MORE than 3000 people from rural parts of Scotland have complained about unfair delivery charges being imposed on them after a charity launched a survey into the problem.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) said it had received thousands of responses to its survey since it was launched in November, and the scale of responses showed the "intensity" of feeling about the issue.
Complaints include online companies claiming they offer free delivery but then charging "substantial" fees for people in rural areas, or refusing to deliver at all to certain areas they class as "too remote".
A resident in Oban complained of always having to pay delivery surcharges because companies said the town was "an island or in the Highlands", while one homeowner in Aberdeenshire resented being charged £20 more for delivery than people in the city of Aberdeen.
Other rural residents cited delivery charges more than four times the level set by the Royal Mail.
Susan McPhee, head of policy at CAS, said: "We've been taken aback by the scale of the response and the intensity of the feeling.
"There is massive anger about this right across rural Scotland. Not just the Highlands and Islands, but southern Scotland and the north-east as well. And even people in urban Scotland are concerned about the issue. This is about basic fairness. People feel they are being mistreated, and indeed discriminated against, just because of where they live. They are fed up with it, and they want a fair deal."
A survey carried out by CAS last year before the launch of its nationwide study suggested that more than 80% of people living in areas of rural Scotland had been refused delivery of online goods because of their location.
Ms McPhee said the evidence would now be analysed before a full report is published in the spring. The charity is writing to some companies in a bid to persuade them to change their pricing structure, and it will also put pressure on Government and regulators to take action.
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