Having undergone surgery (I wasn’t expecting) and from which I am still slowly recovering EDM Models has been closed. Covid-19 hasn’t been the cause of this but it has made recovery and treatment more complex.
It’s been made clear to me that I am not returning to work or reopening EDM Models until I am well enough and that when I do it will be a soft reopening. At that stage Covid-19 will have an impact on how we work. I need to maintain separation as the surgery puts me in the at risk group.
Here’s the plan….
UK Shipments
- Sales will be web only. That is orders placed via the website only. Phone orders, e-mailed orders will not be taken. Phone calls will still get the “we’re closed” message.
- Sales will be stock items only. With many suppliers closed restocking is not possible at present.
- Shipping will by courier only and once or twice per week. I have a no contact collection/drop off arrangement that maintains separation. Queuing in a grocery store pretending to be a post office doesn’t comply with the separation.
International Shipments
- Europe & International shipments will be sent by a courier that will collect
- The website will estimate [guess] the shipping erring significantly in my favour
- I will refund the difference once I know the actual shipping cost
Out of the UK shipments are more awkward to do with any sort of fixed rate or even a consistent guess. Every shipper needs to know not only the weight of the shipment but its size (volume) and without a massive effort on measuring every item that we sell plus coming up with some fiddle factor for how it fits in a box there is no other way. I have a lot of sympathy for the Amazon packer who just chucks your tiny order in a huge box and stuffs it with paper fill. Then again Amazon is big enough to tell the shippers how much they will pay for shipping unlike us small fry.
Exception
There is currently one exception that will be dealt with differently. The 2020 0n30 Annual isn’t expected to arrive until mid to late May but when they do they’ll be shipped out in bulk thanks to some help. They are later than expected but the publisher is having the same lock down and staffing issues as we have in the UK then international shipping at the moment is slow. I have arranged that these can ship in bulk with the Post Office thanks to the help of a friend who isn’t restricted.
Need to get one ordered? When the website opens on the 18th and through to when the bulk supply arrives orders for the annual with only the annual in the order will get the £3.50 shipping rate. Once that bulk post has gone they’ll be in the standard courier shipping
Initially at least I won’t be accepting telephone or e-mailed orders – these methods will still get the closed message
It is impossible to predict my recovery and how the country will proceed with Covid19 so I will be keeping the situation under constant review. I have already had a number of e-mails telling me how to run my business so I’ll deal with a couple of these here: –
- No, I won’t switch to Herpes because they’re cheaper. I won’t use a company that can lose two orders to the same address equating to about £800 and take no responsibility for it. Their service round here is crap anyway with some bloke in a barely legal knackered minibus turning up to collect stuff and who thinks leaving stuff on the garden wall is safely delivered.
- Thanks for all the advice how I could dress up like a spaceman so I could go to the post office. Not going to happen. We used to have an independent post office in which social distancing would have been possible. The post office forced the owners out in their well publicised accounting scandal. They replaced the post office, after a foregone conclusion survey, with a counter in an understaffed 7-11 grocery store. Often the queues for the Post Office and Groceries are intertwined and half the length of the shop as the one member of staff tries to run both counters.
Please bear in mind that my health issue doesn’t change how likely I am to catch it unless I restrict where I go to avoid catching it but it does seriously affect my chances of recovery from it. Much as I love some of my customers you’re not worth killing myself for.
Having tried to order the ON30 Mag back in April I wondered if and when we could expect a cope
Get well soon and keep safe and well we need you back.
Tom
Annuals not here yet. Publisher in the US has the same restrictions affecting operations as here. My order was apparently shipped first week of May so will be a week or two yet.
EDM Models website should re-open on the 18th