I've said it before, and I guess I have to say it again, even though I know it's putting my head above the parapet to be shot off for saying what many of you will dislike. You know, we DO listen, guys. But in the end we have to base our business on facts. We've heard loud and clear that there's a bias against Fedex on this board in particular, which I'm guessing reflects a widespread attitude in the US (?). But here are the facts, which anyone can (and presumably will) dispute if they choose.

1. If we're asked to specifically, of course we'll ship by surface mail. BUT (a) this will often take weeks; (b) it's untrackable, so we have to insist that delivery is at the customer's risk, as it over-rides our preference.

2. Air Mail is not an option. It's also untrackable. Also, they have a 2kg limit, which is less than many kilts weigh, let alone packages. An outfit would have to split up into multiple shipments, which both costs more in shipping charges, and in the considerable extra admin & packing time. It also carries more risk of one part of an outfit going astray, which significantly increases the risk of an unhappy customer when they tell us their wedding or other event has been ruined.

3. However often you tell us Fedex is worse than UPS, DHL, or your own personal favourite whom you happen to have had a good experience with, the facts just don't bear this out. We've done the research, intensively. They work to exactly the same rules (as the UPS and DHL etc. reps have confirmed to us when we've invited them in sales meetings to give us a reason they'd have an edge over Fedex!) and statistically their intervention & charging rates are identical.

4. No, we cannot mark packages as "Gift". This is a criminal offence. You may find some shady business willing to break the law to do this in hope of saving a few bucks. But as I've said before, if they'll lie and conduct illegal activity in this way, good luck to you in getting honest advice, or indeed getting what you think you've paid for rather than a cheapskate substitute at full authentic prices, which we know to be a practice that's rife amongst the unscrupulous operators.

5. If you have your own shipping account with a carrier you believe to be 'better', we're happy to deliver that way instead.

So if you think we should be changing our carrier, give us good sound facts why. The unfortunate truth is that the US government puts up barriers to imports. (Insert politically astute reason here). We do everything we can to mitigate these (such as describing items by their most preferential, but still legal, classification codes.) But we can't change the law.

Finally, let me just remind you (again!) that the average import duties charged in these cases is still considerably lower than the 17.% VAT that European customers pay, and American customers don't. So you're still ahead!

Nick