Stock Levels are indicated for almost all items. Whilst every effort is made to keep these as accurate as possible they will not be entirely so for several reasons. These are: a) Stock Levels are updated to the website once a day (ie they are not live). b) The computer may be lying anyway. c) Some-one else may have ordered the same item just prior to yourself.

However, most items, especially books and maps etc, are obtainable very quickly. Clothing though may be a bit hit and miss.

If an item is showing 0 or 1 in stock, don't let that stop you ordering, but if you need the item fairly quickly it would be best to ring us first to make sure that we can get it first.

All our prices are in UK pounds sterling (£ - this symbol may not show up on your computer or may show up as a question mark (?)). A very approximate price is also given in US Dollars ($). To check a more up to date approximate exchange rate click here http://www.xe.com. For orders made from the UK or the European Union (EEC), 17.5% VAT (Value Added Tax - approximately 14.9% of the total tax inclusive cost shown) is included in the price of most items. Books and maps are currently exempt.

NB VAT will change to 15% from 1st December 2008.

We accept most credit and debit cards (not American Express - sorry). Goods are charged at the rate that applies at the moment our bank processes the order, not at the moment you place it. We do not charge for any item until it is ready to send. Backordered items are not charged until they are sent. Your credit card information is sent over the internet via our secure encryptment service which is run by Actinic, one of the most used small business on-line shopping programs available. We know of no documented cases of credit card fraud using this shopping system over the internet. All credit card numbers are encrypted in the software when the order is placed using 128 bit encryption. They are only decrypted after they reach our computer. They are not held in clear text on any web site.

Remittance terms are that credit or debit card details must be sent with your order and that goods are charged prior to posting.

We regret that we cannot accept cheques for mail order items. This is because they involve considerable more work and cost to process than credit or debit cards. Also that you have to wait a week for them to clear, and that there is the problem of having to write a cheque and post a refund if part of the order cannot be fulfilled. All of this is time-consuming and completely needless in an age of Debit Cards.

POSTAGE
For our website we have opted for (mainly) free carriage rather than offer a discount to members of various clubs etc.

If your order is urgent, you can select Priority Service (UK only - £3.50). This means that your order is put to the head of the queue (and there can be over a 100 orders awaiting packing at any given moment), and that it will be posted either by Private Carrier, Special Delivery, 1st Class Recorded, or 1st Class. This should mean that you receive it within 1 to 3 working days maximum, but bear in mind that most of these postal services do not deliver on Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holidays. If we do not have the item in stock we will contact you immediately to advise you of this. Please note - this is not a guaranteed next day delivery, just we'll do our best to get things to you even quicker than normal. We regret that due to the high cost of speedy carriage to far-flung and offshore parts of the United Kingdom we cannot offer a Priority Service to these places which would include all the Scottish Isles except Skye, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles, The Channel Islands etc. If customers from any these areas need extra fast delivery we would be happy to get a quote from the Post Office (NB it will be expensive!). Please note that customers who write comments such as "Please send first class" or "must arrive by Friday" when they only ordered it on Tuesday will be deemed to have requested Priority Service and be charged £3.50 accordingly without us contacting them! Please also note that customers who include a shipping note such as "Please send via the Post Office as it's easier for me to collect" on an order that we would normally send by Carrier will be charged the difference in cost without us contacting them for approval - they will then speedily discover why we use a carrier for heavier items and not the Post Office!

NB1 "FREE POST"* Although UK postage is free on most items on this website, there are some low value items on the site which are relatively heavy and/or low profit where we have had to charge some postage or we would be sending them out at a loss - these are clearly labelled (they are mainly books and DVDs, plus items like finger boards). Books and other lightweight items are charged at a flat rate depending on weight (typically: 50p on very light books, £1 on most club style guides and DVDs, £2 on Rockfax and similar size guides and £3 for bigger books). These charges are waived if the order is Priority or is over £60, so if your postal charge on books is over £3.50, use the back button and select Priority Post! A few heavy items such as finger boards, and bulky items such as tent underlay attract an extra postage charge that will be applied regardless of other charges or whether the order is Priority or not.

NB2 Free postage is for the initial order only. Where boots etc are returned due to poor fit etc, we will charge postage at cost on their replacement. Also if you order goods and are not in to sign for them then you will be left a card asking you to contact the depot/sorting office to arrange a time for delivery when you will be there to sign for them. If you don't/can't/won't do this then the goods will be returned to us - we will charge you postage at cost on the subsequent delivery.

Goods are shipped, dependent on the size, weight, and value of the parcel via one of the following methods:

Standard Order: Under £70 value at retail and will fit through letter box.	Royal Mail 2nd Class Post. Goods will not need signing for. This is not a next day delivery service. Royal Mail say "we aim to deliver your mail by the third working day after posting" - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that!
Priority Order: Under £70 value at retail and will fit through letter box.	Royal Mail 1st Class Post. Goods will not need signing for. This is not a guaranteed next day delivery service, but Royal Mail say it "aims to deliver your letter or packet the next working day, including Saturday" - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that!
Standard Order: Under £70 value at retail and will not fit through letter box.	Royal Mail 2nd Class Recorded Delivery. Goods will need signing for. This is not a next day delivery service. Royal Mail say "we aim to deliver your mail by the third working day after posting" - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that!
Priority Order: Under £70 value at retail and will not fit through letter box.	Royal Mail 1st Class Recorded Delivery. Goods will need signing for. This is not a guaranteed next day delivery service, but Royal Mail say it "aims to deliver your letter or packet the next working day, including Saturday" - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that!
Standard & Priority Orders: Under £70 in value and under 1kg in total weight.	Royal Mail 2nd Class Recorded Delivery or 1st Class Recorded Delivery if it is a Priority Order. Goods will need signing for.
Standard & Priority Orders: Over £70 value at retail, and under 500g in total weight.	Royal Mail Special Delivery. Goods will need signing for. This is a next day delivery service** in theory - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that! Priority Orders jump the queue of other orders.
Standard & Priority Orders: Over £70 in value and over 500g in total weight. UK Mainland (nearly all of it).	For UK Mainland: City Link private carrier (check their website to see where your nearest depot is). Goods will need signing for - it is worth including a trusted neighbour's details where goods can be left (in the special instructions), or having them sent to your workplace, as getting goods sent by carrier redirected is very expensive - it will cost you an extra £8 - £15! Two attempts at delivery are included in your free post. Any extra attempts will be charged at £2.60 per attempt. This is a next day delivery service** in theory - but be warned, it doesn't always work like that! Priority Orders jump the queue.
Standard & Priority Orders: Northern Ireland and all UK Islands.	If you live in the Chanel Islands, Isle of Man or any of the other UK Islands, then we will use Royal Mail Post or Standard Parcel Service, as the City Link is too expensive. Goods will not need signing for but they will be insured. This is not a guaranteed next day delivery service and a may take up to a week, longer if they lose it. Priority Orders jump the queue.

Overseas Deliveries (including the Channel Isles) will be charged at cost. Please see our page on Overseas Deliveries. However British Forces Posted Overseas (BFPO) will not need to pay a postage charge if the goods are posted to a UK BFPO forwarding address.

Pririty orders will normally be sent out on the day after you order it (or even the same day if you order early enough) provided it is in stock, though there will be a delay at weekends as the Post Office and Carriers don't work Saturdays, Sundays, or Bank Holidays, unless you pay them a king's ransom. It may take several days to post standard orders, depending on how long the order queue is. If an item you have ordered is out of stock and the wholesale suppliers have it available then it can take anything from 3 days to 2 weeks to reach us depending on how efficient that supplier is, whereupon we will post it on to you as soon as we can. If the suppliers do not have it, then it can take months. International orders can take a long time to be delivered unless you are willing to pay exorbitant air freight charges.

If it is not possible to dispatch your order to you reasonably speedily we will contact you by email (telephone for Priority Orders) to see what you want to do before proceeding. Please, when replying to emails from us, include all the previous email correspondence in your reply - it helps us enormously in tracing your order and dealing with your query promptly.