About website delivery charges

[treaclesoda]

I know I'm not being unreasonable but I just want to rant and everyone to tell me I'm right

Why are websites allowed to get away with claiming 'Free UK delivery' when actually what they mean is 'Free delivery to most areas . Or 'Free delivery to GB'.

Have been searching for a particular piece of furniture, quite a small item, the sort of thing that you could fit in the boot of your car if you could get one you liked in IKEA.

Found one I liked on a website that promised free UK delivery on orders over £50. Went to order and it said 'there is a charge for your postcode'. That charge turned out to be £300 On an item that costs about £150.

It's fine to not deliver somewhere and it's fine to have a delivery charge. But it's not fine to advertise free UK delivery when you don't actually mean it, and there is a perfectly easy way of alerting people to that on the home screen of your website.

Oh and the same website would ship it to Germany for me for £100

YANBU, trading standards or the advertising standards agency are your friends.

If they make it clear before you pay (including a breakdown of costs) then there's nothing you can complain about.

I grew up in NI and it was always annoying to see "excludes Northern Ireland" at the bottom of the screen.

"perfectly easy way of alerting people to that on the home screen of your website"

Look more closely. I bet there an asterix linking to more information somethere.

Trading or advertising standards won't be your friends as nothing untoward has happened. Annoying but nothing worse.

Look more closely. I bet there an asterix linking to more information somethere

Funnily enough there wasn't, which is what irritated me even more. I always look for the asterisk, because I'm wise to this as it happens all the time, but some sites just don't bother. I've contacted a few before who have insisted that based on my address I don't live in the UK. Well, my postcode says otherwise!

Where are you OP?

Where are you OP?

N Ireland. I fully accept that it is more expensive to ship big items here, frustrating though that is. My frustration is with the wording.

(And even more annoying is retailers who send small items by Royal Mail and charge a surcharge for N Ireland when in reality no such surcharge is levied by Royal Mail. But that's a separate moan.)