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Empire Music - Frequently Asked Questions

Payment, Prices, Shipping I'm a private individual. Will you ship the products and bill me? Is there a freight charge? If I have instruments shipped to someone in a different province, which province's taxes apply? If I want to order bulk quantities of an item, say 60 recorders, can I get a reduced price? How will my order normally be delivered to me? When will my order arrive? Can I get my delivery quicker than that? Christmas is coming. Will that affect delivery? What about backorders? Returns and Breakages What is your refund policy? I've received my order, but one of the instruments arrived broken. What do I do? Instruments What's the difference between German fingering and English/Baroque fingering? Can I tell which fingering my recorder is by looking at it? Which fingering is the most popular? Your ukuleles come in two kinds: tuning peg and machine head. What's the difference? You have High A and Low A tunings for ukuleles. What's the difference? Repairs and Replacement Parts Do you repair instruments? I really like the look of your starter sets and rhythm sets, but I would like to substitute a different instrument. Can I do this? The rubber tubing on my Suzuki instruments is wearing out. Do you sell replacement tubing and bar nails? My xylophone isn't a Suzuki. Will your parts fit?
Payment, Prices, Shipping	I'm a private individual. Will you ship the products and bill me?	A private individual can pay by VISA, MasterCard, or Paypal, or we can send your shipment to you COD. There is a $6.50 COD fee in addition to any freight charges.
	Is there a freight charge?	Free delivery by ground transportation on orders over $35.00. For orders under $35.00 a minimum order charge of $6.00 will be added..
	If I have instruments shipped to someone in a different province, which province's taxes apply?	The person receiving the product pays the taxes. So if you are in BC and want the product shipped to Manitoba, you would pay Manitoba taxes, not BC taxes.
	If I want to order bulk quantities of an item, say 60 recorders, can I get a reduced price?	Unfortunately not. Our prices are already as low as we can make them. However, if you have a particularly large order that you are putting out to tender, then please contact us.
	How will my order normally be delivered to me?	In the same way as your regular mail. And if you are not there at the time, your Canada Post representative will leave you a notice of attempted delivery.
	When will my order arrive?	Providing that all the items in your order are currently in stock, under normal circumstances, you can expect to receive your shipment in 7 to 14 working days. At certain times of the year, however, we experience unusually high volumes of orders, and your order may take a few days longer to arrive.
	Can I get my delivery quicker than that?	If you choose to pay extra for courier rates, we can ship to you by courier.
	Christmas is coming. Will that affect delivery?	Christmas mail changes everything. Please place your order as early as possible for Christmas delivery and double all estimated shipping delays. In the two or three weeks immediately leading up to Christmas, you may need to pay courier rates in order to receive your product in time.
	What about backorders?	Sometimes we run out of stock on a particular item. In this case, we place your item on backorder for you. We do not bill you for the item until we actually ship it to you. If we are unable to ship complete sets because of small back orders, we reserve the right to substitute products from the same sound group and in the same price range. Products may sometimes differ in minor details from the pictures shown. If different colors are offered we will do our best to send the requested color but reserve the right to send available items to avoid back orders.

Returns and Breakages	What is your refund policy?	If for any reason, you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, you may return it in its original packaging within 30 days for a full refund. (For hygienic reasons, does not apply to instruments that are blown into, e.g. recorders, harmonicas, melodians, kazoos, etc.) Of course, if there is a manufacturing defect or shipping damage, the item will be replaced or money refunded. When returning goods, please contact our shipping department first and make sure that you pack the instrument securely to avoid damage in transit. As soon as we receive the returned instrument we will credit your account. We do not accept collect shipments.
	I've received my order, but one of the instruments arrived broken. What do I do?	Tell us your Empire invoice number and which instrument was broken. We will send you a replacement together with postage and label for you to return the broken one to us. You will temporarily have a second invoice for the replacement item, but as soon as we receive your damaged item, we will credit your account. If your original order was paid for by a credit card, we will not charge your credit card account for the second invoice.

Instruments	What's the difference between German fingering and English/Baroque fingering?	When you play a scale with German fingering, you remove each finger in succession. If you are using English/Baroque fingering, you would play Low F by holding the middle finger of the right hand up, and all others down. Soprano and sopranino recorders are available in both fingerings, but alto, tenor and bass are only available in English/Baroque.
	Can I tell which fingering my recorder is by looking at it?	Yes. When you look at a German fingering recorder, the fourth hole from the top of the instrument is larger than the fifth hole. On an English/Baroque recorder, the fifth hole from the top is larger than the fourth hole.
	Which fingering is the most popular?	Both are equally popular. The choice depends on the individual recorder teacher.
	Your ukuleles come in two kinds: tuning peg and machine head. What's the difference?	If you are used to the machine heads used on guitars, this may suit you. However, tuning pegs are the more traditional method. The choice really depends on the individual teacher’s preferences.
	You have High A and Low A tunings for ukuleles. What's the difference?	Some people like to tune their ukes A, D, F#, B. That's Low A tuning. High A tuning is G, C, E, A. Tell us which tuning you prefer and we will provide you with either a High A string or a Low A string.

Repairs and replacement parts:	Do you repair instruments?	We can repair most of the instruments we sell, provided that we have the parts in stock. Please contact us for cost and availability of parts. We cannot repair instruments that we do not sell.
	I really like the look of your starter sets and rhythm sets, but I would like to substitute a different instrument. Can I do this?	Unfortunately not. Our starter sets and rhythm sets are very carefully designed, and we cannot make changes to them. If a set component is temporarily out of stock, we reserve the right to substitute similar product of equal or greater value.
	The rubber tubing on my Suzuki instruments is wearing out. Do you sell replacement tubing and bar nails?	Just let us know what kind of instrument you need the tubing for (Alto Metallophone, Bass Xylophone etc.). If you need bar nails, please be very specific as to which kind of nail for which kind of instrument you need (side hooks for Bass Metallophone, bar dividers for soprano xylophones, etc.)
	My xylophone isn't a Suzuki. Will your parts fit?	Unfortunately not. None of our replacement parts will fit on a non-Suzuki instrument. We recommend you contact the company you bought it from.