FREE DELIVERY WORTH £4.99 WHEN YOU SPEND OVER £30. AUTO APPLIED AT CHECKOUT!

Delivery & Returns

The preferred delivery date you chose at checkout is shown below your billing address on your order confirmation. 

Due to the volume of orders both ourselves and our couriers are handling at the moment, your order may arrive 1-3 days either side of your preferred date. Rest assured that the products are not in transit for an extended time. We appreciate your understanding. 

We will let you know when we prepare your order.

If your delivery is with DPD, you will be able to track it's progress from when they pick up from us. The DPD collection occurs after the order is packed, typically on the same day. Please bear in mind that your tracking number will not become fully active until the cheese is in transit. Once the order is in transit, it is the customer responsibility to keep an eye on delivery notifications, for ease we ask that you provide a mobile number so you receive these via text. If you foresee any issues with your delivery, please either call 01462 454 162 or email social@thelittlede.li as a first port of call, we are preferred DPD customers and can access live information on your behalf through their customer service team.

Please keep a 2m distance from delivery drivers at all times. As a precaution, both DPD & our drivers are offering safe place/no signature required delivery only. For both yours and their own personal safety, many drivers do not ring doorbells or knock. Please keep an eye out for your order within the delivery window provided. We cannot accept responsibility for goods lost or stolen after delivery.

Our The Little Deli Dairy vans currently have less deliveries and collections to make as result of the temporary closure of many of our restaurant and wholesale customers, and the decreased volumes of cheese we are thus handling. We have re-deployed these drivers to carry out some of our London deliveries. If your delivery is coming with one of our own drivers, we will let you know via email the day before your order dispatches. Our driving team have refrigerated vans, so your cheese will arrive with less packaging. If your delivery is coming with one of our The Little Deli Dairy drivers, we don’t offer live tracking. If you need an update, simply please either call 01462 454 162 or email social@thelittlede.li and we’ll happily get in touch with the driver for you.

If you are self isolating, or unable to come to the door to receive the delivery, please leave a note on your door with details of your preferred safe place. 

Due to the high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic the premium delivery service will aim for delivery before 2pm instead of 12pm. Even with premium delivery, we cannot guarantee delivery dates or times, please bear this in mind before choosing to upgrade. 

When to order

You can order online in advance and choose a day you’d prefer your cheese to arrive. Typically we accept orders for next day delivery up to 12 noon the day before, although during peak times lead times can extend to up to 48 hours prior to delivery. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, we are operating as in peak until further notice. If you are ordering cheese for a special occasion, be sure to select a preferred delivery date a day or two before your event in case of courier delays. For example, if your event is over the weekend, it is best to choose Wednesday as the estimated delivery day. At all times please bear in mind the information relating to preferred delivery days below.

Preferred delivery day

As we use third party couriers (typically DPD) we unfortunately cannot guarantee the arrival day of your order. We ask that you let us know when you would prefer the cheese to arrive and assure you that we will do our best to ensure that it arrives as close to then as possible.

Packaging

We will send your cheese in one of our The Little Deli cardboard boxes, insulated with coolpacks and Opus Bio biodegradable cushions. We don’t offer gift wrapping, but we think our boxes are rather handsome. You can see an example here. When the weather is warm, we will also include extra ice packs, which will melt in transit to help ensure the produce stays cool for as long as possible. We do not deliver in refrigerated vans.

Tracking my order

You will receive a tracking email and text message notification from the courier when your cheese is collected from us. You can follow the progress of your order via the link in this notification and choose your safe place. In the morning of the day your cheese is due to arrive you will receive another notification with a one hour window slot for your delivery.

We will be keeping an eye on our deliveries. If you spot an issue with your order, please contact us and we will be happy to follow up with the courier on your behalf.

How do DPD options work?

The range of DPD options available to you is specific to your delivery address. Not all the options mentioned here are available nationwide. As we are sending cheese, a perishable item, we consider the options listed as 1, 2 and 3 below as the most suitable for our products. Please note that all of these options are actionable after the cheese has left us. If you have any questions or issues with your delivery, it is best to contact us as a first point of call. We cannot take responsibility for any changes you may make to your delivery address or date through the DPD app, as these changes automatically cause delays.

  1. If you choose “deliver to a safe place” you will need to specify the safe place and leave delivery instructions for the driver. You will need to accept full responsibility for parcels that are left in the safe place. In most instances the parcel will be left in the safe place on the scheduled delivery day. If you suggest a safe place which the driver deems to be unsafe (e.g. on a doorstep on a busy high street) or which is difficult to understand (e.g. hide behind the folly) they may reject your instructions and attempt to deliver the following day.

    2. If you choose to have your order delivered to your neighbour, you will need to choose the specific neighbour from an address dropdown. If your preferred neighbour’s address is not listed, it is considered too far away for DPD to drop to. Delivery to your neighbour usually happens on the same day as the delivery was initially scheduled for, but this is not guaranteed.

    3. If you choose to have your order redelivered to a pickup shop, the order will go back to the depot, and be sent to the shop for pick up the following day. If your chosen pickup shop is full, your order may be taken to an alternative pickup shop further away. We advise you to keep this in mind when making this change.

    4. If you change the delivery day the order will be held by DPD (in a warehouse) until the delivery day that you have chosen. We strongly advise customers against choosing this option.

When the delivery arrives

Unpack the produce from its box. In the unlikely event of a problem, please contact us immediately.

Standard delivery

Standard delivery orders should arrive between 7AM and 7PM on your preferred delivery date and costs are listed below. During peak times, for example in the run up to Christmas, these hours are extended. If you live in a remote rural area, or in the Scottish Highlands, delivery may take 2 days from dispatch.

Pre-12 delivery

Orders sent on a pre-12 delivery service should arrive between 7am and midday on your preferred delivery date and costs are listed below. If you live in a remote rural location this service may not be offered in your area. If you are unsure, please check with us before placing your order.

***Due to the high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic our priority service will aim for delivery before 2pm instead of 12pm. Even with pre-12 delivery, we cannot guarantee delivery dates or times, please bear this in mind before choosing to upgrade. 

Deliveries to the Republic of Ireland

If you would like to place an order for delivery to the Republic of Ireland, please contact us, either call 01462 454 162 or email social@thelittlede.li and we will be happy to help you.

If your order is delayed

In the unlikely event that something goes wrong with your delivery, please let us know as soon as you are aware of the issue. We will be happy to follow up directly with the courier on your behalf.

Returns

We don’t accept returns of cheese products or other perishable goods. The only products in our online shop which we can accept returns of are our cloth bags. For more information, visit our terms and conditions page. In the unlikely event that there is a quality concern around your cheese we may ask you to send us some photos to help us better understand the issue.

Order online – collect in our shops

We have a Click & Collect feature that allows you to place your order online in advance and choose a day you’d like to collect your cheese from one of our shops. Typically we accept orders for next day collection up to 12 midday the day before, although during peak times lead times can extend to up to 48 hours prior. 

Delivery charges

The below is a guide. Please enter your postcode on the checkout page for more precise delivery charges and confirmation of the service available in your area. The postcodes detailed below are changed dynamically by our couriers. 

Collection from one of our shops is free

Zone 1: Most of the UK.  

Express Delivery: £8.95/£3.96 on orders over £30 

Standard Delivery: £4.99/Free on orders over £30 

Premium Delivery (pre 12): £20.00/£12.00 on orders over £30/Free on orders over £150.00  

Zone 2:  Applies to the following postcodes: AB, FK, HS, IV, KA, some KW postcodes, PA, PH, ZE and BT. 

Standard Delivery: £18.00/Free on orders over £150.00.  

UK postcodes beginning the following: HS, some KW, TR, JE, IM and GY. Republic of Ireland, Mainland Europe & rest of World:

The Little Deli exports extensively throughout Europe and the rest of the world, so please either call 01462 454 162 or email social@thelittlede.li for individual stockist’s details.