Delivery & Returns
DELIVERY TIMESCALES
Orders are sent to the nursery once a day at 6am every morning, if all the plants in your order are ready, then (in mid and high season) it is a 1-3 day process for the plants to be picked, drained, packed and shipped. If some of your plants are on pre-order then the whole order will be held until all your plants are ready to be dispatched.
Low Season (September to February)
Orders are dispatched once a week on a Tuesday, unless there is a Bank Holiday on the Monday*.
Mid Season (March)
Orders are dispatched twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday, unless there is a Bank Holiday on the Monday*.
High Season (April to July)
We aim to dispatch your order as quickly as possible. During the high season, we dispatch on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, unless there is a bank holiday on a Monday or Friday*. (please allow 2-4 working days before contacting us).
Mid Season (August)
Orders are dispatched twice a week on a Tuesday and Thursday unless there is a Bank Holiday on the Monday*.
*orders will be dispatched on the Wednesday or following Monday if the bank holiday falls on a Friday.
DISPATCHING YOUR ORDER
We will dispatch your order once all items in the order are ready to leave the nursery. You will receive an email to the address you supplied when you completed your order and made payment. This email will inform you of the courier service, consignment number and give a tracking link if applicable.
DELIVERY OF YOUR PARCEL
If you did not give us special delivery instructions at checkout (max 64 characters) then our standard one applies which is for the courier to LEAVE SAFE – NO SIGNATURE REQUIRED.
When you have received a dispatch email from us, we suggest if you will not be in on the day of delivery you leave a note asking the courier to leave the items in a safe, shaded place of your choice.
We send parcels by four methods;
- Royal Mail, 1st Class (light parcels only - under 1.8kgs)
- APC 24 hour (our standard service, over 1.8kgs)
- Parcelforce 48 hour (H&I postcodes only)
- Pallet Network (30ltr plants and large landscape orders)
Most orders go via Royal Mail and APC. Our parcels are on a 24-hour service.
Please be assured that the plants will be fine in transit for up to 1 week as they are sent in damp soil.
Tracking your plant order
Your dispatch email will contain your tracking number (APC and Parcelforce only), use this to log on and check the status of your delivery.
A full explanation of the APC status updates are below:
APC Deliveries:
To track your parcel via APC - click here
The tracking system requires your tracking number (this can be found on your dispatch email) and your postcode.
At the top of this tracking page is contact information for the depot. You can call or email them directly quoting your tracking number and postcode.
Please allow 24 hours after your due delivery date before contacting them.
If your order/delivery contains multiple parcels, you may find they are delivered on consecutive days.
A Guide to Status Messages on APC Website:
No Consignment Data Found - Your order is awaiting collection from the nursery, once your order is scanned into the van or depot your tracking information will become live.
At Hub – Your order is at an APC depot.
At Delivery Depot – Your parcel is at your local APC depot.
Out for Delivery - The parcel is out for delivery that day.
Delivered – please check your parcel has not been left in a safe place at your property, before contacting us or the couriers.
Royal Mail Deliveries
Royal Mail orders are sent 1st class, they are not sent with a tracking number but should arrive 24 hours after being dispatched. Please leave it 48 hours before contacting us to allow a delivery to take place.
Pallet Deliveries (30ltr plants and large orders)
These are sent via The Pallet Network
Deliveries are on an all day service (8am to 6pm), unless you have paid for an upgraded am service.
Your order will be delivered on a pallet, which will be left with you.
These deliveries can arrive on large HGVs (18 to 24 tonne), so please advise us in the note section if you will require a small delivery vehicle due to access restrictions as this needs to be pre-arranged.
UNPACKING YOUR PLANTS
Below are some pictures showing you how our plants are packed. In the unlikely event that your plants arrive damaged, please ensure you take some photographs of the packaging and plants and email them to us.
Unpack the plant/s carefully. All plants will arrive in a plastic bag. Open the plastic bag and before removing the plant, check there are no stems, leaves or flowers stuck to the bag. If there are, then gently peel them off so that when you remove the plant they don’t break off.
When the plant is safely out of the bag, pat down any loose soil, add gravel to the pot if you wish and then pop it in the pond at the correct depth. Depth is shown on the plant label and is measured from the top of the pot to the waters surface.
Important – please note;
We take great care to pack our plants well, however, sometimes during transit, soil can be displaced or the odd stem, leaf or flower broken, this is normal and your plants will fully recover. If you are at all worried, please take photos and email them to us so we can offer advice and help.
The photos on our website are an example of the plant you will receive. Given that plants are natural products, size, colour and shape varies between each specimen and the time of year the plant was dispatched.
RETURNS
Incorrect Items - If you have received an incorrect item, please email us immediately with your order number and photos, so we can get replacements sent out to you. Email - info@plantsforponds.co.uk
Returns of plants/molluscs (non-faulty) - Due to the perishable nature of these items our plants we are unable to accept cancellations/returns. If you are unhappy with your plant/mollusc, please take photos and send us an email with your order number starting PFP (your order number) and we will try to help (though we aren’t legally obliged to).
Returns of other items (non-faulty) You may have the right to cancel and return other items by giving us notice within 14 days of delivery. Please see our sale terms and conditions for more information. However, this right does not apply to products that we customise for you, e.g., initials/colour/aging applied to container ponds.
Damaged Items - If you item has arrived damaged, then please take photos and send an email with your order number starting PFP (order number) so we can assist you. It is important this is done immediately as plants are perishable.
PAYMENT
Our website processes payment through Shopify's e-commerce system or via PayPal.
We give an indication of date that the plants/products should be available on each product description but these can vary due to the weather and plant stocks.
For a more accurate delivery date please call us 24 hours after you have placed your order and we may be able to give you a better indication of delivery date.
REFUNDS
Refunds will automatically return to the original payment method used when you placed your order.
As a company we use PayPal and Shopify Payments to process our orders, payments and refunds, these companies advise that refunds can take 5 to 10 business days to process through their systems.
If you have not received your refund after 10 business days, then please check with your bank or PayPal before contacting us.