Today I acquired...........

[25.4_mechanic]

I always fantasise about wild bears, rabid badgers the size of shirehorses, sabre-toothed tigers and blue-faced man-eaters armed with two-handed swords -
no paths, only bogs, etc. .... It can't be like that any more, can it?

Man it winds me up!!

It costs the same to post within the UK with Royal Mail. Highlands, Orkney, Shetland and NI all count as ‘mainland’ with them.

I have had several arguments on the phone about it. Told one bloke to shove a couple hundred quid order cos he was too lazy to walk to the post office, which from google maps was about 5 doors down!! Knob.

That said. Welly Welding always send RM to me rather than their usual carrier. So does Rob at Xtreme. I buy as much as I can there to repay the favour

my point exactly!

Seriously, I don't really believe that it's the same there as I just jokingly described, I'm just trying to find a factually tenable reason for increasing the price or even refusing shipments to the highlands, because I see that not so rarely ...????

Carsten

--

 

[Fred Trevvett]

I always fantasise about wild bears, rabid badgers the size of shirehorses, sabre-toothed tigers and blue-faced man-eaters armed with two-handed swords -
no paths, only bogs, etc. ....

That is 100% accurate

 

[Rannsachair]

What is it with the "Doesn't post to Scottish Highlands" .....?
I understand it a bit with the islands, you have to change the means of transport, but Scottish Highlands ....

I always fantasise about wild bears, rabid badgers the size of shirehorses, sabre-toothed tigers and blue-faced man-eaters armed with two-handed swords -
no paths, only bogs, etc. .... It can't be like that any more, can it?



Carsten

--

We do have cars now, but the delivery trucks struggle on our roads:

 

[25.4_mechanic]

We do have cars now, but the delivery trucks struggle on our roads:

When a Jeep Wrangler gets there, it can't be that serious ...

The real LandRovers alone might have convinced me ... or a Unimog - pulling them all out - of cause


Carsten

 

[Rannsachair]

It’s not the landscape up there that puts people off, it’s all the big bloody Jessie’s

Is that because I am 6' 3" and wear a dress?

 

[25.4_mechanic]

Is that because I am 6' 3" and wear a dress?

sensitive souls could be really unsettled by this


btw.: how does that work out on your bike?

 

[8ob]

Today I acquired a uj for swmbo`s maintenance free Iveco , some battery isolators and a charger for the gurt electrolysis cleaner .

 

[Hood]

It’s not the landscape up there that puts people off, it’s all the big bloody Jessie’s

Aye you are quite right and since Covid there have been a lot more here than normal, usually in camper vans.

 

[25.4_mechanic]

maintenance free Iveco

What is this? Never heard of such a thing ...

 

[8ob]

What is this? Never heard of such a thing ...

Because everything swmbo has is maintained by me for free, thinking about it I have also bought most of it

Bob

 

[MattF]

Sucker.

 

[25.4_mechanic]

Because everything swmbo has is maintained by me for free, thinking about it I have also bought most of it

Bob

so, you will also always be blamed for it .... poor lad ....... wait, what does that remind me off .....



Carsten

--

 

[m_c]

my point exactly!

Seriously, I don't really believe that it's the same there as I just jokingly described, I'm just trying to find a factually tenable reason for increasing the price or even refusing shipments to the highlands, because I see that not so rarely ...????

Carsten

--

To give the serious answer, it's not economically viable for couriers.
Royal Mail has to provide the universal service for a fixed fee, but I'd be pretty sure they'll lose money collecting/delivering within the area, but it's subsidised by the rest of the country.

Couriers on the other hand don't have to provide a universal service, and as they're very much commercially driven, they're not going to deliver a few parcels for several hours worth of driving.

As for companies that refuse to use Royal Mail, it could be down to various reasons.
From a purely commercial perspective, I'd guess Highlands and Islands makes up a lot less than 5% of the UK population (I'd probably even guess less than 1%,) 0.7% of the UK population (going by a quick google, which puts H&I population at 470'000)
For most companies, altering procedures for what is likely to be an insignificant percentage of potential orders, isn't going to be worthwhile.

It might sound harsh, but it's the commercial reality.

 

[Blobber]

Man it winds me up!!

It costs the same to post within the UK with Royal Mail. Highlands, Orkney, Shetland and NI all count as ‘mainland’ with them.

I have had several arguments on the phone about it. Told one bloke to shove a couple hundred quid order cos he was too lazy to walk to the post office, which from google maps was about 5 doors down!! Knob.

That said. Welly Welding always send RM to me rather than their usual carrier. So does Rob at Xtreme. I buy as much as I can there to repay the favour

The royal mail get a lot of flack but the amount of stuff they handle is enormous, they can be a bit restricted on parcel sizes though, I send stuff all over the world and it's not always as simple as folks think, if you get really stuck I'm happy to send stuff over

 

[addjunkie]

The royal mail get a lot of flack but the amount of stuff they handle is enormous, they can be a bit restricted on parcel sizes though, I send stuff all over the world and it's not always as simple as folks think, if you get really stuck I'm happy to send stuff over

Posties dropped in a flyer the other day apparently they now do parcel puck up too

 

[Fred Trevvett]

It might sound harsh, but it's the commercial reality.

And that statement can be applied to so many millions of things which are not quite how we want them to be

 

[knighty]

Possibly not hayfever but, sinus irritation from all the crap that gets up there..

Sudafed/boots decongestant pseudoephedrine works very well for me when I get it. One of the few medicines worth having in cupboard.

I get the same thing every year in the summer, I'm ok in the winter :-(

 

[Fiji]

Interesting, the talk of allergies, my wife (Fijian / Indian), was always fine while in Fiji, moved to New Zealand in 2006 and was fine for about 3 years then as since developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten, also as hay fever. She knows of several other people from Fiji, India and Thailand who have all had same problems and we're sure it's because of all the chemicals used over here. She also as to make sure chicken is free range, again to avoid all the crap that they pump into them, mind you I get free range on principle anyway.

 

[Pete.]

Interesting, the talk of allergies, my wife (Fijian / Indian), was always fine while in Fiji, moved to New Zealand in 2006 and was fine for about 3 years then as since developed an intolerance to dairy and gluten, also as hay fever. She knows of several other people from Fiji, India and Thailand who have all had same problems and we're sure it's because of all the chemicals used over here. She also as to make sure chicken is free range, again to avoid all the crap that they pump into them, mind you I get free range on principle anyway.

Might be a lot more simple than that, like something natural to the environment that's caused a change in her. We had a dog which was suffering all manner of skin problems. Always scratching and chewing her back we spent a fortune at the vets and medicated shampoos etc but nothing helped.

Then we laid a new path in the garden, dug up the rough lawn and re-turfed it. Dog was cured of her irritation almost overnight. Something that was growing in the garden was really irritating her.

 

[Mick Annick]

Is that because I am 6' 3" and wear a dress?
View attachment 351189

Now I don’t feel so embarrassed about the photo of me in my bowler hat