* * * ROYAL MAIL STRIKE ACTION UPDATE * * *
Not all our customers live in the UK so may not be fully aware of the situation. The Postal Workers Union has announced 48 hour industrial action commencing on 22nd October 2009, to be followed by similar action each week.
Please check eBay rules and advice as sellers are not responsible for delays caused by this industrial action. Our obligation is to ship within the advertised timescale using the shipping method you choose.
Please remember . . .
(1) we credit our customers with intelligence - everyone in the country must have now heard or read about the strike. There are tens of millions of items backlogged throughout the UK - it is irrelevant whether your local office is on strike or not - it's the huge volume of items caught in the national Royal Mail network which is causing delays. Choose the shipping option which best reflects the speed of delivery you require - rermembering that Royal Mail will not consider any item of mail lost for at least 15 working days after the date of expected delivery.
(2) check the date on the franking label when your order arrives as this date cannot be falsified. Remember that feedback asks you to comment on speed of despatch - so did we ship within our advertised timescale? If there was a delay in the item arriving, this should confirm the delay was Royal Mail's.
(3) we offer a 24hr-48hr Carrier shipping option on most UK mainland orders. It's great value for heavy orders but please also consider this option for urgent orders and to avoid the strike backlog.
We're honest and experienced eBay Powersellers - we do not rip people off but neither will be bullied into replacements or refunds which do not follow eBay and Royal Mail rules and timescales. All we ask is a little common sense and understanding, as everyone in the country is in the same boat. Thanks! :o)
Welcome to Words & Wishes . . . the home of cake-stuff.com and tartan-ribbon.com
We normally have over 2,500 items listed for sale and we work very hard to ensure our customers receive their orders quickly, in perfect condition and at unbeatable prices.
Rather than clutter each item page with too much information we've put it all here. We're honest people and experienced eBay sellers - we want you to have a great buying experience but also need you to be aware of the Conditions of Sale and eBay rules which cover our transaction.
We don't expect you to read this word-for-word but if there's anything you want to check, please scroll down through the bullet points.
When you place an order you are accepting these Conditions of Sale.
Shipping / delivery options
a range of delivery options is available so please choose the one that best suits your timescale . . . in other words please don't opt for 2nd class post because it's the cheapest and then ask us to "send urgently for a cake I'm making for this weekend". We ship by the method you choose - end of story. Email requests like "needed by such-and-such a date" have to be ignored unless you have paid for the appropriate urgent shipping option.
We advertise a 1 working day handling time on most items (some special order or customized items show longer handling times). This 1 day needed to physically print out and pack orders. Please remember to include it in your delivery calculations.
Please remember what Royal Mail quote about postal delivery times. The following is taken from www.royalmail.com
In addition we remind you of the above situation with delays caused by Royal Mail industrial action. We are obliged to ship your order within the advertised by the shipping method you choose - please think through potential delays caused by industrial action and the massive backlog of items in the Royal Mail system before ordering, using the cheapest (slowest) shipping option.
UK Customers:
We "post items on your behalf" . . . in other words, it's the same as you posting something to yourself so consider the level of speed and safety you require.
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1st class Recorded Delivery - Royal Mail say they "try to deliver most 1st class mail by 2nd or 3rd working day after posting (most within 1 working day)". Recorded Delivery does not make delivery any faster, but purely provides a signature upon delivery, making it a little safer than standard post - especially if you're not at home for the post arriving.
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Standard Parcels - for customers in Northern Ireland, on Scottish islands, the Isle of Man, Channel islands or with a BFPO address, we use Royal Mail Standard Parcels. Average delivery is 3-5 working days but it can be slow so allow at least 7 days.
Non - UK Customers:
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International Signed For is a Royal Mail service which is slightly faster than standard Air Mail and has the added protection of on-line tracking. This allows you to trace the parcel through www.royalmail.com.
Faster shipping charges:
Please note that our P&P charges for 1st class Recorded Delivery and Special Delivery include a small premium for "jumping the queue" and having your order dealt with ahead of other orders (we advertise a 1 working day handling time so, by rights, the order should simply join the queue).
As these urgent orders mean staff starting early, working through lunch, staying late and making special trips to the Post Office we hope the very small amount added into the P&P charge for this faster service is acceptable. If not, we'd rather you didn't order from us as we don't want marked down for postage when we've explained it openly in advance of you ordering. Thanks.
Shipping days:
APC Carriers collect hundreds of parcels from us around 2.30pm followed by Royal Mail at around 3.30pm on Mondays, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays. In addition, we take parcels to the local Post Office on Wednesday and Saturday mornings whenever possible.
APC Carrier orders (ie heavy orders) are not shipped on Saturdays, Sundays or on most Wednesdays.
Example: place your order at 11pm on a Thursday night and the order is printed out and treated as a "Friday order". If humanly possible, it will be packed for collection at 3.30pm but it could be the Monday before it is collected. This despatch time is still 1 working day - exactly as advertsed.
Combined P&P:
we are happy to offer combined P&P wherever possible. You must wait for our PayPal invoice before paying PayPal cannot calculate combined P&P automatically - these are normally sent by our eBay Management Software within 24 hours. Please note that if you decide to go ahead and pay before we've sent the invoice, you are accepting the P&P charge shown and that we cannot refund you later wth any perceived overpayment.
Communication:
We're a small, family-run company and we answer as many emails and phone calls as we physically can, no matter how long the hours this means . . . don't be too surprised if you receive an email reply at 1.30am!!!
Even so, we cannot answer every single enquiry - it's simply not possible. We do our best but don't get mad if we're not able to tell you how much it will cost to send a cake tin to Mongolia. Chances are the answer you're looking for can already be found here or in the item listing.
Our office can be contacted on 08456 589 100 (local rate call) or on +44 1555 890111 if you're outside the UK. You can also email us at wordsandwishes@aol.com but please don't reply in the eBay Message Service as a large proportion of messages are blocked as spam.
"Where's my order?":
The most commonly asked question on eBay. Firstly - check the timescales above and for the shipping service you chose. If you think the order is due the first thing to do is phone your local Royal Mail Delivery Office.
Royal Mail are pretty reliable (although they admit to losing millions of items every year) so it's not unheard of for a parcel to be delayed, get damaged or go missing once in a while. Please also remember this parcel will probably not fit through a letterbox, so if you're not at home the Postie should leave a card to advise you of an attempted delivery. Experience shows they sometimes "forget" so it's always a good idea to phone your local Royal Mail Delivery Office to check if a parcel is lying there for you. Please believe us . . . we send hundreds of parcels every week and this happens all the time. Over 90% of all reported non-deliveries turn up safe and sound at the local Delivery Office. Please note Delivery Office - not Sorting Office.
If they don't have it and the timescale suggests it should have arrived (or if your order was being shipped by courier) please don't hesitate to phone us.
Edible items:
BEST BEFORE DATE: as new stocks arrive every week the Best Before dates get longer and longer so please be assured the Best Before date won't normally be any sooner than 3-6 months from date of purchase. If a longer BBE date is essential, please contact us before buying.
SHADES / COLOURS: there's no real way of showing true shades of icing colourings, sugarpaste etc on eBay because because the colours in the photo may look totally different on someone else's PC monitor.
FOOD SAFETY: we are a specialist sugarcraft supplies company . . . we guarantee everything we sel isl brand new, sealed in original packaging where applicable and that everything is stored and handled in professional, hygienic conditions at all times. We would never send you an edible item which had been returned by another customer so, as a result, we cannot accept the return of ANY edible item (even if unopened) unless it is faulty or we sent the wrong item
Returns:
EDIBLE ITEMS: for the food safety / hygiene reasons outlined above, we cannot accept the return of any edible item - even if unopened. Edible items are exempt from eBay Returns Policy.
NON-EDIBLE ITEMS: we can accept the return of many non-edible items except those designed to come into contact with food, such as cakeboards. All returns must be arranged in advance by phone. Returns due to customer change of mind are handled under eBay Standard Returns Policy - ie we refund the item price less 20% to cover the eBay and PayPal fees incurred by the transaction and time spent handling and packing the order. P&P is not refundable.
Where the error is ours, we are always happy to replace the item and refund your postage costs.
Non-delivery:
Every once in a while good ol' Royal Mail lose an item. In fact they admit to losing over 16 million items of mail every year(!) so it's hardly unheard of. If your order simply does not show up and you've checked with the local Royal Mail Delivery Office as outlined above, we are happy to claim against Royal Mail on your behalf and organise either a replacement or refund as you prefer.
Please note that Royal Mail do not consider an item late or lost until 15 working days after the expected delivery date. They will not entertain a claim for non-delivery inside this timescale so we cannot replace or refund until this period has ended. Sorry, but them's the rules.
Contact us by phone - let us know the item hasn't arrived so that we can both try to trace it. If neither of us can trace it with Royal Mail we're happy to arrange a full refund for you and can help talk you through the "Item Not Received" process.
Feedback:
Our eBay management software is set to automatically return all feedback received. The reason for this is because when we receive positive feedback we know that the order has arrived safely and that the customer is happy. In a sense we can "tick of" that order by leaving feedback in return. If you don't leave us feedback, there is always a slight doubt over whether it arrived safely and/or if everything was OK.
DETAILED FEEDBACK: eBay's new feedback system asks you to leave detailed "5 star" feedback, known as Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs). It's optional, but we'd very much appreciate the opportunity to exchange 5 star feedback
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COMMUNICATION: most of this is automated, but did we send invoice OK? Did you get the email thanking you for your order and, later, advising when item was shipped? Did the delivery note summarise information and provide direct contact numbers and email for us?
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P&P CHARGES: this includes postage costs, all packaging and handling. Please be aware that the value on the franking label is NOT the postal price. Because we frank our own mail we get a discount from Royal Mail - that discount is meant to help cover the costs of leasing a franking machine - the actual postal price is always a bit higher. Some orders require little packaging - others require lots. Please score us fairly - thanks! :o)
The "Golden Rule":
eBay is a fantastic place and the overwhelming majority of all transactions go smoothly and result in delighted customers. But in the real world things will always go wrong every once in a while - when that happens all we can do is act honestly and professionally to minimise the impact of these rare problems. In every case the Golden Rule is communication . . . speak to us - pick up the phone - don't send one eBay message and then assume we're ignoring you when we don't receive it and, so, don't reply.
We're happy to help - whether you've made an error and ordered the wrong thing, whether Royal Mail have lost something or whether we've made a mistake. We're not out to apportion blame so don't expect to be treated as blamehounds either. It's all about fairness, honesty and old fashioned decency - treating others the way you want to be treated yourself.
tel. 08456 589 100 (local rate)
or +44 1555 890111 (from outside UK)
email wordsandwishes@aol.com | 
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