Summer sunshine, porches of doom and van saunas
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Steve and I often talk about the fact that there’s ‘good weather’ (sunshine, warm) and ‘good chocolate weather’ (wet & cold) – so we’re always at least half-happy!
As the sunshine finally appears and the whole nation smiles, we’re left in some degree of angst to ensure that our chocolates get through to you in the best possible condition for you to enjoy.
So, here’s what we do once the heat arrives:
- For those old enough to remember, we become budding ‘Michael Fish’ weather-forecasters, carefully monitoring the weather nationwide and if it’s looking very sunny we’ll often pause sending for a couple of days (not for father’s day – see below) until the weather breaks with an inevitable shower or two
- We also now offer RM24 and 'Express plus Ice' services that enable us to deliver more quickly and with an ice-pack on all but the hottest days.
We are now managing our deliveries a little more scientifically by temperature and speed!
Now, there are sadly challenges that we can do very little about, so if you are the owner of, or we are delivering to any of the following – then there’s clearly greater risk:
- Royal Mail sauna – Royal Mail vans can get an unhelpful blast of sun while out on deliveries, particularly later in the morning – there’s very little we can do about this!
- A Porch/entrance/atrium of doom – usually a glass-enclosed area that’s south facing, where post is received gets a decent blast of sunshine early in the morning, heating it to nuclear temperatures by lunchtime – melting plastic, metal and, of course, chocolates
- Lilliputian letterboxes – not sure who thought these were ok or helpful to install, but almost nothing gets through them – thus our chocolates occasionally get left outside IN THE SUN
If your chocolates do arrive and are melted, please get in touch via info@russellandatwell.com or through our website ‘chat’ with our lovely consumer care team who will try and sort you out.
Unlike many businesses with call-centres on the other side of the planet, our consumer team - Clare and Val - work tirelessly to ensure that you are delighted with your chocolates – thanks you two! They also feed back to Steve and I on a regular basis.
We are always grateful to any consumers who take the trouble to write to us (good and bad!) We’re a young business, so all feedback is precious.
In the meantime, we do hope you’re enjoying the summer warmth – even if we won’t!
Now, off to pack some more chocolates for Father’s Day and ensure the ice-packs are frozen solid!
Giles & Steve
P.S. See below some images from our 'Rogues gallery' of melted chocs...we're not proud, but equally we know it does occasionally happen...