It takes the banks time to process these transactions. While the originating account will be debited straight away it can take a day or more for the credit to appear in the destination account.
That wasn't the problem, their online customer service simply wasn't transferring on the refund to accounts, it took a phone call to get it there. They literally did it in hours and I had my money back on my credit card the following day.
Anyway, there's a handful of discounts out there right now:
1. Dublin Logs (and their local only mother store Kildare Logs) are offering discounts on a 2nd bag or crate for next few days
2. Boyles in Kilternan have some discounts but by far their best deals are if you can call instore - eg 80 euro for 11x good sized bags plus free kindling, 4x 5x30cm round pressed logs for 24
3. Eddies Solid Fuels in Baldoyle - 16% off if you buy more than a certain number of loose 10kg bags, they also stock olive
4. Jones Garden Centre in Donabate good for small batches if you are too far away from Kilternan in Dublin - they do 5x decent sized Birch bags for 40 euro, or 30 euro for 5x RUF logs for 30
5. Tom Phibbs in Wicklow has an online deal offering free delivery for Halloween on their website
6. Lidl seem to be stocking Surefire premium bags - don't know if they are same size as Surefire's own offering but they are only 5.99 and kiln dried. If your local Lidl doesn't leave if its firewood outside in the rain this is a good option
7. B&Q has some modest discounts at the moment on its offerings but unless its the plastic bagged variety, they are notorious for leaving their logs out in the rain to get destroyed, so check what your local branch does (I'm specifically referring to Swords Airside). They do have some stuff indoors and the Willow Warm broken briquette bags are a good deal at the moment at 2x bags for 20 euro
8. Woodies seem to be reselling deliveries identical to Staffords so assume Staffords is the delivery here - Coal (Magiflame) 20kg x15, WillowWarm willow Briquettes x20 Kiln Dried Kindling x5 for 399. Staffords themselves have a few deals - eg 349 for 1.2m crate which they say is 400kg, plus 2x bags each of willow warm briquettes plus 2x kindling
9. Ecofuel have mixed bundles but for what you get not great value.
Local suppliers are often the best but obvious vary as to quality - the heavier the logs, the more dense they tend to be and the longer they burn.
Oak seems to be in short supply right now, along with ash. Obviously storage is key so avoid anybody who isn't properly protecting their logs from the elements.
Either way, don't be tempted by what looks like a "great bargain" from Rathwood - everyone who has ordered from them since end of January has not had their order delivered and appears to be just having their order kicked back 4 weeks every month and sometimes more - hearing stories right now of people who were already delayed for months having their orders kicked back to December and January.
www.rathwood.com
