More Snow and Ice on the Way – Could cause further Problems for Christmas Mail

With just a few days left until the big day, the threat of further snow and cold weather is causing a number of retailers to withdraw their online retailing offers, for fear of not being able to pack and despatch parcels in time for them to be received at Christmas.

Christmas Deliveries

We at Everything Dinosaur, have been aware of the backlog of parcels and other deliveries building up with UK couriers and Royal Mail.  Certainly, the bad weather has not just been restricted to parts of the UK, other areas of Europe have experienced delays with parcel deliveries as Airmail and international courier networks have been disrupted due to the ice and snow.  The extra staff and longer working hours implemented by the company has enabled Everything Dinosaur to keep up with the packing and despatching of items and this has ensured that parcels have been sent out as quickly as possible, giving them every chance of making it to their destination in time for the festivities.

The last recommended safe posting date for Royal Mail standard parcels is tomorrow the15th of December, with the last recommended date for second class this Saturday and for first class the following Tuesday.  Staff at Everything Dinosaur, are working late into the night to ensure that they keep on top of the orders, but insist on checking and re-checking address labels, especially postcodes, doing all they can to ensure a speedy delivery.

A spokesperson for Everything Dinosaur stated:

“We are aware that the recent bad weather has severely disrupted deliveries of goods into a number of areas of the UK, the weather forecast for the end of this week, is not very encouraging as more snow and ice could cause further delays.  However, we will do all we can to pack and despatch parcels as quickly as we can to give them every chance of reaching their destination in time for Christmas.”

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

U.S. Postal Network and Royal Mail Comment on Mail Delays

Royal Mail have commented upon the delays customers are experiencing with Airmail deliveries of parcels to the United States and Canada.  In a statement, made in conjunction with their mail counterparts in the United States, Royal Mail have said:

Royal Mail Information

In November, the United States Department of Homeland Security increased security measures for items carried on passenger airlines.  As a result, mail entering the U.S. from around the world, and including the UK, that would normally be sent via passenger aircraft must now travel by other means, including cargo planes.

The vast majority of items, including letters and Christmas cards, posted prior to the last recommended posting date of 10th December have been and will continue to arrive in the U.S. in time for Christmas.  However, these ongoing security issues, combined with the impact of recent severe weather on the movement of mail throughout the UK, are causing delays to some items bound for the U.S.  We’re really sorry for these unavoidable delays and are doing everything we can to keep mail moving out of and into the UK.

Disruption in the Mail Network

Since the middle of November and throughout the recent period of weather related service disruption in parts of the UK, we have implemented a number of contingency plans to ensure as much of our customers’ mail reaches the U.S. as quickly as possible.  In finding alternative, available routes and transportation to the U.S., it’s possible that the delivery pattern of some items may have been interrupted and not all mail will arrive in the sequence in which it was posted.

Handling significantly increased volumes of mail at this festive time along with the complexity of reacting at pace to contingency arrangements, means we’re unable to track individual items for customers or identify exactly when in the current arrival patterns deliveries are likely to take place.

Apologising to Customers

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and are continuing to work to minimise disruption to our customers, whilst ensuring we comply fully with the U.S. directives and regulations.

Statement Ends:

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website for dinosaur models, toys and gifts: Everything Dinosaur.

Everything Dinosaur

At Everything Dinosaur, we are doing all we can to ensure that parcels bound for the United States, are packed and despatched as quickly as possible, we have organised extra staff and shifts to ensure we can keep on top of our busy workload.  We are also monitoring the situation and we will put on this blog site any additional information regarding delays to U.S. postal deliveries that are reported by Royal Mail.

For information on Everything Dinosaur’s terms and conditions of postage: Everything Dinosaur Terms and Conditions.

Bad Weather Causing Delays to Parcel Deliveries

The heavy snowfalls, icy conditions and freezing fog have hampered the delivery of Christmas gifts and parcels according to sources in the mail network close to Everything Dinosaur.  Whilst Royal Mail and its dedicated staff are doing all they can to make deliveries, the wintry weather has taken its toll on their normally very efficient service.

Everything Dinosaur

For more than a week now, much of the UK has been affected by a cold snap, which has led to record snowfalls in some parts of the country at this time of year.  Several airports have been closed and roads have become impassable in places.  The rail network has also suffered, with many train routes, which would normally carry mail as well as passengers shut down.

This is causing delays in the delivery of parcels and mail.  For example, in parts of southern England, badly affected by snow and black ice, some second class parcels are taking more than seven working days to arrive.  There is normally a backlog of mail at this time of year, as the Christmas rush kicks in.  Unfortunately, the extremely cold weather has made the situation in many areas much worse.

Update on Parcel Deliveries

Royal Mail is trying to prioritise urgent, special deliveries but cannot guarantee next day delivery for some of these services.  First class post is also being delayed and the Royal Mail’s proud record of having a 93% next day successful delivery is under severe threat.

Staff at Everything Dinosaur, continue to prepare, pack and despatch parcels as quickly as they can.  We have four collections a day and work late into the night to ensure goods ordered from the Everything Dinosaur website are sent out rapidly.  However, please be patient, the Post Office, Royal Mail and  other delivery services are working as hard as they can to clear any backlogs.

Some delay to airmail deliveries can be expected too.  The closure of airports has interrupted mail leaving the country and the receipt of airmail into the UK.  As always, if orders can be placed in plenty of time then this will help the mail network cope with the inevitable Christmas rush, keeping customers informed, it is all part of our Everything Dinosaur customer service.

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Monday 6th December – Last Safe Posting Dates

Team members at Everything Dinosaur would like to remind our customers that tomorrow, Monday the 6th of December (2010), is the last recommended posting date for international airmail parcels and letters to South and Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Far East, Asia (including Japan) and New Zealand.

For information about Everything Dinosaur’s postal and shipping options: Everything Dinosaur Shipping Details.

Posting Dates

With Christmas rapidly approaching the UK mail organisation (Royal Mail) provides helpful information as to by which dates parcels need to be posted in order to give them every chance of reaching their destination in time for the big day.  We at Everything Dinosaur publish our own information, this summarises the last recommended posting dates for sending goods from the UK around the world.

Everything Dinosaur

For further information: Recommended Last Posting Dates 2010.

Whilst our dedicated staff do all they can to pack and despatch parcels promptly, it is always better to order early to prevent disappointment at Christmas when a parcel fails to arrive on time.

Snow, Snow and more Snow

When the UK’s annual snow fall levels are compared to other locations around the world, even ones that share the same latitude as ourselves, we actually get off quite lightly when it comes to the cold, white stuff.  However, as usual, with any heavy snow falls there will be problems including difficulties with delivering parcels via road and rail. Everything Dinosaur team members would like to update customers about parcel deliveries, especially as we approach the festive season.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website for dinosaur toys and games: Everything Dinosaur.

Today, we have just been examining the amount of rock salt that we have in the warehouse, so that we can grit the yard around the warehouse as needs be.  Discussing the onset of bad weather with colleagues and the local courier company it seems that there will be some disruption to courier and other delivery services, including Royal Mail.

Everything Dinosaur’s Van Covered in Snow

A dinosaur van covered in snow.  Bad weather could lead to delays with parcel deliveries.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Everything Dinosaur

Naturally, we at Everything Dinosaur will do all we can to turn around orders quickly, to pack them and despatch them to ensure any delays due to adverse weather conditions are minimised.

For information about our deliveries: Everything Dinosaur Delivery Information.

Spot the Mistake

Mistakes happen, that’s why our dinosaur pop-up pencils have erasers on the end of them.  Can you see the mistake in this picture of a dinosaur model, part of the Natural History Museum Dinosaur Collection model range? The Iguanodon dinosaur model has an error can you spot it?

Spot the Mistake?

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Iguanodon Dinosaur Model

It is a lovely model of a dinosaur, part of a series that were designed a few years ago, all approved by the palaeontologists at the Natural History Museum – London, but I wonder if they have noticed anything wrong – we certainly have not been informed about anything being amiss.

Can you spot it?

Next web log entry will reveal all.

In the meantime, for models of Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Diplodocus (whilst stocks last), visit the Natural History Museum model section of the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Natural History Museum Dinosaur Models and Figures.

Resuscitating a Triceratops (or an Apatosaurus or Stegosaurus for that Matter)

With the onset of the first severe frosts of winter, time to get out your wheat grain filled dinosaur Bedtime Buddies.  These cute and adorable dinosaur themed soft toys are filled with special wheat grains and scented with lavender and are designed to be heated in the microwave to provide children with a scented, warm bedtime buddy to curl up to in bed.  There are three different dinosaurs in the current range, a purple Stegosaurus, a deep blue Triceratops and a green Apatosaurus.

Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus

The Apatosaurus is sometimes marketed as a Brontosaurus but as all young dinosaur fans know, the name Brontosaurus is no longer valid and this dinosaur formerly known as Brontosaurus (Thunder Lizard) has been renamed.

The Dinosaur Bedtime Buddy Range

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Cute Dinosaur Soft Toy

These beat a hot water bottle any day, a cute toy dinosaur which is fully microwavable to make a super soft, cuddly and warm bedtime buddy.

For dinosaur toys and models of prehistoric animals like Triceratops and Apatosaurus: Everything Dinosaur.

As the soft toy gets microwaved then it gradually loses its lavender fragrance.  However, there is no need to panic, since every product that is in the Everything Dinosaur shop has been tested by ourselves and our own pet test families and researchers we know exactly what to do to revive your bedtime buddy and bring back its soothing lavender scent.

Bedtime Buddies

When the bedtime buddy is cold, carefully put a few drops of a good quality lavender oil onto it and this will bring back the relaxing scent.  In our tests, we found that four drops of lavender on the Triceratops worked best, we placed three evenly spaced along the back and one on the belly.  A similar arrangement worked for the purple Stegosaurus, but for the Apatosaurus we used five drops.  We put a drop on the head of the Apatosaurus, one into neck, with a further two more into the body.  Once again, the final drop was placed on the tummy.

We found it was better to put top up drops of lavender oil onto the soft toy when it was cold as microwaving the bedtime buddy really brought out the aroma and it was more difficult to judge when enough drops had been added.

A Triceratops Fossilised Skeleton on Display at a Museum

A cast of a Triceratops skeleton on display at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Natural History Museum – Frankfurt). On the left a wall mounted example of a Plateosaurus can be seen. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

By reviving the bedtime buddies in this way we found that the lovely smell of lavender was always on hand, these high quality soft toys should provide you with thousands of hours soothing warmth and comfort – just the ticket for these cold nights.

*Following a revision of diplodocid fossil remains, Brontosaurus is once again a valid genus.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s range of soft toy dinosaurs: Dinosaur Soft Toys.

Tuesday 23rd – Last Recommended Posting Date for Surface Mail

The Holocene is certainly whizzing by, and another Christmas is nearly upon us.  We at Everything Dinosaur, do all we can to pack and despatch parcels out to customers as quickly as possible.  Once again, a number of our team members are busy this morning (Saturday) packing orders to ensure that they are collected today (Saturday) by our especially arranged collection.

For amazing dinsaur themed toys and prehistoric animal themed games visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

Posting Dates

Please note, the last recommended posting date for surface mail deliveries to western Europe is rapidly approaching.  The last “safe” posting date for goods sent to western Europe by international surface mail is Tuesday 23rd November.  Parcels sent after this date, may not reach their destination in time for Christmas.  This time of year international postal delivery networks are increasingly stretched so please, please, order as early as possible to give your parcels and gifts every chance.  Of course airmail services are still available after 23rd November.

To learn more about the last safe posting dates for Christmas gifts, please visit our web log article which provides further information:

Christmas Post: Recommended Posting Dates for Christmas 2010.

Everything Dinosaur’s Website Offers Customers More Choice

The new Everything Dinosaur website, with its upgrades is providing customers with an easier and simpler on line shopping experience.

The recently upgraded Everything Dinosaur website – Everything Dinosaur contains many more features, each designed to help make on-line shopping easier and more convenient.  With advancements to the “Wish list” function, plus easier sharing of information via RSS feeds and emails, visitors to the website can share information amongst their friends and relatives.

Everything Dinosaur

The new home page layout has already won a number of admirers, but the work for the Everything Dinosaur developers does not stop there.  They are about to role out a number seasonal themed banners giving the website a much more polished appearance.

Countdown to Christmas Home Page Banner

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture above shows one of the prototypes for the new seasonal and special offer banners that Everything Dinosaur can now display on their website’s home page.

Team members at Everything Dinosaur will be using various products and other company images to show their products and services in a variety of new ways.  Watch out for a few prehistoric scenes from Everything Dinosaur.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.