Deliveries cost more to the ‘Isle of Oban’
COMPANIES are declaring Oban is an island and then charging extra to deliver goods, MPs heard at an inquiry into online delivery charges for the Highlands and Islands.
The Scottish Affairs Committee is investigating why a million Scots are ‘subject to higher fees, longer delivery times or even refusal of service’.
Nina Ballantyne, the Citizens Advice Bureau’s programme and postal policy team manager, told MPs: ‘There are cases where we see folk declaring Oban is definitely an island and they are getting charged more. It is definitely not an island. They are getting charged an island price.’
A report found businesses and people living in the Hebrides can face a 500 per cent mark-up and can wait up to 35 extra days for delivery, making it hard for rural businesses to compete.
David MacKenzie, manager of Highland Council Trading Standards, asked MPs: ‘Is this affecting the quality of life in the Highlands? Yes, definitely. This affects small businesses too. They are the lifeblood of the economy.
‘Most of the complaints we get now are about SMEs [smalland medium-sized enterprises] who are not in a position to negotiate a very good deal. It is take it or leave it.
‘We are not talking about huge amounts of money each time, but if you are on a low income it can be significant and the cumulative effect of this can be significant.
‘If people shop around, they may find lower surcharges, because there does not seem to be any rhyme nor reason. It is very difficult for even savvy, aware consumers to avoid these charges.’
‘This does seem to be a postcode lottery,’ the committee’s chairman, Pete Wishart MP, said. ‘The surcharges are particularly haphazard and indiscriminate. There does not seem to be any logic or pattern.’
Mr MacKenzie said: ‘Kyle of Lochalsh is IV40. It is quite remote but it is the mainland. Then there is the isle of Raasay which is very remote, and that is IV40 as well. It seems to us a review of postcodes to take account of 21st century e-commerce would contribute to this.’
Asked why surcharges are applied, Ms Ballantyne explained many companies drew a cut-off point north of the Highland boundary, ‘more or less where the motorways stop’. She added: ‘On average, people are asked to pay at least 30 per cent more. That can rise up to 50 per cent for island addresses.
‘The logistics industry in the UK is headquartered in the East Midlands. The extra miles mean extra fuel costs, extra staff costs and, if their return leg is empty, there is a double cost.’
Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director at Ofcom, also explained: ‘With the exception of the Royal Mail, which charges a uniform price wherever in the UK, all the other parcel operators negotiate individual contracts with individual retailers.
‘Different retailers will then take a view as to whether they pass that surcharge to the consumer, whether they absorb it, or whether they charge the consumer more in certain areas, regardless of whether or not they are paying a surcharge to the operators.
‘That is why it feels inconsistent, because the actual price is not determined on a piece by piece basis. It is part of these large bulk contracts that are signed.’
Mr Wishart reflected: ‘There do not seem to be many people exercising their rights.’
Mr MacKenzie said: ‘There are lots of laws that cover this situation. Misleading actions, you know: false claims of free delivery, free mainland delivery. If someone is offering that and they are not really, that is against the law.
‘There is the concept of misleading omissions, which is about missing out important information. That is prohibited now. There is even a requirement that if there are delivery restrictions, say a refusal to deliver to the islands, then that is to be indicated at the start of the buying process.’
The law does not need tightened, he added, but ‘regulations have to be enforced’. He concluded: ‘A handful of officers in the north of Scotland cannot do this for the whole of the country.’