Help us moniter unfair delivery charges

During lockdown many of us changed our shopping behaviours, with a huge increase seen in online shopping.

Despite the easing of restrictions many people across the country have been slow to return to their old shopping habits. With this change towards online shopping comes a familiar problem for people living in Sutherland – unfair delivery charges.

Consumers in many areas of Sutherland face extra charges from parcel companies based on their address. Often these charges seem excessive or incommensurate with the cost of delivery.

Some consumers are refused delivery altogether because of their postcode.

Delivery charges for consumers living in Sutherland can be as much as 30 per cent higher on average than for other parts of mainland Britain. Earlier this year, in April, our bureau had been due to take part in Fair Delivery Day. The aim of this day was to help rural communities and consumers understand their rights when it comes to parcel delivery, unfortunately though as with so much, this was delayed due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

As part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing action to make delivery charges fairer, an online parcel delivery pricing map has been launched – www.fairdeliveries.scot

This site allows Sutherland residents to identify unfair delivery charges and find the best deals in their area. Later this month the bureau will launch our Fair Delivery campaign as people start to think about Christmas shopping.

We want to hear from residents who have faced what they feel is unfair delivery charges, in order to establish the scale of the problem here in Sutherland. We’ll be highlighting the issues raised with us from within our local area and working with the Scottish Government to promote fairer practices for everyone in remote and rural communities but particularly here in Sutherland.

We recently spoke with a client who had ordered online from a retailer that promised delivery to mainland Britain. After reaching the check-out screen the client found the delivery charge was as advertised elsewhere on the website.

The client continued with the purchase, only to be emailed days later by the company to say the client had to pay extra delivery costs because they lived in a remote area, this is despite the address being in mainland Britain.

The client refused to pay the additional amount and as a result the purchase was abandoned. Unfortunately, non-delivery of items is something we see often, however we know the problem is much bigger than the issues which are raised with us at the bureau.

If you’d like to take to highlight the issues you have faced as a rural consumer please contact the bureau via our email address advice@ecscab.org.uk

We may also ask you to take part in our online survey in order to collect as much evidence as possible about the issues being faced.

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