A national company with north-east stores that was seeking to charge a Moray customer postage that was more than three times the value of the item he was buying has been slammed by an MP.
Angus Robertson was incensed when he learned that constituent Tez Watson was asked to pay a £17.95 charge for delivering a £5.04p vehicle part to his Forres home.
The Moray MP cited the case as the latest in a long line of inflated postal charges being applied by companies for deliveries to Moray and the North of Scotland. Mr Robertson said it was of particular annoyance to his constituents that charges such as this were being applied by companies who boasted “free delivery” to the UK Mainland.
Mr Watson had identified the part being offered online by Euro Car Parts, who boast 130 stores nationwide – including Aberdeen with a further store opening soon in Inverness.
Their website offered free delivery but on closer inspection that offer excluded a series of postcodes in the north that attracted a £17.95p surcharge – despite the fact that Royal Mail would deliver to all areas at just £3.95.
Mr Robertson said: “This is yet another example of people in Moray being treated badly by a company that is clearly not interested in the final cost to the consumer caused by excessive delivery charges.
“When another company can deliver the same part at less than a quarter of the cost there is clearly something far wrong with their charging policy.
“People simply cannot understand why companies will not give them the option of alternative delivery arrangements like Royal Mail, especially where other companies seem to be able to offer the same service much more cheaply.”
The MP confirmed that he had written to Euro Car Parts seeking an explanation, but urged constituents to be aware of the high delivery charges being levied before they placed any order with the company.
Euro Car Parts have said that they are immediately reducing their delivery charges to £9.95 and are “actively seeking” new delivery methods to the North of Scotland.
Hit by excessive delivery charges? Name and shame – contact editor@insidemoray.co.uk.