Charges for ‘free UK delivery’ banned by watchdog
Victory for campaigners as online shopping companies are banned from charging extra for rural deliveries
ONLINE shoppers who live in rural areas will no longer be charged for “free UK delivery”, as the advertising watchdog has moved to ban the practice.
It comes after a surge in complaints from shoppers in rural areas – particularly in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Anglesey and the Isle of Wight – who say they are being hit with additional charges for deliveries, despite online shops advertising UK delivery as “free”.
In February a Westminster committee on delivery charges in Scotland heard that Amazon shoppers in remote areas were paying up to 50 per cent more to have items delivered than elsewhere in the UK.
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which is part of the Advertising Standards Authority regulatory system, today announces a crackdown to prevent companies from making misleading delivery claims.
It means shops will no longer be able to advertise “free UK delivery” and then add on charges for difficult-toreach areas of the country at the end of the online shopping process. Advertisers which continue to make misleading claims about free delivery after May 31 will be reported to Trading Standards and could be issued with fines, CAP said.
In addition, advertising regulators launched a separate investigation into Amazon Prime’s “next day delivery” claims last year.
It said it had received around 200 complaints from consumers about Amazon Prime’s one-day delivery claims, prompting it to start the probe. Complainants said that the e-commerce giant was misleading customers as it was failing to deliver some of its items on time.
Amazon Prime is a monthly subscription service which offers unlimited one-day deliveries to customers, as well as inclusive music, film, and television streaming.
Guy Parker, the chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said: “Companies must honour the delivery claims they’re making or stop making them. It’s simply not fair to mislead people about whether parcels can be delivered to them, or how much it will cost.”
Shahriar Coupal, the CAP director, added: “Our enforcement notice action makes very clear that advertisers must not mislead consumers by promising ‘free’ or ‘UK’ delivery when it turns out that delivery is not free or the item won’t be delivered if you live in certain parts of the UK.”