The “Red Zone” is the two weeks between Dec 10th and Dec 24th when the volume of gift card orders and queries reaches an annual peak.
During these two weeks, we receive up to 500 orders, 2,500 emails and 2000 calls per day. Because of that, clients will experience longer leadtimes and slower responses to queries.
Of course, we’d prefer to offer the same level of service 52 weeks of the year. However, due to the extreme volumes in the Red Zone, this is just not possible. During this time, we prioritise order processing over emails and calls, so we put every effort into ensuring that orders are processed as per our stated Red Zone lead-times below.
Red Zone – Order Leadtimes
Orders placed during Red Zone (Dec 10th – 24th)
| Card Type / Order Type | Standard Orders | Express Orders |
| Physical Cards (For non-Red Zone leadtimes click here) | 8 Business Days Day 1: Order Placed Day 2: Invoice Sent Day 3: Invoice Paid Day 4: Funds Received Day 5: Cards Loaded Day 6: Cards Dispatched Day 8: Cards Delivered Order Cut-Off for Dec 24th 2025 Delivery: Tuesday, Dec 16th. | 6 Business Days Day 1: Order Placed Day 1: Invoice Sent Day 2: Invoice Paid Day 3: Funds Received Day 3: Cards Loaded Day 4: Cards Dispatched Day 6: Cards Delivered Order Cut-Off for Dec 24th 2025 Delivery: Thursday, Dec 18th. |
| Digital+ Cards (For non-Red Zone leadtimes click here) | 5 Business Days Day 1: Order Placed Day 2: Invoice Sent Day 3: Invoice Paid Day 4: Funds Received Day 5: Cards Loaded Day 5: Cards Emailed Order Cut-Off for Dec 24th 2025 Delivery: Friday, Dec 19th. | 4 Business Days Day 1: Order Placed Day 1: Invoice Sent Day 2: Invoice Paid Day 3: Funds Received Day 4: Cards Loaded Day 4: Cards Emailed Order Cut-Off for Dec 24th 2025 Delivery: Saturday, Dec 20th. |
- Red Zone Business Days are Mon-Sat (Dec 10th – 24th).
- LEADTIMES ARE NOT GUARANTEED. Delays will occur if your order doesn’t pass our Client Security checks, if you change your order, if you delay full invoice payment, or pay into the incorrect IBAN.
Red Zone – Support Leadtimes
During Red Zone, customers will experience longer wait times and longer SLAs for support tickets than during standard operating times as detailed in the table here-
| Support Activity | Standard Operating | Red Zone |
| Call Answering | 80% of Calls Answered (during office hours) | 30% of Calls Answered (during office hours) |
| Email Response – Corporate | 1 hour response | 4 hour response |
| Email Response – Cardholder | 2 hour response | 24 hour response |
| Support Tickets – Corporate | Client Update every 48 hours until Resolution | Client Update every 72 hours until Resolution |
| Support Tickets – Cardholder | Customer Update every 48 hours until Resolution | Customer Update every 72 hours until Resolution |
| Replacement Card Requests | 10 working days | 20 working days |
| Cancellation & Refund Requests | 20 working days | 30 working days |
To avoid longer leadtimes and slower responses, we advise all clients to-
- Place your order before Dec 10th.
- Inform yourself about ordering, leadtimes and payment methods on our website before you place your order – use our Helper Helen, our AI Chatbot, to get fast, reliable information from our website
- Place your order once and make sure your order spreadsheet is right first time before you upload.
- Use the Customer Portal to track your order (a link will be emailed to you with your Order/Invoice Number).
- Only contact us in case of emergency, and do not send multiple emails or make multiple calls for the same query as it only further delays the response.
