Shipping Info
How much will my postage cost?
When planning a purchase, it's always helpful to know the total cart cost so to help make finding that info as easy as possible, I've added a quick shipping calculator at the shopping cart stage. This saves you having to enter all of your address details through the checkout stage, and you can simply select your destination country and postal/ZIP code, and you'll be presented with the range of shipping options available for the value and weight of the goods in your cart.
I'm only human though, and sometimes there can be weird weight/size conflicts making some postage prices higher than what they would be in actuality. If you see something that appears like it's too expensive for the actual postage prices/service used, then do please feel free to drop me a message and I will look into it, double check the actual prices and handle the order manually for me. If you have any specific shipping requirements though, please feel free to drop me an e-mail and we can see what can be done! james@homeoftone.co.uk.
Local collection
If you're local to my office and wish to save on shipping and collect the order from me, that's no problem at all! Select 'Pick Up' at the checkout process, and once the order is place, I will pick/prepare the order and let you know when it is ready. We then just need to speak to organise a convenient time as my office is appointment only. I am happy to be flexible in collection times to best suit yourself though so do please just drop me a message to organise this!
Important note for international customers -
International customers will also need to note that their country will process your import through customs meaning you may be charged additional import duty, VAT and handling charges. These charges aren't of my doing, and won't be covered by James' Home of Tone. These are your responsibility as the importer of the goods to your country. For more information on this, please see the dedicated page HERE
How quickly do you dispatch your in stock orders, and do you have a cut off time?
As it's a one man band here, to help manage everything that running and managing a business entails on your own, I only ship three times a week. I continually process orders, but I dispatch in stock items on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, with both Royal Mail & DPD.
This applies to in stock items only, please see below for special order items. If an item happens to not be in stock that said it was at the time of checkout, I will get in touch ASAP.
For a Monday, Wednesday & Friday, to be able to dispatch those in stock items on that specific day, I have an order cut off time of 12:00GMT.
For any other day of the week, there is no order cut-off time, as I usually dispatch next working/dispatch day but I will always endeavor to fulfill orders as quickly as I can and if you have specific requirements for a delivery date please do let me know and hopefully I can help.
I really appreciate your support and patience, it means a great deal and shifting to three times a week shipping has made a massive improvement to productivity in general which in turns improves my overall service so thank you for your understanding.
My item is special order/out of stock, when should I expect it to arrive?
There are a range of items we offer that are special order, perhaps a custom spec Jennings Guitar for example!, so with some items being special order or not in stock, we will keep you updated with delivery estimates through every step of the order.
As a rule, most conventional items (not custom build guitars for example) we list are in stock at our distribution warehouses so aim to have your order processed and shipped within 4-5 days. For anything hand made to order, or back ordered, this is dealt with order by order and you'll be kept up to date throughout the process as well as each product description stating stock levels and/or ordering times. From an initial e-mail acknowledging the ordered item to updates along the way where possible.
We know what it's like to be waiting by your letterbox for your mail order items! So we always aim to dispatch as quickly as we can for you :)
Which shipping services do you offer?
It's really important to me to support fellow local business where I can, and my local post office, 5 minutes walk from my office in Wollaston, doesn't get more local than that. The good people there are at the very top of that list of businesses I will always try to support. Everyday they work hard at ensuring my parcels are processed quickly, efficiently and of course correctly making sure the first step of getting the parcel to you is done right. It's my responsibility to ensure the parcel reaches your doorstep, and I personally trust my post office to do that on my behalf, along with the other choice selection of couriers. All orders are shipped with the correct level of liability cover.
Royal Mail
For lower value orders & low weight (Sub 2kg) items, we offer Royal Mail postage options. The services we offer are 1st Class standard, Tracked 48, Tracked 24 & Special Delivery depending on the value and total weight/size of the goods in your cart.
Courier
After trying a few courier options over the years, I have now decided to settle with what I feel will offer my customers the best service, DPD. They offer a 1 hour delivery window meaning you don't have to wait in all day not knowing when the driver will arrive, the option to change delivery dates for a more convenient day, or to have the parcel delivered to one of their many local pick-up points too. This can all be done via your DPD tracking once the parcel is dispatched from myself.
Courier deliveries offer the most convenient delivery method, and I highly recommend selecting this at the checkout.
Courier services in our modern age offer some of the most convenient ways to receive your parcels and online orders, DPD in particular! Delivery notifications allowing you to plan your delivery to suit you has made this ideal. We're out at work etc and not always in to receive parcels, that's understandable. So you can choose to have your parcel delivered to one of your local parcel pickup-points, very often most people have one of these located walking distances from your house. Unsure? Check out DPD's website and see if there is a local pickup point to you. You can change delivery dates to one that is more convenient, provide authorisation to leave your parcel in a designated 'safe place' upon delivery, or perhaps to leave with an authorised neighbor. Courier deliveries offer the most convenient delivery method, and I highly recommend selecting this at the checkout.
Internationally, we post smaller (sub 2kg), lower value orders with Royal Mail International Tracked, and International Tracked & Signed services depending on value and weight of your order. If you would prefer a courier option, please get in touch and I will obtain an accurate International courier quote for you.
Shipping rates are calculated by value of goods in your cart (determining the level of insurance cover required) total weight or volumetric shipping weight, whichever is greater, and overall size of the goods. Sometimes it may miss-calculate items so if you feel the shipping price seems off the mark, it may well just be a simple error so do please feel free to drop me an e-mail and I will do a shipping quote manually for the goods.
Customer Collection
Local to me? Well I also offer the chance to collect your order from me here at the Home of Tone at a convenient time. If this is something you'd like to do, drop me a message and I'll be happy to help. Look forward to meeting!
The Post-Brexit EU Trade deal
On Christmas Eve 2020, the UK & EU finally reached an agreement on post-brexit trade, but to be honest it's not really business as usual I'm afraid and there will be some differences on exports for me now. I have written an in depth article on my website which is the best place to read up on these changes and what it will entail if you are in the EU and wish to place an order with myself. Click HERE for the article.
