Remote Scots to pay extra £11m for festive deliveries
SCOTS in remote areas will pay £11.4 million over the odds for online deliveries this Christmas.
Campaigner MSP Richard Lochhead (SNP) said shoppers north of the Border have been forced to pay £36m a year more than people living elsewhere in the UK.
He is outraged at new figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre that reveal the festive bill from October to December could account for nearly one-third of this amount.
“It is astonishing online shoppers in Scotland still face an £11.4m penalty in the form of parcel delivery surcharges this Christmas,” he said.
“As far as some retailers are concerned Christmas is not about giving but about fleecing. This is a huge additional cost and all because of parcel delivery surcharges that are applied without any justification to mainly northern postcodes.”
Online retailers are now facing a crackdown on these charges as UK ministers finally admit action to curb fees is needed.
Kelly Tolhurst, Minister for Small Business, has indicated the Scottish Government could launch a review into current legislation, which could lead to new regulation on prices.
Mr Lochhead met the minister last week, soon after the Scottish Government launched an initiative to publicly name and shame firms charging massive fees for rural customers.
He said: “Rural Scotland is home to some of the most loyal online shoppers and in the run-up to Christmas I will continue campaigning and piling the pressure on retailers to end the rip-off surcharge facing too many Scottish consumers.”
Charges for parcel delivery for Highlands and Islands addresses are more than 30 per cent higher on average than those on the mainland.
In Golspie, Sutherland, David Crayton, 59, is sick of being charged extra because he has a KW postcode – the same as Kirkwall in Orkney – meaning couriers assume he lives on an island.
He said: “It is ridiculous. I have tried to explain I’m on the mainland, not in Orkney, but companies just won’t listen.” He said he was charged an extra £30 for deliveries.
Following Mr Lochhead’s campaign, the Advertising Standards agency promised to issue enforcement notices to companies making excess charges, while Amazon and ebay have pledged to ban third-party sellers for overcharging.