Real Questions We Have Been Asked

Q: Are you hacker safe? Do you protect my privacy and information?

A: Great question! Yes we are currently with McAfee (formerly Hackersafe) who scans our site daily to make sure there are no vulnerabilities. The only information we keep on our customers is the name, address, phone, email and order history. We DO NOT retain your credit card info. We are also scanned for scams, bots, viruses, malware and should a vulnerability arise we immediately address it. We also have a strict privacy policy (please see our privacy policy on the home page) and we do not sell, lend or give anyone information on our customers for any reason.

Q:Do you really ban people?

A: Yes, we can do so in several ways, and for several reasons, too. We won't go into them here though if you have concerns please call us at 415 972 8000 and select option 1. We'll be happy to discuss our banning practices with you. But don't worry we don't ban except when it's really necessary i.e. known scammers.

Q: I'm trying to place an order, but I can't check out...HELP!!!!

A: There can be several reasons why you can't check out. 1) if you are in a foreign country you are being blocked 2) if you have been banned then you won't be able to complete any orders. We do reserve the right to ban anyone who doesn't play by our rules or 3) there is a technical difficulty at the time you are placing your order. It's rare, but technology does have its down time. Call us at 415 972 8000 and select option 1, we should be able to help you find out why you can't complete your order.

Q: Are The Rumors True?

A: This is interesting because over the years so many rumors have been started about Bluelips. The first rumor has always been that we are going out of business. We plan on being around to annoy our critics for many years to come. Then there's the rumor that we sell to perverts. The funny thing is our critics have never been able to provide proof that we do anything like that, nor will they disclose their source. We invite anyone with solid proof to step forward, our attorneys would love to meet you. And then there's the rumor that we hate the funeral industry. We actually have many supporters from the funeral industry. The folks who don't like us are the one's we've reported on in our forum. If you are involved in mass cremations, harvesting body parts and take advantage of the consumer, yes we don't like you. And finally, yes there is one rumor that is true about us, everyone affiliated with Bluelips has been touched by breast cancer, we support research and try to give back as much as we can. No one takes a salary at Bluelips, this is a labor of love. We do get free t shirts, chocolate and hot sauce though.

Q: What is Bluelips Address?

A: Our address is disclosed only to those who really have a need to know. The reason being is that in the past we have received threatening emails towards us,including bodily harm threats and we are concerned about our safety. In lieu of our address we are always available by phone and of course our established customers have both our address and phone number(s). We are considered to be in bad taste by some folks, but we truly believe they don't "get" us. We put the safety of our employees first.

Q: Do you ship to P.O. Boxes?

A: It really depends on the amount of the order and the items ordered. Regardless anything shipped to a P.O. Box requires the boxholder signature. Please call us at 415-972-8000 for more information.

Q: I have a business, but I sometimes get demanding and downright mean customers. How do you handle the difficult customer?

A: Well since we are all human and people can have bad days we tend to try to talk to the customer to see if we can help. In some cases we would rather turn down the business because it's really counterproductive to our well being and sanity. We generally will try to probe and find out what is bothering the customer and go from there. It's been our experience that if a business transaction starts out on a sour note and nothing is addressed, it will also end that way. Sometimes you just have to pass on an order when it's apparent that you just won't be able to please the person.

And besides there are plenty of wonderful, pleasant people out there who will want to do business with you that you have a right as a seller to be selective. You don't have to sell to someone just because they think you should, you are in charge of your business.

Q: Do people really read your FAQ?

A: Well you are here now so you are reading it, but we have found that we do get asked the same questions over and over which is why we developed our FAQ. The problem is of course there are still some who never read an FAQ before asking questions. Those are the people we send our team of dead zombies after. We also have an anaconda on staff that takes care of those who are really annoying.

Q: How much stock do you carry and how will I know if you have something in stock

A: This is a great question. The reason you can't see how many are in stock is we had to shut off that feature because some jokers were causing our stock to read zero on every item. And as I am sure you are probably well aware there are times that we are out of stock on an item and have to order it. Our commitment to you is to keep you informed on your order and to advise you if we are having to order an item. To save on postage we generally hold orders until we have the entire order ready to ship, but if you want us to ship a partial order just let us know. You are the boss!

Q: Do you have a store front I can visit?

A: We are a web based store, we have warehouse facilities, but we do not have a brick and mortar storefront.

Q: I would like to get a catalog, could you send me one?

A: We don't have a catalog we can mail you for good reason. Our stock is ever changing at Bluelips and it would be impossible to keep up with it, not to mention the expense. What some of of our customers do is print the pages of the items they are interested in.

Q: Do you wholesale? What are your requirements for wholesaling?

A: We have discontinued our wholesale/discount program. Unfortunately a few affected our decision to continue the program. We appreciate our past wholesale customers and their business.

Q: I am in a foreign country and wish to place an order. What do I need to do?

A: We are very careful on all orders and have fraud screening processes in place. We do ship to some foreign countries, but each foreign order is handled on an individual basis. We do not accept credit cards on foreign orders, only money orders. The merchandise is held until we have absolute verification that the money order is legit. The best way to place a foreign order is to email us your list of items and include your shipping address in the email. We then generate an invoice to you and you can pay for the order at the address we will provide you.

Q: I don't have credit cards, can I just pay by cash?

A: Cash in the mail is extremely risky and if you do send cash it's at your own risk. We are not responsible for lost or stolen cash payments. As an alternative to credit cards we accept money orders on both foreign and domestic orders payable in US funds. We also accept checks on US orders only. Mechandise is held until we know that the payment has cleared.

Q: How do I reach the owner of Bluelips?

A: You can reach Karen Hutchinson at khutch@bluelips.com. I became the owner late in 2004. This was formally announced in March 2005 as we had many vendors, customers and others to notify.

Q: Do you sell to just anybody? Do you have requirements for embalming and autopsy videos?

A:We don't sell to underage individuals, we scrutinize each order to assure purchase is being made by a responsible adult. Our clientle includes lawyers,paramedics,physicians,licensed embalmers,funeral directors,grief counselors,mortuary students and some of the general public. We DO NOT sell to anyone who is seeking bondage,necro or other perveted material. We have turned away a number of people seeking such and do not sell anything for the use in sex.

Q: Do people love you or hate you?

A: Actually it's sometimes a little of each. But that's o.k. because this is the US where there is freedom of speech and other liberties. Our critics have accused us of being a site for perverts, weird-o's and a whole lot of words we can't print here. Since we don't sell necro films here and don't deal in porn at all we find it rather funny.

Q: What is your relationship with your vendors, do you have trade references? (asked by a potential vendor)

A: We have an excellent relationship with our vendors. We never have and never will burn a vendor and can offer you trade references on request. We are aware of the fraud out there and can appreciate your approaching us with caution. Just like us you have to be sure you are dealing with someone who is reputable. Our reputation speaks for itself. We have been in business since 1999 and a wonderful customer base.

Q: How do you handle Fraud? What steps do you take to prevent fraud?

A: We are starting to post the names of those who attempt to defraud us so that this information will be available on the Internet for other merchants. We have moved our fraud section to our Forum. It is available to select merchants and law enforcement only.

While we aren't posting names here of those who attempt to defraud us they are appearing in the forum and the forum is spidered by the search engines. If you name starts to appear all over the search engines and you attempted to scam us don't expect us to remove the listing because we won't.

We manually screen all orders and verify all information with the issuing bank. This process does take a bit longer, but assures us and you, our customer, that we do everything we can to prevent fraud. There are some red flags that we look for when processing orders and if things don't add up we don't ship. We do not disclose our fraud prevention techniques, but we can tell you that we cooperate with the authorities and we recently helped the US Postal Service nail a notorious scammer on the Net. By the way, we shipped him cowshit.

The following section of the FAQ is from the old site and from the previous owner. As it still holds true we have kept it here. But also because the old owner has a great sense of humor and we can all learn to laugh a bit more.

Q: Why do you require that the billing/shipping address be the same?

A: Our merchant account requires us to ship to the address on file for the credit card, however we do make some exceptions. We have an intensive fraud screening process and try to work with our customers whenever we can. However we do reserve the right on larger orders to only ship to the billing address.

Q: Do you accept credit cards?

A: Yes, we now have a merchant account and accept MasterCard, Visa and Discover.We also accept money orders and cashiers checks. Personal checks are held until cleared. We do not take personal checks or credit cards on Foreign orders. We accept Amex through your Paypal account only.

Q: Are you for real?

A: Yes, are you?

Q: Is shipping negotiable?

A: It depends on whether or not we like you & how much you are purchasing.:) We do sometimes offer free shipping on some items and do sometimes have to manually recalculate postage if there is an error. We try to be fair and don't charge handling fees.

Q: Why sell embalming videos/autopsy videos?

A: People want to know and have a right to know what happens when you die. Our mission is to educate as many people as possible about the process of embalming and funeral customs. We have sold videos to many funeral students, educators and other professionals. We also sell to consumers.

Q: Are you really on prozac?

A: Actually no, but it's a catchy nick don't ya think? And it is our Nick on Ebay. Check out our feedback!

Q: Is there anything you won't sell?

A: Yes, we won't sell our soul, porn or real body parts. We also do not carry embalming fluid here because of the illegal use of such. Besides embalming fluid really isn't something we want to carry, unless someone could make it smell great.

Q: Is there anyone you Won't Sell To?

A: Yes, we don't sell to people who are attempting to use stolen credit cards, do not provide correct information on their orders, and people who call us up to spank the monkey on our time (shame on those of you who participate in animal cruelty) we support PETA.

Q: Are you male or female

A: It depends on my mood, the day of week and how my hair looks that day. I will do anything to keep my customers happy though and laughing! So your guess is as good as mine!

Q: Will you ever sell corpses?

A: We do know of a website that makes corpse props, but no we won't sell real corpses. We did have a lady want to sell us someones ashes though. I think she thought we run a cemetery or something. Please don't as us to repose your Aunt Tillys ashes!

Q: Can I return a tape if I don't like it?

A: We provide accurate categories and descriptions for all our videos. You need to ask questions about a video if you are not sure. If you are looking for an embalming video you will only find them under the Embalming Video category. We do not claim videos have extensive embalming or autopsy procedures in them just to get you to buy a film. Tapes may only be returned if unopened and in pristine condition. There may be a restocking fee. Shipping and taxes are not refundable. There are no refunds on opened tapes or DVDs.