The Order Acknowledgment Email is reprinted here, since I get so many questions from people who 1. never read it when they got it, and 2. deleted it. This is current as of Jan 2013:
Thank you for your order with Karma Zain Spiritual Supplies. Please retain this email until your order arrives, as you will need to reply to it to send us any communication about your order, and as it contains information about order processing, handling times, and shipping.
Contacting Us About Your Order: Bonanza, Etsy, and KarmaZain.com customers may send necessary correspondence or customization instructions *as a response to this email* (or through the on-site messaging system at etsy or Bonanza). Please send additional info or customization requests as a reply to this message. Please do not send a new or separate message, forward a copy of any other receipt you may get from paypal, or change the subject line; simply hit reply to this message, changing nothing, to send any response or further info. This keeps all your order info where it needs to be, with your tagged/flagged customer invoice in our system, and ensures I will have all the info I need to complete your order according to your specifics.
Off-eBay Contact: For eBay buyers, any inquiries or comments about your order need to be sent through the eBay messaging system, not through direct off-eBay email. I cannot discuss your eBay purchase here; any note, from a color choice all the way to a shipping problem, must be handled on eBay via the Contact Seller button. This protects both seller and buyer in accordance with eBay’s policies.
Handling and Shipping Times: The prep time needed to make up your order will usually vary from up to 5 days for items that get no customization (like holy cards or premade bars of soap) to 15 business days for items that are custom-finished, made one at a time, involve special handling or ingredients, or have altar work involved (mojo bags, wholesale/bulk orders, large and international orders, anything with gold or diamond dust in it, things that are blessed or prayed over for you). Items involving altar work or custom-finishing will take time; they will ship when they are ready. One mojo bag has a ten-day handling time. If your order contains more than one mojo bag or customized item, you should not necessarily presume I can make them all simultaneously and you should count on a longer handling time. Information about handling time, shipping procedures, and many more common inquiries is available at our FAQ pages, at the KarmaZain.com web store, at the eBay shop, and at the Bonanza booth. Etsy does not have an FAQ page but the basic info is the same.
Shipping Notification: All US and International customers will receive an automated email with delivery confirmation number when your order ships, usually within 7-15 business days (see item listing for each individual item’s handling time; see above paragraph for a general range of handling times depending on the prep/custom work required). This shipping notification email will go to the address associated with your paypal account and is sent automatically through the shipping software we use when your label is generated.
Personal Attention Takes Time: Please note that the FAQs and item specifics tell you everything there is to tell about turnaround times and shipping procedures. Customers writing to ask when their orders will ship or where their packages are will usually receive an automated reply giving them a link to the FAQ and encouraging them to reread this payment acknowledgment email (exceptions are in the next paragraph). The bottom line is that orders ship when they are ready. Nothing I make is pre-made and pulled off a shelf when you order, and while things like medals or holy cards might ship more quickly than things like oils or bath salts, I strive for personal attention to all of my customers’ orders, NOT for 24 or 48 hour turnaround time. I make, pray over, bless, pour, blend, sew, paint, and usually package every single item, so this is what you are signing up for when you order from me. The payoff for your patience is that you get fresh blends and fresh products, made the old fashioned way, by hand, by me.
Trace Requests and Orders in Transit: Our shipping notification is completely automated, and once a package leaves our hands we unfortunately have no secret knowledge about its status or whereabouts – it’s in the hands of the USPS and all we can do is look at the same “track and confirm link” you can look at. Accidents in transit are actually very rare (only two packages from us have actually disappeared since 2002, both international, and most significant delays are due to customs and are thus not really the postal service’s fault), but they do happen. Therefore, if you have not received your domestic package within 20 business days of the shipping date on the label (30 for international), contact me and I will put in a trace request on your package, if possible (international orders that have left the US cannot always be traced). Prior to the 20 day mark, I am not able to pursue a trace request or ask anything else of the USPS, as their “estimated delivery times” are precisely that – estimations, not guarantees. Thus they will not consider a package lost until 20 days (30 for international), and there is nothing further I can do before this mark. After 20 days, however, I’m happy to burn up the phone lines if your package has still not arrived!
Damage During Transit: Please retain the original item, including packaging and shipping material, if your item is damaged when it arrives. To submit a request for a replacement for most items, you will need to send digital photographs of the damaged item, showing it in its original container and showing the condition of the packaging it arrived in. Some items require return of the item or other extra steps in order to put in a claim for damage, but that is rare – the majority of items just need a photo. As there is a time limit for most carriers on such claims, you need to contact us within 7 days of receipt with documentation of the damage or we will not be able to help you file a claim and will not be able to accept your request for return. We may replace the item, if possible, or process a refund minus shipping costs.
Thanks for your business! You’ll receive shipping notification within the handling times outlined for your particular item(s). In the meanwhile, visit my blog, Big Lucky Hoodoo, for hoodoo education, tips and tricks, client questions, the latest information about shipping or supplier delays, notice of specials and sales, and announcements of rare or OOAK curios and jewelry. I also maintain a status update post where you can check to see where you are in the queue if you are waiting on a response or report from me.
Thanks for trusting us with your spiritual needs.
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And the light setting/altar work booking acknowledgment is here:
Thank you for booking your service with Karma Zain Spiritual Supplies.
What I Need From You: For each light setting or altar working, please send a one- or two-sentence petition, prayer, or request as a response to this email. I also need the full name and date of birth of any people involved in your request. If you already provided this information when you checked out via the “note to seller” box in paypal, you can scroll down to see a copy of that info in the transaction details below. Make sure everything was transmitted that you want considered for your work. If everything you need me to have is appended below in the paypal transaction, then there is no need for you to send anything else and you don’t need to respond unless you want to send photos.
For the best, quickest, and most accurate preparation of your light setting or altar work, please reply to this email with :
1. any photos you want me to use for this working, with every person in the photo identified,
2. names and dates of birth of all parties involved in the working,
3. a one- or two-sentence petition for this working,
4. any additional info or requests that you would like me to have or consider that are not already included in the “note to seller” box on the paypal payment page (scroll down to a copy of the information I received through paypal with your booking or order).
Photos: If you want to send photos, or you need to send additional info, please send as a response to this email. Please clearly identify every person in any photographs, and let me know if I need to photoshop anyone out of the picture. Please do not ask me to visit websites or stalk your targets on social networking sites to obtain pictures; I need you to download any photo you want me to use and then email it to me. Please send photos (and any other additional information) as a response to this email instead of sending a new email or responding in an old message thread, so the case information remains attached to your record of payment for this particular altar setting.
Previously Sent Info: If you sent me info in a previous or separate email, even if it was in a consultation we just completed, please resend your final choice of petition and final selection of photos for this work as a response to this email for the quickest possible prep time for your altar work. Just hit “reply” and don’t change the subject line or anything else. If I have to go back through a bunch of previous emails to try and locate every scrap of info and commentary in order to set up your altar work, locate old photos you sent a few days or months ago, and/or piece together a petition from among several paragraphs or emails, it takes me a lot longer to get your light ready, and it increases the risk of error, omission, and misunderstanding.
Commencement and Reporting: You may expect that it will take me a few days to prepare your light setting or set up your altar work with custom herbs, oils, papers, etc, once I have received everything I need to begin. If you have booked altar work, the work will be prepped, begun, and reported on as outlined in your rootwork contract. If you have booked a light setting, know that vigil lights generally burn for about 6 days, but may sometimes burn for up to 9 days. If you booked a light setting with report, you may expect that it will take me a few days to prepare, type up, and send your report once your work is complete. If you booked a light setting without a report, you will receive just the photo at the conclusion of the setting. Reports will be sent in this message thread, to the email address associated with your payment account.
Day/Time of Commencement: If you need your light or work begun on a specific day and/or at a specific time of day, and this has not been included in a rootwork contract that I prepared and sent you previously, please let me know ASAP because I need to cancel your booking. You will need a rootwork contract made up, IF I can meet your time/day needs. I may not be able to accommodate you on a certain day/time due to prior commitments or other currently contracted work, and your booking does not come with any guarantee that I can begin on any certain day or time unless you have that in writing in a contract. I cannot cancel and refund work that I’ve already started prepping for you, so it’s essential that you let me know as soon as possible.
Contact During the Work: If your work comes with a report, I will send you one report and at least one photograph of your work when the booked work is completed and I have finished making any notes, recording any details, typing up those observations, and taking and labeling photographs. I do not provide prior or additional reporting or “checkups” beyond this, nor do I give “play by play” updating about work preparation, commencement, or progress; you will hear from me when your work is completed. If you have booked altar work for a duration of more than a week, see your rootwork contract for how to proceed if you need to give me an update.
Client Calendar: Altar work or contracted “runs” of vigil lights are tracked on the client calendar, which I will add you to when your work has begun. This is a Gmail calendar; if your payment email address is a Gmail account, you will see my client calendar as an option when you click the Calendar link in the Gmail task bar header. If your payment email address is not a Gmail account, you will receive an invitation from Gmail to the calendar when I have added your email address to the access list. Regular vigil light settings are not tracked on the calendar; you can check the latest “status report” post at my blog to see where I am in the queue for reports on completed work.
Keep in Touch: The latest information about reading queues, conjure news, shipping or supplier delays, specials and sales, tips and tricks, and turnaround times is maintained at my blog, Big Lucky Hoodoo.
Thank you! Thanks for booking your service with me; I appreciate the opportunity to serve you and am grateful for your patronage and trust in choosing me to help you with your needs.
Karma Zain
Big Lucky Hoodoo 