FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

GENERAL

HOW DO PREORDERS WORK?

1. We ship preorders two weeks before release date for international addresses and one week early for US orders. As a result, albums are usually, but not always, delivered before street date. We truly apologize if your preorder arrives slightly late, but we cannot prevent all shipping delays.

2. All items in an order ship together, so please plan on a delay if your shipment includes a preorder item.

WHAT IS THE EMPIRE MERCH RETURN POLICY?

Check it out here: Return Policy.

HOW DO I CANCEL MY ORDER?

Contact us at MERCH@EMPI.RE immediately if you would like to cancel your order. Sadly, we cannot cancel an order after it has shipped.

WHAT IF I RECEIVED A DEFECTIVE ITEM(S)?

Occasionally customers receive items that are defective in some way. If you have an issue please email us at MERCH@EMPI.RE (please include photos or video of the damage).

SHIPPING

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR MY INTERNATIONAL ORDER TO ARRIVE?

1. Usually, international orders arrive safely within 2-4 weeks. However, depending on various factors, some shipments can take up 6 weeks to arrive. If 6 weeks have passed since your order shipped (you should have received a shipping notification email), please let us know by emailing us at MERCH@EMPI.RE. Please include your Order # in the subject line.

2. Unfortunately, we cannot track the progress of a package once it has left the US. This is a limitation imposed by the shipping company.

WHY HASN'T MY ORDER SHIPPED?

Orders typically ship within 3-5 business days. Customers receive a shipping notification email containing tracking once a shipment goes out.

WHAT ABOUT UNDELIVERABLE PACKAGES?

If an item is returned to us as "undeliverable" that usually means the address provided was incorrect in some way. Unfortunately this means we will need to charge a customer additional shipping fees to re-send the package.

WHY AM I BEING CHARGED CUSTOMS FEE'S?

Occasionally, international shipments are subject to customs fees. We are unable to anticipate these charges as they our charged by the destination country and our shipping costs do not take them into account. As a result, the customer is solely responsible for any fees paid upon receipt.

If a customer refuses to pay the customs fees, the package will eventually be sent back to our facility. Unfortunately this means that the customer will have to pay additional shipping costs in order to have the package re-sent.

VINYL

WHY IS MY BRAND-NEW RECORD DIRTY?

Vinyl pressing plants aren't necessarily medical-grade environments, and even new records probably need cleaned before they are played the first time. Replacing your vinyl probably won't solve the issue.

CAN YOU REPLACE MY NOISY RECORD?

Have you tried cleaning it? As mentioned above, most records are in need of a quick wipe down once they leave the packaging. Additionally, have you compared the vinyl to the digital recordings? Some albums contain lower fidelity recordings than others, and the record may be noisy but accurately represent the source material.

If you cleaned and compared the record and it's still too noisy, please contact us.

MY RECORD IS SKIPPING?

Skipping is often a result of the turntable rather than the record, so consider adjusting the tone arm first. If the problem persists, please reach out to us at MERCH@EMPI.RE with a clear video highlighting the problem spot.