Better deal struck over delivery charges to Highlands

A CAMPAIGN to win a better deal for local consumers over delivery surcharges has taken a step forward.

Trading Standards officers at Highland Council have persuaded more than 20 internet companies to alter their trading practices to comply with the law.

In March, trading standards came under fire when they refused to reveal the identities of 14 companies who were shopped by frustrated customers for the way they slap on controversial delivery charges to the Highlands.

This was despite trading standards appealing for information in a public survey in the first place.

But this week, Highland Council revealed a number of companies had agreed to make changes.

These include Dabs.com, a major internet company that provides an internet trading platform for BT Store. They have moved towards a ‘flat fee’ delivery charge and will no longer be applying a surcharge for deliveries to the Highlands, Islands or Northern Ireland.

eBay, has also agreed to correct a flaw in their systems that miscoded many mainland postcodes as being off-shore islands, which resulted in many people being incorrectly refused delivery by some businesses.

The charges imposed by internet and other remote traders for delivery to the Highlands has been widely recognised as a cause of concern and the surveys carried out by Trading Standards, Citizens Advice Scotland, Consumer Focus Scotland and the Office of Fair Trading has provided detailed evidence of the nature of the issues that are being experienced by consumers and the companies involved.

Gordon Robb, trading standards manager with Highland Council, said: "Our focus has been on those companies which featured most often in the survey responses or whose scale made them stand out as a priority to be tackled. Among those who have co-operated are some very large players in the marketplace.

"Great credit goes to a small team of highly motivated staff who have been involved in very detailed and exhaustive negotiations, which have resulted in agreements to voluntarily change the way these businesses handle delivery charges. This success will I have no doubt significantly affect the internet shopping experience of many consumers, both here in Highland and in other more remote communities."

Councillor Graham Phillips, Chairman of the Council’s TECS Committee, said: "I applaud the work being done by Trading Standards on this issue and the other work they do and fully support the measured way that they are bringing these businesses into line. It has been clearly identified during their investigations that most of these businesses have not set out to mislead or rip off our consumers, but have instead been unaware of all that the law requires of them.

"It is also clear that there is still much work to do and although being made fully aware and in good time of what delivery charges will be incurred has got to be good news, removing any surcharges for delivery to our communities remains a valid goal."