to think that the Scottish Highlands are in fact part of the UK mainland?

[Habbibu]

I've just ordered some spare parts for my coffee machine, and, on trying to find out more about shipping, read this: "Please note that as from today 26/01/2010 we now ONLY ship to the UK Mainland.

We no longer ship to southern or northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey,Isle of man, Scottish Highlands and Islands or anywhere outside of mainland UK.

This is due to the fact that shipping to these destinations has proved difficult and time consuming.

Please note that there are NO EXCEPTIONS to the rule, please do not E-mail us asking us about this as these mails will not be replied to."

Leaving aside the rather unfriendly and unhelpful nature of this note, plus the PITA it must be to those on the islands, since when was there a sea to cross to get to (say) Inverness? How is it so more difficult to get just that bit further up the A9? (well, yes, yes, I know, it can be a pain, but you get my point). Thankfully it doesn't affect me (though I have seen the odd place that won't deliver north of Edinburgh), but it's a massive pain for my ILs and others - who manage to get themselves up and down the road quite happily.

Tesco petition

I don't understand how the highland council can get away with repeatable turning down asda's planning application is there no one that they answer to?

We live just outside of Dingwall and asda do home deliveries here it is about an hours drive to our nearest asda which is in Elgin.

It can't make much sense for asda to deliver this far out. I think they must just be doing it to piss tesco off

do i get some brownie points for the fact that even as a VERY southern southerner (south of london), i knew about the whole scottish notes thing & always accepted them when i worked in shops/restaurants?

i live in the US now, and delivery seems to be based on how far it is from the retailer - too much of the US is remote/rural so it would be ridiculous to rule out those customers. that seems fair to me - after all, if I choose to get something from a company over 1,000 miles away, I know it's going to cost more than using a local company. Most companies have maps/lists on their website, so you can look up where you live & see delivery charges.

If you Google 'corruption in Highland council' then some interesting stories come up. Some have even been removed....

Kickassangel most companies quote their charges for 'Mainland UK'. The Highlands are still a part of the Mainland unless I am much mistaken.

The US is obviously huge but as you know the UK isn't. How can companies deliver to Western Wales, and deepest darkest Cornwall for the same Mainland fee but we get charged extra?

Why is it we can send stuff down South and don't have to charge extra fees?

Imagine if distilleries suddenly started charging Londoners more for whisky deliveries... And you can get Charlie Barley's Stornoway black pudding all over the place.

Imagine if Highlanders started charging extra postage fees to anywhere further South than say...York.

Hello

My name is Scott and I am from the above mentioned company called happy donkey.

I have received a mail from the OP regarding this and thought I would explain the situation.

Our company uses a courier service to deliver all items, this is because we were losing a lot of consignments through royal mail and it cost a lot of time, money and frustration for us and to the customer when this happened.

The areas we define as mainland uk are actually defined by our courier company and the last two companies we used had the same definitions.

It costs more than people are prepared to pay to deliver to those locations and so the decision was taken to focus on customer orders in the area defined as mainland.

It also takes longer for items to arrive in these areas but unfortunately, in general, the people who ordered in those locations were unsympathetic to the fact that this is usually the case.

The tone used in the message in the site is not intended to be hostile, merely definitive, I am sorry if it appears that way but as I am sure all experienced internet users realise, it is easy to take the wrong angle when reading a message of any kind on a site or in an e-mail.

Please note I will not reply to any further comments on here, i just wanted you to see things from my point of view.

Scott

How far would you get up the A9 for the cost in fuel and/or time of getting from one side of London to the other, do you think?

You have not received a mail from the OP!

I still don't see why you can't tell people that you will deliver using RM, and give them the option, unsympathetic or not.

Habbibu you didn't email them? Then they have discovered this thread themselves!

I still feel, even with his explanation, that the English couriers and the companies that use them have some explaining to do. How can they use the word 'mainland' and then exclude a huge portion of it?

I doubt (but don't know) that Scottish Couriers charge this extra fee when doing deliveries in the opposite direction.

Scott do you really mean to say that we Scots should charge you extra to deliver to you because you are in the South and therefore, by distance, not on the Mainland?

What utter nonsense HappyDonkey. I use Royal Mail all the time and have never had any problems. I also use couriers all the time. It takes one extra day for parcels to arrive and I'm not mainland.

I used to live on the Isle of Man - was an utter nightmare getting anything delivered OR taking advantage of certain offers (holidays/BOGOF/restaurants etc)

You most definitely do need to cross the water there though so I can kind of understand the reasoning (although it isn't fair and used to make my blood boil!).

I am shocked to read this thread though, who'd have thought companies would be so discriminatory - it doesn't wash with me that things get 'lost' in the post enough to warrant using a money-grabbing courier service.

Could Happy Donkey then name their couriers so that we may challenge them.

Interlink express, xstitch. And no, I didn't email them. After all, they said they wouldn't reply! But I am voting with my feet - have found an alternative supplier for future purchases (see upthread).

And what do you think it costs to get across London?

With the congestion charge and petrol? I dread to think and fuel won't be as expensive in central London.

Not to mention time during Peak periods.

And in contrast, another thumbs up to the very lovely Shop on the Beach who deliver UK wide for free, have fantastic customer service and sent WilfShelf a lovely pair of boots for drumming up MN custom.

But then they are in Cornwall, so somehow it's probably easier for them.

Indeed, Milngavie. It takes us an hour in the car to Pitlochry, say - how long does it take to get across London, d'you reckon?

at the lines "The areas we define as mainland uk are actually defined by our courier company and the last two companies we used had the same definitions." and "The tone used in the message in the site is not intended to be hostile, merely definitive"

Honestly - mainland is a geographical term and not up for definition; it's non-negotiable - you can not redefine it any way you see fit

If you insist on differential pricing, fine, but using a term like Mainland and giving it your own, or a couriers, definition is simply misleading

I have just looked at Interlink express' website Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands can get the next day service although more expensive. For the same price as these 2 areas the Highlands get a 2 day service. It does in fact appear to be cheaper to get a 2 day delivery service to Germany