No attitude intended. Agree that customer service issues are better handled over the phone, as it is difficult to assess attitude in print.
Sorry if you have had issues calling us. We do have 5 phone lines to try to handle as many calls as possible, but again, sorry if we missed your call.
Shipping is a complicated deal. We have had shipping programs in place for a long time that customers are used to. When we added bulk plastic, there was no way for it to fit in our old shipping model. That is why we quote it. We felt that we could fit 2.5 gallons or 20 pounds into our flat rate shipping program ($8.50). When you hit 5 gallons or 40 pounds, it becomes a major losing proposition for us.
Some parts of the US it is less expensive to buy in a 5 gallon bucket. Some places it might be less to make individual orders of 2.5 gallons that fit under our flat rates shipping. The shipping costs are a critical expense of our business and it is something we look at on annual basis.
This forum in not our preferred method of communication. We stand behind all of our products and want to take care of our customers. Call us at 319-984-6055.