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Frequently Asked Questions

We're here to help! If your question isn't answered here please contact us.

When can I expect to receive my order?

The estimated shipping time for your order will be provided at the time of purchase. However, we kindly request that you allow the following duration for delivery before inquiring about your order:

Inland UK: 5-7 working days

Overseas EU: 5-8 working days

Overseas ROW: 15-23 working days

I haven't received my order yet. What steps should I take?

UK Orders

Please be aware that our courier for UK orders does not operate on weekends or bank holidays. If your order has not arrived within 3-5 working days, please don't hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.

International Orders

For international deliveries, please allow up to a maximum of 6 weeks from the date of dispatch for your order to arrive, as delays can occur due to various reasons. However, if you have been notified of any issues with your order, please don't hesitate to contact us.

For information regarding potential delivery delays and disruptions in international countries, please visit the following link: https://www.whistl.co.uk/coronavirus-international-delivery-update

When I update the order to my country, it shows you are unable to deliver. What does this indicate?

Certain destinations are currently under embargo, indicating either a ban that prevents us from shipping to the country from the UK, or our inability to currently find a suitable carrier for that specific destination.

Does this site have a secure server for credit card transactions?

Our website uses a payment gateway operated by SagePay (now known as Opayo), a market leader in online transactions. All transactions are handle by their secure online framework. Taking advantage of the highest online standards of security and encryption, you can be sure that we take your online safety and privacy seriously. We also accept payment by PayPal as part of our checkout process. With PayPal, you can either pay using your account, or using a separate payment card, even without an account. This is in addition to the payment options we offer through SagePay (Opayo).

What is your company's returns policy?

All customers purchasing physical goods (e.g. printed books) from Helion have a 14 day 'cooling-off' period in which you can change your mind (for any reason), cancel your order and then have a further 14 days to return the goods to us. The 'cooling-off' period starts the day after you receive the goods from us. Notification that you wish to cancel and return goods to us must be received via email, letter or fax; a phone call is not sufficient. When returning goods to us please obtain proof of posting or send via an insured method of shipping. We will issue a refund within 30 days of receiving your cancellation notice. We will not refund the cost of originally posting the item to you, nor that incurred by you in returning the item to us. We request that every care is taken in packaging the goods as well as possible so that they reach us in best condition.

Digital products (e.g eBooks) can no longer be cancelled once you have downloaded them, but can be cancelled in a similar way to physical goods (above) if they have not yet been downloaded.

Returning damaged items

Should you receive items from Helion which reach you in a damaged condition, please let us know as soon as possible after receipt and we will do our best to resolve the issue for you. You are entitled to return them for a full refund, or a like-for-like replacement.

What is a wish list?

The wish list facility allows you to add items to your basket but buy them at a later date. Alternatively, you can use it is a notepad to retain items you may want to refer to, but not buy.

Delivery to EU – VAT, Customs and other charges

Since 1st January 2021, the UK has no longer been a member of the EU. This means that deliveries to EU countries are now subject to the receiving EU country’s rules and regulations for purchases from outside the EU. This is similar to what has always been the case for buying goods from, say, USA.

The EU has further changed its regulations from 1st July 2021, bringing more, smaller purchases within their VAT regulations and making them subject to charges.

The effect of this is that buyers of UK goods may now have to pay VAT, Customs duties and a handling charge imposed by the buyer’s country’s postal service. Previously, none of these charges would have been applicable. Goods passing through the buyer’s country’s Customs in this way may also be delivered more slowly.

There is a new mechanism – the EU VAT One Stop Shop (OSS) – that is intended to let sellers from outside the EU charge VAT according to the rates in the buyer’s country when goods are purchased. This requires the seller to store and charge different VAT rates for each country they are selling to in the EU. There are other bureaucratic steps necessary, as well as modifying websites, to enable this.

An alternative is for the UK seller to have an agent/distributor in any EU country, from whom all EU purchases would be made by buyers. As this would be inside the EU, external charges would not apply, although the buyer’s country’s VAT rate probably would apply.

Helion is investigating both of the above options – OSS and an EU distributor – but it will take some time to get any arrangements put in place. There are currently substantial delays in getting the OSS set up, both on the UK and EU sides, and an agent/distributor is a long-term business partnership that cannot be put in place overnight. As a relatively small business, Helion does not have the resources to focus purely on this issue in the short term.

Quite a lot of UK sellers have ceased supplying to EU countries altogether. Helion does not intend to do this, but buyers should be aware that their own country may well charge them VAT, Customs duties and a handling fee from now on for purchases from Helion.

Contact Us

Helion & Company
Unit 8, Amherst Business Centre
Budbrooke Road
Warwick
CV34 5WE

01926 499619

info@helion.co.uk

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