The Ant Farm Universe Value Guarantee:

"Ant Farm Universe promises to deliver more value than any of our competitors!"

No small print, no weasel words, no subtle escape clauses, just good old fashioned value backed by iron clad integrity.

We encourage you to compare!

Woven throughout our Value Guarantee, and in fact our entire business philosophy, is the motto "No Deceptive Practices!" As you read through the following information we believe you will come to understand and appreciate just how different and refreshing this approach is. Once you have completed your own evaluation, we are confident you will agree that Ant Farm Universe is truly the value leader among online ant farm retailers!

We invite you to review the Value Guarantee explanation in its entirety, or select a specific topic from the following index to jump straight to the information that interests you.

Price
Low Price Guarantees
Security
Safe Shopping Guarantee
Privacy
Money Back Guarantee
Transparency
Customer Support
Product Availability
Convenience
Shipping & Handling
Corporate History & Strength

Price...
Ant Farm Universe certainly recognizes that we must be competitive on price in order to deliver on our Value Guarantee. We also realize that you need real facts in order to be able to avoid commonly used deceptive marketing practices.

Whenever it is established by the manufacturer, Ant Farm Universe always displays the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).

Ant Farm Universe never prices our products above the MSRP, either to show a grossly inflated discount, or to cover the cost of supposedly "Free" shipping.

Every offer, every fee, is clearly disclosed and can be easily measured against the trusted MSRP benchmark. (If you are ever in doubt as to what the true MSRP is for a given product, we urge you to verify the MSRP for yourself. You can do this by contacting the manufacturer directly, often via the internet.)
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Low Price Guarantees...
Most "Low Price Guarantees" are not worth the paper they are written on. Even a cursory examination of the typical small print will reveal the "Lowest Price" claim is nothing more than a marketing ploy.

Take a few moments to consider just exactly what low price guarantees are actually offering. What are the benefits they provide and do they really add any "Value" to the transaction for you as a potential customer?

First, virtually every low price guarantee carries multiple exclusions, qualifiers and conditions under which any possible compensation will be rendered. Such exclusions, qualifiers and conditions typically include...

Second, what do the exclusions really mean? The reality is that you as the customer are universally responsible for finding the lower price and reporting it to the guarantor. The burden of proof for any price adjustment lies completely with you! The ultimate authority to accept or reject your claim resides completely with the merchant.

Third, what is the psychology behind offering a low price guarantee? Merchants who employ low price guarantees are counting on you to believe that their pricing is the best available otherwise the merchant wouldn't be willing to guarantee that it is.

In fact, low price guarantees actually allow a merchant to set their price higher than they normally could. It is a financially astute marketing decision because such merchants know that only a tiny percentage of their customers will actually expend the time and effort necessary to find a lower price and go through the hassle of substantiating and submitting a price adjustment claim. It is far more profitable to pay out a 10% price penalty to a few fastidious customers than it is to do the market research that will enable them to price their products in a truly competitive manner.

This brings us to the final point and our conclusions on price match guarantees. In any truly competitive market, merchants will sell their products and services at the most aggressive price they can achieve while retaining enough profit to stay in business to support you after the sale. If a merchant can only convince you to buy based on an "unproven" claim to the lowest price, all the while hiding behind a paragraph full of exclusions, qualifiers and impossible to meet conditions, who are they really looking out for? You be the judge.
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Security...
Ant Farm Universe is committed to making all of your transactions with us as secure as humanly possible.

As part of our security commitment to you, AntFarmU.com uses "strong encryption" 128 bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology for the processing of every purchase transaction on our site. This 128 bit SSL technology is used to encrypt any sensitive data, (such as credit card information, as well as other personally identifiable information) which is required to complete a purchase. The incorporation of SSL makes it virtually impossible for the "bad guys" to steal your personal information for malicious purposes.

By accepted convention, there are two simple ways to determine if your transaction is utilizing SSL security measures.

The first is to look at the URL at the top of the web page. When you are on a normal, non-secure web page the URL will contain a standard address header like http://www.antfarmu.com.When you are on a secure web page the URL will contain a subtly different address header such as https://www.antfarmu.com. The "s" located immediately after http in the address indicates that you are viewing a secure page.

The second indicator of a secure page is the graphic display of a locked padlock icon, located at the bottom of the browser window. (For Mozilla Firefox the padlock icon is displayed in the address bar as well.) Even when you are viewing a "secure" page, if there is any unsecured content on the page, most current generation browsers will block the display of the padlock icon. Always look for the padlock icon to confirm that the page you are viewing is actually secure.

In addition to SSL encryption, AntFarmU.com utilizes the CVV2 code (Card Verification Value) as an added fraud detection/prevention measure on all credit card transactions.

The CVV2 code is a relatively new authentication procedure established by credit card companies. The CVV2 code is a security feature designed specifically for "card not present" transactions (e.g., Internet transactions), and now appears on most (but not all) major credit and debit cards. When enforced, the CVV2 code is proving effective in reducing fraud during internet based transactions.

The CVV2 code consists of three to four digits, and depending on the card can be located on either the back or front side of your credit card. The CVV2 Code provides a cryptographic check of the information embossed on the card. For this reason the CVV2 code is not part of the card number and is not embossed on the card. Enforced use of the CVV2 code requires the person making the purchase to enter the security code in order to verify that the card is physically present at the time of the transaction. This prevents unscrupulous persons from being able to make fraudulent purchases utilizing credit card receipts or credit card data captured during scanned transactions.
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Safe Shopping Guarantee...
At Ant Farm Universe, we guarantee that every online credit card transaction you make on our site will be 100% safe. This means you pay nothing if unauthorized charges are made to your credit card as a result of shopping at AntFarmU.com.

We truly are committed to ensuring the safety and security of every transaction at AntFarmU.com. While we can't guarantee that customers of AntFarmU.com will never be targeted by unscrupulous and dishonest people, we can guarantee that we will work with your credit card company to protect you from any financial liability for such attacks. View full details of our Safe Shopping Guarantee.
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Privacy...
At Ant Farm Universe we respect your privacy. We operate on an "opt-in" basis and will therefore never inundate you with unwanted e-mails and promotions. We commit to treat your personal information with the same degree of sensitivity we give our own. We will never share your personal information outside the organizational personnel required to promptly process your orders or customer support requests.

We will not under any circumstances disclose your information to anyone except as outlined in our privacy policy. Please review our privacy policy for a complete description of how we protect your private information. Review our full Privacy Policy
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100% Satisfaction Money Back Guarantee...
At Ant Farm Universe you can buy with confidence knowing you are covered by our no questions, no hassle, no risk, satisfaction guarantee! Any merchandise purchased from AntFarmU.com, unless specifically excluded, may be returned for a full refund (less 15% restocking fee) within 30 days of the original invoice date. Review our full Money Back Guarantee/Refund Policy.
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Transparency...
We provide you with the facts to make truly informed decisions. While we certainly want to be your preferred source of Ant Farms and related information, we recognize we have to earn your trust! As we all understand, trust is difficult to earn and easily lost. This is particularly true in this emerging and evolving world we call the internet.

The internet has been defined as a "pull" market. This means that the consumer is in charge of the interaction from start to finish. Since you as the consumer are in charge, you can seek as much or as little information as you choose. You can move at your own pace, leaving the web site at any time you choose. If you are considering placing an order, you can go through the entire process and decide not to place the order right up until you make the last selection to "confirm" the order, all without any pressure. In fact, in the final analysis, the biggest single benefit to the "pull" environment described is that you are never under any external pressure!

One of the more significant differences between doing business with a local retailer, as compared with an online retailer, is the fact that you don't meet with the online merchant face to face.Much of the input people use to determine if a person or company is trustworthy is totally unavailable in the "virtual" marketplace. You are unable to see their facial expressions, watch their body language, listen to their tone or even hear the words that are spoken. All of these visual and auditory clues are missing in the virtual world. The fact that the normal cues and clues are missing often makes people uneasy in the virtual marketplace. As serious as the missing reference points are, there are some offsetting benefits in the virtual marketplace.

In our effort to overcome the "lack of trust" factors inherent in the virtual marketplace, we have adopted and widely implemented our policy of transparency. In the most positive tradition of a "pull" environment, we have concentrated on making sure you have all of the facts available to make informed and well reasoned choices. You have detailed information about our security features and processes, about our policies and processes to protect your privacy, about our company structure and history, our physical address and even detailed information about the manufacturers we represent. The fact is you know more about Ant Farm Universe and the way we do business than you probably know about your local department or grocery store!

While many of our competitors may not be comfortable with such transparency and full disclosure, our overriding objective is to make sure you are comfortable! This is why our unsurpassed transparency includes the information in our Value Guarantee, the detailed content in our Manufacturer Information pages, our extensive Frequently Asked Questions section and our detailed company information pages.

Since the virtual world prevents our speaking with you face to face, when you have a question or concern, we continue to make every effort to ensure the communication we can provide is complete, accurate, and worthy of your continued trust.
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Customer Support...
We believe customer support is more than having a staff that is prepared and available to solve problems when difficulties arise in the normal conduct of business. As important as corrective customer support is, it is no substitute for ongoing efforts to prevent the occurrence of problems in the first place. This is the reason we augment the traditional reactive customer support with our extensive proactive support infrastructure. From the care we exert to ensure you have all the product detail you need to make an informed purchasing decision, to the communication we provide to ensure you are up to date on the progress of your order. We take extraordinary steps to ensure your experience with Ant Farm Universe is both worry and trouble free.
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Product Availability...
Ant Farm Universe is an authorized retail representative for many different manufacturers. Our overriding goal is to expedite your order at the lowest possible cost to you. To support this objective, we carefully optimize our inventory to balance prompt availability with the lowest possible cost. In addition, we coordinate our order processing to ensure your selection ships from the nearest "in stock" warehouse whether that be our own warehouse or directly from our manufacturer's distribution facility.

Ant Farm Universe will keep you informed of any availability delays, including temporary out of stock conditions caused by prior sales.
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Convenience...
AntFarmU.com has been designed from the ground up to make your shopping experience as convenient as possible. Our large and growing selection of products, topped off by delivery direct to your door, makes for an unsurpassed shopping experience from the comfort and convenience of your own home.

In addition to our shopping friendly environment, we hope you will also take advantage of our efforts to provide an unsurpassed knowledgebase about ant and insect habitats. Regardless of whether you are a professional educator, a parent helping your child with his or her homework, or a student, we hope our Insect University will always be your preferred source of Entomology related information.
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Shipping & Handling...
Ant Farm Universe calculates product shipping costs on a per item basis. Our shipping fees are calculated to capture as closely as possible, the actual cost incurred in shipping your habitat. As described in our Terms of Use & Purchase Agreement, AntFarmU.com does not assess any handling fees.

On selected items, Ant Farm Universe offers honest to goodness Free Shipping. Because we never inflate our prices to cover shipping, our Free Shipping offers are an incredible value! Look for our "Ships Free!" icon which identifies these special value offers.
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Corporate History & Strength...
Interface Network Inc. traces its history back to January of 1990. Originally founded as a sole proprietorship, DBA Interface Network, the company was involved in direct marketing of various internally produced products.

Over the ensuing years, Interface Network expanded its focus to include management consulting, specializing in developing customized training for service and support managers.

Building upon its success in the service and support management niche, Interface Network entered the market of process analysis and improvement at the executive management level.

Interface Network's client list includes local, regional, and nationally based clients, located throughout the United States. Interface Network also serves an international clientele.

In August 2002, Interface Network incorporated as a privately held Idaho Corporation.

In 2005 Interface Network Inc. began the process of transitioning its direct retail merchandising to the "virtual marketplace" commonly described as the Internet or World Wide Web. In contrast to our somewhat limited product offerings of 1990, in addition to our own products, we now represent some of the most respected and innovative manufacturers of specialty products in the world.
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Copyright Interface Network Inc. 2005. All material contained herein is owned either by its respective owner, as cited, or by Interface Network Inc. All rights are retained by the respective Copyright owners. All materials published with the owner cited are used by Interface Network Inc. with the permission of the copyright owner. Any attempts to reproduce information contained on this site, without the express written consent from the owner, is prohibited and will be prosecuted.