How to place an order and pay for it, plus FAQ.

We at Base camp are as 'old fashioned' as the products we support, however we offer more ways to order and ways to pay than any other business around today. Click here for our order form or click on the FAQ below to find the way that suits you best or answer a question.

1). How can I place an order?

2). How can I pay?

3). Why is there not a Website 'shopping cart'?

4). Why can orders take up to a week before they are sent?

5). If you are so busy why not get more staff?

6). Can I come and collect parts from you, do you have a shop?

How to place an order:-

A) By telephone, 10.00am to 5.30pm Mon - Frid, 01733 234333 in the UK, +44 1733 234333 overseas.

B) By e-mail to spares@base-camp.co.uk

C) By post, print off our order form here and send to:-

The Base Camp
Unit 16, Alfric Square
Maxwell Road
Woodston
Peterborough
PE2 7JP
UK

How to pay for an order:-

A) By credit or debit card over the telephone or Faxed order, 01733 234333 in the UK, +44 1733-234333 overseas.

B) By PayPal, telephone or e-mail your order to spares@base-camp.co.uk along with your PayPal account name. We will send a PayPal invoice for the goods total and correct shipping. You can then pay online through the PayPal system even if you do not have a PayPal account. 
Please note:- PayPal make a charge of 5% on the transaction total, this is added to the postage/packing cost

C) By cheque made out to 'Base Camp' or postal order print off our order form here and send with your cheque or postal order to the address above. Please make sure you have included the correct postage and that cheques are signed or your order may be delayed, check postage costs here!
Very small orders under £2.50, perhaps one wick or one washer plus postage, please do not send a cheque as the high cost charged to us to bank cheques will exceed the value of the order. You can however simply include first class stamps to the order total.

D) Overseas customers can pay by bank transfer direct into our Overseas Customer account which is in Euro currency. E-mail your order to spares@base-camp.co.uk along with your full address. We will reply with the goods total/correct shipping and account details for the transfer.
Why is there not a 'Shopping Cart'?
Base Camp hold around 5000 different stock items so you can enjoy old and new liquid fuelled lamps, stoves and heaters again. We also help customers with diverse problems fixing steam engines, garden implements, vintage cars or motorcycles and much more.
At present there is not a 'Shopping Cart' system that can handle 5000+ items weighing from a few grams to 10KG add them up and calculate correct shipping for both UK and overseas transactions. Were there such a system the cost to you, our customer, would be unacceptably high. The cost of supplying/manufacturing rare parts is already very high. To then charge every customer, no matter how they purchased from us, (even over the counter in our shop), a proportion of 'cart costs' we do not believe fair.
We are constantly looking for ways to provide an online service for everything we sell, not a halfway house where you can get half your order online and still have to telephone for the rest. If we find it you can be assured we will bring it to you as soon as we can.!

WARNING.......SOAPBOX FOLLOWS......
In today's World we are constantly encouraged to shop online, bank online, self checkout in the shops, use automated telephone 'services'. A person could go for a whole day and not talk to a 'real' person, is this the right way to 'progress'? Please telephone us, write to use, tell us about you treasured lamp, stove, whatever, we are real people who use these things ourselves regularly. 
Are we 'old fashioned', is how we do things 'old fashioned'? YES, and if that means we can continue to talk to you, our customers, then long may it continue!
Why can orders take up to a week before they are sent?
We are a very small business with dedicated staff, although most orders are sent one to two days after placing. we take hundreds of orders each week along with purchasing more stock. We also spend time sourcing parts or finding manufacturers to make parts for us. 
Some customers are unable to service and repair themselves and ask us to do it for them. A complete strip, rebuild and testing on a stove or lantern can take hours!
Often orders are quick and easy, the customer knows the model number of their item and the part numbers they need. However with some orders we have very little information to go on, researching the parts and cross referencing the numbers can take hours for just a small order. But this is what we are here for, to help the customer get the right parts.

With all the above going on and the number of orders in the system at any one time it can take up to three working days from receipt of an order to the point it is picked, packed and posted. 
We cannot send orders at weekends so orders placed towards the end of any week will be picked and packed during the following week. The second weekend could mean the order will not arrive with you until Monday or Tuesday of the week after.
If you are so busy why not get more staff?
If only we could...! Sadly the cost of more staff wages, National Insurance contributions, workplace legislation mean the cost is just too high. We could put up our prices to cover the cost and risk having less customers because of it.
Also it is almost impossible to find staff who are interested enough in old lamps, stoves and heaters to work here. Staff have to know exactly what they are doing to get orders right, even with the most experienced staff mistakes still happen, we are only human.!
Can I come and collect parts from you, do you have a shop?
Please note that since our move our walk in shop is closed to customers, we can serve customers at the door for cash or credit card purchases. To save time it is a good idea to phone us and we will have your order ready for you to collect.
We are still operating our mail order arm as normal. If you wish to order parts we can be contacted on 01733 234333 Monday to Friday 10am - 5.30pm. or you can e-mail us at spares@base-camp.co.uk
Stacked up in the warehouse we have hundreds of lamps, stoves heaters and ephemera along with renovated and untouched items for sale. If you would like to buy a working item let us know, we can find and fettle something ready for you.!

Last updated on 25/06/24

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