Posted on

Seasons Greetings

well another rough tear for me on the home front but things are now getting on the level with a lot of the house problems under control and things becoming a little more steady

I have been beavering away in the workshop and the order book is now down from over 60 orders to about 30 so slowly getting there

I am going to leave the order approx time at around 16 weeks (for new orders I appreciate some people have been waiting far far longer than that ) so that I can try and get this down even more

Please also be aware this time of year can cause further delays with businesses shutting down and delayed postage times for goods both in and out

 

I am hoping If i work through most peoples Xmas break I will be able to have the list back in order for the new year and then I will start to promote the business again and push forward

 

I once again thank everyone for their patience with their orders and apologise for the extended delays a lot of you have faced

Rest assured once again I have never let anyone down with an order yet and dont intend to start now

 

Kind Regards

Daz

 

Posted on

Its Finally Happening … workshop move

After all the uncertainty in the last year its finally coming together

 

The workshop and home have been pretty much packed up since October 2016 making work and home life difficult then our buyer dropped out

However the new buyer has pulled through and we have a move Date of 15th June 2017

this has caused a little more chaos as the place we are buying only exchanged the end of last week  so we have very little time to pack whats left and tie everything up so I am flat out on that at the moment but still getting some items made

this should be the final disruption to the workbook I should be able to get a clear run after my trip to Serbia 21-26th June (I will be taking some work out with me)

 

then it should be plain sailing full steam ahead into the workbook and get things caught up

 

Again I thank everyone for their patience in what has been a very difficult year for me with lots of unforeseen things happening  and taking far too much of my time away from work

 

 

Posted on

Curren order book status

Firstly I would like to thank (again) everyone for their patience while life has been a bit of a maelstrom

really getting through them now

36 orders on the books 56 Items to make
making some real progress on the order book

barring one or 2 orders that I am waiting on items to come in for like the stainless steel handles / certain fur colours (wine red) and last min changes …. 12 foot to 20 foot bullwhip I am now working on orders from the end of April
so the list has come down considerably

Posted on

Waiting list update just to bring it to the top of the blog

So as you may know by now my life has been a little topsy turvey for the last few months which has affected the waiting list

 

I am now back to full speed and rest assured everyone who has been waiting on items will get them In fact I went and did a big leather suede and fur shop today to make sure everything in in ready

I am currently working on some orders that are well overdue but am aiming to make 5-10 items a week to clear these up

the order book currently has 57 orders in it with 83 items to be made  some of these items go back to the start of the year I am sad to say  but I am working through them very fast now  and am hoping to catch up to the  12-14 weeks by the end of this month

 

New Orders from this date 11/07/2016

I am trying to bring the waiting list down  so I shall be aiming for roughly a 12 week delivery from today

This is providing that noting major happens in my life  ( about time I had a break to be fair)

Please note that all delivery times are only approximations and not guarauntees as per out terms and conditions

 

Off the shelf

https://www.impact-toys.com/product-category/off-the-shelf/

Some people seem to be confused that custom order work is off the shelf because they pick “standard” colours and the item shows in stock  ..  the instock tag allows me to control what I can and cannot make due to supply problems, Basically its pretty somple if you pick your colours and options its a custom item … I dont keep the 3 million colour combinations in stock sorry to disapoint anyone

THE ONLY SECTION on the website that is not custom order os the off the shelf /ready to ship page

This is the only page that the waiting time does not apply, if you order from the custom order section something that is identically in the off the shelf note that someone can step in and take the item from the off the shelf section and you will have to wait for your item in the normal queue or not  (yes even if it is all black)  Please dont ask me to queue jump you or make it quickly because I cannot do it at the minute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Waiting List Update

I am getting an increasing number of emails asking about waiting times although I have tried to make this clear

 

the current waiting time is 12-14 weeks

 

Again life got in the way and I badly burnt one of my hands just before Xmas which meant I havent been able to make anything for about 3 weeks

 

My apologies for any extended delays on your orders Please be asured this was not my intention

 

Rest assured no one is forgotten and ALL orders are done in the order they come in but being hand crafted and not machine made also means If I suffer an injury or illness production stops…  one of the downsides of being human 🙁

 

I thank you ALL for your patience while I try to clear the back log

 

Rest assured you will get your items as quickly as I can get to them in the list

 

Thanks

 

Daz

 

Posted on

off the shelf/ ready to ship/ready made Vs custom orders

Ok there seems to be some growing confusion with people ordering things off the site thinking they are off the shelf items.

 

Basically I just want to clarify some things

 

95% of what is on this website is CUSTOM order I.E. you pick your colours you pick your embellishments you pay for your order (or dont if you want to pay nearer the time of it being made)

 

The ONLY items that are ready for immediate shipping not custom are in the READY TO SHIP section of the website

 

Any Item ordered from any other section goes into the custom order work book

the waiting list on custom orders at the time of writing this is 8-10 weeks there are currenty 38 orders in my workbook of some 50 odd items to be made

 

Please be assured all items are completed in the order they come in no one is forgotten however with humans there are always things that crop up such as illness etc .. the APPROXIMATE waiting time also factors in me having a few days off and making some stock items for the off the shelf section and for any markets I may attend over the coming months

 

Kind regards

 

Daz

Posted on 1 Comment

custom order waiting time reduction

Impact-Toys.comI am currently working on orders 8-10 weeks old

 

rainbow flogger 002

 

So the waiting time is coming down slowly I am hoping to have the custom order waiting time back to normal 6-8 weeks by the end of the month now that all the hospital appointments are out of the way and I have been discharged  and am back to full strength

 

your continued patience is appreciated whilst I get the custom order waiting time back under control

 

Kindest Regards

Daz

Posted on

The waiting list my arms and an update

As some of you may or may not know I was bitten by an insect of some description  about 6 weeks ago which led to me getting cellulitis and reactive arthritis in both my arms and legs which crippled me.  After an 8 day stint in hospital on IV antibiotics and morphine and then a further week of oral antibiotics when I got home I am happy to say it all cleared up. However a couple of weeks not using my arms left them very weak and I had no stamina.

 

This weel 18/05/2015 I am happy to say that I am back to plaiting 🙂

The workbook is severely delayed though I thank everyone for their patience with this everyone has been very understanding and I am going to be working flat out to catch it up.

 

The waiting list at the moment stands at about 12 weeks

 

remember you can order your whip on www.impact toys.com without paying a penny up front until you come up in the order book. All you have to do is place your order on the website and select pay by bank transfer. Then about a week or so before your whip is due to be made we will contact you for full payment that is all there is to it .

Now as with any business (and this is our full time business not a sideline hobby around our day jobs) cash flow is king and we like money in the bank and some people want to know that its already paid for and they dont have to worry about it later so anyone placing a custom order and paying for it in full at the time or order will receive a 5% discount simply by entering the discount code

advancepayment

(this code can be stacked with other codes so its an additional 5% on top of say a newsletter subscription code)

At the moment this only applies to whips while we trial it by whips we mean single tail snake signal and bull whips. This does not yet apply to custom floggers, dragon tails, etc.

HOW IT WORKS

once we have your unpaid order in the system it will be put in the workbook
a week before you whip is due to be made we will email you on the email address you provide at checkout (please ensure the following domains are added to your safe senders edgeplay.co.uk dswhips.co.uk inpact-toys.com as I am terrible at switching email accounts )

we will email you a couple of times during the week preceding your crafting slot. Please be aware we cannot hold slots open indefinitely and also that your order may need specific non stock colours of cord that take time to get in. If we do not get a response we will move onto the next order in the book and your slot will be put to the back of the queue you then have until your order comes back to the top to make contact if you dont your place will be lost and the space made available to the next person in the queue. We think this is a fair system as it takes into account people going on holiday and sickness and whatever life throws at people ( I know all about cars blowing up etc etc after last year)

Does it make you feel ooooh I can order a whip and not have money tied up for 6 weeks ..

Well we hope it makes you more confident in ordering you synthetic whips from us 🙂

If there is anything else we can do to help you with your purchase of one of our hand crafted toys please let us know we will do ALL we can to help

Posted on

Free International Shipping

yes you heard right free international shipping

a lot of people have said to me if only we did free shipping internationally well now you have your chance
just spend £60 on www.impact-toys.com and you will get free international shipping

(I think) lol well I am learning the back end of the website since its all down to me now
as a fail safe if it doesnt work you can add a coupon code freeship and that should take care of it (if it doesnt automatically deduct it will someone over the water let me know please)

obviously all UK orders have free shipping anyway

so what are you waiting for

 

limited time only

Posted on

Christmas Custom Orders

We know, it’s only October. Who want’s be to be thinking about Christmas this early? Not us! [Bah humbug]

However, in order to avoid disappointment in the coming months (and also to answer questions we’ve already been receiving via private message and e-mail) we wanted to put together a little Christmas FAQ for those who are considering ordering some toys for their loved ones.

Q1.) What is your Christmas waiting time?

We can’t say how many orders we will get for Christmas delivery, so we like to err on the side of caution and say that the waiting time for Christmas orders will be at least 8 weeks. However, barring unexpected floods and meteor collisions, we get everything made and sent before Christmas so don’t panic!

Q2.) When should I order for Christmas delivery?

In order to account for the number of orders we may receive and to avoid those last, unpredictable days of pre-Christmas post, we ask customers to ensure allcustom orders for Christmas delivery are submitted and paid for by mid October. Orders for Ready To Ship toys can be placed until a few days before Christmas,check here for the Royal Mail Christmas posting guide!

Q3.) I really want a custom toy for Christmas but I can’t pay for it until after the last order dates/I need it faster because I’m going abroad for Christmas/etc, what should I do?

Get in touch with us! If you have some special circumstances, let us know and we’ll do what we can to work around them.

Q4.) Do you offer guaranteed Christmas delivery?

No, we do not. We put the above guidelines into place in order to make the pre-Christmas period go as smoothly as possible. The vast majority of orders will arrive in time for Christmas – in fact, I can’t think of a single order that has missed Christmas. However, we are at the mercy of the postal service. UK orders are typically not a problem, but we can’t promise that an international order will not be held up in customs or delayed in transit. For this reason, we do not offer gift vouchers, refunds or other compensation for delayed Christmas deliveries. But as I said, we’ve have a lot of happy customers with kinky toys under their trees in years past!

Q5.) Do you have any Christmas discounts?

Yes! We’re running a pre-Christmas offer on matched pairs of singletail whips which equates to one whip HALF PRICE with code: santa1

https://www.impact-toys.com/product-category/whips/

The code now also applies to custom sets from this section of the website: https://www.impact-toys.com/product-category/custom-sets/

Any other questions? Let us know via e-mail (sales@impact-toys.com), Fetlife, Facebook or Tumblr, and we’ll add them to the list 🙂

Bad Santa!
The Boss at Christmas
Posted on

New Custom Whip Payment Option

As some of you may have noticed, I have been plaiting like a machine the last week or so.

I have had my reasons for this and I am happy to say I am at the point that I can now tell you about it!

When you start making whips and start with people paying up front for them, its a very hard cycle to break… well, I am about to break it. I am about 2 weeks away from totally finishing all my custom orders, if I can keep up the pace that I am currently plaiting at and nothing gets in the way. Some will be very pleased to hear this as it’s bringing their wait times down considerably.

One of the things that has always bugged me is that I got into this cycle of people having to pay up front weeks if not months in advance for their whips. So I am gong to do something about it.

From today you can order your whip on http://impact toys.com without paying a penny until you come up in the order book (currently 2-4 weeks away)

All you have to do is place your order on the website and opt to pay by bank transfer. Then about a week or so before your whip is due to be made we will contact you for full payment – that is all there is to it!

This brings us in line with payments options offered by other full time whipmakers.

Now, as with any business (and this is our full time business, not a sideline hobby around our day jobs) cash flow is very important and of course we like money in the bank, and some people like to know that thair order already paid for so they dont have to worry about it later. We’re not doing away ith the option to pay up front for those that wish to and we’re also offering a nice deal for those that do! Anyone placing a custom order for whips and paying for it in full at the time or order will receive a 5% discount on their payment simply by using the discount code: advancepayment

(this code can be stacked with other codes so its an additional 5% on top of say a newsletter subscription code)

At the moment this only applies to whips while we trial it as an option – by whips we mean single tail snake, signal and bull whips from our “Custom Paracord Whips” section.

So how is this going to work in practical terms?

Once we have your unpaid order in the system it will be put in the workbook. A week before you whip is due to be made we will email you on the email address you provide at checkout (please ensure the following domains are added to your safe senders: edgeplay.co.uk, dswhips.co.uk and impact-toys.com as I am terrible at switching email accounts!)

If we don’t hear from you we will email you a couple of times during the week preceding your crafting slot. Please be aware we cannot hold slots open indefinitely and also that your order may need specific non stock colours of cord that take time to get in. If we do not get a response we will move onto the next order in the book and your slot will be put to the back of the queue, you then have until your order comes back to the top to make contact. If you don’t get in touch your place will be lost and the space made available to the next person in the queue. We think this is a fair system as it takes into account people going on holiday and sickness and whatever life throws at people (I know all about cars blowing up etc etc after last year)

SO! How does this grab people? Do you think its a fair system? Does it need any tweaks? Does it make you feel “ooooh I can order a whip and not have money tied up for 6 weeks”?

Well, we hope it makes you more confident in ordering you synthetic whips from us -smiles-

If there is anything else we can do to help you with your purchase of one of our hand crafted toys please let us know and we will do ALL we can to help!

Posted on

Help, my parcel has not arrived!

So, you place an order with us and then wait excitedly for the parcel to arrive… but it doesn’t!

So what do you do?

Here our are tips for resolving any ‘missing items’ concerns:

1. Check the dispatch/waiting time

Depending on what you order, various products have different ‘lead times’ between ordering and dispatch. These are noted either on the products themselves or on the “Shipping & Waiting Times” page. Double check both the listings for the items you ordered and the waiting times page, to see if this accounts for the delay. Sometimes it’s a custom order item with a several week queue.

So you check the waiting time and are pretty sure your parcel should have arrived by now.

2. Check for a ‘sorry we missed you’ card

If the parcel has been dispatched, there is a chance that the Royal Mail or courier tried to deliver it and couldn’t get an answer at the door. In these cases, they should leave a “Sorry we missed you” card with details of how to claim the parcel.

No card? Next step…

3. Contact us!

If you’re sure you should have had your parcel and you are pretty sure that delivery was not attempted, get in touch! Our contact details are on our website and on our FetLife profile. If we still have the parcel for some reason (perhaps because we’re running over our custom waiting time) then we’ll let you know that it’s still in the queue to be made. We do endeavour to get in touch with all customers regarding significant delays to their orders, so if we’re overrunning the custom waiting time, chances are we’ve already spoken to you. We do occasionally find that our e-mails get routed through to ‘junk’ folders by the e-mail sorting cyber-monkeys, so if you’ve not heard from us and your order is delayed, make sure our sales@impact-toys address is set to ‘safe’ or added to your contact lists.

What happens if we’ve sent the parcel and it’s not arrived? We’ll check the parcel code to see if the Royal Mail or courier have an update on the parcel location, and advise accordingly. Sometimes parcels do get lost in the system, in which case we’ll discuss with you how to proceed. Please note that the time frame in which the Royal Mail and various couriers require to determine that a parcel is lost is often a few weeks, so there is a chance the parcel is delayed rather than lost. We’ll talk you through everything when you let us know your parcel hasn’t arrived.

If you follow these steps, we should be able to resolve any missing parcels problems and if appropriate, we will open a case with the postage company and re-send or refund your order.

Troubleshooting:

  • Help, I can’t get in contact with you!

We have several e-mail addresses, two phone numbers, several social network profiles and of course, our FetLife profile. We respond to all mails, texts and other communications that we receive. Sometimes your e-mail ends up in our spam filter, so it’s best to send it from a private e-mail account rather than a company/work one, as ‘commercial’ seeming e-mails are more likely to be filtered. It can take 24-48 hours for us to respond, depending on our workload and what we’re up to. We don’t always respond at the weekend either – sometimes we like time off too! But usually we’ll respond the same day. If you have not had a response within a few days, try again on a different platform.

  • Help, I can’t find your contact details!

Check our FetLife profile and our website. Our main e-mail address is sales@impact-toys.com

  • I need my parcel urgently/for a specific date/faster than expected.

If you know when you’ll need the item for before you order, please let us know so we can advise you on any anticipated delays. If you realise after you ordered that you need the parcel earlier then expected, get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.

  • I heard from a friend that they never got their order…

Sadly, this happens sometimes. People perhaps feel nervous about making a fuss so they don’t contact us, but they might tell their friends that the toys never arrived. Sometimes there are misunderstandings about the waiting times – we’ve had people ask about ‘missing parcels’ for custom work that was only ordered a few days earlier, or who have expected Amazon-style next-day delivery (yes, we have had someone place an order at 8pm and then ask they they didn’t receive it the next day!). Misunderstandings happen, but we can only rectify the situation if we know about it.

Thinking of placing an order but put off by what someone has said? Ask around! Check out the reviews page on our FetLife profile. Ask us how we handle different order problems. Let your friend know that they can contact us to find a solution to their missing parcel (or damaged parcel, or whatever the problem may be)

  • I want to make sure my order is sent out with tracking and insurance

No problem! For Impact-Toys, we offer two postage rates for UK customers. Our free postage is ‘signed for’ and insured up to £50. We also offer a tracked service that insures up to £500 of goods for just £4.50. For international customers our postage rates start at £9.50 and we ask that non-UK customers get in touch before ordering, to avoid disappointment regarding postage and shipping expectations. We regularly send parcels to the USA, Australia, mainland Europe and beyond. Check out our “Shipping & Waiting Times” pages on our website for more information.

Sadly, if you have already placed your order and we have dispatched it, we can’t change the service or add extra insurance.

  • We get a parcel returned due to non-delivery

If we get a parcel returned to us, usually due to a failed delivery attempt and then it not being claimed by the recipient, we will immediately get in touch with you to let you know your order is safe and to discuss how you wish to proceed. This has happened a few times, and we’ve been unable to get hold of the recipient. If you do change your contact details, especially your address, please let us know! If we can’t contact you, we can’t help you get your parcel.

Remember – we can only help you if we know there is a problem! Please get in touch if you have any concerns about your order, especially if it doesn’t turn up.