This page answers some of our customers' most oft-asked questions. If you don't find what you are looking for here, please drop us an email. Unlike many other online merchants, we respond personally to all emails (no robots) -- usually within minutes or hours at most.

ORDERING QUESTIONS

Q: I just placed an order online, but I didn't receive a confirming email?

A: Thanks to the flood of email spam on the web, many of our customers have their mailboxes blocked from receiving email from unknown destinations. Please check that your mail server isn't blocking emails from The Phone Source.

We will be glad to send you an invoice of your order at any time after it's been filled; just call or email us to request it.

Q: I just placed an order online, and I received two confirmations. Will I be charged twice?

A: Nope. Sometimes, if the web is slow and you click the submit button on our order form more than once, the order will go through more than once. Since a human being reviews all orders, we always catch these occasional dupes and you will never be charged more than once.

Q: I don't want to give my credit card number online. Is there another way to pay for my order?

A: Yes! Simply proceed with the online order process and choose one of the other payment options, which are:

• Order by credit card using FAX
• Order by check/money order through postal mail
• Order by credit card through postal mail

You can also call us with your order, but it takes a bit longer to get into the system than an online order.

Q: How soon do you ship if I pay by check?

A: Once we receive the check and it has cleared, we ship your order, based on stock available at that time.

Q: I placed an order yesterday -- is it too late to cancel it?

A: Because we try to ship every order the same or next business day, your order has probably been sent already. To see what to do in this case, please read the section on "Cancelled Orders" in our RETURN POLICY

Q: I live outside the U.S. But I don't see any overseas shipping options in your checkout process. How do I place my order and how do I know how much shipping you will charge me?

A: Simply place the order online and choose GROUND shipping. When we receive the order, we will recompute the correct shipping to your overseas destination. We will then email you with the adjusted shipping cost and your new order total. We will only ship the order if you say it's OK to do so.

Overseas shipments may be dutiable - payment of appropriate customs duties is the customer's responsibility upon receipt of the product.

PLEASE be sure the email address you enter in your order is a valid one and that it is not blocked from accepting our emails; if we can't reach you via email, we can't ship your order.

SHIPPING QUESTIONS

Q: I placed my order on Wednesday, and selected 3-day shipping. Why did my order arrive the following Monday?

A: Weekends and holidays don't count - only business days. So an order shipped on Wednesday via 3-day shipping would arrive on the third business day, which would be Monday.

You can read more on this and related shipping subjects on our shipping page.

Q: I selected ground shipping and thought my order would only take a couple of days from your store in Portland, Maine to my location. But it took 5 days! What happened?

A: The Phone Source has several warehouse locations; not all products are shipped from Portland, Maine. It is also not possible to predict the exact delivery time for ground shipments as UPS doesn't guarantee delivery times on ground.

You can read more on this and related shipping subjects on our shipping page.

Q: I placed an order yesterday afternoon and selected next-day air shipping. Will my product arrive today?

A: While we do our best to get shipments out the same business day they are ordered, this is not always possible. If you absolutely have to have it next day, please call us first to check inventory and delivery time estimate.

Q: Do you have a way for me to check my order status?

A: Just email our customer service dept., referencing the billing name the order was placed under and your order number and we'll get back to you shortly with order status. Your order number will be a 6-digit number such as 107999 or a long hyphenated number, such as 9999-9999-9999.

RETURNS

Q: My new phone arrived and it doesn't work. Can I get it replaced?

A: Of course. We will promptly repair or replace any defective item. Please call us first and describe the problem, so a staff member can decide what the proper course of action is. If a return is necessary, we will issue you a return authorization number.

For more on this subject, please review our RETURN POLICY

PRODUCT-RELATED QUESTIONS

Q: What happened to the old tape answering machines?

A: The short answer is "economics." In order to make machines inexpensive enough to satisfy the American market, manufacturers must use technologies that minimize parts and assembly cost. Tape-based machines were just too expensive to make.

We discuss this issue in more detail on our answering machine home page

Q: I don't understand all this megahertz and gigahertz stuff/dt>

A: Please see our article on 900 MHz Vs 2.4 GHz.

Q: The handset on my cordless phone broke -- can I get another handset?

A: It depends. On the newer multi-handset systems, you can buy additional handsets. On a single-handset system, there is no way to buy just the handset. You can send the entire unit back to the manufacturer for repair, but, out of warranty, this is usually not economical. However, if the phone has a feature or features that you really need and can't find on newer products, it may be worth having it fixed.

Q: I need an answering machine with individual mailboxes that can have their own greetings.

A: Currently, answering machines with mailboxes do not allow individual mailbox greetings.

Q: Will your antique phones work with the phone system in my town?

A: Practically every telephone central office in the world supports rotary-dial telephones. However most services using an automated voice response system (like banks, stock brokers, voicemail systems, etc) will not recognize rotary dial pulses.

Q: Will your phone products work overseas.

A: In many cases they will. However, there are two facts to be aware of: First, jacks and cords on our products use the USA standard plastic modular plug; you can usually find adaptors in your own country that convert this plug to your country's plug design.

Second, products requiring electricity (cordless phones, answering machines, etc) are intended to work on 120VAC, 60 Hz. If your country's power system is different from this, you may need to use a voltage converter. Plugging the unit into the wrong power will void the warranty. The customer is responsibile for determining compatibility between our products and his country's phone and power standards. PHONE SOURCE cannot replace units damaged by improper electrical supply.

Q: Are your products new or reburbished?

A: Unless explicitly stated, all products are new.