First of all, we would like to apologise to anybody that has placed an order with us over the last 4 weeks that was being delivered from one of our suppliers and are still waiting for their item(s) to arrive. We completely understand how frustrating it is to order something exciting, either for yourself or as a gift, only for you then not to receive it in the time you expected.
We therefore felt it was important to provide some information regarding the delays with products arriving from our EU suppliers. Like many industries, a lot of our stock is sourced from mainland Europe and issues surrounding BREXIT were always likely to create a few teething problems as companies try to adapt to a new way of doing thing. Once the trade deal was signed on the 30th of December, we were certainly relieved and also cautiously optimistic that deliveries would continue to flow freely and disruption would be kept to a minimum. Unfortunately it hasn't quite turned out like that, at least not at the moment! We're now over half way through January and the arrival of musical instruments and related products from the EU has pretty much ground to a halt. All of the major suppliers that are currently attempting to get shipments into the UK are experiencing problems.
Whilst this is probably neither the time nor the place to go off on a rant about the complexities of an UK-EU trade deal that was drafted less than a week before it was implemented, I think it's fair to say that most of the issues here are certainly not insurmountable, they simply stem from the fact that not enough people understood what needed to happen and those that did, didn't have enough time to implement the changes. We include manufacturers, distributors, retailers like ourselves and (the one we find most disappointing), the couriers. After all, these tend to be massive multi-national companies whose very purpose in life is to understand the complex nature of logistics.
Okay, now for a glimmer of good news. It would appear that we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. The biggest problem was always going to be making sure that everything that passed through UK Customs had all of the paperwork in perfect order and we're starting to get notification from our suppliers that this has now been achieved. One of the most frustrating parts of this whole debacle has been receiving notification that things are on the way, only find out that the entire consignment has been returned to sender as an i hasn't been dotted or a t remains uncrossed. This has led to us passing on info to customers that things on on their way, only to find out they've arrived back in Germany. We're not expecting everything to turn up in one go but we're hopeful that some things will start to arrive towards the end of this week. (W/C 18/01/2021). Once it does, rest assured we will be getting items out to customers as quickly as humanly possible. Thankfully we're no longer experiencing any noticeable delays with The Royal Mail and DPD are operating a normal service as usual.
Lastly, we just wanted to say thank-you for the patience and understanding shown from the overwhelming majority of customers that have been affected by these delays. We're a small business and we value each and every sale. We appreciate that our problems are a drop in the ocean compared to some but It's a difficult time for many at the moment regardless, and these additional stresses are not helpful.
Stay safe people.
Regards
Kev, Martin and the Rattle & Drum Team
Here are the brands that we are currently having issues with getting new stock* For more details on specific items, please contact us.
British Drum Company
DW
Gibraltar
Gretsch
Gold Tone
Islander Ukes
J.N Guitars
KEO Percussion
LP Percussion
Meinl
Nino
Ortega
PDP
Remo
Stagg
*Only relevant for items show as "In stock, delivered from supplier in X working days". All other items subject to normal delivery times.