Postage and Delivery

Our Delivery Aims

We aim to ship confirmed orders (see below) within two working days. However, as at times we can get very busy, or be awaiting stock delivery, YOU ARE ADVISED TO ALLOW UP TO ONE WEEK FOR DELIVERY. Normally, an order received before 6pm on a Monday should be shipped no later than Wednesday, one received before 6pm on a Tuesday, shipped no later than Thursday, and so on. Note that orders received after 6pm (i.e. after the close of the working day) will be classed as having been received the following day. Any order received after 6pm on a Friday and over the weekend will be classed as having been received on the following Monday. Only confirmed orders (i.e. those for which receipt of payment has been confirmed) are put onto our Sales Order Processing System.

Order Prioritisation during Busy Periods - Orders are generally dealt with in the same sequence in which they were put onto the system and despatched within a two working day window. However, during busy periods (e.g. during the week prior to major outdoors events, competitions and bank holidays) average despatch times may stretch to over two working days and orders on the system may therefore be prioritised according to the following:

(i) Orders subject to Enhanced Shipping paid for by the customer will be shipped before all other orders;
(ii) Orders subject to Standard Shipping paid for by the customer (i.e. with a value under our free shipping value) will be shipped next;
(iii) Orders subject to Free Shipping, and for which no Additional or Enhanced Shipping payment has been made by the customer, will be shipped last and in order.

Confirmed Order - A confirmed order is one for which the receipt of cleared funds by Mountain Trails for your purchase has been confirmed. This is subject to:

(a) receipt of a confirmation (see note below) from our online payment facility, PayPal, in cases where you choose to pay online via credit card, debit card or PayPal account;
(b) receipt of a confirmatory email (see note below) from you where you choose to pay via bank transfer - we will then check that payment has indeed been made and will then start to process your order;
(c) in the case where payment has been made by cheque, confirmation that, once paid in, those funds have cleared. We will endeavour to pay any cheque received from you into the bank by the end of the next working day. We then allow four working days for your cheque to clear before confirming that funds have been made available. We will then start to process your order;
(d) in the case where payment has been made by postal order, remittance of that postal order. We will endeavour to remit any postal order on the day of receipt. We will then start to process your order on the next working day.

NOTE: we can only check emails between our hours of business - Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Where confirmation is received outside these times, we will start to process your order on the next working day.

Shipping

Your order will be shipped via one of our preferred services - Royal Mail, DPD Local or Interlink Express. The exact service used will depend upon the weight and volume of your shipment, according to the schedule below:

(a) shipments up to 1kg - where shipping has been paid for by the customer, these will be shipped by Royal Mail's First Class letter, large letter or small parcel service, or their Tracked 24 service, depending on weight and volume. If the order concerned is covered by our Free Shipping service, Royal Mail's Second Class letter, large letter or small parcel service, or their Tracked 48 service, will be used;
(b) shipments between 1kg and 2kg - where shipping has been paid for by the customer, these will be shipped by Royal Mail's First Class small parcel service, or their Tracked 24 service. If the order concerned is covered by our Free Shipping service, Royal Mail's Second Class small parcel service, or their Tracked 48 service, will be used;
(c) shipments between 2kg and 10kg - these will be shipped via Royal Mail's Tracked 48 service or DPD Local, depending on their volumetric size .
(d) shipments greater than 10kg - these will be shipped via DPD Local or via Interlink Express depending on weight and volume.

IMPORTANT: If it is essential that you get your order within 48 hours or less, or have any specific shipping requirements other than what we offer, free of charge or otherwise, please contact us to enquire about our Enhanced Shipping Service (additional charges and cut-off times apply).

Postage and Packing Charges

We aim to keep postage and packing charges as low as possible whilst providing a suitably fast delivery service. We therefore automatically calculate the cost of shipping based on both weight and volume and using the latest postage cost figures from the Royal Mail, DPD Local and Interlink Express.

Where the cost of the order is over £25.00 your shipment may need to be signed for on delivery. In such cases, please ensure that there will be someone available to sign in case a signature is required.

Where delivery is being expedited, or an alternate courier is being used, at request of the customer, your shipment will need to be signed for on delivery irrespective of value with any cost associated with proof of delivery being borne by the customer. Again, in such cases, please ensure that there will be someone available to sign.

NOTE: Whereas shipments via Royal Mail can often be picked up from a local Delivery Office should a recipient not be in to sign, such facilities are not available with other couriers and, after three attempts at delivery, the courier will return your order to Mountain Trails. In such cases we can only reship the order on receipt of the full cost of said reshipment.