Written evidence submitted by Juliane Lingner (DCH0009)
Investigation into Delivery Charges to Scotland
From my point of view clarity of information is not given for the following reasons
A lot of sellers (whether on amazon, ebay or on their own websites) state free UK delivery, free UK /Scotland mainland delivery etc. Some of them with a minuscule * “alerting” you to the fact that there are conditions. Others don’t even bother with that.
I do live on the mainland but when I enter my postcode a lot of the sellers suddenly have a delivery charge popping up or a statement that delivery to this postcode is not possible.
Often you have to put in all your details until at the very end the seller tells you what the delivery charge will be. In some cases they ask you to phone them to get a quote. Or they say you have to place the order and wait for them to inform you afterwards what the delivery charge will be.
Because of the above points I am
a) wasting time looking and comparing offers that then at the last minute turn out to be different from what was promised
b) When I abort a transaction because the seller suddenly decides that delivery is not free after all, I have already entered sensible data which some companies obviously hold as on occasions I got phone calls / emails enquiring why I did not finish the transaction. There is a potential for misuse here.
Example on Amazon, searched for “Shed”, first result:
£219.99 + FREE UK delivery, In stock. Sold by Waltons-Garden-Buildings.
Further down the page it then says: Delivery charges apply for delivery to the following postcodes: PO30-PO40, PA21-33, PA35-38, PH22-26, PH30-41, PH50, AB, IV,KW, N.I & R.O.I.
And: We will contact you regarding delivery charges if applicable once your order has been placed. It does not say whether I can cancel my order without fuss if I think the delivery charge is too high. So basically I am asked to enter a legal contract buying a pig in the poke.
Suggestion:
- Make sure that there is a possibility to enter the postcode straightaway and only get offers from sellers that definitely deliver to this postcode and clearly show when there will be a delivery charge.
- If someone offers Free UK delivery in the heading then they should not be allowed to charge for delivery.
Very often it is cheaper to buy a product from the Far East that comes with free delivery. If they can manage to send products this far (most of them arrive through Royal Mail) without a charge how come British companies can’t?
Often there does not seem to be rhyme nor reason regarding the cost of delivery. How do the seller / hauler / courier arrive at that cost? Especially for small items that easily fit into an ordinary or padded envelope?
Suggestion:
There should be rules as to how delivery costs are calculated (size, weight etc.) for all companies and these rules should be made transparent to the consumer.
There should also be a maximum amount that can be charged for items of a certain size / weight, comparable to RM.
The delivery time for Highlands and Islands usually is longer. I appreciate that it is remote but we do get 3 or 4 couriers coming here several times a week, some of them 6 days a week and of course we very reliably get RM delivering 6 days a week.
Very often items seem to get stuck somewhere in the central belt until the courier deems he has enough items going in the same direction to make it worthwhile. The seller very often isn’t aware of that as the goods have left their premises a long time ago.
On a number of occasions when I have enquired about items that seemed to take very long the courier ended up passing the item on to RM which would then promptly deliver. In some of these cases delivery had been free, in others there had been a delivery charge.
Suggestion:
The courier should have an obligation to inform the customer if items are held in one location for more than 2 or 3 working days.
Couriers should be made to work together so the customer gets an acceptable delivery time and the couriers have a financially viable tour.
The non-delivery, delivery time and delivery charge have a time and a financial impact as well as being very frustrating.
As stated above it takes a lot longer to find and compare items because you only find out at the last minute that there is an extra charge or delivery is not possible at all.
Your choice of goods can be severely restricted through non delivery or through high delivery charges.
Your orders can take considerably longer to arrive – much more than justified by the distance / remoteness.
Items cost more and therefore the selling on price has to be higher and / or your profit margin as a business is smaller.