Highlands/Island delivery excess - Inconsistancy, beware!

[russanros]

I know a lot of people like a day out in Glasgow from time to time, and usually combine going to the big shops with such a trip.

Just a 'heads up' about internet shopping though- I've managed to find places that dont inflict an excess charge on deliveries to here- yet some have like a 'blanket postcode excess' below suggests even if you live in Perth or Paisley main street you are going to get stung!

The following postcodes will incur an excess delivery charge PH, AB, DD, PA, IV, KW, ZE, HS and KA

There are also internet sites which list PA20- PA30 as surcharge areas, indiscriminately whether they are islands or not.

Don't wish to open a debate about buying things locally as I would always prefer to buy local if I can, even if that does cost a little extra . I'm more concerned about the inconsistancy of these surcharges.

There are plenty places which DON'T charge extra, buyer beware, would welcome any other views on the surcharges before a letter to MP/MSP comes on.

I'll start off with there is an excess to Campbeltown because everytime our van goes down there it needs a new tyre/shox because of the potholes

[EileenH]

I agree it's excessive. I went online to order a shed last week. Delivery was to be £5.95 which I thought was good. As soon as I entered my postcode it jumped to £50! The reason given was that we live in a remote area. My husband uses am transport for his deliveries from Glasgow. These are big car parts and the charges are nowhere near this. Maybe I should point these businesses to the am transport carrier. I'm sure they must lose a lot of business through those ridiculous charges.

[jdcarra]

I agree it's excessive. I went online to order a shed last week. Delivery was to be £5.95 which I thought was good. As soon as I entered my postcode it jumped to £50! The reason given was that we live in a remote area. My husband uses am transport for his deliveries from Glasgow. These are big car parts and the charges are nowhere near this. Maybe I should point these businesses to the am transport carrier. I'm sure they must lose a lot of business through those ridiculous charges.

Same here,but then i'm aquaint with it as i use diferent carriers when i get bits and pieces from all over the country. The Pa28 business is a rip off with some companies raking in a handsome profit.
I use AM Transport now and again and there charge for a small parcel comes in around £8.50 from Glasgow,may be a bit more depending on the size and weight.

[russanros]

Delivery was to be £5.95 which I thought was good. As soon as I entered my postcode it jumped to £50!

Ouch! thats a much bigger difference, the thing that prompted this rant was looking for an item on ebay, which came out £2 cheaper but had a £10 surharge, the one that was £2 dearer was " No excess charge to Highlands/Islands but certain areas may take 3 days rather than 2" which I thought was fair enough. - these were both ebay merchants rather than buying from private individuals.

I suppose my point if there is one is the cheapest is not always really the cheapest, Ebay is well known for postage rip offs so I was being extra careful, but I wonder if I would have noticed this if I was being less suspiscous, on a different internet site maybe?

[EileenH]

Most websites I've been on bump up the carriage the minute you enter your postcode. It's a rip off! My husband has a
Body shop and doesn't charge anywhere near this to his customers. On average, his charge for car parts coming from Glasgow ( 140 miles) is around £12. And that's for big parts! . It's almost as big a rip off as payment protection insurance!

[Tom B]

Try https://www.parcel2go.com.

The cost of a 9kg package from central belt to Nottingham has dropped from £40 to £15 in the past couple of years. Not sure how Kintyre fares, but might be worth a go.

[handyman2]

Yep, would agree with Tom B. Parcel2go are worth a go. Got two large parcels total weight of about 15kg from essex to here in 3 days for i think 41 pounds.

[howlsatthemoon]

Was on Debenhams website tonight looking at televisions, they were offering free delivery on all orders over £30, picked the one I liked, and got the following message " Free Supersaver Delivery Option available on all mainland deliveries"
went to checkout and they had added on £35 delivery charge, needless to say I did not carry on with the purchase.

Have fired off an email to them to see if they will honour their free delivery boast if not I will take my buisness elsewhere.

[russanros]

" Free Supersaver Delivery Option available on all mainland deliveries"

That's maybe one for trading standards then? - no matter how remote kintyre is it is definitely part of the mainland- however the Vikings would have liked to think otherwise!

[EileenH]

I have the best one yet. I recently had new heating installed and had to phone the company to pay for my thermal tank. Everyone else in the town who got this from the same company were charged £60. I was charged £207! And the delivery company dumped it in the middle of my drive without even coming to the door for a signature. Great service!!

[Crowth]

I enjoyed a small victory today concerning unreasonable delivery charges.

I tried to order a chainsaw from what appeared to be (and as it happens, turned out to be) a reputable dealer down south. The chainsaw was a couple of hundred quid and delivery was free. I noted the small print at this point: "with certain postcode exceptions". When I entered my address my order was suddenly subjected to a delivery charge of £15.48. Now, £15.48 is worth a good night out to me (I live in Carradale) and I wasn't prepared to be discriminated against because of my postcode. I halted the order and emailed the company saying that I wouldn't pay an unreasonable delivery charge based upon my postcode and that I would order the chainsaw from a competitor unless they were willing to waive it, all said in a polite manner, of course.

When I arrived home tonight a friendly email from the sales department of the company involved said " Please have free delivery on us, Merry Christmas".

I ordered the chainsaw straight away and emailed back saying "Thanks and Merry Christmas to you too!"

I really, really resent these excessive delivery charges and from now on I will apply the above tactic everytime. If the goods you are ordering are non-specialist then there is bound to be someone else, especially in these tough trading conditions, who is willing to supply without trying to make an extra buck or two from hidden charges. For the sake of a polite email you could easily save yourself a bob or two.

Anyway, I'm that chuffed I'll give the company some free advertising they are: http://www.thegreenreaper.co.uk/

[drollyin]

Well done Mr Crowth, it's always worth trying your luck.

I remember a few years back my mum & dad had hassle with a well known wee catalogue which sells tools etc.... something to do with fixing screws...... their name escapes me sorry

I can't remember if it was the delivery charge or the fact that they wouldn't deliver the mirrored wardrobe doors as they may get damaged in transit - they were trying to make out that we lived on an island - so mum's reply to the woman on the phone "Well! We're actually attached!"

Merry Christmas!!

[Stronvaar]

I do quite a bit of ordering large and small items and find that this postcode delivery charge discrimination is rife in companies. The best example I can give is of a table tennis table, advertised at £145 with free delivery from a company in Warrington, that rose to £225 when the postcode was added - Highlands & Islands exception! No chance!
I found the same table with a Bristol company for £152 + £5.50 delivery anywhere in the UK - guess who won? As a bonus, it was delivered within 5 days.
As far as I know, Warrington is around the Manchester area and is around 170 miles north of Bristol. How can these charges be justified?

[jowett63]

Yes many of the vendors on ebay have latched onto this as a way of supplementing their profit. I recently ordered and paid for a garden item and received an email from the seller asking me for a surcharge. I asked who their carrier was and they said parcelforce. I Checked the Parcelforce website and they do a 2 day delivery service for items under 30kg (which this was) for the same price anywhere in mainland Britain. Sufficeth to say I cancelled the order rather than be subject to this exploitation.

[Sweltered]

I remember being told more than 20 years ago that Kintyre is treated like an island for deliveries.