View Full Version : Delivery costs
Hibeechick
27-Nov-06, 10:36
Does it annoy anyone else that we have to pay extra for delivery because we are in the highlands? I just got an invoice with a delivery, detailed for delivery it says "Out of British Isles Delivery". Ive phoned the company and they said its because of how far north we are. If I was to send something by courier to lands end I bet it wouldnt cost any extra because it was that far south?
Isn't there anything that can be done about this?
I think this is because of the KW post code that Caithness has, the doonsoothers think this is an Orkney post code, I have no idea how we can educate them.
Humerous Vegetable
27-Nov-06, 10:43
I think it's got something to do with the KW postcode - company databases have that as an Orkney postcode and charge offshore island rates. I asked Royal Mail a couple of years ago whether they would change it for a Caithness one but they said it would be too difficult (why?)
Hibeechick
27-Nov-06, 10:53
I did phone the company who sent the item and told them that I was on UK and shouldn't have encountered any extra charges. She told me that It was the courier service they used that charged more for these area's. Maybe I should phone the courier company and let them know my thoughts!
I too get really mad at this charging extra because of where I live. I telephoned one company to be told that they used parcelforce and because they ( parcelforce) then subcontracted delivery out to the post office up here there was an extra charge.
To get round this with some companies I never say on their little tick box things (technical I know) that I live in the Highlands and Islands only that I am Mainland seems to have worked so far and saved me a lot of money.
alot of it is to do with the postcode KW. When i first moved down here i worked for direct wines(laithwaites) and in the training we went over delivery times, costs etc.. and i made sure the trainer knew not all KW postcodes are offshore.
He couldnt do anything about the cost or time, but at least they now know not to say "well as you are off the mainland"..
I've encountered this a few times and always fight it - even got one company to say they would change their database but don't know if they did. One had Inverness as offshore - very ignorant.[disgust]
I went to order some toys on line for the grandchildren. The cost for delivery would have normally been £5.00 but when I entered the postcode it changed to £10.00 extra for delivery. What a cheek !!! Needless to say I cancelled the order.!!!
Does it annoy anyone else that we have to pay extra for delivery because we are in the highlands? I just got an invoice with a delivery, detailed for delivery it says "Out of British Isles Delivery". Ive phoned the company and they said its because of how far north we are. If I was to send something by courier to lands end I bet it wouldnt cost any extra because it was that far south?
Isn't there anything that can be done about this?
You are not alone let me tell you!! I live just north of Dundee, and Screwfix direct claim free UK mainland delivery, but they have Angus down as remote / offshore and try to charge for delivery!! I used to stay in Caithness, and frankly used to often get quicker and cheaper service there. Do these companies actually know where Caithness (or anything North of Hadrian's Wall) actually is? We should vote with our feet and shop elsewhere, although in Caithness you are seriously short of shopping options!!
I had this problem a few times with Ebuyer when i lived in Lybster .They told me my address was offshore and there would be a £15 charge. But i could get it delivered to my mother inlaws in wick for the normal price i could not seem to get them to understand that they would have to pass the top of my road to get to wick.
Got trading standards involved in the end .
mums angels
27-Nov-06, 15:26
I had this problem on friday, i bought an item of ebay and paid P & P of £6 and then received an email to say that it was going to cost an extra £8 due to my postcode but thankfully i was very lucky the person gave me a choice of sending it else where or canceling the order. It has happened to me several times before with bigger companies , you'd think they'd know that we're part of the main land!!
Hibeechick
27-Nov-06, 15:53
Isn't there some way that councilors and government bodies could stand up for us when it comes to things like this?
Humerous Vegetable
27-Nov-06, 16:03
Isn't there some way that councilors and government bodies could stand up for us when it comes to things like this?
That's a joke, right? I don't suppose they have to pay for their postage any more than they have to pay for their fuel.
Its down to the post code and the courier companies, some charge a surcharge as they pass it on to other courier companies. I get a lot of deliveries, and its amazing the difference in costs at times.
I had trouble with this KW thing on screwfix website but when I phoned up about it they were happy to see where they went wrong and waived the charge. The guy who thought it up was probably English.:p :roll:
It used to irritate me. I just don't order from companies which want to charge more for delivery because of our location. There's always another company out there more than happy to provide the same goods.
A lot of companies now charge the extra for any place North of Inverness.
Courier companies often do charge more for the extra distance. What bothers me is companies that use Royal Mail and try an charge extra.
What bothers me is the false advertising. Free Mainland UK delivery, but not to the Scottish Highlands.
The other annoying aspect of courier deliveries is that your parcel sometimes sits in a depot at Perth waiting for enough of a load to justify a trip North. This is supposed to save money ??
The other annoying aspect of courier deliveries is that your parcel sometimes sits in a depot at Perth waiting for enough of a load to justify a trip North. This is supposed to save money ??
I totally agree, MrJ, this one is very frustrating. Think I saw that cropping up on the Argo's thread, and certainly I experienced it with Ikea home delivery.
I'll join the chorus too, it's extremely annoying. Some of the problem is down to which carriers are used, some to the Post Code and some of it down to the fact that much of the Highlands is lumped together as the "Highlands and Islands".
The rest is down to geographical ignorance and a couple of historical accidents.
Hibeechick
28-Nov-06, 11:19
It used to irritate me. I just don't order from companies which want to charge more for delivery because of our location. There's always another company out there more than happy to provide the same goods.
If it was just ordering things for myself then I would certainly use another company. Can't do that with the business though! Not many supplies for certain things that I need.
Get in touch with Young's Seafoods they seem to have cracked it .
Get in touch with Young's Seafoods they seem to have cracked it .
I will not touch any of Youngs products ever again
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6150240.stm
j4bberw0ck
29-Nov-06, 09:59
She told me that It was the courier service they used that charged more for these area's. Maybe I should phone the courier company and let them know my thoughts!
That's it, in a nutshell. I always ask companies whether they'll despatch by Parcelforce or Royal Mail as it's quicker and cheaper.
The only dependable answer is to move south........ :lol:
I have just been trying to get some sense out a bloke on the phone. I was trying to buy a couple of beer barrels (the homebrew sort) the price for delivery on the site was £9.95 that was for all the stuff I wanted. However I received a phone call and was told that the courier service didn't count anywhere north of Inverness as Mainland so would not deliver. What was proposed? That they weigh each item and send it by post. This was going to cost a fortune so I politly told them where to put the order.
Sorry just had to let off steam and this seemed a good place to do it
captain chaos
29-Nov-06, 21:07
Our company has an account with Parcel Force (more like Parcel Farce) ....
It costs me £7.00 to send a parcel to our HQ in Oxford
If they were to send the same parcel back to me it cost us £14.
Not even just a few pounds extra, every parcel is charged at double for the northern trip.
Its called a remote surcharge !!!!!!
More like remote rip off.
I always use Royal Mail standard parcels or Special delivery for any thing going south depending on the value and request that companies sending to me use the same Two. NEVER Parcel force as this is simply a rip off although the post office own them both, any firm who will not comply is told why they have just lost the order, it's surprising how many do a quick turn round and use Royal Mail most in the south are not aware of "Parcel Farce" rip offs
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