Movement of Parcels from the UK – Everything Dinosaur Statement

Everything Dinosaur comments on the current situation.

The rapid spread of a new variant of the coronavirus has led to a number of European governments taking the decision to impose travel bans on the UK.  Countries that have temporarily closed their borders to the UK include Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.  Other nations too, such as Turkey and Canada have suspended UK flights.  The European Union member states are meeting this morning (21st December) to plan a co-ordinated response.

Whilst it must be acknowledged that this is a fast-moving news story, Everything Dinosaur is aware that border closures and flight restrictions will affect postal operations and delays in the delivery of parcels will occur.

UK Government Advisers on New Infections have “Moderate” Confidence that the New Corona Virus Variant is More Able to Transmit – Everything Dinosaur Remains Open

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Further Delays to Overseas Deliveries

The restrictions began on Sunday, so overseas orders placed with Everything Dinosaur on Thursday (18th December), are for the most part unaffected as these will already have entered the international delivery system.  Some orders placed on Friday 19th December, will have been despatched that day, but these may now be delayed as they may not have left the UK prior to the new restrictions being put in place.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“The last recommended posting dates for parcels being sent overseas have passed.  For example, the last recommended posting date for airmail services for a Christmas delivery to Belgium, France and Ireland was Friday 18th December.  Our team members have been working exceptionally hard to get parcels despatched as quickly as possible.  The international mail network is already severely congested due to the very high demand for on-line shopping and due to the social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions that have been imposed.  Delays have been occurring with international deliveries and with the closure of many borders and the imposition of further flight restrictions, these delays are likely to be exacerbated.”

The New Coronavirus Variant

Virus populations mutant and change all the time.  The mutation of the COVID-19 virus is an expected and anticipated event.  The virus wants to spread and replicate itself in as many hosts as possible and often mutations occur within the population of a virus to permit forms which are more virulent and easier to transmit to become the dominant strain.   Everything Dinosaur understands that the first signs of a potentially more transmittable virus were detected in laboratory tests back in September.

Research is at an early stage, there are huge uncertainties when modelling and predicting changes, but some of the mutations detected have been shown to increase the ability of the virus to infect cells in laboratory tests.

Hence the statement from UK government advisors on new infections stating that they have “moderate” confidence that it is more able to transmit than other variants.

It is because of this variant that parts of the UK were placed in Tier 4 with very strict measures in place to limit mixing.  Within the UK there are now harsher restrictions on mixing at Christmas in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.  Everything Dinosaur expects other countries to impose restrictions and travel bans which will affect the movement of parcels through the international delivery network.

Everything Dinosaur’s Response

Throughout this pandemic, our mail order business has remained open for business.  We have brought in appropriate measures to protect team members and done all we can to keep them safe and well.  We will continue to operate throughout the Christmas and New Year period.  Due to the new restrictions imposed we anticipate that overseas customers will experience delays in the delivery of their orders.

For further advice and information: Contact Everything Dinosaur by Email.

We apologise for this and would like to reassure all our customers that we remain absolutely committed to doing all we can to ensure a swift despatch of parcels.  However, due to the imposition of travel bans that will affect air freight and UK ports, delays in deliveries are inevitable.

We thank you for your support and patience.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Royal Mail Service Update (UK Customers of Everything Dinosaur)

The global mail network is severely congested at the moment.  The unprecedented demand for mail order items combined with the difficulties of trying to work whilst obeying social distance and hygiene regulations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has put an incredible strain on delivery networks.

Everything Dinosaur is continuing to operate 7-days a week in a bid to ensure orders from customers are despatched promptly.  For UK customers please note, some first class parcels are taking up to 8 days to reach their destination.

Royal Mail Having to Cope with Extraordinary High Volumes of Parcels

Everything Dinosaur team members have taken steps to help minimise disruption for customers.  Royal Mail too are working hard to minimise any disruption.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Royal Mail Service Delivery Update

For UK customers, here is the latest Royal Mail service delivery update (dated 19th and 20th of December 2020).

Royal Mail operated the usual collection services on Saturday (19th December).  Deliveries took place as normal on Saturday and in most areas, Sunday, as staff work hard to get all the Christmas gifts and parcels delivered to customers.

Royal Mail continues to work hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high quality service they can to all their customers, all over the UK, large and small.  The combination of greatly increased uptake of on-line, mail order Christmas shopping, in no small part driven by the recent lockdown, and the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions mean that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes of parcels and packets this year.

Each and every single parcel, letter and card that Royal Mail handles is important.  Significant investment has been put in to provide extra staff and other resources to cope with this huge surge in demand.  However, some customers may experience longer delivery timescales than Royal Mail’s usual service standards.  These delays are due to the enormous volume of parcels and packets, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures they have put in place in delivery depots and local mail offices.  Everyone at Royal Mail is working extremely hard to get back to their usual level of customer service and delivery times.

Royal Mail would like to take this opportunity to thank its many millions of customers for their patience and understanding at this time of unprecedented strain on the UK delivery network.

Most of the Royal Mail delivery depots and customer service points are open over the weekend to permit customers to collect urgent items, such as those parcels that could not be delivered and a “something for you” card has been left at the delivery address.

Everything Dinosaur Assures Customers

Everything Dinosaur would like to reassure its customers that they are doing all they can to pack and despatch parcels, sadly, however, delays in deliveries are likely to occur.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur Website.

Everything Dinosaur Working Hard to Ensure Christmas Deliveries

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are working as hard as they can to ensure that parcels are picked, packed and despatched as quickly as possible to give orders every chance to be delivered in time for the festive season.  Team members will once again be working throughout the day (Sunday), ensuring that as many orders placed on Friday evening and Saturday are sent out with the special Sunday collections that the UK-based company has organised.

Everything Dinosaur Working Hard During the Festive Season

Shoppers are reminded to place orders as early as possible in a bid to give the maximum time possible to allow a parcel to be delivered given the congested global distribution network.

Everything Dinosaur has published a helpful table showing the last recommended posting dates for Christmas 2020.

The Last Recommended Posting Dates for Christmas 2020 (Data Supplied by Royal Mail)

Table credit: Royal Mail

For example, yesterday (Saturday 12th December) was the last recommended posting date for parcels going from the UK to the USA, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland and Italy.

Royal Mail Service Update

Royal Mail has recently published information detailing the problems being encountered with a congested network.

Royal Mail is working hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high quality service we can to all our customers.  The combination of greatly increased uptake of on-line Christmas shopping, in no small part driven by the recent lockdown and other coronavirus measures and the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions means that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes of parcels at the moment.

For Royal Mail and for Everything Dinosaur, every single parcel is important.

Royal Mail went onto state:

“Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resources, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards.  This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices.  In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Royal Mail is Working Hard to Cope with Unprecedented Demand from On-line Shoppers

Royal Mail has taken steps to help with parcel deliveries. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Impact of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

Royal Mail are working with their airline and postal/courier partners across the globe to maintain services, however delays should be expected.  Many countries have implemented special measures to combat the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, especially for signature services so that staff can maintain social distancing.

The number of countries that Royal Mail can access is changing daily.  Most major export routes remain open, and the hard-working and dedicated staff at Royal Mail continue to accept and process mail, although customers may experience varying levels of delay.

Both Everything Dinosaur and Royal Mail recommend that you try and post early when sending gifts and care packages for Christmas.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.