Customer Services

Ordering chocolate online with us couldn’t be simpler or safer. As you will see below we accept most major credit cards via our secure server software (see Security/Privacy below for further information) and once in checkout you will have the additional options to pay by BACS or cheque.

Order Chocolates by Phone

You can place a chocolate order at Chocolate Trading Company with an operator on 01625 508224 between the hours of 9.00am-5:30pm, Mon-Friday (excluding UK Bank Holidays & our company holidays). In the unlikely event all lines are busy, simply leave your name and contact number and we will phone back as soon as an operator becomes free. All calls are charged at your service provider’s rates.

Order Chocolates by Post

You can order online and choose to pay by cheque in checkout. Cheques will need 5 working days to clear. All chocolate orders by post with a cheque payment would add an additional 5 days to delivery option chosen.

Should you be lucky enough to receive a Discount Code this must be included in the space provided in your shopping basket window, or if ordering chocolate by post/fax in the space provided. A mistyped or invalid gift code will not be recognised so please make sure you type in the correct gift code so we are able to identify this. Please remember to click 'Apply discount'.

It is not possible to use a discount code against already discounted, sale, offer, bulk or wholesale items.

Receive approximately 1 point for every £1 spent on chocolates with a value of 1p per point.

Loyalty points are awarded to each online order and can be redeemed on following orders or banked. Once you have saved enough points it is then possible to make a chocolate order for free!

Please note that loyalty points are attached to a successfully completed order so if an order is amended or cancelled the loyalty points will also be re-calculated or cancelled.

Your collected loyalty points are displayed within your account once your order has been successfully dispatched. Simply click on 'Sign-in' at the top of any page to then access 'Your Account'.

• Please note there is no postal service on UK Bank holidays and they are not considered working days.
• UK deliveries are made by Royal Mail or DPD and if no one is at the address to accept and sign for a delivery a calling card will be left with a telephone number for you to arrange a re-delivery or collection from your local Royal Mail sorting office.
• You may find it useful to arrange your delivery to your place of work, family member or request a 'Safeplace' (telephone orders only using standard UK delivery)
• Delivery Costs are per order/delivery address and not per product so you can order as much chocolates as you like for the one delivery cost.

Delivery options

Available once continuing through checkout from your basket (specific to your particular orders total weight and chosen destination).

Free standard UK delivery on orders over £200.

Applies to all online orders for stock items only and to UK mainland. Delivery within 2-4 working days.

* Orders under 4kg are despatched with Royal Mail (2-4 working days). Orders over 4kg are despatched with DPD (1-3 working days). Total weights include delivery packaging.

Supersaver 3-5 Working Day Delivery UK £3.50 (orders under 500g only)

Un-tracked delivery within 3-5 working days from an order being received before 4pm on a working day. Please do not count the day of order, weekend or UK Bank holiday as delivery days.

Saver 1-3 Working Day delivery UK £3.95 (orders under 1kg)

Un-tracked delivery within 1-3 working days (90% delivered in 1 day) approximately from an order being received before 4pm on a working day. Please do not count the day of order, weekend or UK Bank holiday as delivery days.

Standard 2-4 Working Day Delivery UK from £4.95*

Tracked delivery within 2-4 working days approximately from an order being received before 4pm on a working day. Please do not count the day of order, weekend or UK Bank holiday as delivery days.

* Orders under 4kg are despatched with Royal Mail. Orders over 4kg are despatched with DPD at £6.95. Total weights include delivery packaging.

Next Working Day (UK Mainland only) from £5.95

Guaranteed delivery the following working day from a chocolate order being received before 4pm on a working day. Excluding UK Bank Holidays and Saturdays. Please do not count a weekend, or UK Bank holidays as working days.

Saturday guaranteed delivery (UK Mainland only) from £7.95

Guaranteed delivery by 1pm with Royal Mail from a chocolate order being received before 4pm on a working day. Excluding UK Bank Holidays. Orders over 2kg will be delivered by DPD and by 5.30pm at £9.95.Specified date UK mainland (Monday by 7.30pm) from £5.95

Specified date UK mainland (Monday by Noon) from £8.95

Guaranteed delivery on a Monday of your choice by Noon from a chocolate order being received before 4pm on any working day.

Excluding UK Bank Holidays.

Next Working Day (UK Highlands & Isles) from £7.95

Guaranteed delivery the following working day by 5.30pm from a chocolate order being received before 4pm on a working day.

Excluding UK Bank Holidays.

Next Working Day (Jersey & Guernsey) from £7.95

Guaranteed delivery the following working day by 5.30pm from a chocolate order being received before 4pm on a working day.

Excluding UK Bank Holidays. 

Specified Date Delivery (UK Mainland Only) FROM JUST £5.95!

This delivery option allows you to choose the exact future delivery date of your choice. UK Mainland only, Excluding UK Bank holidays.

Ship to Shop / Local Collect delivery (UK Mainland Only) FROM JUST £5.95!

This delivery option allows you to choose a convenient collection point, to collect your order in person. Most orders delivered next working day. UK Mainland only, Excluding UK Bank holidays. 'Ship to Shop' is operated by DPD, whilst 'Local Collect' is operated by Royal Mail.

Excluding UK Bank Holidays. 

Chocolate orders received after 4pm on a Friday will not be processed until the following Monday.

Secure Deliveries and Tracking

All chocolate orders require a signature upon delivery to ensure their secure arrival. A chocolate delivery will usually occur between 8am -5.30pm for residential delivery addresses and 9am-5.30pm for business addresses. Monday to Saturday. If it is not possible to accept and sign for the delivery at the address then a calling card will be left at the address advising of an attempted delivery and include a telephone number for you to call to arrange a re-delivery or for collection at your local Royal Mail or DPD re-delivery.

Should an item be returned because of a failed collection we can not be held responsible. No refund is possible due to the unknown holding conditions & temperatures that may possibly affect the quality of the chocolate.

We will deliver to the address as you enter it and cannot accept any liability for late or failed delivery if the address you provided is incorrect or incomplete. If you are not sure of the address you should check it. In the event that you select a business address, Chocolate Trading Company shall be deemed to have successfully delivered to its intended recipient by delivering it to the reception area at the business address and receiving a signed receipt of delivery from a duly authorised representative at that address.

We regret that we are unable to accept chocolate orders for delivery to an address containing a PO Box number, or from persons placing a chocolate order whose own address contains a PO Box number.

UK Highlands, Isles and Islands

Please be aware that some remote areas, including Cornwall, the highlands and islands of the UK may experience delays in deliveries, including next day deliveries. Postcodes within the Cornish, Highlands, Isles of Scotland and Northern Ireland DPD delivery zone;

• Scottish Highlands; AB31 - AB35, AB36 - AB38, AB41 - 54, AB55 - AB56, FK17 - FK21, IV, KW0 - KW14, PA20 - PA78, PH15 - PH18, PH19 - PH29, PH32 - PH33, PH45 - PH48.
• Scottish Islands; HS1 - HS9, IV, KA27 - KA28, KW15 - KW17, PA20 - PA78, PH30 - PH31, PH34- PH44, PH49 - PH99, ZE.
• Isle of Man, Scilly Isles: IM, TR21 - TR25.
• Cornwall; TR21 - TR25
• Northern Ireland: BT
• Channel Islands

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: We regret that we are no longer able to offer delivery outside of the UK.

If you are unsure of the above, or simply need clarification on a specific delivery destination, please either call us on 01625 508224 between the hours of 9.00am-5:30pm, Mon-Friday (excluding UK Bank Holidays & our company holidays). Or simply email enquiries@chocolatetradingco.com

Customs

It is possible that customs may impose additional import duties and charges to chocolate orders outside of the UK. This is unfortunately outside our control and as such you, the customer, will be responsible for any such charges. We reserve the right to refuse any international orders on the basis of a particular countries customs and prohibitions which do vary from time to time.

Customs stipulate that we must attach a copy invoice to all International Deliveries, delivered outside the UK, so that the contents and cost can be viewed without opening the delivery box.

Temperature Restrictions

We advise against chocolate deliveries to warmer countries and/or in summer months when temperatures are higher than that of the UK average summer (20 degrees centigrade). We have no control over temperatures during international chocolate deliveries and so we cannot accept responsibility or offer any guarantees. All customers are requested to check temperatures themselves and confirm by reply. We do not offer a refridgerated or cool box delivery as they still do not guarantee a consistent and exact temperature and we do not consider the excessive plastic packaging required for such shipments environmentally friendly.

Conditions for deliveries are that of UK deliveries above.

Your credit card information is encrypted which means that ONLY the receiver of the information (i.e. Chocolate Trading Co.) can read this information. To do this we use the industry standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) 128 bit encryption technology (when in use you will see the padlock at the bottom of the browser) which is the recognised standard for secure transactions.

We have the BT Trustwise Secure Server certificate which ensures the strongest encryption currently available used by all reputable e-commerce stores.

Please note that general email correspondence is not encrypted and is, therefore, not considered a secure means of sending credit card details.

Should you have any queries relating to either privacy or security you can email enquiries@chocolatetradingco.com or telephone 01625 508224.

Customer Privacy

Your details are confidential and you will never receive unsolicited mail as a result of ordering from Chocolate Trading Company. The only information we collect about you is as given when you register or order. This information is primarily requested to offer a full and efficient customer service but also is used to compile a database for mailing our catalogue and any special offers or promotions to our customers, and only of requested. It is our policy not to sell or pass any of this information to any other organisations. All information is collected lawfully and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

If you should have a complaint you can either email, phone or fax. We endeavor to respond to all complaints within 1 working day and resolve any such complaint within 5 working days. If for any reason we are unable to resolve a complaint within 5 working days we will inform you of this.

Our guarantee to our customers

• If your chocolate delivery arrives damaged you must advise us within 7 days and post them back to us within 30 days. We will send a replacement chocolate delivery within 7 working days or refund your money. This does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.
• Should you wish to return any chocolate item it would be most helpful if you could contact our Customer Services first. There are occasions when it may be unnecessary for you to be inconvenienced by sending a chocolate item back or practical to do so dependent on the type of product. Fragile, date sensitive products and sale items can not be returned if not faulty as they may not be suitable for re-sale.
• If for any reason a chocolate item you have ordered is out of stock we will contact you for your choice of replacement, the option to cancel the order or arrange a later chocolate delivery to include your original chosen chocolate item.
• You may cancel your chocolate order up to and within 14 days of delivery (commencing the day after goods have been received by the customer) in accordance with the Distance Selling Directive (2000). A refund will be made, excluding postage, within 14 days of cancellation. We request all items are returned at the customers cost. Returned chocolates must be in perfect condition and un-opened and be returned to us using a recorded delivery. Returned items must be checked by us on arrival to be in perfect condition for re-sale and any breakages or damages can not be refunded.

You must be over 18

Please note that our website is available only to individuals that can form legally binding contracts under applicable law. If you do not qualify, please refrain from using this website.

• All Chocolate Trading Company products may contain nut traces.
• All information and images on this website are for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may not distribute, modify or in any way re-use any of the sites content without permission from Chocolate Trading Company
• We do our best to ensure all information on this website is accurate and complete and accept no responsibility for errors made.
• Any links placed on this website to any third parties are not under the control of Chocolate Trading Company©. We will therefore not be held responsible for their content, views or business practices.
• We reserve the right to edit postings and terms used that we think may possibly be deemed offensive. By sending us your comments on this website you are agreeing to authorise Chocolate Trading Company to print, edit and distribute this material.