Eigg resident greased £99 for a 10-litre canister of engine oil
Jonathan Jobson, mini-bus driver, Isle of Eigg
LIVING on a remote island and having no choice but to do much of your shopping online you quickly become used to the delivery premiums added when checking out.
A postcode surcharge is the norm for many websites while hidden in the delivery details section of others is the dreaded script “excluding the Scottish Highlands and Islands”.
However, even I was surprised when a recent attempt at purchasing 10 litres of engine oil on ebay – priced at £37.74 – came up with a delivery surcharge of £99. Changing the delivery details to my mother’s Glasgow address saw that £99 disappear completely to be replaced with the words “free postage and packing”. How can that be? Free to the Central Belt but £99 to be delivered to the Caledonian Macbrayne office in Mallaig, which is as far as any courier gets, the shipping company then being responsible for the final delivery.
It isn’t the first time this has happened to me and it won’t be the last.