Holiday Delivery FAQs - 2011-2012 For the busy Holiday Season we've provided below the following guidelines that will help ensure our usual level of service extends through all your gift giving. Same Day Orders Call us, we'll do our best, but same day orders can't be guaranteed and may incur an additional $20.00 "Rush" courier charge. Same Day Rush orders are only available in the City of Vancouver and only if our courier is able to provide the service. Please note: Weather conditions are beyond our control. If our same-day and overnight couriers are unable to deliver your gift due to weather conditions or the recipient is not there to receive the gift, there really isn't anything we can do to ensure your gift arrives when you'd really like it to get there. Order early and allow for the possibility of weather delays to ensure your gift is delivered when you want it to arrive. Orders to US Destinations Monday, December 12, 2011 – The last day to place an order for US delivery. Although we do our best to send US-bound gifts out as quickly as possible we're unable to guarantee the arrival date of any US deliveries. We can give you an estimated delivery date, but weather conditions and potential US Homeland Security inspections can affect when your gift is received. Please allow plenty of lead time for US-bound gifts – US customs can take time to process shipments. If customs or duty charges are incurred for US shipments they will be billed back to you. Please note that these charges can be hefty. We do our best to ship your US-bound gifts so they don't incur these charges, but if duty is assessed, we're invoiced by the Customs Broker and are unable to avoid putting the additional charges through on your credit card. Gift baskets sent to the United States are subject to the US government's Bio Terrorism Act and The Food and Drug Administration's Prior Notice policies. We add an additional $7.50 fee per gift basket to our shipping charges to compensate for the additional time required for us to complete the Prior Notice and Commercial Invoice documentation that must accompany each US-destined gift basket shipment. Last Orders – Canadian Destinations Please note: These dates have been chosen to enable us to turn around your order and get it on its way within 48 hours. You're welcome to order after these dates for any destination; however you risk your gift not arriving in time for Christmas. Also, keep in mind the possibility of weather and other delays which may affect the arrival of your gift. We do our best, but the weather is out of our control! Tuesday, December 13 - Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes Thursday, December 15 - Saskatchewan and Manitoba Monday, December 19 - Alberta and British Columbia Last Orders – Overseas Destinations Wednesday, December 7 - last day to place an order for overseas Air Express delivery. Please note that a parcel sent by air overseas weighing less than 2 Kg (4.4 lbs) will cost at least $50.00+ plus fuel surcharge. Until we take your package to Canada Post we won't know the delivery charges applicable to your shipment. If you want your parcel tracked, expect to pay substantially more, even for small packages. We use Canada Post's International Air Parcel service for all overseas shipments because it's both cost and time effective. We cannot guarantee the arrival of your package due to the nature of international shipments. Holiday Closures We will be closed from 4:30pm, Thursday, December 22, re-opening Tuesday, January 3, 2012. Any shipping issues that arise after we're closed will be resolved as soon as possible in the New Year. Holiday Hours Our phone lines will be 9am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. For personal shopping, we'll be open from 11am to 4:30pm. Closed Saturday and Sunday (except by appointment) If we're on the phone or busy, please leave a detailed voice mail and we'll return your call as quickly as possible. Perishable Items We do not stock cheese or fresh fruit. During the busy holiday season we're unable to include these items in your gifts because of the additional time it takes to shop for these items. During the winter we may make substitutions (beverages, products in glass jars) if we're concerned about certain products shipping and freezing in bad weather. If you request an item be shipped that we've recommended not be shipping, including wine, we can't assume the liability for a bottle that freezes during shipment. Deliveries to Residential Addresses Whenever possible please provide a business address for delivery of your personal gift. Successful deliveries to residential addresses really depend on the person being home. We're unable to guarantee a specific delivery time, unless you're willing to specify the delivery must be made either before 9am or 10:30am. Additional charges will apply for earlier, guaranteed delivery times. Of course, these delivery times are also subject to winter weather conditions. An additional $3.50 charge applies for each residential delivery, because we're charged extra by our courier company for these deliveries. If the recipient is not home, the package will be redirected to the courier's closest depot. The courier will try to contact the gift recipient to reschedule the delivery to ask them to come to the depot and pick up their gift. Business Days – What Do They Mean During the Holiday Season? We've tried to indicate the number of business days it may take for your gift to arrive and be received by the recipient. Year round, Saturday and Sunday are not business days. During the 2011 holiday season, December 24 through December 27 and January 1 and 2 will not be business days, which means no deliveries will take place on these days. We've found it's not a good idea to count on deliveries on Friday, December 23 either. For example if we've advised it will take "four business days" for to arrive and it's sent out on a Thursday, assume, barring any difficulties related to weather or your recipient not being there to receive the gift, that your gift will arrive Wednesday of the following week. Tracking Your Gifts Due to the volume of gifts we send for delivery during the holiday season if it's really important for you to know when your gift has arrived, please ask in advance that we include your email address when the gift is shipped. (Please note that this only applies to our Purolator courier shipments and some Canada Post overseas shipments.) Our Vancouver-based local courier company generally lets us know when they've been unable to deliver a gift. Otherwise, we'll try to provide tracking details as soon as we have time. Please give us at least 24 or more hours to get back to you. Redirection Fee Please ensure you provide complete and current addresses, including phone numbers. If our courier company is unable to deliver to the address you provide, or the package must be re-directed, we're charged extra. We have no choice but to bill you for the re-direct charges we receive. Your credit card will be charged an additional $12.00 plus the applicable for each re-direct. We look forward to working with you to provide elegant, delicious gifts this holiday season.   We'd love to hear from you! Phone: 604.736.2510, or toll-free: 1.866.736.2510