Pre-Order & Import Protocol

1. Agreement and Acceptance

By placing a pre-order with Entropica Coffee Co. LLC ("Entropica," "we," "us"), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Pre-Order & Import Protocol (the "Protocol"), together with our Terms of Service, Refund Policy, and Privacy Policy, each incorporated here by reference.

• Pre-order product pages display a link to this Protocol and, where technically supported, require affirmative acknowledgment at checkout.
• If you do not agree to this Protocol, do not place a pre-order.
• We may amend this Protocol at any time. Amendments apply only to orders placed on or after the stated effective date of the amended version. We do not apply new terms retroactively to open orders.

2. Definitions

• Allocation Window. The published period during which a specific lot may be reserved. Each allocation listing states its opening and closing date and time.
• The Lock. The moment an Allocation Window closes, as published on that allocation's listing. At the Lock, orders are finalized and we commit funds to our partner roasters. The Lock is a specific published timestamp, not an approximation.
• Estimated Dispatch Window. The date range published on each allocation listing during which we expect to ship. This is an estimate made in good faith, not a guaranteed delivery date.
• Dispatch. The moment we tender your package to the carrier.
• Shortfall. Any circumstance in which a lot you reserved cannot be delivered to you in full. This includes a lot that was already unavailable at the roaster when your order was placed, a lot that sells out during the Allocation Window, and a lot the roaster short-ships or fails to produce after the Lock. All three are treated identically under Section 6.

3. Consumer-Only Allocation

Entropica is a direct-to-consumer service. We strictly prohibit the purchase of our products for unauthorized resale or commercial distribution.

• Volume Limits. Orders exceeding 5kg or 20 units are flagged for review.
• Right of Refusal. We reserve the right to cancel and fully refund any order we reasonably suspect violates this section, at any time and without liability beyond the refund itself.
• Shipping to a business address for personal consumption is permitted.

4. The Timeline and Estimated Dispatch

Our sourcing process follows a fixed sequence:

Delivery estimates. Each allocation listing publishes an Estimated Dispatch Window. If no window is published for a given allocation, we will dispatch within 30 days of the Lock.

Delay notice. If we determine that we cannot dispatch within the published Estimated Dispatch Window, or within 30 days of the Lock where no window was published, we will notify you by email and offer you the choice to either consent to the revised timeline or cancel for a full refund to your original payment method. We will not hold your funds past a stated window without giving you that choice.

Address changes. You must request address changes before a shipping label is generated in Phase 4. Once a label is generated, rerouting is not possible. Please ensure the address you provide will be valid for at least 45 days from the order date.

5. Combined Orders and Partial Shipment

To reduce packaging and freight emissions, we default to a single shipment per order. If your cart contains both In-Stock and Pre-Order items, the entire order ships once the Pre-Order arrives. If you need in-stock items sooner, place two separate orders.

Partial shipment consent. You expressly authorize Entropica, at our discretion, to ship the available portion of your order and separately refund or credit any portion affected by a Shortfall, rather than holding the entire order. Where we do this, Section 6 governs how we handle the unfulfilled portion. Exercising this option does not entitle you to additional shipping charges or credits beyond what Section 6 provides.

6. Stock Integrity: Stock-Out and Roaster Shortfall

Because we source limited micro-lots from independent roasters, availability is fluid and outside our direct control. A pre-order is a prioritized reservation, subject to the roaster's actual yield. This section is the operative remedy for every availability failure, whenever it occurs.

6.1 Our notice obligation. If a Shortfall affects your order, we will notify you by email within two business days of the moment we learn of it, at whatever phase of the cycle that happens. This notice will identify the affected items, state plainly why they are unavailable, and present the options in Section 6.2.

This obligation is unconditional and runs in both directions of the timeline. If we learn a lot is unavailable before or during your Allocation Window, you are entitled to notice then, not at dispatch. We commit specifically that:

• We will not refund an affected item and ship the rest of your order without contacting you first. A refund notification from our payment processor is not notice under this section and never satisfies it.
• We will not wait for the end of a cycle to disclose a Shortfall we already know about.
• Where a lot is confirmed unavailable before its Window closes, we will additionally remove or mark the listing so no further orders are taken against stock that does not exist.

If we fail to give you the notice this section requires and you learn of a Shortfall some other way, you may elect any remedy in Section 6.2 regardless of how much time has passed, and no administrative fee under Section 7 applies to any part of that order.

6.2 Your options. On receiving a Shortfall notice, you may choose one of the following:

1. Full Refund. A 100% refund of the affected items to your original payment method, processed within three business days of your election.
2. Strategic Swap. An exchange for an available coffee of equal or greater value, at no additional cost, shipped with the current cycle where timing permits.
3. Allocation Credit. A credit equal to the value of the affected items, plus priority claim on the next cycle in which a comparable lot appears. Allocation Credits are valid for 12 months from issue, are recorded against your customer account, and may be redeemed against any future allocation.

6.3 Response window and default. You have seven calendar days from the date of our Shortfall notice to tell us which option you want. If we do not hear from you within that period, we will default to Option 1 and issue a full refund of the affected items to your original payment method. You may request a different remedy after a default refund has issued, and we will accommodate it where the affected stock still exists, but a completed refund discharges our obligation under this section.

6.4 Limit of remedy. The remedies in Section 6.2 are the complete and exclusive remedies available to you for a Shortfall. A Shortfall is not a breach of this Protocol, and we are not liable for any loss beyond the value of the affected items. We do not guarantee that any specific lot will be produced, delivered, or restocked, and we will not represent a return date for a lot we have not been given one for.

7. Cancellations and Changes

• Before the Lock. Cancellations are free and fully refundable. Request them by email to trent@entropicacoffee.com.
• After the Lock. Once funds are committed to our partner roasters, cancellations are accepted at our discretion and are subject to a 10% administrative fee, calculated on the pre-tax subtotal of the cancelled items only, excluding shipping. You acknowledge that this fee is not a penalty but a reasonable pre-estimate of the non-recoverable payment processing fees, currency conversion costs, international transaction charges, and administrative labor we incur to secure and then unwind your allocation, and that the actual costs are impractical to calculate per order.
• Exceptions. No administrative fee applies to cancellations arising from a Shortfall under Section 6, a delay notice under Section 4, or an error on our part.

8. Packaging and Zero-Interference

We act as a logistics facilitator. Our role is to deliver the roaster's work exactly as they finished it.

• Original Seal. We never open, decant, vacuum-seal, or re-package coffee. You receive the bag as sealed in Europe.
• Objective defects. We guarantee the physical integrity and authenticity of what we ship. Compromised packaging, wrong item, or wrong quantity are defects, and Section 10 governs them.
• Subjective preference. Flavor is subjective and roast profiles are the roaster's artistic decision, not ours. We do not accept returns or issue refunds on the basis of personal palate preference, disagreement with a tasting note, or an expectation about flavor that the cup did not meet. This applies whether or not the seal has been broken. If a coffee genuinely tastes defective, meaning rancid, fermented off, or otherwise faulty rather than simply not to your taste, contact us within 14 days of delivery and we will evaluate it individually.

9. Freshness and Roast Date Variance

Roast dates are set by the partner roaster's production schedule, not by us. The roast date shown on a listing or variant is a target, not a guarantee. Variances of up to seven days in either direction may occur due to batch sizing and production sequencing, and a variance within that range is not a defect and does not entitle you to a refund, replacement, or cancellation. Entropica guarantees that coffee sold through an Allocation Window has not been warehoused in the United States before your Window opened.

10. Shipping, Risk of Loss, Damage, and Lost Packages

Transfer of risk. All purchases are made pursuant to a shipment contract. Risk of loss and title pass to you upon our tender of the package to the carrier.

Compromised seal or damage in transit. If your order arrives with a compromised seal, crushed packaging, or damage exposing the coffee to oxygen:

1. Report by email to trent@entropicacoffee.com within 72 hours of delivery, with photographs of the outer box, the affected bag, and any packing material.
2. Resolution. We will verify the damage promptly. If replacement stock exists, we will expedite a replacement at our cost. If the allocation is exhausted, we will issue a full refund or an Allocation Credit under Section 6.2 at your election.

Packages that never arrive. If tracking has not shown movement for seven consecutive days, or the carrier has not marked your package Delivered within 14 days of Dispatch, contact us. We will open a carrier claim on your behalf and, once the carrier confirms loss or 21 days have passed since Dispatch, we will replace the order where stock permits or issue a full refund. This is a courtesy we extend despite risk having passed to you at tender.

Packages marked delivered. Once the carrier marks a shipment Delivered, Entropica is not liable for theft, misdelivery by the carrier, or loss at the delivery address. We will provide tracking records and assist you in filing a carrier claim, but we cannot refund or replace a package the carrier has confirmed delivered.

11. Customs, Duties, and Importer of Record

Entropica is the importer of record for the Europe-to-United States leg of transit and bears all customs duties, tariffs, brokerage fees, and import taxes on that leg. You will never receive a duty invoice for a domestic Entropica order. Your order ships to you domestically from Cincinnati, Ohio, and no separate import charges apply. Any applicable state or local sales tax is calculated and displayed at checkout.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

Except as expressly stated in this Protocol, our products are provided "as is." To the fullest extent permitted by law, Entropica disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Nothing in this section limits any warranty or right that cannot be disclaimed or limited under applicable law, including under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. Roasted coffee is a perishable agricultural product and its character changes over time; we make no representation that a coffee will taste identical at any two points in its life.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• Entropica's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to any order, whether in contract, tort, warranty, or otherwise, shall not exceed the amount you actually paid for the specific item or items giving rise to the claim.
• Entropica shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost business, loss of goodwill, or disappointment, including where an order was intended as a gift or for an event, even if we were advised of that purpose in advance.
• These limitations apply to the maximum extent permitted by law and do not exclude liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited.

14. Force Majeure

Entropica shall not be liable for delay or failure in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, customs clearance holds, port or air freight disruption, carrier failure, severe weather, crop failure, labor action, epidemic, war, or governmental action. In such events the Estimated Dispatch Window is extended by a period equal to the delay, and Section 4's delay notice provisions apply. If a force majeure event prevents performance for more than 60 days, either party may cancel the affected portion of the order for a full refund without administrative fee.

15. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law

15.1 Contact us first. If you have a problem with an order, email trent@entropicacoffee.com before initiating a payment dispute or chargeback. Nearly every issue is resolvable directly and quickly. Filing a chargeback without contacting us first removes our ability to fix the underlying problem.

15.2 Informal resolution. Before filing any legal action, you agree to give us written notice of the dispute at trent@entropicacoffee.com describing the issue and the relief you seek, and to allow 30 days for us to resolve it informally. We agree to the same obligation toward you.

15.3 Small claims preserved. Nothing in this Protocol prevents either party from bringing an individual claim in small claims court, and we encourage that route for low-value disputes.

15.4 Governing law and forum. This Protocol is governed by the laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any legal action not brought in small claims court shall be brought exclusively in the federal or state courts located in Hamilton County, Ohio, and both parties consent to that jurisdiction and venue.

16. General

• Severability. If any provision of this Protocol is held unenforceable, that provision shall be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remainder shall continue in full force.
• Entire agreement. This Protocol, together with the policies incorporated in Section 1, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Entropica regarding pre-orders, and supersedes any prior statement, listing description, or informal communication that conflicts with it.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your order or any rights under this Protocol without our written consent.
• Survival. Sections 6.4, 12, 13, 15, and 16 survive completion or cancellation of your order.

17. Contact

Entropica Coffee Co. LLC
Cincinnati, Ohio
trent@entropicacoffee.com

Questions about this Protocol, an open order, or a Shortfall notice all reach the same desk, and it is a person, not a queue.