Im Confused - Is it free or not?

[JWM]

I just ordered some stuff from a company who have this banner on thier website.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2746/freedelsection.jpg

Now to my amazement i have to pay a surcharge because i live in the highlands.

Surely thats false advertising.

[Katy]

I find this really annoying too :( A lot of my suppliers say free delivery after a order of a certain amount but then I end up with big postage costs....just isn't fair.

They probably have something in the small print about the KW postcode area being charged for postage.

Katy xx

[Venture]

Oh it'll be in the little writing somewhere. It always is every time I've queried it.;)

[JWM]

Yea but ive ordered loads o stuff from them before and never had this - Have we moved further away from the rest of the country or something?
How many miles is it to inverness now?:lol:

[Dog-eared]

The last stuff I bought from England I queried the £23 delivery charge. The stores lady said they operated a "ticket " system.
Stuff in England and the central belt of Scotland would use 2 carriers or tickets.
Further North it is transferred to another carrier again. 3 tickets.

I arranged for a northern carrier to pick it up for £17.

[Leanne]

I got hit by that one too (again). They didn't state it anywhere in the ad on the site but apparantly it was in the FAQs...

[cazmanian_minx]

Yea but ive ordered loads o stuff from them before and never had this - Have we moved further away from the rest of the country or something?
How many miles is it to inverness now?:lol:

It could just be that they changed delivery services while the strikes were on from Royal Mail (who don't surcharge) to a courier service which does and never updated the banner.

[~~Tides~~]

I dont think writing it in the FAQs would be considered incorporating a term in to a contract. Definately dodgyness on the part of the company there.

[hardcore superstar]

Over many years internet shopping, I have discovered that lots of companies claim a specific delivery price for the UK mainland, often in a colourful and pretty banner. However, when you read the small print (or FAQs as has been previously mentioned), you discover certain postcodes are not included. This seems just to be the way of it.

In fact, just this morning I got an email from a company to say that a picture I've bought will incur an extra £25 p+p due to my highland location on top of the tenner I've already paid. Unfortunately, after much searching, I cannot source this item from anywhere else. They have offered me a full refund if I don't wish to complete the transaction but it leaves me in a quandry ... do I go with my principles and tell them to flip off or do I suck it up and cough up?

[wickscorrie]

was waiting for this company to get back to me after ordering 2 headboards, and started reading this thread, methinks i'll be having a discussion wih this company and possibly cancelling the order, they're wanting £29 to deliver a £70 order !!!!



Free Delivery To Your Door
When you place your order with us, you will promptly receive an order confirmation email. You will also be contacted by email or telephone to inform you of the day when your delivery is due. We are unfortunately unable to give you an estimated time of delivery on your allocated delivery day.
You will receive free delivery, direct to your door with all orders that you place with Bed Street. We work in partnership with a reputable and competent national delivery company, and we also deliver selected items ourselves to ensure that your goods are delivered to you in pristine condition.
Deliveries can be made from Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. Most deliveries are made in the morning, however due to circumstances outside of our control such as heavy traffic etc., some deliveries will be made in the late morning to early evening.
Next Day Delivery Bed Frame And Mattress Purchase Terms
Order before 12 noon Monday to Thursday and you can sleep on your brand new bed frame and/or mattress the very next day! This offer supports Monday to Friday delivery, not including weekend delivery.
Delivery Of Orders
All Mainland Great Britain orders are delivered Free, regardless of the number of items purchased.
Please note there is a payable delivery charge to -


Grampians
Scottish Highlands
Scottish Islands
Isle of Wight
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Isle of Man
Scilly
Channel Islands

Customers living in the above 9 regions, prior to ordering, please email (http://www.bedstreet.co.uk/enter.php) or phone us on 0845 337 0825 9am - 9pm for a delivery price quotation.

[theone]

They have offered me a full refund if I don't wish to complete the transaction but it leaves me in a quandry ... do I go with my principles and tell them to flip off or do I suck it up and cough up?

If you really need the stuff, ask them to send it with a courier that delivers all the way up here, not one that goes to inverness then is passed onto a local courier.

TNT come here, so do DHL.

Depending on the weight ask them to send by royal mail.

It might not work, but it's worth a try.

[wickscorrie]

hmmm! they've just phoned back, i told him that instead of paying for the order i was planning cancelling as i had just noticed their £29 charge but he said that as it was only headboards they would reduce the price and after checking it was dropped to £14.99 have paid but not really happy surely it is against trading standards to promote free delivery on mainland and then to throw clauses in

[wickscorrie]

as we've all said its extremely annoying about being charged when websites say free mainland delivery
so i phoned trading standards and the officer i spoke to said that they are interested in these companies who have "free" delivery advertised, and she would pass on the company's details to advertising standards for them to investigate to see whether they were breaking any rules

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/search/postcode-search.cfm
this was the address for the officer i spoke to she also had a direct number
0845040506
so if anyone comes acroos a website which offers "free" mainland delivery!!! then please lets report them
maybe a big amount of complaints may help to cut this "imo" "false" advertising out!

[JWM]

The strange thing is though iv'e ordered from them before and it WAS always free delivery.
Anyway company got back in touch today and said that they could understand why i was annoyed and refunded me the surcharge.
They said that it was easy to get confused as there is nowhere on the website that explains about a further surcharge and they would be amending it asap for their customers.
So although its still a pain with a surcharge, the customer service was excellent as they had finished with the query i had put to them and then decided that they were wrong after all and refunded me.

[Bobinovich]

Having read this thread I looked at my own main supplier's website which advertises free delivery for orders over £49.99 to the UK mainland, where I've been paying in excess of £9.99 even on £500 orders!

Being unable to find the necessary opt out clause for Scottish Highlands I rang them and I too have had a result! My last order delivery refunded - about £12 - and a promise (although we'll have to wait & see!) that future orders over £100 (which all mine are anyway) will qualify for free P&P.