• UK Shipments (exc. N. Ireland, Highlands & Islands, etc)
• UK Shipments to N. Ireland, Highlands & Islands, etc
• International Orders Outside the UK
• International Orders to EU Countries
• Delivery Tracking
• Insurance
• Other Destinations and Services
  

This page contains a lot of detail on our shipping policy, both for UK and for export shipments. Our general policy is to ship at our cost price using fully tracked services with reputable carriers.

Customers requesting parcels to be left without signing, or with a neighbour etc, or via Royal Mail Untracked do so at their own risk. Courier drivers are usually very reluctant to leave a parcel without a signature as they can be personally liable if anything goes missing. Delivering to a work address, a parent or partner, a specific neighbour, are all much preferred/recommended if you will not be available to sign for the parcel at your normal address.

This page will hopefully answer any further questions, but a general recommendation is that you contact us if delivery timing, stock availability or insurance are of particular importance for you.

UK Shipments (exc. N. Ireland, Highlands & Islands, etc)

We are generally now using DPD for shipments within the majority of the UK. The shopping cart will show the shipping cost and alternative shipping options (where available) before you are prompted for payment details.

Orders valued over £250 are shipped free of charge within the UK, main zone only, using the DPD Next Working Day service. You have the option of paying extra for the before noon and other timed services, and we can also offer Saturday options also at extra cost, but we would advise that you e-mail us to ensure your desired items are in stock and that you are within the time window for same-day despatch, if you really require delivery the following day.

DPD charges within the UK are normally £8.00 inc VAT (at 20%) for the normal Express Courier service up to 10kg weight and increasing according to their scale with increasing weights. Shipping within the UK is free of charge above £250 order value. We can also offer before noon and Saturday delivery options at higher prices. All shipping costs are calculated according to the order weight and destination and displayed within the shopping cart during checkout.

Note that we often have a long list of orders, particularly on Mondays, or your order may include an item that is not in stock, either of which would result in you not receiving your order the next working day (but we will still despatch the order on the requested shipping service when all items are available, so it should arrive in the given time slot on a subsequent day). Order processing also stops before lunchtime on Fridays.

Note that we always try to keep all listed items available from stock but this is not guaranteed and we will not assure that we will contact you if your order may be delayed (we do try to make contact, but this is not always possible during busy periods or if you don't reply to your e-mail or answer your phone quickly enough!). For example, we have such a wide range of chain gauges and lengths, we may not have every length immediately available with a sleeve already fitted so there may be a delay in some circumstances.

Please contact us if delivery timing is important.

All delivery timings refer to working days: A next day shipment despatched on a Friday will normally be delivered the following Monday; a 48-hour shipment despatched on Thursday will normally be delivered the following Monday. These are not guaranteed delivery times and shipment to the Scottish highlands and islands and to Northern Ireland, for instance, will often take 1-2 days extra.

We are unable to despatch anything over the weekend. Orders placed on Saturday or up to 6pm on Sunday will often be despatched on the following Monday for delivery on Tuesday (UK Zone 1), but stock availability and order volume can cause delays against this pattern.

We can usually ship to your work address or to a partner's address, to a neighbour, etc. We reserve the right to refuse an order with an address that does not match the card billing address, especially when card details/3D-Secure checks are incomplete or when PayPal is used for payment. This is very rarely an issue and we will contact you if it is causing a problem, but certain transactions have been found to be fraudulent in the past. Being cautious protects us and it protects you from someone else trying to use your details. If you wish to use a different shipping address, please pay via Stripe (Credit/Debit Card) and be sure to give your billing address accurately, and please go through the 3D-Secure process (i.e. Verified-by-Visa or MasterCard SecureCode). We want to see billing address and post code matches and 'Cardholder Authenticated' when we process the transaction. Again, feel free to contact us if you wish.

MyDPD App: We strongly recommend that you monitor and adjust the shipment details when required via the MyDPD app as this works very well, putting you in direct contact with the carrier. It is ideal if you are going to be out and need to give instructions to deliver to an alternative address or to delay to a different day. We are therefore not involved in these alterations and that is better for all concerned!

Leave in a Safe Place/No Signature Required Upon Request: UK deliveries can be left in your nominated safe place, without the driver having to get a signature. This is fully administered by you through the MyDPD app, We recommend delivery to a work address or neighbour where a signature can be obtained but if these are all not practical, you can nominate a safe place through the app. Beware that this is at your own risk, so if you request that the driver leaves a parcel in your porch and it's not there when you get home, there is no comeback. Hence, please only request this when you really are confident this is the only realistic option and you are willing to take responsibility. Note that this may not be available outside the UK.

We will not normally take any money from your card or PayPal account until an order is ready for despatch. Where an item is out of stock and you have been informed of the expected shipment date, or if it is a custom order (e.g. a keyed-alike lock or a special length chain), we reserve the right to charge your card in advance of items being ready for shipment.

You can always cancel a normal order for stock items at any time before they are booked for shipment. Cancellation due to a delay in stock availability is normally eligible for a 100% refund, but only if you contact us before any custom work has begun and in any case before the goods are despatched.

UK Shipments to N. Ireland, Highlands & Islands, etc

We use DPD for shipping to more distant parts of the UK and usually use the 48-hour service. Note that selecting the Express Courier service in our shopping cart will be processed as a 48-hour shipment due to logistics and costs for the more remote destinations, and that 48-hour period refers to working days and only begins when the order is ready for despatch. Please contact us for more details or for alternative services, if required.

Note that we have a stockist in Strabane, N. Ireland, that can serve all of N. Ireland and the Republic. Please see our Stockists page for contact information.

International Orders outside the UK

Shipping to countries outside the UK is available again. There are specific terms associated with these export shipments. Please see below, including specific details concerning shipments into the EU.

International shipments are normally sent via Parcelforce using the Euro Economy or Global Priority services.

VAT will be deducted from the product prices by the shopping cart when you select a non-UK country during checkout. UK VAT is 20%, so the price charged for the products will be decreased during the checkout process. Shipping outside the UK is charged at our cost price, including for orders above £250. The shopping cart will show an estimated shipping cost before you are prompted for payment details. Shipping costs for destinations outside the UK are shown without VAT.

*IMPORTANT* Local Import duty and Import VAT: Although customers outside the UK are entitled to the UK VAT-exclusive price from us, you should expect to pay all local import duty and import VAT as charged by your own country's customs authority. After Brexit, the UK now has a Free Trade Agreement with many EU countries, which means that products manufactured in the UK can be imported into those EU countries without import duty (your import VAT will still be payable). However, importing into EU countries will typically attract 3% import duty for items such as our RoundLocks, Torc Ground Anchors & DIB D-Locks, as they are all made for us in Taiwan.

There is sometimes a tax-free threshold before customs charges apply (please check your local country's authorities to be sure). You are liable for all customs charges - both VAT and Import Duty - and they are usually collected by the carrier prior to, or upon, delivery.

If you have your own EU VAT or EORI number, please enter that in the Additional Information field during the shpping cart checkout.

International Orders to EU Countries

EU shipments are a little complex due to recent rule changes associated with Brexit. We need to know if acustomer is a private person or a business. Shipments are then classed as B2C, for Business to Consumer (private person), or B2B, or Business to Business. A business customer will need to provide us with their Economic Operators Registration and Identification ( EORI) or VAT number.

Personal customers may need to provide a VAT number or another personal identification number or PID such as their taxation reference. France, Norway and Spain in particular require these PIDs to be specified or a shipment may be refused entry by the local country's Customs authorities. A PID may be helpful in other countries to simplify import processing.

For example, Italy uses a “Codice Fiscale” reference number. If this PID, VAT or EORI number is needed, it can be entered in the Additional Info box when going through the shopping cart checkout. If one of these reference numbers is required but not provided, then the shipment may be delayed, or the order cancelled completely.

We are not currently able to use the Import One-Stop-Shop or IOSS procedure for paying duty on behalf of European customers. This is due to the amount of bureaucracy associated with managing it for our typical order values, sadly.

We prefer to ship where the destination country’s import duty, VAT or other taxes and any import processing charges are to be paid by the customer during importation. This is known as “DAP”, “Delivered at Place”, or "DDU", “Delivered Duty Unpaid”. There are some limitations concerning which countries and which couriers can accept and process these DAP/DDU shipments.

Delivery Tracking

You should receive an e-mail and/or SMS text giving shipment details when your order is being despatched. This is only if you provide an e-mail address and/or mobile number when you place your order. It is strongly recommended that you provide either, or preferably both of these.

DPD shipments can be tracked through the MyDPD app or via http://www.dpd.co.uk and Track Your Parcel, entering the Reference Number provided in the text or e-mail notification from DPD when your shipment was despatched.

Parcelforce shipments can be tracked using the reference number at http://www.parcelforce.com - this includes shipments sent via Parcelforce to the GLS/EMS/EPG network.

Insurance

As mentioned above, we often ship without full insurance cover as we have found that unnecessary. Note that most shipping services include £50-£150 of insurance cover, only. Royal Mail post has no insurance whatsoever. Shipping by post is at your risk. Sorry, we are not able to offer signed-for services through Royal Mail. Please contact us if you require more details.

Areas or Services Not Listed

Please contact us if you require delivery to a country or zone that is not offered in our shopping cart or if you require special arrangements (e.g. a pallet-load shipment, or international expedited delivery). We are happy to quote for other requirements and are happy to supply bulk quantities for resellers. We always endeavour to provide an excellent service.