Do all retailers deliver to rural Scotland?

A question about : Do all retailers deliver to rural Scotland?

Citizens Advice Scotland wants to check if online retailers treat Scottish customers unfairly just because of where they live. And it needs your help.

The last time it checked its Postcode Penalty report found some Scots paid an average of nearly Ј19 extra when buying goods online.

Have things improved?
Is delivery info clear and easy to find?
Are your legal return rights present and correct?

Take its quick survey to help it research a range of retailers and share your views below.

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Best answers:

• I once was ordering from an online music shop, and to calculate the delivery costs the website made you select either "England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland" I selected Scotland, and they wanted to charge me for delivery (I can't remember the exact amount) as my order was not over Ј200. If it was, I would've got free delivery. Out of curiosity, I put my parents' address in England into the form, and if you were shipping to England, you got free delivery over Ј150 spend. So I got it delivered to them, and got the train down and picked it up, as it was cheaper to buy a return train ticket than to pay for shipping!
  The kicker is that I don't even live in the wilds of rural Scotland. I live in Edinburgh...
• I've had numerous problems getting things delivered to my home in Scotland. I stay in Aberdeen which is classed as mainland UK and yet lots of companies seem to think they can get away with charging whatever they like for delivery.
  Today I bought a rug from the Land of Rugs website. It states quite clearly on the homepage that they offer free delivery to mainland UK and yet I was charged Ј12.46 for delivery. I paid, but I've also sent an email to the company suggesting that they reconsider their delivery charges.
  I'm really fed up of being penalised for living in Scotland!
  Sorry, rant over.
• I work for a retailer and wholesaler with customers all over the UK. Our goods are glass and liquid, and are heavy and fragile, so we can't use DHL or similar carriers, and have to use a specialist. The difference in cost to us of delivering one box of goods in London to delivering one box in Northern Scotland is huge, Ј15 for the former, and Ј95 for the latter, with varying degrees of cost the further North you go. In order to maintain a degree of fairness for all our customers, we keep the charges for our Scottish deliveries to the same as the rest of the UK, even thought they cost us far more, and in many cases we lose money on the sale. Not all retailers can afford to do this, and our policy is under constant review. Citizens Advice Scotland should be aware that many retailers - by necessity - have warehouses based in the South of England, where the majority of their customers are, and that moving goods to Scotland costs more. It's an inescapable fact. Some, like us, swallow the difference, but some just can't afford to.
• I often place an online order when I get to the checkout bit and put in my address ( 60 miles north west of Aberdeen ) but still an AB postcode I get charged so much postage that I don't bother. The Book People are the worst 99p book and almost Ј8 for postage. Also some Amazon sellers charge so much it is not worth buying from them. I got a book delivered from America recently with cheaper postage than the Book People charge.
• Many Ebay sellers "does not deliver to Scottish highlands" (including some from China !!) where the items will be delivered Royal Mail.
  Brooklyn Trading add a surcharge but make it very difficult to find the actual cost until checkout, they have dropdown boxes to estimate postage which do not actually work correctly as their postage destinations do not refer to correct areas. They do have a presence on Amazon though and are limited to the Amazon UK wide postage pricing so most items work out cheaper.