£13 Day 2 Rapid Antigen Tests - Chronomics

njdnorfolk

Just followed the advice on ‘How to find the cheapest Covid tests for overseas travel’ and ordered my £13 test from Chronomics. Slight issue in that the dispatch date on the order is the day I’m due to arrive back in the UK which is a Saturday. ie Day 0. That means the earliest I might receive the test is Day 2 Monday. I want to do my test as soon as I arrive back in the UK on the Saturday. Guidelines state you can do the test anytime from Day 0 up until Day 2 and there’s no need to isolate until you get a negative result. Chronomics are saying dispatch date is fixed and based on travel dates and they can’t dispatch any earlier. I think they’re still using the old rules relating to isolation and PCR tests. I’ve raised the issue 3 times on their Contact Us link as they keep closing my request after responding. Can anyone get them to change this dispatch date rule????

emmajones1976

Thats odd, the 2 times I have used them under current rules (in Oct/Nov) the tests were sat on the doormat ready for us on our return.

Sandtree

Not if thats their standard process... why are you bothered about doing it early given you dont have to self isolate? You could always do a free NHS one on day 0 if you fancy and then do the official holiday return one on day 2 when it arrives.

If you want the personal touch and flexible service pay the £75 that small clinics are charging where an individual can do what you want and leave the £13 straight through automated solution to those happy with a fixed service for a cheap price.

njdnorfolk

My question is why does their standard process have to dispatch on the day of arrival in UK? If there’s no need to isolate, surely it can be dispatched when the order has been received?

jimi_man

I imagine because they've been caught out too many times with rule changes and thus want to avoid refunds when they do?

njdnorfolk

I didn't think about the refund angle. Even if they dispatched 48 hours before the arrival date into the UK, then travellers will be able to choose when to do their tests. I just think the earlier you do the test the better then you know if you're positive and can isolate straight away. 

Butts

njdnorfolk said:

My question is why does their standard process have to dispatch on the day of arrival in UK? If there’s no need to isolate, surely it can be dispatched when the order has been received?

Last time I used them coming back from Turkey in December they had said my test would be despatched when I returned on the 19th.

However it was already waiting for me when I got back and had been there for a couple of days.

You may experience the same ?

njdnorfolk

Well that's good to know. Thank you for all your feedback! 😊

TheShape

I'll add that my tests from Chronomics when I visited Rhodes in November were due to dispatch on the Saturday (my return date) but were delivered on the Friday (the day before my return).

Sandtree

njdnorfolk said:

My question is why does their standard process have to dispatch on the day of arrival in UK? If there’s no need to isolate, surely it can be dispatched when the order has been received?

They've a process that works that aims to send it by the day you arrive. To make the commitment to be sent 2 working days before you arrive then they need to vastly increase their through put for several days to clear the concertina effect that would have on orders and clearly as a company selling on price they havent predicted a significant enough uplift in sales to justify the effort to change the proposition. 

qwert10

Can I please ask a question about this company? Do they supply the code for passenger locator form as it isn't mentioned on the MSE link when the test is £13 but on the normal website for £15 it is mentioned. Anybody know?