As you are probably aware we have had to suspend our service, we are currently under 12" of snow, no lorries are able to get to us to deliver anything and no lorries are able to get out to get things moving, so heres a update to the situation as of Thurs 7th January 2010.
All livefood orders and subscriptions were sent on Tuesday night, we stopped packing livefood orders around Tuesday lunch time - so if you ordered on Tuesday your order may not have been sent.
we have a backlog of hardware orders dating back to the 30th December at the moment, we are packing them as and when we can and sending them as and when we can,
So whats all the fuss and whats causing all the problems....
Well we had a huge backlog of orders from the xmas holidays which was supposed to be cleared this week, why did we have a backlog? because it was xmas we were on holiday so were the couriers and royal mail (couriers and royal mail dont work on bank holidays!).
This has now been compounded by the big freeze as The Royal Mail and our couriers are unable to get to us, this means nothing can go out...
Also we have the problem of the extremely cold weather - so why dont we use heat packs and send everything next day delivery? The heat packs are not effective against these low temps and all next day services have been suspended by the royal mail and all national couriers - they will not guarantee a next day delivery.
what are we doing about it? we are still packing hardware orders and piling them up ready for when they can be collected.
If you have a livefood subscription i advise you visit our subscriptions page here and cancel your subscription.. http://www.livefoodsbypost.co.uk/cancel-my-subscription-142-c.asp
The subscription payments are automated and payments are going to continue to be taken even if we cant send anything, TO AVOID THIS please cancel your subscription and re-subscribe once service resumes.
The weather outlook doesnt look good with the freezing weather predicted well into next week. but we are playing it by ear and hoping for the best.
If you live localy to our Showroom please come and buy some livefoods - we are currently doing an offer of buy one get one free on all tubs of livefoods priced at £2 each, we need to sell all of our tubbed livefoods stock by Monday or else it will have to be binned.
If your livefoods do arrive and you think they are dead please please do your best to revive them, 4-5 hours in a warm room can work even if they look totally dead. WE CANNOT CLAIM ANY INSURANCE for these dead on arrival livefoods and are replaced entirely at our expense so a little understanding and effort on our customers behalf to revive them as best as possible is greatly appreciated.
Please please please dont contact us unless its important - We are working on a skeleton staff and having to answer telephone calls that go along the lines of "I ordered last night and I am snowed in so really need these livefoods" does not help. Nor do e-mails asking when your order is going to be despatched - as we dont know - when the couriers/royal mail turn up we will load their vans - but we dont know when that will be.
If your livefoods are dead - just send us an e-mail (please dont call us), state your name, address, order number or state that it is a subscription and please say that you have allowed them time to revive. we will resend them, as and when we can - please be patient.
Advice for getting by without food - ok so dont panic, most lizards if in prime health can go for a month without eating - obviously thats not ideal but "gex" will not drop dead if he doesnt get his crickets this week, nor will he starve to death by missing a weeks food. You could try and get some food from a nearby pet shop - be aware though we supply pet shops and we are in touch with other companies that supply pet shops and they are in the same situation so dont be suprised if the pet shops dont have any in yet. If you have a bearded dragon - now is a good time to get it used to eating veg! or try the dry pellet food, we also sell canned insects that most lizards will eat with a little enticing.
If you are one of the less understanding people who have been sending us irate / angry / borderline abusive e-mails and are waiting on a refund - please bear with us we are refunding as and when we can (in between answering irate / angry / borderline abusive e-mails and phone calls, packing parcels, digging our lorry out of a snowdrift etc etc etc )
A little perspective - ok so a lot of people may think its the end of the world because we cant send out livefoods at the moment, I personally have been cut off from my 3 yr old son for the past two days as he has been snowed into a relatives house he was visiting a few days ago. And accross the country people have lost their lives so although its frustrating its not worth getting angry about.
Thanks for reading and please keep an eye on our blog for updates
Thanks
Neil - Livefoods by post - Director.
