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Problems with suppliers

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larry Phelan09/08/2017 11:11:10
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Why is it that suppliers do not wish to deliver to the Highlands of Scotland,North of Ireland,or certain Iselands ? Are they not all part of the UK ?

Either they are or they are not ! I doubt if the same suppliers would have any problem taking their money if they collected the goods in person .

Seems to be a case of "Sometimes you,re in the club,sometimes you,re not,it all depends"

Some of them appear to think there are still Headhunters over here [OK,there are a few ]

JasonB09/08/2017 11:20:11
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Quite a few will if you are willing to pay extra which is quite understandable as the couriers charge them more simply because one man in his white van can't do as many drops in a day as one delivering withing the M25. Couriers that come to me often have a couple of 100 drops on their list so only get a few mins between drops where in the back of beyond it may be 1/2hr of more between drops.

Others don't as there are more scammers pretending to be in these places, the highlands being a particular hot spot for them.

Martin Kyte09/08/2017 11:32:38
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I don't really think we should blame the suppliers. Most of them do not do their own delivery service. Rather you should point the finger at the Carriers.

In the case of machinary sales I don't blame them only quoting a price for Mainland UK.

regards Martin

Mike09/08/2017 11:46:51
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Martin is right - it is the courier firms who either refuse to deliver to what they call "remote areas", or charge a premium for doing so. I live in the AB (Aberdeen) postcode area, and although I am 60 miles from the city I live within a mile of main road routes, and it is amazing what trouble I have in getting reliable deliveries. I think the worst I had was for a small item worth £25, for which the courier demanded £28 for delivery. The best service we get for small items here is Royal Mail. A lot of it is down to the gross ignorance of Scottish geography displayed by English firms. I could go on the ages about this stupid situation. Grrrrrrrr! There, now I've had my rant for the day!

JasonB09/08/2017 12:13:47
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Deleted previous posts before it degrades into a political rant

Edited By JasonB on 09/08/2017 12:15:08

KWIL09/08/2017 12:15:43
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Its not deregulation at all, its pure economics, if you live in the back of beyond, everything costs more, including the petrol/diesel you presently use to drive.

The universal postal service was fine when labour costs were low, now everything costs more. Ask yourself the simple question, would you charge the same for delivery of 2 heavy (or even light) items to the Western Isles or just up the road to Aberdeen?

Martin Kyte09/08/2017 12:20:10
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If that was aimed at me Jason I appologise, but I don't really see how pointing out a direct consequence of a policy qualifies as a rant when it was merely an observation, but maybe I was causing Mike to get hot under the collar so whatever.

regards Martin

Mike09/08/2017 12:26:46
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I apologise, Jason, if I offended - but the points I made were meant to be a reflection on the problems of rural life, and were not meant to be "political." Personally, I wouldn't live in a city, or even a large town, if you paid me.

larry Phelan09/08/2017 13:16:26
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Hi Everyone,

I too found that the cost of postage to Ireland was a lot more expensive than the other way around.Perhaps the water is deeper coming this way ! I too have found that often the cost of postage for some items was more than the cost of the item itself.However,the Post Office here have an arrangement whereby I can have deliveries made to an address in England and they will then deliver to me at a most reasonable cost. Since some suppliers deliver free anywhere on what they call "The Mainland",I use this service. While machines are not included,the limits regarding size and weight,are quite generous,and all I have do is pick it up at my local Post Office. Can,t do better than that.

Do you have anything like that over your way ?

PS Neither would I move back to live in a town,got enough of that,give me the sticks any day !

larry Phelan09/08/2017 13:21:20
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Hi Mike,

Your problem is one of the side effects of Hadrian,s Wall ! Ye should never have let him build it in the first place !!

larry Phelan09/08/2017 13:51:32
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Perhaps if suppliers explained why they dont deliver,instead of just a blank refusal,we might be more understanding. Yet,there is no problem accepting money,no matter how far it has to travel----------------------------!

David Jupp09/08/2017 14:18:38
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In addition Jason's point about how many deliveries a driver can make in a day, there is also trade imbalance to take into account. If there are a lot more goods going into an area than are going out, the inbound traffic has to pay for the largely empty return trips.

The same is true the other way around - a large excess of outbound freight will have to cover the costs of bringing in empty lorries or ships to move the goods.

Mike09/08/2017 14:30:45
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Hi Larry,

I've never heard of that postal system before. Regarding Hadrian's Wall, it was not so much to keep the Scots out of England as to give the Romans trying to colonise parts of Scotland something to retreat behind if the locals turned really nasty. There are some claims that there were hundreds of miles of Roman roads north of the Border.

Gordon W09/08/2017 17:01:31
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I live near Mike, in the AB area, I can't understand how I can send stuff away from here very much cheaper than I can get delivery here.

David Jupp09/08/2017 17:14:10
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Posted by Gordon W on 09/08/2017 17:01:31:

I live near Mike, in the AB area, I can't understand how I can send stuff away from here very much cheaper than I can get delivery here.

That follows from my earlier post on trade imbalance. If there are lots of empty lorries coming our of your area (having delivered there), the competition will be fierce for what little business that is available in that direction, hence keen prices.

larry Phelan09/08/2017 17:46:29
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Hi Mike,

I never knew about this system either until I picked up a leaflet about it in my local Post Office one day. So I said to myself [I often talk to myself,it,s due to old age ,I think ] "Bingo,this could be right up my street",even though we dont have streets out in the sticks. All I had to do was apply "on line" giving my address ect and within a few days,I received a card,same size as a credit card,giving the address of a depot of some kind to which I could direct any deliveries .All I need to do is give this address to the supplier [It,s somewhere in Hants ] and wait to receive a text from the local Post Office to pick the item up there , just like that ! It,s great,no more silly delivery charges.

PS To Gordon You are missing the whole point,You are not supposed to understand these things,I gave up trying years ago. Example When things are in short supply,the price goes up [think petrol ] When there is a glut,the price goes up [think petrol again ] See what I mean ?

larry Phelan09/08/2017 18:18:28
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He was what is known as "A Crafty Scot" ! A man after my own heart !

larry Phelan09/08/2017 19:01:56
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I forgot to mention that the Post Office also have a similar arrangement with America,to which I have also signed up. Not that I get much stuff from America,but last year I tried to buy an ACME tread gauge from a crowd called "Shars". The cost of the item was about 8 dollars but the delivery cost was 32 dollars extra ! Needless to say,I told them where to stick it. Got a post from a guy in Canada,who said that he was quoted much the same price to deliver just across the border. He too told them where to stick it. Makes me wonder about their mentality.

JasonB09/08/2017 19:18:05
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I just e-mail Shars and get an individual price when I buy from them. Bought one item that was about $100 and the website calculated $125 postage. After an e-mail they did it for $9.99 and got it in 5 days. very helpful and good to deal with.

If you have the mentality to ask nicely rather than kick off you may be pleasantly surprisedwink 2

 

Edited By JasonB on 09/08/2017 19:19:12

larry Phelan10/08/2017 12:47:29
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The kick off only came when they gave me the ridiculous delivery costs.no

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