We need to make some changes on our website in order to "carry on" providing our valued customers with proper English and Irish products. The pandemic affects several aspects of our shipping practices. However, we are committed to continuing to ship orders out on a weekly basis. Please refer to the below information, which provides a brief explanation of necessary adjustments due to the national shortage of dry ice. Dry ice production is down, as it is closely tied to ethanol production. Dry ice suppliers have put their customers (us) on rations, which directly affects the amount of dry ice that we are able to source and use in each cooler to ensure products stay cold in transit. Additionally, Fedex is experiencing increased delays, almost exclusively to states with the longest transit times.
Historically, we have absorbed shipping costs ourselves in order to keep pricing down. We include a Handling Fee of $15.00 per order that covers the cost of the cooler, dry ice, packaging materials, and labor. Due to increased material costs, we must increase the Handling Fee by $2.00, from $15.00 to $17.00 per order.
In addition, in order to continue shipping to our six "West Coast" states with the farthest delivery times (CA, AZ, NV, UT, OR, and WA), we must upgrade our delivery method from Fedex Home Delivery (4 days transit) to Fedex 2-Day Express. Fedex Home Delivery is no longer a viable option for the West Coast due to the dry ice shortage and Fedex delays and damages, which are almost always covered by us. This will cut transit time in half, reduce dry ice usage, greatly reduce Fedex delays, and ensure that we can still ship to everyone. Consequently, we need to alter our pricing structure. Our six "West Coast" states will now be automatically upgraded to expedited shipping. In addition to the normal Handling Fee, a shipping surcharge of $30 (small cooler up to 12 lbs) will be charged for these states.
We have thought through several options and feel strongly that this is the best solution to be able to continue to do what we love, providing proper English and Irish products to customers all across the U.S. We thank you for your continued patronage, and we hope for better days ahead for us all.
Sincerely,
Oliver Balson
RJ Balson & Son USA, Inc.
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