Posted on 27th Jan 2021 @ 10:20:10 AM

 

Update: April 25th 2022

• Spring GDS has offered an improved fast track service to the USA and Ireland which we will be making available in the next few days.
• Asendia services are being suspended again due to recurring issues with processing times and failure to resolve basic administrative issues.

 

Update: March 14th 2022

• Issues with customs data not being passed correctly to Asendia for EU orders has required us to pause Asendia services until this can be resolved
• Fedex is delivering promptly and without issue so far. Often earlier than DHL Parcel.
• Italian services have resumed normal operation after the initial issues in January of this year

 

Update: Feb 18th 2022

• Fedex UK trial shipments are working well so far, delivery has been very quick (so far) so it's rapidly becoming a premium service.
• Fedex for EU and the rest of the world are also available now but largely no different from previous services.
• Asendia is working well and delivering as hoped to the USA and elsewhere promptly.
• Spring Parcel services to the EU (where available) are also working much better and faster than standard postal (PKT) services.
• Changes to our pricing and shipping system now incorporates a percentage of order value to discount shipping costs.

 

Update: Feb 8th 2022

• Asendia Priority is proving a MUCH faster service for shipping into parts of Europe and the USA. Some countries will not accept ink or medical (ie: syringe) items so unfortunately the service isn't always available for inks and refill kits but waste ink kits it's very quick
• Spring Parcel Tracked is similarly proving a premium service for EU orders under 150 EUR in value so where available is worth using
• Fedex will be available shortly for Europe with an economy service, but some teething issues with getting rate information still need to be ironed out.

 

Update: Jan 30th 2022

• Asendia services re-enabled
  Following an account and rates review we have re-enabled Asendia services again. This service is highly recommended for the US in particular for low weight items needed in a hurry (ie: waste pads/kits)
• New EU rates for Spring added ( Spring Priority Parcel [T] )
  Spring has introduced some new rates for IOSS cleared items into Europe and these have now been provided as "Priority Parcel [T]". They will only apply to orders 150 EUR or less in value.
• Most services are now limited to Tracked as a default option with the exception of items marked as "free shipping". Customer expectations that all shipping options are tracked has become the default so we've adjusted accordingly. 

Update: Jan 27th 2022

• Issues affecting customers in Serbia and Montenegro that effectively blocked them from being able to place an order for physical goods have been resolved.
  A bug in the shipping functionality was incorrectly assigning an outdated ISO2 country code to both countries resulting in no shipping rates being returned.
• We are now exploring new priority shipping options for the EU and UK through Fedex with a view to testing suitability and reliability compared to our existing service choices.

 

Update: Jan 20th 2022

• New shipping service added for Australian customers via Spring.
• The Spring - Priority Parcel [ET] service aims to deliver within 1 to 2 weeks while also taking advantage of the $1,000 AUD import buffer where no GST or Duty is charged.
• The service is attracting a surcharge at present, due to Covid, but is already more cost effective compared to normal postal options which are taking 3-5 weeks.

 

Update: Jan 8th 2022

• Cart and Checkout layouts now provide more information on our shipping options including a key to explain speed and service options included with each option.

 

 

Earlier Updates

Update: Jan 1st 2022

• France no longer has the option to choose DHL Express or Fedex services due to changes in VAT/Import tax handling for orders over 150 EUR. The requirement is that we register for French VAT and pay an intermediary to file French VAT. We are looking for ways to resolve this cost effectively but in the interim shipping is still available via Spring and Royal mail but without the faster speed. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

 

Update: Dec 8th 2021

• All services are now into the usual Christmas (and various black-friday, cyber-monday sales) volumes that clog the postal systems. Delays are inevitable as a result
• New service options for 2022 are being explored with shipping services that should improve the speed of delivery as well as potentially allow us to offer a DDP (Delivery & Duty paid) option for some countries.

 

Update: Oct' 31st 2021

• Normal dispatch times have resumed for all services.

 

Update: Oct' 22nd 2021

• We will not be dispatching orders on Monday 25th October. Orders from 22nd to 25th October will be dispatched on the Tuesday 26th.

 

Update: Oct' 5th 2021

• DPD has been removed as a service following a rate increase and issues with collections being missed.

 

Update: Sept' 9th 2021

• Surcharge levels for Asendia are making it impractical for us to ship via this service at present so we have suspended this service until surcharge and cost levels reach more sustainable levels.

 

Update: Sept' 6th 2021

• A bug in our Royal Mail store code was blocking RM services being shown for most customers. We have now applied a technical fix which should solve the problem.
  Apologies to any customers who received the "can't ship to your area" error in the interim.
• Shipments to some countries, particularly Australia and New Zealand being heavily delayed due to localised lockdowns although Asendia is reaching customers much quicker than other services.

 

Update: Aug' 31st 2021

All things EU/Europe:

• We are now reasonably confident that the IOSS system is working as it should for most EU countries
• All postal services to the EU have now been re-enabled without order value limits.
• DPD (for Europe) has also been re-enabled although this does have high surcharge rates and also blocks many EU countries from ordering our refill kits due to the syringes contained in them.

All Countries

• Orders are now shipping as normal
• All other UK and global services remain affected to varying degrees due to Covid restrictions but we are seeing some reasonably fast deliveries where customs/tax handling is not being updated.

 

 

Update: Aug' 10th 2021

All things EU/Europe:

• We are still testing lower value EU shipments to determine how successfully the new IOSS system is being implemented.
• Asendia has been re-enabled without order value limits following updated information on delivery speed/success.
• DPD (for Europe) has also been re-enabled although this does have high surcharge rates and also blocks many EU countries from ordering our refill kits due to the syringes contained in them.
• Royal Mail and Spring (GDS) still have to respond to our queries regarding some delayed IOSS shipments and remain limited.

All other UK and global services remain affected to varying degrees due to Covid restrictions but we are seeing some reasonably fast deliveries where customs/tax handling is not being updated.

 

Update: July 29th 2021

• Spring (GDS) is now re-enabled after we passed the various checks required to continue to use the service under IOSS.
• DPD Road, has been re-enabled for EU destinations after clarification of service charges, surcharges and various checks related to IOSS.

The 45GBP limit on EU shipments is still in place, but a number of packages have now been sent under IOSS rules and we are seeing a MASSIVE improvement in terms of delivery speed. However, we are still waiting to be sure that tax is not being charged a second time.

 

Update: July 26th 2021

Our initial test with IOSS continue but we have had to make some adjustments. SpringGDS requires time to pre-clear the range of product customs codes we use, as well as resolve a number of contract agreements. As this requirement was not anticipated, we have put Spring services on hold for all EU/EEA countries until we have completed that process but will re-enable once ready. In the interim, Royal Mail and Asendia continue to support these countries for the 45GBP limit we currently have in place. Spring is still available as a shipping option for all non-EU/EEA countries though.

Royal Mail within the UK, is reportedly under considerable strain again, although we believe the earlier issues with Large letter deliveries have now been resolved, some delivery offices are closing due to Covid infections spiking in those offices. This is having a delaying effect on deliveries in the affected areas.

Lastly, all shipping/postal service providers are applying updated surchages are a result of Covid, IOSS, fuel and we are having to apply these as we receive them. This does mean that shipping quotes can change from one day to the next and this is completely outside our control.

 

Update: July 20th 2021

We have now received our IOSS reference and are now testing our shipping system to ensure that our packages can be delivered without incurring duplicate customs charges.

For now we are limiting orders to 45 GBP or less (Approximately 50 EUR) while we test for real world results rather than relying on theoretical guidance. Once we are confident that orders to the EU are being delivered correctly, without incurring additional charges/delays we will reopen the system for EU orders properly.

We have re-enabled DHL Express for all order values but we wouldn't recommend this for orders of less than 150 EUR until we have been able to properly test the service for such orders. 

A new guide that shows how the store/checkout system now applies VAT, etc... is also available here

Update: July 14th 2021

Most of the expected (and some unexpected) issues with the new IOSS system have been resolved and we're now waiting for our IOSS registration to be completed and issued. Once that has been received we'll be able to resume service to EU customers. 

Update: July 1st 2021

The roll over into the new IOSS/OSS system has already displayed teething problems so we're reassured that we made the right decision. We continue to monitor the situation through other ecommerce sellers and via our shipping services and will re-open European ordering once things settled down. (See below, June 27th for more information)

Update: June 27th 2021

 

Update: June 11th 2021

Hermes is being handled via Spring GDS (as we don't have a direct account with Hermes) but this has been creating a delay of about 2-3 working days before tracking information becomes available and obviously delivery speed is slower than a direct service. This is why it's being offered as an economy service.

 

Update: May 28th 2021

We've noticed a substantial increase in delivery speed for some International services as airlines flight numbers have increased resulting in increases postal/courier capacity which is welcome but still depends on numerous political decisions. We're not out of the woods yet but things, for now have been better.

 

Update: May 15th 2021

We have completed a major overhaul of our shipping options to streamline the number of services and provide a clearer indication of service speed as a grading between Economy (slower, often untracked) and Express (much faster, fully tracked).

Addiitonally we have streamlined the services that appear based on a weighting system so a limited number of services will appear rather than every potentially available service. 

The full range of service providers is now enabled as well including:

• Hermes : Economy
• Royal Mail: Economy -> Priority (UK & International)
• Spring (GDS): Economy -> Priority (International)
• Asendia: Priority -> Express (International)
• DHL Parcel: Priority (UK)
• DPD: Priority -> Express (UK & International)
• DHL Express: Express (International)
• Fedex: Priority -> Express (International)

You will only ever see a maximum of four shipping options based on reliability, price and the grade of service available.

The main improvement beyond the underlying system is that we have now restored use of Asendia for a number of International destinations including the USA and Australia and we would strongly recommend the use of this service for those countries where speed is important vs' budget. 

 

 

 

Update: May 10th 2021

• Royal Mail has continued to cause issues following new equipment used to process Large Letter items. Delays of up to a week have been common place for some areas.
• Hermes has as a result become a defacto replacement for low value orders. It's slow but tracking is providing some reassurance that orders are being received.
• International services are showing continued effects from Covid with orders taking upwards of 6-8 weeks to reach Australia, 5 weeks for the USA but inconsistency is rife.
• DHL Express, DPD and DHL Parcel continue to perform excellently.
  
  
• We are now preparing for the changes in EU import VAT rules that come into effect from July 1st.

 

Update: Apr' 4th 2021

• Most of our services are now performing relatively well although delays across the board are evident due to Covid and particulalry for International postal routes where the effects on airline cargo capacity are particularly evident.
• Hermes performance is being reviewed and compared to Royal Mail for low value items within the UK. A decision on suitability is expected sometime mid-April.
• DPD International services have now been operating as they should have after resolving the confusion regarding prohibited goods. Some EU Countries no longer accept our refill bundles due to their contents including syringes.
• Royal Mail is improving but treatment of Large Letter items as low priority has caused frustration and confusion for some time now.

Update: Mar 27th 2021

Our trial of Hermes has been put on hold briefly while we work out some bugs on our store system and wait for a couple of teething issues to be resolved.

Update: Mar 11th 2021

We are now preparing to offer Hermes packet and parcel services for UK customers on a trial basis and will be strictly limited to low value orders.
ETA: weekend 13th/14th March

 

Update: Mar 3rd 2021

A bug in our Spring Global shipping module meant that customers in Ireland were not getting quotes for the lower cost services at all. We have since fixed the issue and Spring Global services are now being offered correctly. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

 

Update: Feb 24th 2021

DPD quietly released an amended Prohibited export list of customs codes that are not allowed for various countries in the EU. This update wasn't announced so we've only just caught it, however it now indicates that DPD will now accept ink products BUT not anything including syringes/needles, so ink sets should be acceptible via DPD, but refill bundles/tool sets will not.

 

Update: Feb 23rd 2021

Following significant work on the DPD shipping module we've tentatively started offering the DPD Classic (Road) service for EU/EEA customers. The system has been updated to identify products by their HS customs codes and screen out any orders that contain products/substances that are prohibited for transport by DPD in the target countries. (eg: Italy DPD won't accept inks). Customers shouldn't notice any errors directly but we may need to contact customers if an order involving ink or medical items (eg: Syringes) has managed to slip through for countries where DPD will simply reject them. Strangely enough these issues aren't affecting other services into those same countries so DHL Express and Spring are still available in these scenarios.

We are also reconnecting with Asendia following some constructive discussion about the last 2 months and mitigating action being taken. Services won't be enabled for some weeks but for some countries (particularly Australia) this may mean a faster service being available.

Additionally we've done work to tabulate the surcharges, fees, etc.. for the various shipping services here: Brexit & EU effects page

 

Update: Feb 20th 2021

We're happy to confirm that we've started offering the Spring Global service (Spring via the Checkout) with packet services for sub-2kg orders and parcel tracked for the larger items. It's taken a lot of work to get this integrated into the store and to ensure everything works but it's up and running at last.

As a result EU/EEA customers now have other options beyond DHL Express for shipping.

Please note, EU/EEA customers will be faced with customs fees and potentially import duty/taxes and we're gathering together as much information as we can to keep customers informed before they order. This is not yet ready though so it's up to customers to check with their customs department to work out what they may have to pay. 

 

Update: Feb 19th 2021

Many of our EU/EEA customers have noted the substantial shipping prices currently available for their orders and understandably, expressed concern at the high values quoted since early January 2021. We need to reiterate that the limits-on, and suspension-of, lower cost services was a direct result of numerous unsuccessful attempts to send using lower cost services such as DPD and Royal Mail immediately after Brexit (January 1st).

Thankfully we now have a much clearer picture of what will (and won't) work and the restrictions we've had in place for customers in the EU and EEA should be loosened over the coming days, resulting in substantially reduced shipping costs.

• Finishing touches to the Spring Global shipping module are being completed today and the service should be available over the weekend.
• We are also testing changes to the DPD International shipping module that should resolve the numerous returned/undelivered EU orders in January. 
• We are in the process of writing a rough guide that lists the potential fees for customers in different EU countries so that there's at least some indication of what charges to expect from a courier and/or postal service.
• For UK customers we are now tentatively testing some Hermes services to determine suitability for some products.

 

 

Previous Updates