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Postage FAQ
Throughout this site "Great Britain" and "GB" refer to the mainland only. Islands without a bridge to the mainland are treated as a separate zone for shipping calculations. Recycling Packaging Wherever possible we try to recycle packaging. This reduces our costs and helps the environment. Sometimes the packaging will look "tatty" but, as long as the goods reach you intact, it has served its purpose. Yes, with certain restrictions, we ship small items almost anywhere. Larger items may not be viable because of the cost. (We do not usually ship dishes or large/ heavy / fragile items outside GB - because it can be slow, expensive and risky). Please refer to our Sales Help FAQ page. We do not ship to Africa, Indonesia or other places where credit card fraud is common. If you live in those places then you can not order unless your credit card is registered in the UK and we ship to that address. Certain UK postcodes are also registered as "poor risk" so we may need to ask additional questions before shipping. We can not refund VAT on orders shipped to a UK address. The shopping cart may give you a choice of shipping methods. Some of these methods do not provide fast delivery or tracking. If you need either of these options you MUST TELL US. For destinations outside the EU, please note that your country's Customs office may delay delivery by as much as three weeks and may demand import duty and/or tax. The only trackable postage methods are "Airsure" and UPS, which you should request at the time of ordering (or immediately afterwards). If you request this, we will reply with the cost of shipping, including insurance up to £100. If you do not request such a service, we will use a non-trackable method and you understand that delivery could take up to 30 days. You are welcome to place a PROVISIONAL ORDER to determine the postal charge. To do this, choose payment by cheque instead of credit card. On the shopping cart CHECKOUT page you should type in the NOTES window the words "PROVISIONAL - PLEASE ADVISE EXACT SHIPPING COST USING ....". Sales will then email you the exact charge and, if you wish to place the order, you can go to THIS page and enter your credit card details or simply place a new order. If you use an email checking service such as "Spam Arrest" you must not place an order with it because our servers will be unable to reply. If you use AOL to email us you may not receive our reply. (Some AOL user accounts lose up to 50% of messages sent to them). If necessary, get yourself a free Yahoo address and use that for your order. Take great care to type your email address correctly. (At least one person each day does not.) MORE INFO Unless you ordered something small, that will fit in a padded envelope for First Class Post, your delivery will probably need a signature. In some cases the delivery driver will NOT accept a neighbour's signature. This means that somebody must be at the delivery address to sign. (More notes about this on our sales help page). Unfortunately, t is not possible to make an appointment for a delivery. Shipping rates general guide. Please read this page carefully. Throughout this site "Great Britain" and "GB" refer to the mainland only. Islands without a bridge to the mainland are treated as a separate zone for shipping calculations. Delivery Method: (If you select a method that requires a signature, the tracking number will not be available until the following day. Please contact us if you require the tracking number.)
* If you select a method which is not appropriate due to your location or the size/weight of the order, the shopping cart will often (but not always) warn you. In particular, it will not warn you if you choose "Special delivery" for an order that is too heavy or inappropriate for your location. Please choose Special Delivery only for orders likely to weigh less than 1 kg and for delivery in the United Kingdom. The above delivery times are dependent on stock availability and order reaching us before 1 pm latest. We deliver by four methods as follows1. "UK 1st class post" Postal delivery (First Class), Special Delivery (First Class) and Recorded Delivery (First Class) direct from our small Sales Warehouse in Telford. Here we keep only small items such as kits, connectors, components, remote controls, SkyLinks and some (not all) LNBs. Normally we use First Class Post so you might get your order next day (but not guaranteed). Recorded delivery or Special delivery can be requested (see our Sales Help page). Special delivery normally promises next day delivery by noon (if your order reaches us before 1 pm and if items are in stock) and guarantees a postage refund if it doesn't arrive on time. Whilst Saturday Special delivery is possible, it costs more than weekday Special Delivery so you must include a note that you will accept an additional charge (currently about £2) AND get the order to us before 1 pm on a Friday. If an item is large/heavy or not stocked at our office then we will not be able to deliver it on a Saturday. Note: sometimes we will use FedEx courier delivery (which requires a signature) even when you select a different method. We will do this if it means you get the delivery quicker without additional cost. 2. "UK fast carrier" Carrier delivery from one or more large warehouses around the country. We get them to deliver direct to you, based on whichever warehouse has stock of the items you want and, sometimes, which is nearest to you. Normally you'll get your order next working day (but not guaranteed) provided we receive your order by 1 pm. See our Sales Help Page. This system lets us give you "next working day delivery" most of the time (if you place your order in the morning) and lets us keep our prices competitive. It would be much more expensive if we kept huge stocks of everything in our Sales warehouse. However, for larger orders, it can result in a postal delivery and one or more Carrier deliveries to you with different items during the day. As you can imagine, this takes some co-ordinating and you must have someone available from 8 am to 6 pm to take delivery on the days within the delivery time frame following despatch. See our Sales Help Page. 3. Airmail or equivalent for small packets or Parcel Force 48 or similar to all destinations outside mainland Great Britain. This applies to Channel Isles, Ireland, most Scottish Isles and all non-UK destinations. (The only exception is for small padded envelopes which can be sent by First Class post to Channel Isles, N. Ireland and Scottish Isles.) As you live abroad, you will be familiar with your local postal service, some of which can take weeks to deliver to your home (or local pickup point)! Note: if you live in a place that has no proper postcode, you should type your phone number in the Shopping Cart "Postcode" box. 4. "Cheapest". If you are outside the UK you may be able to select "cheapest" as the shipping option. This will provide a lower estimate of cost and our Sales department will contact you to confirm the true shipping cost, if different. Note, however, that "cheapest" may be a very slow method, without tracking, and delivery could take a lot longer than normal - typically weeks. As you live abroad, you will be familiar with your local postal service, some of which can take weeks to deliver to your home (or local pickup point)! In your "Shopping Cart" you'll find a choice of "Delivery Locations" (see below). Select the appropriate one in the "cart" when you have added your first item to the "cart" then click on "Recalculate". The "Shopping Cart" will calculate the Shipping charge for you and will update the total as you add each additional item to your cart. (As this system is not perfect it may occasionally want to overcharge or undercharge you. Please add a note to your order if you think the charge is incorrect. This will delay your order because we will have to exchange emails with you so, if you are happy with the charge, don't question it!) We will normally correct it if it's wrong anyway. Also see notes at the bottom of this page. You can use the "shopping cart" as a calculator! Delivery Locations:
*For offshore islands connected to GB by a road bridge, please select "Mainland UK", since a ferry charge will not be incurred.
Value Added Tax (V.A.T.)VAT is not included in catalogue prices. We must add VAT at the current UK rate to the total (except bound books and manuals) including postage/carriage (since this is classed as a taxable service) by UK HMRC. If you are in Europe but not in a EU country please Select "International" as the Shipping Destination. VAT will not be included. Please ensure that you really are in a VAT exempt area before selecting this option, otherwise your order will be delayed. If you are outside Europe, please select "International" as the Shipping Destination. "Can you provide a VAT receipt?" The email receipt that you will receive (your "Keep-me" message) contains our VAT registration number and the VAT amount. Obviously there is no shipping charge for eBooks since you will download them. VAT will be added unless your credit card registered address is in a non-EU country. Whichever Delivery Location you choose, the "shipping charge" will be ZERO unless you order other items, at the same time, which need to be shipped to you. In some cases we may have to charge more for carriage but we will always inform you by e-mail and get your permission beforehand. Delivery of heavy or large items outside Great Britain may be very expensive or may not be feasible at all if the carrier company does not deliver to your location. If you have any questions, please send them to us before you place your order. (Most questions are already answered on our help pages - click the "FAQs" tab at the top of this page). We do offer payment via Paypal. There is a 4% surcharge for using Paypal because it costs us more than a credit card payment. If that's a problem, please don't select Paypal as your payment method. Why is your minimum postage charge so high? This is surely robbery if I just want a 16p "F" connector! Postal charges changed in September 2006 so that they now depend on parcel thickness and area as well as weight. It costs the company £2 to "raise an invoice" (whatever that means - accountant-speak - probably includes paper, ink, printer wear & tear, computer maintenance, wages, heating, lighting etc. for 2 minutes) and 20 - 50p for a "jiffy bag" plus £1 postage for a small package. So our minimum charge of £2.50 is actually very reasonable. On a small order we could even make a loss! Most other companies charge more. Why do you charge VAT on postage? We are legally obliged to. See notes about VAT, above. Complain to HMRC, not us. Why does it cost so much to ship to Ireland/Scottish islands/Channel Isles? We are only a ferry ride away! Although Parcel Force offers low cost delivery to these places, the warehouses which ship our orders do not use this service. So, to get the order to you quickly and reliably, they use carrier services and these usually charge us a minimum of £21 for going "over water". If the package is light in weight then we can sometimes employ Royal Mail but anything over 2 kg is definitely going to be expensive. The cart cannot calculate the exact shipping charge for destinations outside mainland Great Britain. You are welcome to place a PROVISIONAL ORDER to determine the postal charge. To do this, choose payment by cheque instead of credit card. On the shopping cart CHECKOUT page you should type in the NOTES window the words "PROVISIONAL - PLEASE ADVISE EXACT SHIPPING COST". Sales will then email you the exact charge and, if you wish to place the order, you can go to THIS page and enter your credit card details or simply place a new order. Why is the "cart" trying to charge me £7.50 just to ship a lightweight aerial? This is the minimum charge for shipping items to you from a warehouse. We don't have room to stock larger items so we have to get them delivered direct to your door by whichever trade warehouse has them. The trade warehouses use carrier companies for delivery by hand and they charge us a minimum of £7.50 to £10 + VAT. For fragile items such as dishes and aerials, it's cheaper and quicker to do it this way than to get them packed in an expensive protective crate and sent by Royal Mail.
Weekend DeliverySaturday delivery is not an option except for small items sent by Royal Mail. Sunday delivery is not an option.* If your order is small (fits in a padded bag) then you can request Saturday delivery (before 1pm Friday) and we will use Royal Mail Special Delivery. But please note that Royal Mail do not guarantee Saturday delivery by this method so it may still turn up on Monday. (They merely guarantee a refund if it doesn't arrive on Saturday.) Orders received after 1 pm are unlikely to be processed for Saturday delivery. *Notwithstanding the above, we have known orders received after 1 pm, and delivered by carrier, which have arrived on a Saturday. However, this is entirely at the carrier's discretion and depends on local arrangements in your area. As tracking numbers are not available until the following working day, tracking numbers for an order received on Friday will not be available until the following Monday (or Tuesday if the Monday is a Public Holiday). |
