AIBU to be annoyed about the lockdown in England affecting the rest of the UK

[thevassal]

I live in Wales. Trying to do some Christmas shopping - bought a few things in Boots and came just under the threshold for delivery - usually have the option for delivery to store (of which there are three within two miles of me, all of which are very much open). Apparently deliver to store has been suspended for duration of "the" lockdown- but you can pay an extra £3.50 for delivery to your house.

Went on another shop - same thing. I was buying earrings for £15, delivery cost £3.95, so nearly a third as much again when I walk past one to get to work and have another two in my local city centre.

Tried Ernest Jones - before I could even see if there was anything I wanted a pop up appears "We know you can't get to our shops right now but if you want to speak to one of our experts..." except I CAN get to at least three of your (open) shops within less than twenty minutes. Would it have been that hard to write "We know some customers can't get to our shops right now" rather than the dismissive "all customers" assumption.

I know the lockdown must be hard but these are huge, national chains, particularly Boots. It can't be that hard to separate things geographically as they didn't stop all to-store deliveries in the whole UK when NI, and then Wales went into lockdown.

Has anyone else been affected by this or am I just being an uppity Celt

Yanbu, that sounds really annoying.

Is almost like locking down different parts of the country at different times and in different places doesn’t work well 🤔

YANBU

It’s really irritating when people assume English rules apply everywhere. It’s annoying enough when posters do it on here, but I would expect big companies to at least realise some of their shops are still open ffs!

Why would Boots have suspended click and collect when they are open in England (and, presumably, Scotland)? They're a pharmacy, they're allowed to open, and any non-essential retail is allowed to open for click and collect too.

Could they have furloughed some of their staff, even though their staffing levels are already woefully inadequate? Anyone here work for Boots outside Wales who can shed light?

(not sure about Ernest Jones and the other retailer you mention - but they are 100% allowed to open in England for click and collect)

OP, assuming that you still want to give any of these mickey-taking businesses your cash, could you phone a local branch instead and place an order for click and collect?

Boots have suspended click and collect because they are open, so have enough people coming in already so I'm guessing this is their way of trying to prevent more coming in.

That is why I got confused tbh, because as an essential business Boots are open anyway!

But, Mads123 again that doesn't really assist in W/NI/Scots - all the shops are open so why would any of them be busier than on a normal November/December? If anything it might reduce restrictions because people will just pop in and get their order rather than wandering all round the shop picking up what they want.

Nah, cologne, I cba. Might be cutting off my nose to spite my face but if they can't be bothered to acknowledge my whole country exists then I can get what I want somewhere else!

Unreasonable for restrictions in England to be portrayed as if for the whole of the UK, not unreasonable for cross-border impacts.

People in Wales and Scotland have a half-competent and slightly late response to the second wave, as opposed to a very late and wholly incompetent one in England.

Some of the deliveries will be done on a national basis. Companies would lose too much to supply limited areas or to try to implement various options for a short period. It can be purely numbers.

Not being able to do click and collect sounds annoying!

I'm in Scotland. Got an email from River Island this week relevant to the restrictions in my area, quite impressed!

Usually get emails from Pizza Express asking why I've not claimed my birthday bottle of Prosecco yet, when the small print states not available in Scotland