Payment of Orders

CREDIT CARD: In order to give you the fastest, most efficient service, we request that payment be provided for at the time of the order. You can do this by entering your credit card number on the Secure Order Form. If you have ordered from us in the past, and used your credit card then, we may still have the number on file. If that is the case, you can tell us when filling out the order form to reuse the existing number. NOTE: When paying by credit card, it will not be charged until your order is shipped. If there are any backorders, your credit card will not be charged for those items until they ship. It is our policy to charge you for only those items which are actually shipped to you.

If your credit card is declined or otherwise invalid...
Sometimes the credit card number provided to us does not work. This can be caused by anything from a simple typing error to an overlimit account. When this happens, we will e-mail you. Alternatively, we may telephone you (if you are a USA customer) or send you a postcard explaining the problem. Once notified, it is important that you contact us as soon as possible. If we contact you by e-mail or phone, your order will be held for a maximum of three days until we hear back from you. After three days have passed with no response, your order will be cancelled and the merchandise returned to stock. Once cancelled, you can reorder by placing the order a second time via our website as usual.

PERSONAL CHECK/MONEY ORDER: If you do not use credit cards, you may place an order by mailing us a personal check or money order along with a printed copy of your order. Do Not click the Send button. We will process your order when we receive it in the mail with your payment. Be sure to include enough to cover shipping charges, as the shopping cart system will not include an amount for shipping in the total. Any overpayments will be credited to your store account for future purchases. If you are outside of the USA and are sending a check or money order, please note that your payment must be in USA dollars drawn on a USA bank. If there are any price increases between the time that you place your order and the time when we receive it, we will contact you via e-mail about how to handle the difference. Okay

PURCHASE ORDERS: We welcome purchase orders from schools and other institutions. You can shop online, call, fax or mail your order in to us. If you shop online, use the Purchase Order Number box to cite your PO number. You may also print out your order and mail or fax it to us along with your PO. Purchase orders can be mailed or faxed to our store if your school requires them. If your school does not require POs, simply place your order and instruct us to bill the appropriate office. All such orders may be subject to review and confirmation before shipping.

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Trial Periods

We offer trial periods on in-stock music, mouthpieces and instruments. You may try a maximum of three in-stock mouthpieces, one in-stock instrument or $1,000 worth of music for up to ten days. We can not allow trials on out-of-stock or special-order music, mouthpieces or instruments.

How it Works:
We'll sell you the item(s) you wish to try. You have the right to return any trial item within ten (10) days of receiving it (see exception below for music). Upon arrival in our store, we will issue a refund of the purchase price less the outgoing shipping cost, plus any clean-up fees or damage assessments (see below). The cost of return shipping is yours—we regret that we can not provide free return labels for trials.

Mouthpieces: We allow trials on up to three in-stock mouthpieces. These are done as a standard purchase with a right to return within ten days of receipt. When we receive your return, we will credit your credit card, less the original shipping charge and a $5 per-item clean-up fee. All mouthpieces should be rinsed out and wiped down prior to return. Woodwind players—please use a patch during the trial to prevent teeth marks. Returned mouthpieces must be free of patches and have no marks whatsoever as a result of the trial. Brass players—please be careful of causing excessive scratching of the shank. For all mouthpieces, boxes must be clean, straight and in resalable condition with all parts included. Please be careful when unwrapping and testing to avoid additional charges. If damage is evident, the loss of value to the mouthpiece will be deducted from your refund.

Instruments: We allow trials on most in-stock instruments. These are done as a standard purchase with a right to return within ten days of receipt. When we receive your return, we will credit your credit card, less our cost of shipping the instrument to you. If you received free shipping on your instrument purchase, then we will deduct our actual cost of shipping when processing your return. There is no clean-up or restocking fee on instruments that were in-stock when shipped. The instrument must be in exactly the same condition as when it left our store. If new damage is evident, the cost of repairs and/or the loss of value to the instrument will be deducted from your refund. Instruments are shipped to you expertly packed and fully insured, and must be returned in the same manner. Any damage sustained during the return will be your responsibility to rectify.

Music: We now offer a "Half & Half" program for music trials. Under this program, you may purchase a quantity of music totaling $250 to $1,000, with the right to return up to half of it within a trial period of ten days. Returned music must be neat, clean and unmarked to receive return credit. No copies of any sort whatsoever may be made during the trial period (we have a way of knowing, so don't try it). Credit for returned music will made in the form of a refund to your credit card.

Other Stuff: We regret that we can not allow trials of CDs, DVDs or software due to copyright issues. Mouth instruments (recorders, harmonicas, etc.) can not be sold on a trial basis for reasons of hygene.

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International Shipping

We ship to destinations outside the United States every day. For letter sized flats we recommend using UPS Worldwide for this purpose as it is fast, trackable and insured. For larger packages we recommend using the US Postal Service. Services provided include Air Mail, somewhat faster Priority Mail International and trackable, insurable Express Mail International. See the Shipping Methods section for more details. All packages shipped to APO and FPO addresses are shipped exclusively via the U.S. Postal Service. Some countries may levy customs duties or taxes on your package. We are not responsible for these fees. You might also have to pay a fee to UPS or your country's postal service for delivery outside of a standard delivery area. These charges are not included in the amount paid to Hickeys Music. We have no control over whether you will be charged any such fees or taxes, although our experience tells us that these fees are not always charged. We mention this so that you are aware that such fees may become payable. If your order has already been shipped, it can not be cancelled.

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Changing Passwords

If you choose to create a user account to shop our site, it is accessible only to you. We have no way of seeing or modifying any user accounts. We can not see or modify your user name or password. If you have forgotten your password, or simply wish to change it, all you need to do is enter your user name and click the "Forgot Password?" link. The system will send an e-mail to the address on file instructing you how to proceed.

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Customs, Duties & VAT

For international customers only: Many countries add VAT and/or import duties to packages shipped from the United States. We do not pay these for you. Instead, you must pay them yourself when presented with the package by your postal service or UPS agent. Import duties and/or VAT are often assessed according to the value of the package. We are required by law to declare the package's value for your country's customs agents. If the value is not shown on a package, it may be returned to us. We are often asked if we can lower the declared value of a package so that any import duties will be less. Regrettably we cannot as it is illegal to do so. There are however a few techniques that may be employed that might help lower or eliminate import duties altogether. We do not guarantee any of the following, however we are told that they have worked in some situations.

  • Educational Materials: Some countries grant exemptions for educational materials. We are a major educational supplier. If you like, we can mark your package "Educational Materials." Please notify us in the Special Instructions box on the order form.
  • University & Institutional Orders: Some countries will exempt packages shipped to government institutions, schools, colleges or universities. If this is the case in your country, you may be able to have your school to purchase these educational materials for you (with no duties) and then you reimburse them. Or you might try using the university's address with your name as the "attention" line providing it is legal to do so.
  • USA Relatives: Some countries do not charge import duties on gifts from friends or relatives living in the United States. If you have friends or relatives in the United States, you may wish to have them purchase the materials and then gift them to you. We will ship the package to them, and they in turn can ship them to you as a gift, provided it is legal to do so in your country.

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Instrumentation Codes

Following many of the titles on this website, you will see a set of numbers or abbreviations enclosed in square brackets. These codes indicate the precise instrumentation of the work listed. Their format varies depending on the type of ensemble (woodwind, brass, string, orchestra or band), Click on the following links to see explanations of each type (these links will open popup boxes):

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What Is a Backorder?

This is a popular question. A backorder occurs when something is temporarily out of stock at our store and we have to turn around and order it in from the publisher or manufacturer for you. Being "backordered" does not mean that an item is out of print, discontinued or no longer available. It's just out of stock here at Hickey's and we have it on order. For most (most, not all) publishers and manufacturers, we can obtain backordered items in ten days or less. In many other cases, the publisher or manufacturer is also out of stock. In these cases the backorder may take a few extra days to a few extra months to obtain. Times vary depending on the item and the maker, so there is no way to give a general answer.

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When Will My Order Ship?

Our systems are designed to ship most orders in less than 24 hours of being submitted, providing the item(s) you ordered are in stock. Many orders ship in less than 6 hours. Generally, if you place your online order before 2PM Eastern time, it will usually be shipped that same day. If you've ordered a single item and it is found to be out-of-stock, we will notify you via e-mail and place the item on backorder. You will not be charged until the item arrives and is shipped to you. If you have ordered multiple items, and one or more is found to be out-of-stock, then please refer to our Out of Stock policy for more information. Orders placed after 2PM on Friday usually ship Saturday (or Monday for UPS). During our busy season (August through late September, and again around Christmas through to February) there may be a delay of a day in processing orders due to high volume. UPS orders are shipped Monday through Friday, Post Office orders ship Monday through Saturday. No orders are shipped on Sunday.

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Tracking Numbers

All packages shipped via UPS and Post Office Priority Mail are assigned a unique tracking number at the time they leave our store. Customers who request UPS will automatically receive an e-mail from our UPS server when their order is shipped. At the current time we do not have a method to automatically inform Post Office customers of their tracking numbers. Post Office customers wishing to know their tracking number should send an e-mail to orders@hickeys.com with your request. We will look up your order, retrieve the USPS tracking number and e-mail it back to you. You can then use that number to see your package's in-transit progress by using USPS's Tracking webpage. As Post Office tracking numbers are more difficult for us to obtain and transmit to you, we ask that you do not request these unless the package seems to be running late and you wish to use it to confirm its progress.

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Order Confirmation

You will receive three or four confirmations from us.

  1. The first is automatic and will occur immediately after clicking the "Submit Order" button. It will say "Your Order Has Been Submitted!" followed by "Order Confirmation Number: " and your nine digit confirmation number. Write this number down, in case you wish to contact us about your order in the future.
  2. The second confirmation is in the form of an e-mail. It is sent automatically from our server to the e-mail account you provided when you clicked the Submit Order button. It lists the items you ordered plus the address information you gave us. If you see an error with either, send us an e-mail right away and we will try to correct the problem. If you do not receive this e-mail, there may have been a problem with your e-mail address.
  3. The third confirmation will occur when your order has been processed (either shipped, placed on backorder or cancelled). The third confirmation will be in the form of a short e-mail with an attached PDF of your invoice or backorder form.
  4. UPS Orders only: The fourth confirmation will be in the form of an e-mail from UPS. This e-mail is from our UPS server and will provide you with your tracking number and a link so that you can follow your package's progress.

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