Delivery Information

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How much does delivery cost?

We can deliver anywhere in the UK with the exception of the Channel Islands, which for the purposes of shipping are considered International, and currently beyond our reach.

Shipping costs do vary according to where in the UK you live, as Zonal Surcharges are applied to deliveries in more remote parts of the UK. We do absorb part of the cost of these charges and have created the following deliery fee tariff.

Zone 1 = £5.00 (£6.00 for chilled)
UK Mainland and Ilse of Wight, including Wales and most of Scotland.

Zone 2 = £11.00 (£12.00 for chilled)
Scottish Highlands and Islands. This zone covers the following postcodes:
IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, PH49-50, ZE.

Zone 3 = £12.95 (£13.95 for chilled)
Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Scilly Islands. This zone covers the following postcodes:
BT, IM, TR21-25.

How much can you send?

We have restricted our maximum parcel weight to 26 kilos. This is because Parcel Force will not carry parcels over 30kg and we have to make an allowance for packing materials (boxes, ice packs, biofoam, etc.). You may order larger amounts, but the shop will charge you for an additional parcel - which will be necessary to ensure goods are not damaged in transit.

How long will delivery take?

This will depend somewhat on what you order and where you live:

Delivery from VeggieStuff.com will typically be 2-3 working days from when you placed your order. By Law we have 28 days - we try to be more efficient than that!
Saturday and Sunday deliveries are not available - delivery companies levy hefty surcharges for Saturday deliveries and for that reason we do not have any on our delivery contracts.
However, when you select a product that requires chilling (as indicated by the blue Ice symbol ) your parcel will be treated differently:
1. You will be charged an extra £1 for upgrading your parcel to a faster service and for additional packaging requirements, including chilled gel packs.
2. Parcels with chilled items will be sent on a next working day service, but to avoid the products being left out of a refigerator for too long they will only be sent on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This for for a simple reason - if you order chilled items on a Friday and we dispatch it that day - you will not get it until 3 days later AT THE EARLIEST... This obviously undesireable as the effect could be to spoil those products that should be chilled. In our experience meat free products are much more durable and resistant to spoilage than any guidelines on the packaging may suggest, but we are aiming to get the food to you in the best condition possible.

Chilled packaging

We pack items that require chilling with special chilled pads that can keep products chilled at les than 5 degrees for over 30 hours.

Please also note that all orders are subject to acceptance of our Terms and Conditions, which state that chilled items are being ordered for immediate consumption. By which we mean that chilled items that are ordered should be consumed with several days of arriving. While we have never found these products to have problems with either short shelf lives or spoiling in transit, we make no guarantees that the food will be suitable for longer periods of storage before consumption.

Additional Notes on Chilled Items

We ran VeggieStuff previously from 2004-2005 and a few people raised concerns that we were selling Sheese as an ambient product and sending it through the post. They reasoned that it was a 'cheese like' product and the label said keep chilled so it must be risky in some way. Naturally, we do not take risks with people's health so we had already made enquiries with the manufacturers before we sold it regarding its ambient stability.

Many vegetarian products, especially those that imitate meat and dairy products carry information that recommends that the be treated as meat and dairy products... this also helps customers to find them, as you would expect to find a dairy free 'cheese' in a chilled cabinet with other cheeses... However, these products are not the same and the storage advice given is in our experience very conservative. In their packaging, protected from airbourne bacteria, and the effects of the air (which can make things discolour and dry out) many products cope very well outside of the fridge.

The proof of the pudding for any doubting Thomases out there is the fact that we had some Sheese from the remaining stock of the first incarnation of VeggieStuff (from 2004-2005) that 'expired' in February 2006 - it was never stored in a fridge before that date, and since then was stored in a garage, a caravan (at the height of summer) and more recently upstairs at Vegeco HQ. It had no signs at all of spoilage - in fact Damian, one of the company directors had been eating it for some time and said that the flavour had matured!! However, this rare 'vintage cheese alternative' will not be available to the public - its now all reserved for Damian.

Guidelines by manufacturers:
In these increasingly litigious times manufacturers are increasing conservative about estimates of their product durability. Generally, advice about how to store such items are about how to ensure that the items achieves its full shelf life. So recommendations to keep a product that has a three month shelf life at 2-5 degrees will ensure that the product remains in its best condition before consumption up to that date. However it cannot be assumed that after that date the food automatically becomes dangerous, nor that if they they are dangerous if consumed after being stored in different conditions for a short while. Many people will buy frozen and chilled products from supermarkets and have them out of these optimium conditions for what can be hours before getting home and chilling them again... this rarely leads to problems. We just have to be sensible about avoiding unnecessary risks.

Special Terms and Conditions for Chilled Items

Orders placed over the internet have the protection of the 'Distance Selling Regulations', which are intended to ensure that you are not ripped off by unscrupulous online traders. Generally this means you will have the right to return goods that are faulty or sent in error, etc. However, there are some parts of our service which are exempt from these regulations, in particular regarding chilled products, which are not returnable by their nature. which is explained below:

In our Terms and Conditions you must accept the following reasonable points:
1. You have invited us to send chilled goods to you at your request, in the knowledge of the possibility that the goods may be delayed in transit and/or may travel in conditions where they are not chilled as recommended by the manufacturer.

2. You accept that packaging can keep the goods chilled during the delivery period.

3. You accpet that the products are safe for periods of time even when not chilled below 5 degrees.

4. You accept that we endeavor to send parcels with chilled items as fast as possible, but that you have a responsibility to provide an accurate address for delivery and to be available, or to arrange to have someone available to take the parcel in for you and place chilled items in a refrigerator. You indemnify us against any liability for the products in cases where they cannot be delivered by errors or omissions in the idelivery information you provide to us or if a driver is unable to leave the parcel at the address you have provided.

5. You agree that you have a responsibility to inspect your products for signs that they may be unfit for consumption.

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