How do!
Just a quick message to say that we’ll be closed on Wednesday the 24th of March 2021 until the 26th of March 2021 for our annual stock take.
Any orders placed after 2pm Tuesday the 23rd March will not be processed until every nut and bolt has been counted!
Once we’ve taken our inventory then we shall start to process orders again as normal but obviously we’ll be a little bit behind so a little patience please as we catch back up.
**Update 5th May 2020
Still no huge changes, things are continuing to run as smoothly as can be expected under the circumstances.
Please note that as detailed below the “Warehouse Collection” option has been removed from the webshop and in its place is the option for an “Addition to Existing order”. This is only to be used to order additional items to add to an EXISTING ORDER. As this is being abused we are now automatically refunding any orders which don’t have an existing order to add the items to and applying a 5% fee. I’m afraid this is necessary due to the amount of time we have to spend creating credits at a time when we are already operating with a reduced staff, and the fact that Paypal now charge a fee for processing refunds
DO NOT SELECT THE “ADDITION TO EXISTING ORDER” OPTION UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EXISTING ORDER.
**Update 21st April 2020
The situation outlined below in most cases hasn’t changed too much.
We are still shipping most orders out same day.
However some courier services have applied a “Large Item Surcharge” especially for export orders as they try to keep the bulk of their orders moving.
At the same time, the Royal Mail are struggling with the volume at the moment with expected delivery times extending due to the sheer volume of packages. This is affecting UK and export package delivery times.
Many export packages are “stuck” in the UK export depots due to limited capacity of air freight.
Some areas are being served with road freight, which is obviously slower, but means packages are still moving.
We have removed the Royal Mail option to a few countries for the time being.
If your package is delayed we are asked by the Royal Mail to allow 14 working days before opening a claim. Most items are being delivered well before this time has passed.
We’re sure you appreciate the difficult situation for couriers and postal services at the moment, not only dealing with unprecedented amounts of packages but also trying to process them all at a time when they are working with fewer staff.
We’ll do everything we can to ship orders as quickly as humanly possible, but we can’t control what happens after it leaves us… we have faith in the services we use to do the same.
We know… your inbox is full of updates regarding the current worldwide situation. Ours is the same. We are getting a lot of enquiries though from the UK and the rest of the world so we’ve decided to make a post to address the most common couple of questions.
Yes, at the time of writing we are still “open”. Externally, it’s business as usual, all orders are being shipped and we are still receiving deliveries as normal from all our manufacturers and suppliers with very few delays.
There are delays in some areas with deliveries, either due to travel restrictions due to the spread of Covid-19, and some staffing issues for couriers and mail services due to isolation or illness. On the whole all the services we us are coping extremely well in difficult times.
Visitors… As you may already know, we closed the workshop completely last year and made the decision to concentrate on expanding the webshop. This is still going ahead with new stuff arriving all the time (we wont clutter this post up with news of those… it would seem a bit too much like ‘cashing in on a crisis’).
We also stopped any kind of counter sale service over a year ago, and all collection orders have had to be pre-ordered since then.
This means that we have reduced on site visitors to our premises already, not through any kind of foresight or planning for what’s happening at the moment I should add, I don’t think anyone could claim to have forseen the current situation, but it does mean we don’t have to take those steps to reduce face to face contact now.
*EDIT*
As of today 25th March 2020 we have removed the “Warehouse Collection” option.
Collection from our premises by the general public is no longer an option as it would not be classed as “Essential Travel”.
We have replaced it with a “Addition To Order” option for those who order and then need to add something.
When using this option, please drop us an email to let us know so we can do our best to combine the orders.
Like many businesses, we have members of staff with families ranging from the very young to the very old, and their health and needs are obviously at the top of our priorities list.
Whilst we’re not blessed with a huge amount of free space (It’s full of parts!) we do have enough to ensure working areas are far enough apart to make sure we’re not all on top of each other so in most areas we can observe the “2 metre” rule.
We’ve also discussed possibly running a “shift system” both to reduce the amount of contact we all have with each other and to help with childcare problems now the schools have closed. At the moment we don’t need to do that, but if we do it won’t have any effect on good leaving.
Another change is that we now have a barcode scanner system for order processing (we’re not quite Amazon yet though!) which means we dont have loads of different people using the computers one after another… again it’s a recent introduction we were planning anyway, and not something done in anticipation of the situation we are now in.
We are in the position that all our units are completely seperate from other businesses so we don’t have the worry of shared areas which may effect the way we operate through the coming weeks/months.
So… at the moment, we are all fit and healthy, we’re doing what we have always done, and for the forseeable future we are confident we will be able to continue to do so. We hope the same is true of all our friends, customers, and suppliers.
Obviously we will follow the advice of the relevant departments with any arrangements we need to make and changes we need to put in place, but at the moment, we’re alright
I know we’ve had a lot of comments from customers who are anticipating a year of cancelled camping trips and postponed holidays, and possibly widespread travel restrictions which for many of us who travel and use campers at every opportunity probably seems like a prison sentence hanging over us… but it won’t be forever and hopefully we’ll be well over the worst by the time the leaves start turning brown and ready for an Indian Summer to catch up on holidays 🙂
For the moment, the daffs are out and it actually feels like Spring… and there’s beer in the fridge… even if theres no Pasta or bloomin’ toilet roll in the cupboards!!
Stay safe!
A few years ago when these started becoming a problem we started offering a machined stainless steel bolt as a solution to worn/broken pins.
Times have moved on with the T3 now, and people are demanding parts that not only do the same job as the original, but look original too.
So, we’re now happy to offer these original style UJ pins for the T3 gear linkage from 1983 on.
They’re very close to the original style, and supplied in Yellow Zinc Plate just like the original.
We’ve been making up the HT lead sets for the early Waterboxer engines in house for some time, mainly because the available kits aren’t correct for the earlier engines. Either the wrong ends, or the wrong lengths, or the wrong resistance.
We’ve had to up our game a little though as keeping up with them has become a problem as we’ve got busier and busier over the years.
It also makes sense to have the later kits made too as the prices keep rising. Every little helps!
So, we are now having our own leads manufactured to our spec and with our own branding.
Same original spec. Same quality components. Just made in larger batches to save us time and save you money!
Webshop Link – Early
Webshop Link – Late
Due to the current popularity of the TDI conversion for T3 and even T4 models, we’re now keeping these VW Short Block Engines in stock.
Price to be confirmed… but expect them to be “sensible” especially for a VW unit 🙂
They’re supplied with Crank, Pistons, and intermediate shaft fitted… and even come with a sump (although you won’t need that for a T3).
They also have the piston protrusion checked and come with gaskets.
These are going to go quickly, we feel sure!
These are one of our most requested panels… and one that we’re almost always out of stock of when you need them most!
So we’ve just taken delivery of a pallet (actually a stillage!) of Genuine NOS side panels to try and make sure they’re in stock in the UK when needed.
We guess the popularity of restoring the LHD models is why these are so in demand, but as well as the Westfalias and Multivans they also fit RHD window models too!
And the best bit is that buying em like this spreads the shipping cost to get em here and makes em a bit cheaper for everybody 🙂
Afternoon!
UPS Been, Royal Mail collection imminent.
Busy re-stocking the shelves and getting parts booked in ready for the bank holiday.
To our foreign customers, Monday the 29th is a national holiday so we will be closed.
Usual rules apply, we’ll open on the 30th and attempt to play catch up and ship and much as we can.
Orders placed before 9am Monday have a pretty good chance of leaving on time, priority will go to UPS, then Royal Mail 24 then Royal Mail 48 followed by free shipping items like stickers etc.
If we get to print any more orders in the afternoon we will, we’ll do as much as we can to get as many orders out the door as possible but please remember it’s a bank holiday and we have an extra days worth of orders.
Stock levels pretty good on most parts, A sizeable delivery on Classic Parts items has just gone on the shelves, we are however awaiting a pretty big delivery from Denmark.
Full compliment of staff for Tuesday, so, as we say, we’ll do our best.
Go, go out in your vans, enjoy the sun, remember this may actually be our summer so make the best of it whilst it lasts! Please don’t break down in your vans!
Blimey Charlie, you lot have been a bit frivolous this weekend, we were expecting a quiet one this morning judging by what we read online as every man and his dog seems to have been out camping this weekend and not rolling around in their drive!
It’s like this. We’ve come in to work to a right pile of orders, a lot more than we were expecting.
We’ve also come in to a massive pile of emails too, more than we were expecting…
We started a bit earlier than usual and there will be more of us packing trying to clear the back log.
We’ll try and get as much out of the door today as we can on a first come first served basis. Orders in first take priority. If we get this lot clear (unlikely) then we’ll print some more off and keep packing for as long as we can, we want as much out of the way as we can the same as you want to receive your stuff but please understand we’ve got 4 days worth of orders to catch up with and it looks like you’ve been ordering a bit more on top!
Same goes for the emails, don’t expect a reply 10 minutes after sending an email today! we’ll work through them as fast as we can!
Luckily it looks like our neighbours and some other local businesses have been busy too as we’re fully stocked on used boxes! Got some nice big ones too for those flipping wheel arch liners…
How do.
Right, we’re done for Easter now.
Shut Friday (14th April)
Obviously shut over the weekend.
Shut Monday (17th April)
We’re back at work Tuesday (18th) morning ready to clear the bank holiday backlog.
We’ve tried to get as much stuff listed on the webshop that people are waiting for and also tried to get as many deliveries as we can booked in, we still have a few pallets of stuff to put away after the chaos of the stock take but it’s mostly back to normal now.
The first orders will leave Tuesday hopefully it should start trickling through to customers by Wednesday.
As you know, we come in on a morning and print all the orders and start packing, if we have time then we’ll print more as the day goes by but if the last few weekends orders are anything to go by then orders placed on Monday may not actually leave on Monday, we’ll do our best to fulfil orders using the first come first served basis.
Its April, that means another Brickwerks Birthday (12yrs old now… soon be a teenager!).
It also means the annual stock take will take place this coming week.
So, after around 3pm on TUESDAY APRIL 4th no orders will be shipped until Friday 7th April.
The webshop will still operate and take orders all through stock take – its our hardest working employee 😀 however no stock will be moved in our out until we’ve done counting. Everything!
We won’t be making any counter sales or picking any orders for collection after 3PM Tuesday either, so please bear that in mind if you’re local.
There are 5 of us now so whilst we have a load more stock to count and a whole extra building to deal with we aim to have it completed by close of play on Thursday.
It’s only once a year (thank god), and we’d rather not do it if we’re honest, but it sets any stock discrepancies right (which is a good thing!) and gives us a year end stock value for the accounts and insurance, so it’s necessary.
We also nearly always find cool stuff that we’ve forgotten about, so that’s another bonus.
Random picture of the new Panel Store…
