Packaging and returns
What arrives around the thing you ordered, what to do with it, and what happens to anything that comes back to us.
In the box
- Outer box
- Plain kraft card, widely recycled
- Void fill
- Shredded and honeycomb paper, no plastic pillows
- Tape
- Paper tape, so the box goes in the recycling as it is
- Fragile items
- Moulded pulp trays or corrugated wraps, both recyclable
- Textiles
- Compostable bags made from potato and corn starch
- Paperwork
- One delivery note. No catalogue, no flyers, no stickers
Packaging
Nothing you unpack should need a bin trip that is not the kerbside recycling. The box, the paper inside it and the tape holding it shut all go in together, without anyone having to peel anything off.
The one exception is the bag around textiles. It is made from potato and corn starch and it composts, but only in a food waste caddy or a hot home heap, not in the paper recycling. It is marked so you can tell it apart.
Boxes we reuse
Some orders go out in a box that has already been used once, from a delivery to us. It is checked for damage, the old labels are covered, and it is a slightly scruffier parcel than a new box would be. We think that is the right trade, and if you would rather have a new box, say so in the order notes and we will use one.
What we have not solved
Courier labels are still plastic-backed, because that is what the courier’s system prints. Some products arrive at us in polythene from the manufacturer, which we remove and recycle through a soft plastics scheme rather than sending on to you. We are working on both and would rather say so than round it up to plastic free.
Returns policy
You have 60 days from delivery to change your mind, well over the 14 days the Consumer Contracts Regulations require. Start a return by messaging us with the order number, and a tracked label comes back by email within one working day.
What we take back
- Anything unused and in a resaleable state, with or without the original packaging. Opening a box is not a reason to refuse a return.
- Beds, blankets, mats, harnesses, collars and leads that your animal has actually tried, as long as they have stayed indoors and can be washed or wiped clean. This is the point of a 60 day window on pet goods.
- Anything faulty, damaged in transit or not what you ordered, at any point in the window, with the return postage on us.
What we cannot take back
- Items chewed through, walked in mud, or shrunk in a hot wash. That is wear, not a fault.
- Opened grooming bars, opened cleaning refills and any feeding item that has had food in it, on hygiene grounds. Sealed and unopened is fine.
- Anything made or engraved to order, unless it is faulty.
Refunds
We refund within three working days of a return reaching us, to the card that paid for it. Your bank then takes another three to five days to show it. A change of mind return costs £3.50 for the label, taken off the refund. Faulty, damaged and wrong items cost nothing. If the whole order goes back within 14 days, the original delivery charge comes back too.
Where returns actually go
Anything unused goes back into stock. Anything used, clean and sound goes to a local rescue, which is where most returned beds and blankets end up. Anything that cannot be used again is stripped for parts we can reuse, and the rest is recycled where the material allows. Nothing is destroyed to protect a price, and nothing used is ever sold again as new.