Rip-off Britain?

[Roger440]

10 hours ago, ProDave said:

I can't see exchange rates as the cause for higher UK prices. The item still has to get from its factory in whatever country, to the UK and is therefore subject to exchange rate transactions.  If anything, going via a third country could add another exchange rate transaction and commission, so logically that ought to be a more expensive option, not a cheaper one.

The transport one also bugs me a LOT. A lot of couriers charge a big premium to ship something north of Glasgow / Edinburgh. It has been the cause of many lost deals, when a particular supplier will not even entertain the idea of using a different courier that does not charge silly money to deliver here. They are so stubborn, that's the courier we use take it or leave it, so I usually leave it. One can only conclude they have plenty of business without us in the far north.

Ahhh, the highlands and islands issue. Not sure there is a way round that. We have a contract with DPD. So using someone else is not really an option, because i dont have an account with them.

So my only option is Parcel Farce or Royal Mail. Problem is, they are absolutely hopeless. (unless it will go in an envelope). The amount of stuff that goes walkabouts never to be seen again is nuts. Put simply, i cant afford to use them as im forced to send out replacements at my cost. All assuming i can even get Parcel Farce to collect, a major challenge in itself!

Seriously, id love to know what to do about it. I frequently get the grumbling, especially from people in Northern Ireland. DPD lass that as an island!.

 

 

[Stones]

I do wonder whether some UK distributors that charge higher prices than their continental competitors, are trapped into a pricing structure because they have hedged their purchase price from the manufacturer at a set exchange rate which may bear no relation to the current exchange rate.

On the subject of highlands and islands delivery, it is annoying when suppliers tell you they can't deliver or want to charge ridiculous sums for doing so. As Dave suggests, all that happens is that I end up taking my business elsewhere, as there are suppliers out there who do operate reasonably (it's one of the things you have to accept living here, there is an additional transport cost that has to be paid for somehow). I just had a box of bathroom fittings and fixtures delivered, in a box measuring 2' x 2' x 3'. £15 delivery charge from London.  If you are prepared to shop around, it's still possible to get a good deal, just takes a bit more work as the field is a bit smaller.

[ProDave]

As a business, if you want to use Parcel Force infrequently, use senditnow.com That's a subsidiary of Parcelforce but at a much cheaper price than the standard parcelforce prices.  I used to use them a lot when I was selling stuff on ebay.  You book it on line, they come and collect from you. I can;t see why any business can't do that infrequently for H&I orders.

[Roger440]

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

As a business, if you want to use Parcel Force infrequently, use senditnow.com That's a subsidiary of Parcelforce but at a much cheaper price than the standard parcelforce prices.  I used to use them a lot when I was selling stuff on ebay.  You book it on line, they come and collect from you. I can;t see why any business can't do that infrequently for H&I orders.

I can. I use Parcel Monkey to book Parcel Farce. But they are still hopeless and lose stuff. And rarely pick up on the right day or at all. Believe me ive tried. Its just to painful and expensive replacing stuff. Most of our products are above £250.00 so gets expensive really quick.

As i said, id love to have an answer, but i just dont see one outside of Royal mail and Parcel Farce. :(  To be honest i struggle to see why anyone actually uses them anymore, other than they are cheap. The service is appalling, and you can certainly never get anything sorted out if it goes wrong.

If i could find a way, id have the edge over other companies. We send a lot of stuff to the highlands.

[SteamyTea]

Things may change.  I have noticed that the delivery services down here has improved in the last couple of years and they tend to be a day quicker now.  I am not sure if this is to do with City Link going under.  They were just dreadful, truly awful.  If I missed the delivery, I had to go to the main office 60 miles away.  So maybe some of the other courier companies used them in their distribution network.

[ProDave]

My Hermes and Interparcel also do the same rate for the Highlands. Tried either of those?

We get a lot delivered by Parcelforce, always the same driver and he knows the "routine" if we are out and we just find our parcels waiting for us.

[SteamyTea]

I noticed my last delivery was from Hermes, they left it with my neighbour.

[Roger440]

4 hours ago, ProDave said:

My Hermes and Interparcel also do the same rate for the Highlands. Tried either of those?

We get a lot delivered by Parcelforce, always the same driver and he knows the "routine" if we are out and we just find our parcels waiting for us.

Neither can do over 15KG. (hermes not at all, interparcel at far higher cost than our current couriers.) 95% of our stuff is in the 20-30kg bracket. 

For upto 15kg, Hermes is the same price to everywhere. Sadly its double our current price, though it does come in £2 cheaper for highlands than DPD. But only 15kg.

I think our problem with Parcel Farce is Milton Keynes Depot. But thats where we are! 

I dont think there are any easy answers. Im guessing the big boys reduce the prices in the "busy" parts of the country to compete, leaving the out lying areas exposed o higher prices.