Posted on 28th Jan 2021 @ 9:30:07 PM

 

Overall status:

 

European (EU/EEA Orders)  (Not including the UK)

• See above for country specific delays (Particularly Italy & Ireland).
• Please read our detailed information on EU/EEA orders available here
• We continue to incur surcharges with all EU shipping services. We're actively looking at alternatives for both IOSS handling and shipping.
• Please note that there some delays are still occuring due to Covid restrictions/effects so please allow extra time for your order to arrive.

International (Non-EU Orders)

• Covid continues to cause delays and processing issues for International orders. Some countries have been going back into lock down which reduces airline traffic and with it the capacity available to ship international items.
• Asendia has been suspended due to high surcharges currently applied and limited demand (pending review)

UK Orders

• UK courier/postal services are delivering normally.
• Some localised delays are reported occassionally but are much rarer now.

Final Comments.

• We are now managing to ship orders almost every day with some rare exceptions.
• Most of our manufacturing processes are now back online and we are working hard to build stock levels on all our products.
• Covid-19 continues to influence delivery speeds for International orders in particular.

 

 

Earlier Updates:

International Orders - Dispatch Issue Resolved - 26th Jan 2022
Technical issues with Spring were resolved in less than half an hour and we were able to get International orders processed and shipped successfully.

One of our team members was isolating following contact with a confirmed Covid case so it's all on me [Martin] to get orders shipped and support, etc... resolved. All orders were dispatched on time although manufacturing and some support response times were affected.

 

Holiday Closure/Last-Shipping Dates

While we're still officially closed we have shipped UK and DHL Express orders placed between 20th Dec and today (30th Dec). Other International orders are still waiting for dispatch on January 4th. 

We are now closed for Christmas & New Year. We are still taking orders but nothing will ship until January 4th 2022.

• All physical orders placed between 20th Dec 2021 (12 noon GMT) - 3rd January 2022 will be shipped no later than 4th January 2022
  
• Digital reset key orders are automated and will be sent as normal (Please check spam/junk folders for the information)
• Support will resume properly from January 5th when all children will have returned to school (assuming the British Government does not declare a late lockdown)

Please remember that over the pre-Christmer, Black Friday and Cyber Monday season the postal and courier systems are overloaded with packages. Almost nothing is delivered within normal timeframes during this time and with effects of Covid added on, delays are all but inevitable. International customers are doubly affected by the delays caused by customs clearance and the limited capacity via air.

 

End December 2021

While we're still officially closed we have shipped UK and DHL Express orders placed between 20th Dec and today (30th Dec). Other International orders are still waiting for dispatch on January 4th. 

We are now closed for Christmas & New Year. We are still taking orders but nothing will ship until January 4th 2022.

• Last orders shipped: Monday, 20th December 2021 12:00pm (noon) GMT 
• All physical orders placed between 20th Dec 2021 (12 noon GMT) - 3rd January 2022 will be shipped no later than 4th January 2022 (we may ship some orders 29th/30th Dec)
• Digital reset key orders are automated and will be sent as normal (Please check spam/junk folders for the information)
• Support will be available with some delays over key holiday dates (Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve/Day)

 

As to why we close for this period...
We've found that most order losses, delays (and problems related to delivery) occur during the last few weeks of December so we choose to stop shipping until things are calmer and less likely to result in lost items. This also allows us to get some rest and spend time with family, particularly after the last two years. If you have urgent needs, please contact us and we will see what we can do, but as ever thanks for your patience and continued support.

 

Please remember that over the pre-Christmer, Black Friday and Cyber Monday season the postal and courier systems are overloaded with packages. Almost nothing is delivered within normal timeframes during this time and with effects of Covid added on, delays are all but inevitable. International customers are doubly affected by the delays caused by customs clearance and the limited capacity via air.

So, hopefully you'll soon be enjoying some time with friends and family or just taking some time for yourself. However you spent it, Take care and see you in the new year.
Oh and if you work over the holiday, particularly in keeping people safe, thank-you... for all that you do!

 

October 2021

• We were closed for a day Monday 25th October but orders were dispatched as normal after that.
• Also, support response time was longer than normal during our school holiday half term week 23rd to 31st October due to Martin being away visiting family with the kids.
• DPD was retired as a shipping service option due to the increased costs and problems with collections being missed.

September 2021

• Covid infection resulted in Martin being offline and unavailable between 21st - 27th.
• Order dispatch delayed between Thursday 23rd and Tuesday 28th Sept following pre-planned staff absence. We could not reorganise this unfortunately, so apologies for delays in the interim.
  

 

August 2021

• Due to staff holidays we will be closing for a few days on 26th & 27th August so orders will not ship on those two days.
• Support and pre-sales queries will likely be delayed between 13th and 27th August while Martin takes his family camping and catches up with family after a long year without contact.

 

Pre-May 2021

 

 

International (Non-EU Orders)

 

• Shipping services have been enabled for all non-EU/EEA countries and customers and seem to be progressing "normally".
• Covid-19 continues to affect shipments, customs clearance and ultimately slows the delivery process considerably.
• Spring (Global) now offers a number of priority and economy services.
• DPD Classic (Road) is now operating with clearer guidelines on accepted product types per country/service.

 

International (EU/EEA Orders) 

 

• Business customers in the EU/EEA, MUST provide their valid EORI number with their order or the order will be cancelled and refunded.
• Valid email and phone (preferably mobile/cell) are required to ensure that customs charges can be communicated for payment.
• The following shipping services are enabled for EU/EEA customers as follow:
• Spring (Global) is now available as a shipping service option. (A bug affecting customers in Ireland has been fixed)
• DHL Express for anything of higher value or where speed is required. (Import VAT and Duty will need to be paid before receipt).
• DPD is available although some countries/products now prohibit orders including syringes, needles and some other items.
• We are using Spring (Global) instead of Royal Mail for speed and because processing into the EU/EEA is markedly faster.

 

UK Orders

 

• DHL Parcel and DPD (UK) are now back to a relative "normal".
• Hermes has been paused while we review results of recent tests.
• Royal Mail continues to provide inconsistent results with some very quick deliveries compared to other delayed orders.

 

Final Comments.

 

• Order dispatch has largely improved, particularly since our children have returned to school with most orders being dispatched within 1 working day but we ask that you continue to allow 2-3 working days just in case.
• The backlog of manufacturing and ink bottling is now being tackled with many "out of stock" items being made available in the last week. More work is still needed.
• Covid-19 is still very much a factor that continues to cause numerous "normal" problems for 2020-21.
• The Easter holiday is a time for spending time with family so support may take a little longer over bank holiday weekend.
• We are currently undertaking significant work to bring our accounting systems up to date with the coming changes with EU cross border sales (iMOSS) and switching accounts systems.

 

 

Overall: 24th Mar 2021

Covid remains a problem but thankfully:

• The Brexit process has been largely resolved but some issues remain, particularly with regards to the fees and charges being applied for higher value orders. 
• Backlog of manufacturing and ink bottling is now being tackled with many "out of stock" items being made available in the last week. More work is still needed.

 

Overall: 8th Feb 2021

Some hard lessons have been learned following Brexit, many of them completely unanticipated and while we accept some mistakes, we weren't alone in hitting a brick wall after January 1st. A month later, we have finally started to identify most of the issues and are in the process of resolving each although in some cases the 

Regrettably many of the couriers and shipping services we use have experienced massive issues and while some have risen to the challenge and communicated effectively as to issues, resolutions and timescale... Others have not. DPD in particular has been a sustantial source of frustration and silence while returning substantial numbers of orders with zero opportunity to understand, learn from and improve. Nearly a month on we are only now receving the information we needed to adjust effectively and solve the problems but we are finally getting what we needed.

Overall : 1st Feb 2021

Frankly, Brexit has strained our resources, patience and creativity to breaking point and this coupled with effects of Covid-19 and our continued family responsibilities has required everyone to dig deep. I honestly can't thank everyone on the team enough for all their hard work in incredibly difficult circumstances.

We do have a manufacturing backlog and some jobs are taking much longer than expected. We're currently expecting some key tasks to take until the school half term (mid-February to catch up) so if you're waiting for something, please bear with us.

As ever, thanks for your patience, your continued support and kindness.