Can anybody explain why?

[SammyQ]

Quote: "I'm looking for £120 ono and I'll post it within the UK but not Northern Ireland." So goes a post in the For Sale section.

Before I post something I'll have moderated out...or, more likely, I'll regret....may I respectfully ask: "Why not?"

"Post" implies Royal Mail. We have posties and also Parcel Farce. We use crimson post boxes, and vans of a similar similar red (and yellow) bring the big things. The name on all the mail outlets is "Post Office". BUT. More and more and more ads are saying "not to Norn Iron".............we used to be nicknamed "the Bierut of the North", but those days are now long gone. WHAT is this reluctance to accord us the same postal rights as everyone else?

Or, am I just being monumentally thick? (As an ex-member of MENSA, I most respectfully suggest not). Are all these posters getting quotations from couriers then, not Royal Mail? THEN SAY SO, "Post" is not "courier" and vice versa.


Semantic Sam, suspecting discrimination by neglect.....

 

[marcros]

I have a small mail order business selling specialist beekeeping bits. I post a fair bit out all over the UK and parts of Europe/USA. As you say, Royal Mail is not a problem with Northern Ireland and indeed any of the UK, but if using couriers through the likes of parcel2go, the couriers are very selective about what postcodes they cover. You will know better than I, but BT postcodes seem to cover a huge area, many of which they don't cover. It isnt as easy as "excluding highlands and Islands" restrictions where it is more obvious where wont be covered. These days, royal mail and parcel force can be so (comparatively) expensive that it hurts to find out at the point of booking a courier that they wont touch the parcel and you have to pay double or more at the post office.

 

[Elapid]

My guess is that people assume wrongly(?) that it will either cost more or be some difficulty involved.

Am I right in assuming that for the sender it's exactly the same as sending in the UK buy the person in NI has to pay import duty or something silly?

 

[dickm]

It isnt as easy as "excluding highlands and Islands" restrictions where it is more obvious where wont be covered.

Can't agree with that! We have an AB41 postcode, some couriers seem to think that is way up in the Cairngorms and slap on a surcharge, or refuse to deliver, even though we are less than 10 miles from the coast, on a main road out of the Granite city. Others are quite surprised if you check - "why should AB41 be a problem?". To make it even worst, Evilbay software assumes everywhere north of Aberdeen is beyond the pale, and refuses to accept offers for some items even when the vendor is perfectly happy to send it.
Of course, once Government gets its way and privatises Royal Mail, they'll be doing the same tricks.

 

[cambournepete]

Am I right in assuming that for the sender it's exactly the same as sending in the UK buy the person in NI has to pay import duty or something silly?

Duty!? To NI!! It's part of the United Kingdom!
It's just like posting something to the next village, and costs the same. :roll:

 

[Elapid]

Am I right in assuming that for the sender it's exactly the same as sending in the UK buy the person in NI has to pay import duty or something silly?

Duty!? To NI!! It's part of the United Kingdom!
It's just like posting something to the next village, and costs the same. :roll:

Someone was telling me something about it the other day. They said if they put NI they get charged import duty but if the put Belfast Ireland then the Irish post office just forward it on and they avoid import duty. Maybe it was stuff from outside the UK but I understood it as stuff from the UK.

 

[Noel]

Am I right in assuming that for the sender it's exactly the same as sending in the UK buy the person in NI has to pay import duty or something silly?

Duty!? To NI!! It's part of the United Kingdom!
It's just like posting something to the next village, and costs the same. :roll:

Someone was telling me something about it the other day. They said if they put NI they get charged import duty but if the put Belfast Ireland then the Irish post office just forward it on and they avoid import duty. Maybe it was stuff from outside the UK but I understood it as stuff from the UK.

No, that's just a wheeze for goods sent from outside the EU. Takes forever but does have it's advantages.....

But as with Sammy it does pee me off when I see "off shore", "not to BT postcodes" and bollox like that. They lose the business and I go somewhere else. Really stupid. It's not a problem with most suppliers, Axminster, Pro Direct football, Toolstation, Screwfix,Wealden etc and a host of others. Oh, except bleeding Rutlands who charge a tenner if you want a router bit in a jiffy bag (90p true cost in the post) or whatever despite coming on here and announcing they were going to revise their shipping costs down to 2.99 for small items from January 2006. And the suppliers mentioned do not charge anything extra be it Royal Mail or Yodel or whoever.

Bit like the ads on TV Sammy, what did the small print at the bottom of the screen say?

 

[Dibs-h]

I think if the buyer (NI based) is happy to pay the P&P, shouldn't make any difference.

My 2p worth

Dibs

 

[Mike.C]

It isnt as easy as "excluding highlands and Islands" restrictions where it is more obvious where wont be covered.

Can't agree with that! We have an AB41 postcode, some couriers seem to think that is way up in the Cairngorms and slap on a surcharge, or refuse to deliver, even though we are less than 10 miles from the coast, on a main road out of the Granite city. Others are quite surprised if you check - "why should AB41 be a problem?". To make it even worst, Evilbay software assumes everywhere north of Aberdeen is beyond the pale, and refuses to accept offers for some items even when the vendor is perfectly happy to send it.
Of course, once Government gets its way and privatises Royal Mail, they'll be doing the same tricks.

Snap AB43 with an A road all the way to Aberdeen, so why should we pay anymore?

On the other hand there are some companies, Axminster for instance who charge us the same as their other customers. Lets hope that people wise up and stop buying from companies, sellers, who simply cannot be bothered to send the item to where ever, or are to thick to see what they are doing wrong.

Cheers

Mike

 

[misterfish]

To make it even worst, Evilbay software assumes everywhere north of Aberdeen is beyond the pale, and refuses to accept offers for some items even when the vendor is perfectly happy to send it.

I've had the same here in Chichester on the south coast. We have a PO18 postcode, but ebay have their postcodes wrong (and despite knowing it won't change them) and have many mainland PO postcodes as Isle of Wight while some of the IOW incorrectly as mainland.

Misterfish

 

[Benchwayze]

Just cancelled my eBay and pay-pal accounts.
If I want to sell anything, there's Gumtree, or Amazon.
Tools? Well there's always UKWS; although you wise old scouts can't normally be persuaded to pay over the odds!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[SammyQ]

Thank you for the understanding Folks. Perversely, I am slightly heartened to hear that this idiocy isn't limited to BT postcodes and the companies I wanted to use. Mind you, I am slightly confused by the poster above who seemeto be confusing "Irish" Dublin-based and governed, with "Northern Irish" or Ulster, UK-based and governed. This is an island of two differing economies Guys and Gals!!

Sam