A Dundee woman was hit with a £108 delivery charge from a major retailer because it classes the city as “remote”.
Laura Campbell, 50, had tried to order a flat-pack desk from Matalan Direct but was stunned when she discovered the delivery charges would be greater than the price of the desk itself.
When she contacted the company she was told Scotland’s fourth largest city was classified as remote due to “logistics reasons.”
She said: “I thought it was a mistake when I first saw the delivery charge so I went back and put my address again but it still came back as a remote area.”
“I then thought there must be something wrong with the system and so emailed them.
“The flat-pack desk only cost £125 but I had a discount code – which didn’t work either – which meant it would actually have cost less, a lot less, than the delivery charge.”
Laura said she was unhappy with the response she received from the company.
“It was worse than useless,” she said.
“I live close to the city centre on Arbroath Road – one of the main roads through Dundee.”
The website states its normal charges for the UK and Northern Ireland are £14.99 but that surcharges may apply for some remote areas.
For Dundee, that surcharge is an incredible £93.01
A spokesman for Matalan Direct said the company hoped to reduce delivery charges to Scotland by the end of the year.
They said the furniture side of the company had to use a different carrier than the regular Matalan delivery service because of the size of the goods being shopped and it was this company which classifies Dundee as remote.
A spokesman for Matalan Direct said: “We have been working with our logistics partners for some time now to review and improve our delivery service across the UK, including Scotland.
“We have already made significant amends to our parcel and one-man delivery services for small to medium items to the area, and by the end of the year further changes will be made to improve our service across the UK, as well as also introduce additional delivery days across the board.
“This will mean that the Dundee area, as well as other Scottish cities will benefit from significantly reduced delivery charges.
“Matalan Direct is committed to continually improving in order to provide an excellent customer experience as the brand grows.
“We apologise to any customers who have been dissatisfied with the delivery charges to date and assure them that their feedback has been taken on board and that the corresponding changes have been made a priority.”
