alcohol by volume; however, as these limits vary by state, our policy is to eliminate any issues with varying state requirements by not shipping these specific products outside of our local area.
Additionally, we have a minimum requirement for ordering our special mini/personal size four-inch (4”) cheesecakes. If you are only ordering from the mini line, we require a minimum of four (4) (of any flavor) to be purchased before shipping. If you are ordering a small (six-inch) or regular (nine-inch) cake in addition to a mini, this requirement does not apply.
Product Processing Time
After an order is purchased, a confirmation of the order is sent via email or SMS messaging. The confirmation will indicate that the customer will be notified when the order is ready to be shipped. We reserve the right to allow up to three (3) days for the order to be baked and packaged before it is shipped or delivered. We do maintain an inventory of frozen products of our most popular flavors in which case processing may not take that long. In either case, a notification detailing when the product is to be shipped or delivered will be sent.
Shipping & Delivery Time and Costs
As cheesecakes are a perishable product and we want to assure the best possible quality of our product, we recommend next day delivery. As this option can be costly the further away the delivery location is, we also include a two-day delivery option. We do not recommend or provide the option for longer shipping times. The shipping portion of the check-out process connects our customers directly to the shipping carriers where all shipping options are displayed. Shipping costs are managed exclusively by the carriers. We are currently using only two carriers, United Parcel Service (UPS), and the Unites States Postal Service (USPS). We reserve the right to add or delete carriers as necessary and will post the revised Policy on this Site as applicable.
Delivery is handled in much the same way in that a notification will be sent to the customer notifying of the approximate delivery date and time. We request that customers indicate any special delivery instructions when ordering and to contact us directly via phone or email if there are any changes. Delivery charges are based on distance from our facilities and will be indicated at the time of check-out. Charges vary and we reserve the right to update these charges as business conditions change.
Arrival
Once the specific shipping details are entered and check-out is completed, the customer will receive a tracking number along with shipping information and an estimated time and date of arrival. We recommend that arrangements be made for the package to be accepted by a person when delivered (not just dropped off at the front door) so that the product can be inspected and refrigerated or frozen. We make every effort to ensure the product is packaged to withstand physical damage and high temperatures. However, once the product leaves our premises, anything can happen, so we highly suggest that you inspect the product once delivered to ensure has not been damaged and is still cold. Please refer to the Refund Policy regarding what to do if there are any issues with the product.