Delivery & Returns
If your delivery date is critical please choose courier/express shipping options to use our superb courier, DPD Local (carbon neutral deliveries since 2012) for guaranteed delivery dates.
Costs range up from £5 for UK addresses depending on what you order and how soon you want it. Occasionally we offer Free Delivery to UK addresses and displaythis prominently on the website and at checkout.
To find delivery options and costs, simply add items to your basket then enter the delivery address.
Next working day delivery is available for most of the UK with an extra 1-2 working days for Highlands and Islands.
"Free" or "Economy" delivery takes up to 3-5 working days to most UK destinations except Highlands and Islands which may take an extra 1-2 days.
All delivery methods are tracked.
Returns
Hassle Free Returns
See below for our extended Christmas Returns Period.
Simple. If you've made/received an online order and don't like something, simply send it straight back with the order details and with a very few exceptions, as long as we can still sell it "as new", we will be delighted to give you a refund, exchange or store credit, whichever you prefer. Please see full details here.
We also operate a generous extended exchanges period during Christmas to help with gifting.
Extended Christmas Returns Period
Orders placed between 5th November and 22nd December 2022 benefit from our generous extended returns period that runs until 25th January 2023. Items purchased from 5th November to 25th December are returnable for an exchange or credit until 25th January, provided we can restock and resell them "as new". This is subject to the other terms in our Returns Policy.
Royal Mail Strikes
There are currently no strikes planned as far as we are aware. Royal Mail's latest information of their workers' strike action can be found here. If their workers strike, Royal Mail will prioritise Tracked 24 services (what we call 1st Class Tracked) but you can still expect delays to those services when there is industrial action.
Delivery
We deliver to most countries, except those in conflict zones, from our own stock warehouse in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
Occasional Shipping Delays Into Europe.
We are dispatching to addresses in the EU without any delays. Most orders to addresses in the European Union now arrive on time, however there are occasional hold ups at European ports, causing some delays to deliveries.
We apologise to our friends in the EU and share your frustration!
Dispatch
- We dispatch all weekday orders placed by 2:30pm with courier or express delivery option on the same weekday (if the item is in stock, as detailed at checkout)
- We always do our best to dispatch later express/courier orders on the same day too but our couriers pick up between 2:30 and 3:30 so orders after 2 pm may be picked up the following working day
- Orders with "Royal Mail Tracked" type deliveries will also be dispatched as soon as possible but may take an extra day
- Orders with Free or Economy delivery will be dispatched within 2-3 working days (usually sooner) but in a busy period other delivery methods take priority (see below for more info).
Fridays, weekends & public holidays
If you order on a Friday afternoon after 2:30 pm, or on a weekend or holiday please don't expect your order to be delivered on that Saturday, Sunday or Monday because we won't even have looked at it until Monday morning! If you need it that weekend please contact us by phone or live chat and we will do our best to break the rules.
If an item is out of stock our website will tell you before you order it. If part of your order is out of stock at the time you order it we will usually hold all the items in the order for you until everything is available, then send it all together. Please advise us if you wish us to rush part of your order to you, and please note that this may incur an additional delivery charge.
If you require a Saturday delivery please specify this at checkout. There is a small premium for this service. Our carriers do not normally deliver on Sundays or Public Holidays.
We keep stock at more than one location so occasionally you may receive your order in more than one consignment.
Delivery Methods
We use Royal Mail Tracked services (1st and 2nd Class Tracked relate to Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 respectively) and DPD Local Carbon Neutral for express consignments. DPD Local is a superb premium service and is very reliable. If you choose an Express delivery method they will text/email you, predicting in which hour they will arrive so you don't have to wait in all day. You can also track the vehicle so that the expected delivery time can often be narrowed down to about 15 minutes accuracy. It's great value for money and well worth paying for. Depending on circumstances we may very occasionally use other carriers.
Highlands and Islands
Please note that some more distant destinations in the UK are not served by some carriers and some parcels are too big to go by Royal Mail. Therefore such places (e.g. Inverness) do not benefit from the same low delivery rates as for instance Edinburgh or Aberdeen. We are very sorry about this and as soon as we can get more competitive rates to these destinations we will...
International Delivery
See note above regarding deliveries into Europe. Orders going overseas are usually dispatched within the same time frame as UK delivery but more far-flung destinations may take an extra day or two. Occasionally we may ask for additional payment to cover costs of international postage. We are not reponsible for customs fees, charges taxes or other duties charged by countries outside the UK. We use various carriers depending on the parcel size, destination and time of year. All methods have varying levels of tracking. Typical journey times are: France, Netherlands, Germany 1-4 days; Spain 3-5 days; Eastern Europe 3-6 days; USA and Canada, Australia 3-10 days. If a lower cost option such as Landmark Global is chosen/paid for, the service time is 8-17 days.
Detailed Delivery Policy
Items sent by courier no longer need to be signed for on delivery at their destination. Photos taken by couriers are now used as proof of delivery. If your parcel was left in a "safe" place or with a neighbour you are responsible for it from the time it is left in there. Delivery by DPD Local is by 7pm the following working day after dispatch for most of the UK, but offshore and the more remote parts of Scotland (and Inverness) as well as Northern Ireland it will take at an 1-2 working days.
Orders with Free Delivery
Occasionally we may offer Free Delivery promotions. If we are offering such a promotion it will be clearly visible at the "Estimated Delivery" section on the Basket Page, on the Checkout Page and also on other areas on the website e.g near the top of each page. The same offer may not be available for telephone or mail orders (as we do not have sufficient staff to handle high levels of telephone orders). An example promotion to specified destinations would be "Free UK Delivery for orders over £x". Free Delivery will be the lowest cost delivery method and could be by "Royal Mail Tracked 2nd Class" or by any other courier, depending on the size and value of the package and may need to be signed for upon receipt. Provided all the items are in stock we aim to dispatch Free Delivery orders as above, but orders with a paid for delivery method always receive priority, so, although they are usually dispatched on the same working day of order, they will be dispatched within 3 working days of order at the latest. If an order is out of stock when you order using Free Delivery we will honor the free delivery promise even if we dispatch the order after the free delivery promotion ends.
PLEASE NOTE: higher value/weight items may be sent using a courier at our discrettion for a next working day delivery. Unless you can specify a dry safe place to leave it the package may need to be signed for at the point of delivery. This means that under normal circumstances if you order in the morning for a destination on the UK mainland and if the item is in stock you will receive your order the following working day, except for "Highlands and Islands" (remoter parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland may be subject to an extra 1-2 days delivery from our courier.
ITEMS LOST OR DELAYED IN POST
If you have ordered using express/courier please use the tracking link we have sent you to track your parcel and if the package is delayed or lost please contact us with your order number. For Economy, standard delivery and Free Delivery we use Royal Mail's Tracked 48 Service where possible. Parcels are tracked door to door and the majority of our orders (95%) are received within two to four days of dispatch. Please use the tracking link we sent you to track your parcel and ensure the address is correct. If you still haven’t received your order after 5 working days, please contact us and we will do our best to help out. It is also worth speaking to your local Royal Mail sorting or delivery office, as usually delayed items are actually in the local delivery office.
INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY
We accept orders for delivery to most countries that are not currently in a conflict zone (but see note at top about deliveries to Europe), To find the cost please put items in your basket and then enter the delivery address. You will then see the delivery options and costs. Most orders will usually need to be signed for.
Due to the vagaries of international mail and the cost of guaranteed deadline services we currently do not offer a guaranteed express delivery for items over 5kg, however, our standard delivery usually gets to its destination within 2-4 days for Europe and 4-10 days for rest of the world. Please note that we are not responsible for customs fees, charges, duties, tax or other costs applied by customs or other authorities outside the UK.
We cannot guarantee successful delivery to some countries not in a conflict zone including but not limited to Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua.
Returns Policy
General Returns Policy
If you've made/received an online order and don't like something, simply send it straight back with the order details. With a very few exceptions, as long as we can still sell it "as new", we will be delighted to give you a refund, exchange or credit, whichever you prefer. Full details follow.
You can return items up to 28 days from the date of dispatch. As long as we receive the returned item in saleable condition "as new" in the original packaging we will arrange a refund, an exchange (subject to stock availability) or store credit within 10 working days of the items return and from 28 days to 56 days we can give you an exchange (subject to availability) or store credit. (If you require a longer returns period please contact us before placing the order and we will do our best to help you.)
Some items are non-refundable and/or non-returnable. The following limitations apply: -
- Sale and Bargain section, discounted and promoted items (e.g. BOGOF or 3 for 2 promotions) need to be returned within 10 days of dispatch date: they are not refundable after this time but you have up to 28 days to return them for a store credit or exchange (subject to availability)
- Made to Order, Special Order, Embroidered, Bespoke Items are not returnable (unless we have made a mistake)
- Items that have been damaged, marked, soiled in any way (e.g with human/animal hair, perfume or other odours or other dirt soiling or matter) are not returnable;
- Orders placed for our Swatch Service (where available) are non-refundable as this is a "Service", not a item sold.
Please take care to read our Wool Product Care Advisory page and any care advisory or care label enclosed with your order. If you do not have one or need another, please contact us for advice on how to care for your product. We cannot accept items for a refund or exchange if they have been damaged in the wash or in use.
Returning An Item
To return an item please: -
- include the fully completed Returns and Exchanges Form (which comes with your order),
- include the customer name, email address and order number
- clearly mark whether you would like an exchange, store credit or refund
- If you want an exchange state which item you want in replacement
- pack the item back in the delivery parcel together with all packaging and labels using any extra packaging that may be required to properly protect it send it to:
The Wool Company Customer Returns
Higher Hill Farm
Cardinham
Bodmin
Cornwall
PL30 4EG
UNITED KINGDOM
Items are returned at your own risk so please pack them carefully. Items are returned at your expense unless they are faulty. We recommend items sent to us are sent via an insured/secure delivery method and that you at least obtain a certificate of posting. We are not responsible for returned items until they arrive safely with us. If all the items in an order are Faulty we will refund the delivery cost to you and can also reimburse you for the reasonable cost of posting back to us if within the UK but if you wish to be refunded postage for a Faulty item you must include a receipt for the postage cost. We cannot refund postage costs without a receipt.
Please note if the colour etc is wrong and you can see without opening that you won't want the product then please don't remove it from its packaging! Items are easily marked and pick up hair or other fluff which can prevent them from being saleable as "new". If we cannot sell it as "new" we won't be able to give you a refund or exchange. For the same reason please take care that you have checked that you have ordered the correct size before you unwrap the item: please check the ordered item dimensions carefully before unwrapping too.
Faulty Item?
All items that we dispatch have been through rigorous quality control checks conducted by our reputable and carefully selected manufacturers as well as by us. Nevertheless, on rare occasions, an item may be sent out that is faulty. In these circumstances, we will replace the item or at our discretion provide a refund of the purchase cost and any reasonable domestic postage cost. Please contact us as soon as you discover a fault and please see our full Terms and Conditions before you return an item as "Faulty". Please ensure that any item returned to us as “Faulty” is well folded and is carefully packaged, appropriate to its value, size, and weight to protect it from the damage in the post. We cannot accept an item that has been damaged in the post due to poor packaging.
Refunds can only be credited to the same payment method the order was placed with. If we are refunding postage costs incurred when you return an item to us we will have to send you a cheque or BACS payment, or we can give you store credit if you prefer. It is not possible to refund more than the original transaction back onto the original payment method.
Bricks & Mortar Shop, Pop-up Shop, Show and Fair Orders
You may purchase items from The Wool Company at certain events or at our OUR SHOP. Subject to the event you may take the item away at the event or pay at the event and have us post the item to you.
Orders placed at "bricks & mortar" shops, pop-up shops, trade or retail shows or trade or retail fairs or similar events have a limited returns policy. You may, subject to the returns limitations on certain products listed above, return an item, together with proof of its purchase for an exchange or "store credit" on our web site, provided we receive the item in perfect condition "as new". Refunds are not available for such purchases. Certain items sold at such locations are in any case non-returnable. Items priced at special show prices or special show items are not returnable. If this is important to you please ensure that you ask for details before purchase. Returning such items for store credit requires setting up an account on our web site. Any store credit must be used within 12 weeks of the date of the original purchase. All such store credit expires 12 weeks from the date of the original purchase. Store credit has a maximum cash value of £0.0001 (GBP) per £1.00 (GBP) Store Credit (in GBP). Items sent out by The Wool Company to customers in exchange will incur postage, packing and shipping charges as stipulated on our web site. Free Delivery is not available on such exchange orders.
The Wool Company is not responsible for content of external sites.
This does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.
Business to Business / Trade / Commercial Customers
We do not accept returns from B2B or trade customers without prior authorisation from The Wool Company. In any case and unless the item(s) is/are faulty we would charge a restocking fee of 20% for all and any returned items from Commercial/Trade/B2B customers. Please contact us for our full Business to Business Terms and Conditions.
Last updated 2nd January 2024.