Campaign hots up on Caithness delivery charges
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HUNDREDS of customers in Caithness have voiced their anger about extra delivery charges when purchasing items online.
The Caithness Citizens Advice Bureau said it has been overwhelmed with responses to a survey into surcharges to deliver to remote rural locations, and has reassured people that the fight is only beginning.
CAB has surveyed people across rural Scotland over the last few weeks, and the findings show that many companies refuse to deliver to the Far North altogether or charge huge fees for doing so.
The survey attracted responses from nearly 900 people across northern Scotland, with a large percentage said to be from Caithness.
It was revealed that 84 per cent of respondents have been refused delivery outright and 85 per cent have warned friends and family against using certain companies because of their excessive charges.
Caithness CAB manager Jill Smith said that the survey has uncovered huge anger in the county and that some of the examples the survey uncovered were shocking.
“It’s especially insulting to be told that a company will deliver free throughout the UK but then find that this excludes us here in Caithness,” she said.
“Overall what our survey has shown is that people here and across other parts of rural Scotland are fed up with being treated like this, and want something done about it.
“The CAB service is here to protect consumers whenever we see unfairness and we can assure local people that this campaign is only just the beginning.”
The survey found that many companies state that they offer free delivery but then charge substantial fees for people in rural areas. In some cases companies refuse to deliver at all to certain areas.
It was also found that some companies use expensive couriers for all their deliveries even though Royal Mail delivers to all UK postcodes for the same price. In Caithness and North Sutherland, due to the Kirkwall (KW) postcode, some companies charge the same shipping costs to the mainland as they would to ship items to Orkney.
The results of the survey will be reported to the Office of Fair Trading and to Trading Standards, as well as to both the UK and Scottish governments.
Caithness CAB will also be writing to companies which have been highlighted by the respondents to ask them to change their policies in light of the evidence and plans to name those which don’t in the new year.
Miss Smith said the survey in the Far North has proven so popular that CAB has decided to reopen it online to enable more people to report their evidence of this issue.
“We closed the survey a few weeks ago, but since then we’ve had lots of people contacting us to say they’d missed the deadline but really wanted to tell us their story,” she said.
“People have even been coming up to us in the street and asking us if it’s too late to report a particular instance that happened to them.
“This is quite unprecedented for a survey like this, but again it shows the strength of feeling.
“So we’ve decided to reopen the survey for another few weeks, to enable more people to come forward and tell us their experiences.”
She added: “What we are aiming to do here is to persuade these companies to change their policies. We hope that many of them will be open to persuasion.
“After all, our survey shows that they are currently losing potential trade, which is cutting into their profit margins.
“Changing their pricing policies would make sense for them and it would not only give rural people a fair deal but would increase their own trade and profits as well.
“The more evidence we get, the better, so we urge everyone to take a few minutes to fill in the survey and let us know their views – this is people power in action.”
The survey is open until Thursday, January 19, and is available at www.surveymonkey.com
s/FreeDelivery
I was quoted £110 for delivery of sink
A TOTAL of 863 consumers responded to the Citizens Advice Scotland survey in the space of just three weeks during November.
Of the 757 who supplied their postcode, 38 per cent were from the Highland Council area.
Over two-thirds of respondents to the survey shared their experiences of particular companies and their charging policies.
More than 300 different retailers were named by rural consumers as either charging high delivery prices or refusing to deliver to them at all.
Many of these companies are household names, but the majority are smaller retailers who may not be aware of the impact of their policies or of their obligations under trading standards laws.
Responses included:
1: “A company in Somerset wanted an extra £80 instead of the £20 for delivery. But I have been refused delivery full stop on many occasions from other companies because of being in the Highlands and Islands. Others would charge an extra £12 or more.”
2: “An online auction site offered ‘Free’ shipping, but when you scroll down they have a clause saying that to the Highlands and Islands is extra.
“I tried to buy a sink off a supplier through the website and he quoted me a delivery charge of £110.
“I wanted to reply by asking if he was buying it a seat on the plane.”
3: “I am particularly annoyed by a company who have ‘Free Delivery’ emblazoned across every single product on their website. Not to me it wasn’t as I was charged £14.99.
“I don’t mind paying extra if companies have to pay extra to reach us but the use of couriers is becoming more common and they seem to think that we are somewhere off Australia.”
