Panasonic Direct Store Policies

Store Policies

Welcome

Welcome to PanasonicDirect, the online store of Panasonic Corporation of North America ("Panasonic USA").

Contacting Panasonic USA

If you have any questions at any time about PanasonicDirect, or about your order, you can call us toll free at (800) 405-0652, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am to 9:00 pm, Saturday - Sunday, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Eastern Time or email us at: customersupport@shop.us.panasonic.com.

If you want to contact us by mail, our address is:

  • Panasonic Corporation of North America
  • eCommerce Department
  • One Panasonic Way, 7A-4
  • Secaucus, New Jersey 07094

We welcome your comments and suggestions about how we can better serve you.

If you have questions about Panasonic products themselves, how to operate them, or you want to speak with a person who can give you an explanation about the features, we have hundreds of well-trained customer service representatives eager to serve you at our customer call center. You can find out how to contact them from the Product Support section of our web site.

What does "Merchant of Record" mean; who is Meridian Enterprises?

Panasonic USA has contracted with Meridian Enterprises, Inc. ("Meridian Enterprises") to manage many activities associated with PanasonicDirect, such as maintenance of the website, order transaction processing, credit card processing, fraud detection and customer service. Panasonic USA's agreement with Meridian Enterprises means that Meridian Enterprises is the "Merchant of Record" for PanasonicDirect transactions, and that you are purchasing the product from that entity. However, all products are fulfilled by Panasonic USA; and Meridian Enterprises may not utilize your personal information in any way other than to fulfill their responsibilities as they relate to any orders you place with PanasonicDirect.

Pricing and Specifications

Features, specifications, prices and availability of products and services are subject to change without notice. Special offers or promotions are valid only for the dates indicated. While PanasonicDirect strives to provide accurate product and pricing information, pricing, pictorial or typographical errors may occur; and PanasonicDirect disclaims any liability should any such error occur. The price of a particular product cannot be confirmed until after it is ordered and the order is accepted by Meridian Enterprises. Unless otherwise indicated, the purchase price of products will be billed in full at the time of product shipment. PanasonicDirect reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions including after an order has been submitted and whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. In the event that an item is listed at an incorrect price or with incorrect information due to an error in pricing or product information, PanasonicDirect shall have the right, at our sole discretion, to either refuse or cancel any orders placed for that item, or contact you for notification and instructions on such cancellation.

Ordering and Shipping

Pre-orders

When you see a "pre-order" button next to a model, it means you can place an order for that model from PanasonicDirect -- even though it may not be in stock yet.

Shipping dates will vary, depending on the model and when we expect to receive new inventory. To find the expected availability date for any given model, just click the "pre-order" button. The anticipated shipping timeframe will be shown on the "model detail" page of the website. All ship dates, however, are approximate and are subject to change without prior notice.

Shipping Costs

When you place your order, a shipping charge may be assessed as follows:

  • For most items, the charge is $1.99 per item for standard shipping.
  • For TVs with a size of 60" or larger, a shipping surcharge of $49.00 per TV will be added to your order.
  • For massage chairs, a shipping surcharge of $49.00 per massage chair be added to your order.

Please note that PanasonicDirect reserves the right to modify shipping charges at any time, without prior notice.

Shipping Methods

We are proud to offer customers the convenience of standard ground shipping. Your shipping charges will be displayed when you enter the zip code of the address to which your item or items are being shipped.

Please note that we do not ship on weekends or holidays.

Tracking Shipment Progress

Once you receive an email from us that your order has been shipped, simply click on the link in the email to track your order, using the shipment number in the email. Note that shipping numbers are provided to PanasonicDirect by the carriers, and PanasonicDirect cannot be responsible for errors on the part of our carriers, or for the content on their websites.

Special Shipping for Large Items

Due to the size and/or weight of certain items offered for sale by PanasonicDirect, special options may be available. An explanation of these is as follows:

  • White Glove Delivery - A delivery agent will contact you to schedule a delivery appointment. This service includes inside delivery to the room of your choice, unpacking, plugging in (to include one cable hookup), and debris removal. Setup and installation is not part of this service.
  • White Glove Delivery with Setup - A delivery agent will contact you to schedule a delivery appointment. This service is available exclusively on delivery of Panasonic Massage Chairs, and includes: delivery and setup inside the house in the room of your choice, arms screwed in (two screws), remote holder screwed in (three screws), chair plugged in and verification of proper functionality, and debris removal.

Please note that due to their size and weight, any items requiring truck shipment, as well as White Glove and White Glove Delivery with Setup are not available for shipments to Alaska or Hawaii.

Purchasing Limitations

Customers purchasing from PanasonicDirect through an Employee Purchase Program or the Friends & Family Program will be limited to the purchase of two products in each product category during any 12 month period. Products purchased from PanasonicDirect through an Employee Purchase Program or the Friends & Family Program are limited to personal use (including use as gifts). Resale of such products, whether through a retail store, through use of the Internet or otherwise, is prohibited.

Security

All transactions with PanasonicDirect via the Internet are performed on a secure server that encrypts your credit card information as it goes over the Internet. Servers are kept safe by placing them behind firewalls and monitoring them with an enterprise-wide intrusion detection system.

Taxes and Fees

Sales Tax

Meridian Enterprises (the "Merchant of Record" for Panasonic USA) is officially registered as doing business in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and thus is required by law to collect all state and local sales taxes. The tax is computed based on the zip code of the shipping address. If there is no local sales tax in that zip code, no tax is collected.

California's "Advance Recycle Fees"

California has established a collection and recycling system for designated electronic products. Materials contained in consumer electronic products are not sufficiently valuable to cover the cost of collection, shredding or dismantling and recycling. California thus opted for an Advanced Recycling Fee to be charged at the point of sale to fund its system. (This fee is referred to in California's statute as a "covered electronic waste-recycling fee.") Panasonic USA/Meridian Enterprises is required to collect Advance Recycle Fees when we sell such products and ship them to California. "Covered Products" under the California law are:

  • All Plasma TV / TV monitors with screen sizes greater than 4"
  • All LCD TV / TV monitors with screen sizes greater than 4"
  • All laptop computers with LCD screen sizes greater than 4"
  • All LCD containing desktop monitors with screen sizes greater than 4"
  • All portable DVD players with LCD screen sizes greater than 4"

The Advance Recycling Fees that we are required to collect are:

  • For Covered Products with screens less than 15": $6.00
  • For Covered Products with screens larger than 15" but less than 35": $8.00
  • For Covered Products with screens 35" or larger: $10.00

For a further explanation, please refer to http://www.erecycle.org/fee.htm.

Order Status/Printing Invoices

You can check the status of your order by clicking on "Customer Service", "Online Order Status". You will be required to enter your Order Number and E-Mail Address.

You can print your invoice by clicking on "Customer Service", "Need to Print An Invoice". You will be required to enter your Order Number and E-Mail Address.

Cancelling an Order

PanasonicDirect tries to ship every order as soon as possible after it is placed; therefore, it may not always be possible to cancel your order. If you wish to modify or cancel an order, please log in to the website with your order number. There, you will be shown the latest order status, and if the order can or cannot be modified.

Once we ship an order, we consider it filled. Therefore, if you no longer wish to purchase the product and it has already been shipped, you should refuse the delivery. If for some reason this does not occur, please follow the return procedures.

Returning a Product

If the product is damaged, defective or not what you ordered

If, when you receive your product, it is damaged or is defective because it does not work properly, please contact PanasonicDirect (1-800-405-0652) within 30 days of receipt to request a Return Authorization. Please also contact PanasonicDirect if the product we sent is not what you ordered. A Return Authorization Number and return label will be sent to you via email. When you contact PanasonicDirect, you will be given the option of receiving a replacement product or receiving a full refund (provided as a credit to your credit card account). IF THE CARTON IN WHICH YOUR PRODUCT ARRIVES APPEARS TO BE DAMAGED, WE PREFER THAT YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THE DELIVERY.

If you do not like the product you received

If you are unhappy with any product you purchased from PanasonicDirect for reasons other than damage, defect or an erroneous shipment, you can request a Return Authorization within 30 days of the receipt of merchandise by following the instructions below.

All returns are subject to a 15% restocking fee, at PanasonicDirect's discretion. We do not credit the original shipping cost or any return shipping cost that you pay. For large items originally delivered through our White Glove Delivery service (see Ordering and Shipping above), we will subtract from your refund the costs that we incur in coming to your residence or office to retrieve and ship back to our warehouse the product being returned.

Return Authorizations are valid for 15 days from issuance. All returned merchandise must be in original factory condition, including all packaging materials, inserts and manuals, warranty cards (not filled-out) and all accessories.

As soon as we confirm receipt and inspect the product with all of the accessories, we will issue a credit to your credit card account for the price of the merchandise, less the applicable restocking fee and shipping charges. Please allow eight weeks for the credit to appear on your account. Returning a product without the proper Return Authorization will delay the processing of your credit.

If your product becomes defective more than 30 days after you receive it, please follow the instructions found in the written Warranty which was included with the product.

If you wish to return a product, follow these simple instructions:

1. Call Panasonic Direct at (800) 405-0652, or email us at customersupport@shop.us.panasonic.com, and provide the following information:

  1. Order Number
  2. Date of Order
  3. Ship-To Name and address
  4. Bill-To Name and address (if different from the ship-to address)
  5. Model Number
  6. Quantity being returned
  7. Reason for returning the product
  8. Whether or not you have the original shipping packaging

Note: If you have lost your record of the Order Number, call or e-mail us and we will research it for you.

A customer service representative will issue a Return Authorization Number and will give you further instructions. You will receive this information via e-mail if your request was by e-mail or by phone if you contacted us by phone.

Please keep any original packaging that you still have and all accessories to return with the product.

For products originally delivered through our White Glove Delivery service, the customer service representative will arrange for a truck to be sent to your residence or office to retrieve the product. For other products:

2. When you receive the Return Authorization Number:

  1. Write the Return Authorization Number on the return label included with your original package.
  2. Attach the return label to the outside of the shipping box.
  3. If you do not have the return label, please write the Return Authorization Number in big, bold letters on the outside of the package.
  4. Make sure you put everything in the original carton with all of the accessories, manuals, warranty cards and packing material.
  5. Please make sure you put the product in the original shipping box with adequate protection from shipping damage.
  6. Ship returns to the address listed on the return label. DO NOT RETURN ITEMS TO THE ADDRESS ON THE ORIGINAL LABEL.

Effective Date

These Store Policies were last revised on February 29, 2012.