This policy explains how Freecultr processes, ships, and delivers orders placed on freecultr.com and the Freecultr mobile app within India, the charges involved, and what happens if a shipment is delayed, lost, or damaged in transit. It is framed to comply with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, which require sellers to disclose delivery timelines, charges, and liability clearly at the time of purchase.

1. Order Processing Time

• Orders are processed, packed, and handed to the courier partner within 24–48 hours of order confirmation (excluding Sundays and public holidays).

• Orders placed during sale periods or for made-to-order/customised items may take up to 3 business days to dispatch.

• A dispatch confirmation with the AWB (tracking) number is sent by Email/SMS/WhatsApp as soon as the order is handed to the courier partners.

2. Delivery Timelines

Estimated delivery timelines from the date of dispatch, by destination type, are as follows. These are estimates provided by our courier partners and not a guaranteed delivery date, as permitted under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, provided the estimate is disclosed upfront which it is, on the product and checkout pages.

Destination	Estimated Delivery	Notes
Metro cities (Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc.)	1–3 business days	Fastest serviceable zone
Other Tier-1 / Tier-2 cities	3–5 business days	Standard zone
Remote / hard-to-service pin codes	6–10 business days	Subject to courier serviceability; flagged at checkout if pin code is remote
Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, North-East states, Andaman & Nicobar	7–12 business days	May involve additional handling time due to regional logistics constraints

If a courier partner cannot service a pin code at all, this is shown at checkout before payment, not after orders are never accepted for a non-serviceable address and then left undelivered.

3. Shipping Charges

• Free shipping on all prepaid orders above ₹499.

• A flat shipping fee of ₹49 applies on orders below this threshold.

• Cash-on-Delivery (COD) orders, where offered, carry an additional COD handling fee of ₹149, disclosed at checkout before the order is placed.

4. Order Tracking

• Once dispatched, every order can be tracked from “My Orders” and "Track Order" on the website/app, or via the tracking link sent by email, SMS and WhatsApp.

• Tracking status is updated by the courier partner and may take 4-6 hours to reflect after dispatch.

5. Change of Delivery Address

A delivery address can be changed only before the dispatch confirmation email/SMS has been sent, by writing to hola@freecultr.com or calling +91-9818187606 (Mon–Sat, 10:30 AM–6:30 PM IST) with the order number. Once dispatched, the address cannot be changed for that shipment, as the shipping label is already generated with the courier partner; in such cases the customer may either accept delivery at the original address or, if the shipment returns undelivered, contact the customer care team, they can re-ship the order with the new address provided by you.

6. Delayed Deliveries

If a shipment has not moved for more than 5 business days past its estimated delivery window or has not been delivered within 15 business days of dispatch, the customer may :-

• Request a status update and expected resolution from Freecultr support, who will follow up with the courier partner within 2 business days.

Committing to a concrete escalation and refund path for delayed shipments rather than leaving the customer with no recourse is one of the most common gaps consumer forums flag against e-commerce sellers.

7. Lost or Damaged-in-Transit Shipments

• All shipments are dispatched fully insured against loss or transit damage; this cost is borne by Freecultr, not the customer.

• Customers must inspect the package at the time of delivery and should decline acceptance if the box is visibly tampered, crushed, or opened. Acceptance of a visibly tampered package is at the customer's own risk; Freecultr recommends recording an unboxing video where possible.

• If a shipment is confirmed lost in transit, or arrives damaged despite an intact-looking package, the customer must report it to hola@freecultr.com within 48 hours of the delivery date (or expected delivery date, for a lost shipment) with photos/video where applicable. Freecultr will investigate with the courier partner and, once confirmed, provide free replacement, at the customer's choice, within 7 business days no charge to the customer for a lost or transit-damaged shipment.

8. Failed Delivery Attempts

• The courier partner will attempt delivery up to 3 times. If the recipient is unavailable, a shipment may be left with a neighbour/security desk (where consented) or held at the local courier hub, with an SMS/call to arrange redelivery.

• If all attempts fail, or the address/contact details provided are incorrect or unreachable, the shipment is returned to Freecultr's warehouse (RTO). Prepaid orders are refunded in full within 7 business days of the shipment reaching the warehouse or the team can re-ship the order with the updated address; COD orders are simply closed with no charge to the customer.

• Repeated non-availability at delivery leading to RTO on 3 or more orders in a rolling 60-day period may result in Cash-on-Delivery being disabled for that account, requiring prepaid orders going forward.

9. Serviceability

Freecultr ships across India through its courier partners, subject to the partner's own pin-code serviceability. A very small number of remote or restricted pin codes may not be serviceable at all; where this is the case, it is shown at checkout before the order can be placed, so no order is accepted for an address that cannot be delivered to.

10. Force Majeure

Freecultr and its courier partners will not be liable for delivery delays caused by events beyond reasonable control natural disasters, strikes, riots, government-imposed restrictions, extreme weather, or courier network disruptions. In such events, Freecultr will communicate the delay to affected customers as soon as it is known and offer the delayed-delivery options in Section 6 once the disruption is resolved or after 15 business days, whichever is earlier.

11. Policy Changes

Freecultr may update this policy from time to time. The version and effective date at the top of this page reflect the terms applicable to orders placed on or after that date; orders placed earlier remain governed by the policy in force at the time of purchase.

Shipping Policy