Our COVID-19 Statement

Posted by Taz Taz on March 16, 2020

We're Still Open!

With the global coronavirus (COVID-19) situation developing quickly, the B&C team believe it’s important to be transparent about how Bow & Crossbones is responding to the outbreak. We'll be updating this post as necessary.

06/08: Orders placed after 8pm BST 6th August 2020, will be processed from 17th August 2020.

03/08: Royal Mail has provided updates to International Deliveries, particularly Canada. For further info, please click -> HERE <-

08/04: We're taking a brief holiday. All orders placed after 8pm Thursday 9th April (bst) will be held until we resume shipping on Monday 27th April. (For more information head to: https://bowandcrossbones.com/pages/we-are-having-a-break

26/03: The UK Government have issued further guidance for businesses in response to the current COVID-19 outbreak and UK-wide lockdown. Online retail businesses are encouraged to remain open where possible.

01/10: We've introduced a new shipping process for International Orders, please see: https://bowandcrossbones.com/pages/delivery-returns for more details!

04/11: After the slow & partial easing of restrictions in the last few months - the UK government has announced another UK-wide lockdown starting from midnight 05/10. Thankfully - our order/shipping process will not to be impacted by this. We continue operate a socially-distanced & partially remote-working office. Our shipping is done using a non face-to-face collections process. So as long as the post is running, we'll be shipping!

18/12: We're taking our Winter Break. The office is closed for a little festive rest! We're still accepting orders but these won't be processed until our return from January 4th 2021.

22/12: Covid Variant, Brexit and Tier 4 info. We are monitoring the news - This is a rapidly evolving situation at the moment. As soon as we know how current developments will affect our shipping out when we re-open, we will be posting updates.

Brexit : We have been notified that prices will increase in the New Year. We will be absorbing this cost until Feb 2021. After this, we may need to reassess our shipping rates, but we will make sure any changes are made clear to all customers. With regard to Brexit - by law from Jan 1st 2021 we will have to apply customs labels to all non-UK packages. Unfortunately, we don't know yet how this will affect import/customs charges for individual countries. We are still awaiting news from the UK Government on this. So until they announce more information, we can't say more on this. Please be aware you will be Liable for Customs payments, we are unsure of what the min or max threshold will be at present. We will update as soon as we get further info.

05/01/2021

Everything is still shipping as normal.

16/01/2021

Australia Post has a great explanation of the current challenges faced by the Global Postal Services. Please head to: https://auspost.com.au/service-updates/why-covid-19-may-cause-delivery-delays to read for yourself.

28/01/2021

Brexit update:

Since 1st Jan 2021 we legally have to apply customs labels to each order to the EU, Please expect your local postal service to Charge duties/taxes charges to your orders. We know that the bulk of your charges will be the handling fee. We have reports of B-post ( Belgium) charging around 23Euros to just process the customs charge alone. To find out your specific charges for your country, please reach out to your local postal service to find out what they will charge for your delivery.

If you Purchase sale items please note that we will declare the value of what you have paid for the items you have purchased. We will not charge the value of the original price, only the SALE value you have paid.

Again as we are not VAT Registered, we do not charge VAT. This means we are not able to remove VAT ( zero rate) purchases like VAT registered companies can.

Employees

Bow & Crossbones is a home-based business. All company-related trips and events are cancelled or postponed until further notice. We believe that limiting travel is our safest and best option for reducing the risks of infection. We follow strict social-distancing practices for staff members who travel to the office (to process orders, stock take, day-to-day operations etc). Our remote working staff continue to work-from-home and owner Cam continues to run the business.

Continuity

Bow & Crossbones keeps a close eye on any supply or delivery issues that could affect our customers. Whenever customer-impacting situations occur, Bow & Crossbones’s goal is to quickly isolate and address the issue. We’re following the advice given by Public Health England (PHE). We've used a Royal Mail Collection Service for our orders, for quite some time. Using this method your parcels can be collected & scanned into the postal service with zero person-to-person contact. We believe it's important to abide by the Social Distancing advice & do all we can to comply.

UK Deliveries

From Royal Mail: “Public Health England (PHE) has advised that people receiving parcels are not at risk of contracting the coronavirus. From experience with other coronaviruses, we know that these types of viruses don’t survive long on objects, such as letters or parcels. This complements the highly publicised guidance from PHE for people to wash their hands more often than usual using soap and hot water.” For more information on how your parcels are handled within the UK, just go to: https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus.

International Deliveries

We’re aware there are considerable delays to deliveries which cross international borders, due to extended quarantine periods. Due in part to this, we now ship the majority of International Orders via DHL. To learn more about this process please see our Deliveries & Returns page here: https://bowandcrossbones.com/pages/delivery-returns. Given the circumstances, we cannot guarantee using their Tracked Service will speed up your delivery. It will mean though, that you'll able to see where your parcel is, using the tracking number - and we'll be able chase it up with the postal service if necessary.

We do offer shipping via Royal Mail to USA, Canada & other selected countries. You can find your available shipping options at checkout. Please head to: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317/~/international-incident-bulletin to check the advice for post within your own country.

Communications

At this time, we are doubling down on our commitment to transparency and sharing information rapidly with customers as the situation develops. Our team are using our platforms across Instagram, our B&C Beauties' Lounge & our Mailing List to update customers on any further issues that may affect deliveries at this time.

In addition to taking the precautions above, we are mindful to Be Kind. It is a stressful time for our Beauties around the world, and so we want to do everything we can to minimise panic and maximise health.

NHS Handwashing guide

For the latest guidance on precautions you can take go to —> Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance.

FAQs

(Updated 03/04/2020)

Q. Is it safe to handle deliveries?

There’s currently no official guidance to suggest you should be worried about deliveries. The virus can live on surfaces, but studies show these types of viruses don’t survive long on objects, such as letters or parcels. So deliveries in cardboard boxes are unlikely to spread the disease.

To reduce transmission risk between you and the delivery driver, postal workers are using "no contact delivery" where possible – this is as much for their benefit as yours. They’ll leave your package on your doorstep and you won’t need to sign for it.

If you want to be extra careful, throw away the outside box as soon as you’ve opened your goodies, as this has passed between the most hands in the outside world. Then, wipe down any surfaces the package has touched, wipe down the product itself if you want to, and remember to wash your hands. For further info head to the Royal Mail's website: https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus.

Q. Is online shopping ethical right now?

We've had some big conversations about this. We're asking all our customers to consider the pros and cons of your individual situation and purchase purpose.

Here's an interesting read that may help you to consider your online purchases: Is It Right To Still Shop Online For Non-Essential Items In The Lockdown?

Q. How long will it take my order to reach me?

Looking at previous orders, UK shipping is taking 5-7 days to arrive from dispatch confirmation. For international orders, we've had reports of delays due to the current global situation. Please head to: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5317/~/international-incident-bulletin to check the advice for post within your own country.

Q. How is your company responding to COVID-19?

We are a home-based business. Our staff members who would usually travel to the office (to process orders, stock take, day-to-day operations etc) have been furloughed until further notice. We also have remote working staff who continue to work-from-home and owner Cam will continue to run the business from her home office for the foreseeable future.

Q. Will you be closing in light of COVID-19?

We're asking our customers to ethically purchase, and consider their orders. We're constantly considering what is best for our customers and supporting key workers, as we know that receiving a box of goodies can brighten someone's day in these unusual times. Our volume of orders is low at the moment - if this changes or new guidelines are issued, we will reconsider.

We hope this information is helpful in understanding how Bow & Crossbones’s responding to this novel coronavirus, and we appreciate the continued support from our customers.