We will always endeavour to get your purchases to you as quickly and easily as possible. It is important that you understand our methods of delivery and the options that are available to you. Please remember to check your order thoroughly on arrival and any obvious signs of damage to the packaging should be reported to the driver when signing for the item and in serious cases you may be entitled to refuse delivery - See refusing a delivery
We will normally process and dispatch your order within two working days of order placement, subject to stock availability. Actual delivery times after dispatch will depend on the carrier used and delivery address as well as any special delivery options you select. Typically : Mainland UK deliveries take 1-2 working days. Highlands & Islands of Scotland, Northern Island, Channel Islands and Isle of Man may take one or two days longer. International order delivery times vary upon destination, typically: EU countries will be 3-5 working days. Other destinations will take longer. International delivery options may be discussed at the time of order placement.
We will use a number of different methods to get your order to you but the majority of items will travel via UK mail, one of the largest and most reliable courier companies in the country. We entrust them with thousands of pounds worth of deliveries every day, and so we are confident they will get your goods to you without fuss or delay.
UK mail are unique in that they request a contact number for each customer. This is to help the driver in case they run into difficulty finding your location or getting a response from your address once they arrive. This is not a guarantee but we feel it gives them an edge over other couriers. UK mail should shortly be introducing a service which sends you a text message to alert you of the day they will be delivering your goods.
In most cases your order will be delivered on Mondays to Fridays and between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. For an additional charge you may wish to narrow down the delivery time to am or pm or even before 10.30am
Some larger items such as aquariums will be sent via a door to door pallet service. Please be aware that this is a curb side delivery service only, the driver will not bring the item into your home that is your responsibility. You should check the delivery thoroughly and make sure when you sign for delivery you comment either checked or unchecked. It may take a couple of extra minutes but the driver should be happy to wait whilst you check inside the packaging to make sure there are no signs of damage.
Due to the amount of packaging required a palletized delivery may take 3-4 days to arrange but would then be delivered in 1 to 2 working days. With these larger items you can contact us to arrange a suitable delivery day as long as it meets the above criteria
All orders placed at shirley aquatics.co.uk are subject to additional charges for handling, packing and delivery. These are calculated and displayed during the ordering process. We reserve the right to alter these displayed charges after order completion in the event of an incorrect country or area selection. All charges are based on the weight of the goods and the final destination. The easiest way to find out what these charges will be is to go through the checkout procedure and you will be shown the final carriage charges for your destination prior to having to enter any payment details.
The maximum weight for an item to be despatched under the standard delivery conditions is 20kg if the item you have ordered is heavier than this there may be a surcharge which is based on a price per kg over the allotted 20kg. Alternatively the order may be split into two parcel deliveries should we feel the items are too heavy to go through the system as one package.
- Standard 3-5 day service on UK mainland orders excluding highlands of Scotland up to a maximum weight of 20kg and under an order value of £60 (before carriage) £5.99
- Standard 3-5 day discounted service only available on orders over £60 to UK mainland excluding highlands of Scotland and with a maximum weight of 20kg no charge.
- Standard 3-5 day delivery to Highlands of Scotland and northern Ireland. With a maximum weight of 20kg £14.99
- Standard 3-5 day delivery for Scottish Islands, channel Islands and Eire With a maximum delivery weight of 20kg £15.99
The following charges are applicable on top of any standard delivery charge already applied to the order
- 24 hour delivery You may require your order in a hurry or the order you have placed may contain goods that must be delivered quickly (such as frozen foods) The next day delivery supplement can be added to your order at a cost of £2.00. The courier will not specify am or pm and can deliver any time up to 5pm
- Next working day specifying am or pm If you would like your delivery to turn up in either the morning or afternoon, we can arrange that. The additional charge would be £4.25
- Next working day by 10.30am If you've got a busy day but need your goods quickly we can get them to you by 10.30 in the morning for an additional £10.70
- Saturday delivery. Any order can be delivered to you on a Saturday for a supplementary fee of £10.70 (please note that none of the above options are currently available on palletized deliveries, the charge for such a delivery will be calculated at the time of placing the order)
Specific calculations are used to work out overseas deliveries. These may not appear on your initial order but we reserve the right to amend delivery charges for overseas items prior to despatch. These will be done manually by our team and you will be informed of the charges prior to delivery. At this time you may proceed with the order and payment will be taken or cancel the order.
As with all couriers UK mail require a signature to prove to us that they have delivered the item. You should make sure that you are available to accept the delivery and sign for it.
You also have the option of specifying a delivery address other than your home address (not available for palletized service)
UK mail are a very flexible company and they have given us as many options as they can to ensure their part of the contract is completed and you get your goods. By emailing us, quoting your order reference number you can instruct the courier to leave the parcel with a neighbour or in a secret location. If you choose to do this please be as detailed as possible and be aware that the safety of that parcel once delivered is your responsibility we cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to your order once the item has been delivered. Should you choose a neighbour to accept the delivery on your behalf make sure you ask them to have a good look at the packaging and report any damage to the driver.
Due to extra charges levied upon us by the carriers, we regret that once dispatched, we are unable to alter the delivery address without the payment of an additional carriage surcharge prior to such alteration. In the event that any parcel is undeliverable due to no-one being available at the delivery address, and that parcel is returned to us, we reserve the right to deduct the original carriage charge from any refund, or to charge additional carriage if we have to resend the same parcel to either the original address or to a new address.
The success of every delivery is based on the information you provide us. Please check the information you give is accurate. We cannot be held responsible for the costs involved should an incorrect address be given and the couriers are either unable to deliver or go to the wrong address. In this event you would be charged for a subsequent delivery to your address. Should you provide incorrect details and the order is lost then you would be responsible for the full cost of the item and its delivery.
We will send you emails confirming the current status of your order but if you haven't received it yet and you want to know were it is you first need to check your order status by following these steps:
- Click on the my account tab
- Log in to your account using your user name and password
- The status of each of your orders will be displayed on the right
- You may click on each order to get full order details
If you can't find the order you are looking for it may be that you didn't complete the order, you can always contact us if you are having difficulties.
The progress of your order will fall into one of the following three categories:
Waiting to be despatched
This means your order hasn't yet entered the dispatch process. It may be that we are waiting for items to arrive into stock or just that the order is following its natural route through the despatch process. If there are problems with your order you will be notified at each step of the way. Everything will be sent to you when the entire order is ready, unless you opt to have items sent to you as they become available (at extra postage cost).
Being despatched soon
This means your order has entered the dispatch process. It will leave our site as soon as it is ready, usually within the next 24 hours. You cannot change or cancel an order once it has entered the dispatch process.
Note: we do not debit any money from your account until just before the order is dispatched.
Recently despatched
This means your order left us on the date specified.
Despite our efforts, there can sometimes be unforeseen delivery delays.
Please wait three days after the estimated delivery date before contacting us about a missing order. You can find your estimated delivery date in Your Account
You will receive a courier consignment number with your order and you can check on the progress of your order by visiting www.ukmail.biz
These particular items will only be despatched from Monday to Thursday unless a Saturday delivery option is specified. We may reserve the right to charge for either a am delivery or before 10.30am depending on the delicate nature of the animal in question. Please make sure you are available to accept delivery of such items as we will package them to the best of our abilities but would not want them remaining in transit for any longer than is necessary.
Please note that an order will only be despatched the same day if the order and payment is received by 2pm that day. If an Order is received later it will be put out for delivery the following day as long all of the items are in stock. We reserve the right to postpone the despatch of items for orders received on a Friday until Monday unless a Saturday delivery is requested.
To offer unrivalled levels of customer service and knowledge covering every aspect of the aquarium, pond and reptile hobbies.
We aim to provide extensive product availability and help you through each aspect of your new or existing hobby.
With decades of experience in aquatic and reptile keeping our pledge is to provide you with a professional and thorough service tailored to your needs.
