Effective Date: September 2025
Last Updated By: Southern Aminos Compliance Team

Complaint Policy & Procedures

  1. Purpose

Southern Aminos is committed to delivering high-quality laboratory research compounds, accurate fulfillment, and reliable customer service.
This Complaint Policy establishes a structured, transparent, and fair process for receiving, documenting, investigating, and resolving complaints regarding orders, products, and shipping.

This policy applies to all Southern Aminos customers, staff, and fulfillment partners.

  1. Scope of Complaints Covered

This policy addresses complaints related to:

  • Order fulfillment (wrong items, missing items, duplicates)
  • Package protection, shipping, loss, theft, or damage
  • Product appearance concerns relevant to research use only
  • Labeling, packaging, and vial integrity
  • Account or website issues
  • Billing and payment disputes
  • Customer service interactions

Not Covered:

  • Requests for dosing, dosing errors, reconstitution help, injection help, cycling, protocols, or anything relating to human or veterinary use
  • Complaints arising from misuse, improper storage, or handling outside our control
  • Carrier delays due to weather, customs, or force majeure
  • Situations where Package Protection was declined or removed by the customer
  1. Submitting a Complaint

3.1 How to Submit

Customers may submit complaints through:

3.2 Required Information

To process complaints efficiently, customers must provide:

  • Full name
  • Order number
  • Email used at checkout
  • Detailed description of the issue
  • Clear photo or video evidence (if applicable)
  • Date the problem was discovered
  1. Package Protection Policy Integration

Southern Aminos orders include Package Protection, which provides coverage against:

  • Loss
  • Damage in transit
  • Theft (porch theft or misdelivery)

4.1 Package Protection

All shipping-related complaints must be submitted through our online form for coverage.

Customers will receive:

  • A replacement order,
    OR
  • A refund approved and issued through Southern Aminos.

4.2 Filing a Claim

Customers may file a claim at:

Package Claims

Required evidence may include:

  • Photos of damaged items
  • Photos of packaging
  • Screenshots of tracking information
  • Signed affidavit for theft claims

4.3 Claim Filing Deadlines

Customers must follow Southern Amino claim timelines:

  • Lost packages: 7–30 days from last tracking update
  • Stolen packages: 5–15 days from delivery date
  • Damaged items: Submit within 15 days of delivery

Claims filed outside these windows will be denied.

4.4 If your Claim Was Declined

If the customer did not purchase Route protection:

  • Customers must file a claim directly with the carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL).
  • Southern Aminos cannot replace or refund orders that are unprotected and suffer loss or theft outside of Southern Aminos’ control.

4.5 Claim Refunds or Reorders

If Southern Aminos approves a claim, the customer may receive:

  • A no-cost reorder, or
  • A refund

Southern Aminos claim decision is final.

  1. Complaint Handling Procedure

5.1 Acknowledgment

Southern Aminos will acknowledge receipt of a complaint within 1–2 business days.

5.2 Documentation

Each complaint is logged and assigned a unique tracking reference.

Documentation includes:

  • Customer details
  • Order number
  • Evidence received
  • Issue category
  • Assigned staff member
  • Resolution timeline

5.3 Investigation

Investigations may include:

  • Review of fulfillment photos
  • Review of warehouse packing records
  • Review of QC testing documentation
  • Review of third-party lab results
  • Verification of shipping and delivery data
  • Review of prior ticket history

5.4 Resolution Options

Depending on findings, Southern Aminos may offer:

  • Replacement items (if applicable)
  • Store credit
  • Partial or full refund
  • Declined claim with documented reasoning

5.5 Resolution Timeline

Most complaints are resolved in 3–5 business days.
Complex issues, incomplete information, or external carrier disputes may extend timelines.

  1. Product Integrity & QC-Related Complaints

Because Southern Aminos sells research-use-only compounds, quality-related complaints must be limited to:

  • Lyophilization appearance (solid puck, fragmentation, or other visual characteristics)
  • Vial integrity
  • Labeling or packaging errors
  • Verification or proof-of-testing issues

Southern Aminos cannot accept complaints relating to:

  • Reconstitution
  • Dosing or protocol errors
  • “Didn’t work,” “didn’t feel anything,” or any outcome related to biological use
  • Research design or interpretation

QC investigations include cross-checking:

  • Lot-level independent testing
  • In-house inspection notes
  • Batch logs
  • Fulfillment photographs
  1. Fraudulent or Abusive Claims

Southern Aminos reserves the right to reject complaints involving:

  • Falsified photos or videos
  • Fake loss/theft reports
  • Chargeback abuse
  • Repeated unsupported claims
  • Attempts to circumvent Southern Aminos policies
  • Harassment of Southern Aminos staff

We may refuse service to individuals engaging in fraudulent activity or policy violations.

  1. Final Determination

The Southern Aminos Support & QA teams issue the final determination on all complaint outcomes.

  1. Policy Modifications

Southern Aminos may update this policy at any time. The latest version will always be available on our website.