Island Echo always welcome letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
Letter to the editor – 29th May 2023
“It’s not the first time we’ve experienced this but yet another example of an error in the Royal Mail algorithms which is preventing the Island from receiving perfectly legitimate deliveries.
“Somewhere, somehow, some idiot has allowed a box to be ticked on a computer whereby perfectly postable items are stopped from being sent to IOW.
Article continues below this advertisement “We understand why some grockles and overners do not get that postage to the Island is no different than posting to Portsmouth or Preston…but some glitch on the software is allowing websites to ban the delivery of certain mailed items.
“It seems to particularly affect Amazon and eBay items, but this must also be seen on other online purchase sites.
“Could you please help us from feeling like third class citizens – or some distant offshore tax haven (without any of the benefits) and stop this stupidity from happening? (Or get the island offshore tax status if you prefer!).
Mark
Cowes
In the case of eBay, it is the seller who has control of the postage policies for their items, hence they have control over whether they want to send here by ticking a box saying no. in some cases sellers do send, but insist on a hefty surcharge when the likes of Royal Mail and Evri charge the same price.
Amazon treats us like an island which is being accessed by air, so it assumes all packages are coming by air and blocks hazardous items from coming here, don’t know why but they won’t change their stance.
Yep I know how the guy feels. Try buying a vacuum battery off Amazon. Hazardous item! It’s not even living on an island, its just bureaucracy.
Most Ebay sellers use a courier service, and the seller has a list of where that courier service will and will not deliver, charge extra for and items they will not deliver..
But honestly this does need looking into as there are far too many sellers that will not post to Island. I tried ordering a part for my bike from Manchester, but they would not deliver to Isle of Wight… they probably have no clu8e as to where the Isle of Wight is… !! I had one seller stating ‘,Do not deliver to Post Box numbers, sorry !’ because our post codes start with PO… !! About time we got IW post codes instead …
I just put the delivery address as Hovertravel in southsea – the courier drops the item there, hovertravel ship it over and I pay the charge upon collection at ryde. Normally hover staff ring me up to say it is at ryde.
whilst hovertravel won’t accept any hazardous items like batteries and other dangerous goods and it can be a bit of a nuisance when buying off ebay sellers, it is no big deal.
YES.It’s all down to who the seller chose/uses as a shipper. It’s that simple. Evri as a shipper delivers to the IOW. It has nothing to do with royal mail. They’re obliged to send and deliver to anywhere in the UK at no extra cost. The OP clearly has no idea… As a tip…. if you find an E bay seller ‘doesn’t ship to the Isle of Wight’, look further down the listings until you find another seller that does NOT have any sipping restrictions ( save abroad).
Yep, totally agree with Mark. This situation absolutely boils my bodily fluids – time and time again! It needs looking into as a matter of urgency.
Sorry, but both you and Mark need to understand the root cause here. It’s NOT the fault of Royal Mail. They are obloiged to send and deliver any legitimate package anywhere in the UK including the IOW.
That’s is the Law, not some computer box ticking excecise by a royal mail employee. Makes my blood boil…..
Don’t worry, this sort of inconvenience is ok with Bob. His stock reply when these kind of issues are raised with him appears to be ” you are unsuitable to life on an island and should move to the mainland”. I got that firsthand from Seely himself!
Well thats a cheek! Seeing as some of us are born here, and have families that go way back further than his family on this island.
Really?… FHS!
I don’t think it’s Royal Mail, it’s to do with hazardous material on the Ferry. So batteries, aerosols, volatile liquids. Clearly we can purchase these things on the the island so there must be a safe way to get them here on the boat but if you read all the terms and conditions you aren’t supposed to post them to the Island.
Some things on eBay need couriers which do cost more to come to the Island but you can usually contact the seller and work something out.
This has happened to me several times. And I get tired of having to explain to sellers over and over that I don’t live in the channel Islands and this isn’t the same thing as Guernsey. But they insist that they’ll have to pay more for freight. Only last week this happened to me yet again. The local island council should send a letter to all these companies stating to all sellers, that we aren’t included In the channel Islands and therefore require no extras freight charges. It’s infuriating!
I’ve not had problems,but remember any aerosol or wet or Lithium battery are a fire and explosion risk – purchaser knowing such goods should be declared for Royal mail and carrier companies on ferry are therefore also liable in event of incident. Be careful. Just buy local,might cost couple quid more,but might save lives.
I found this on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G8UUV583T397XQ3R But I read an article quite a while back that seemed to suggest that all items delivered to UK offshore Islands is regulated by the aviation authority !? That being the case how do stores like Tesco, Sainsburys, Halfords etc receive delivery’s of Aerosols paint garden chemicals etc etc. I can also go to the mainland and purchase any of the items by the bag load and bring them over on any of the ferries, It just doesn’t make sense !
My husband bought some cycling stuff that was free postage,they added £10 to deliver by royal mail to the isle of wight, I emailed company and pointed out our postcode abd that it was sent by RoyalMail.The money was refunded with an apology. Trouble is,people will either say hard luck or buyer won’t question it,its worth asking. I have paid extra before as listed as being delivered by a courier but then items arrived by royal mail
There are plenty of choices, if some idiot think we are off the Azores, look for someone else.
I don’t put “Isle of Wight”, just Hampshire, and never had a problem…
Now that is a great tip. Thanks 🙂
Yes but some wong accept post code so whether you put Hampshire or not our Post code get rejected
I was looking on Amazon yesterday for a camera battery, There was a page full of batteris, some could be posted to the Island, some couldn’t. Crazy.
The most absurd of these blockages that I’ve come across is Aldi, I live two miles from the local Aldi store but if I order one of their ‘online only’ offers they don’t deliver to the IW.
For reasons of, I assume, ignorance the IW is classified as ‘offshore’ in the same way as the Isle of Mann and the Channel Islands
I’ve had many item’s from Aldi online delivered to IOW ok. However Aldi very slow at sorting and delivery times. Much prefer eBay , now also on my forth order from Temu and so far outdoes all on price, bit slower delivery but half to third of price of eBay.
Islan Echo are equally stupid for posting this fake news. That makes my blood boil. That and having to right click on a topic to see it as opposed to the world wide standard of ‘left click’. Makes my blood boil…
This has nothing to do with royal Mail, it is the supplier you are buying from that has blocked postage to the Isle Of Wight so before having a rant better to check your facts first.
Some of the couriers charge £20 extra for delivery to the Island. One example is an Amazon courier, they charge Amazon 1/3 of what they charge other customers for similar items, stating that the ferry is the reason for extra delivery charge. Royal Mail is very good compared to others; at least you can contact them for information.
Its a postcode lottery with delivery charges. Most state ‘Free UK delivery’ until you put in a postcode for a UK island or the Scottish highlands. I’ve recently paid £60 delivery for a metal shed but it was still cheaper than buying it on the island.
Posy office is doomed anyways. Its mainly a junk mail and scam delivery service. Parcel force aren’t much better either.
I was told, buy a gardening company in Essex, that they can’t send items to the island as it’s offshore and they can’t deal with the customs paperwork needed. And what is sad, that is not the first time I have been told this. If you read the trading standards rules, if they say they post to the UK mainland they must include the island. If they wish not to post to the island, the must state that before the checkout.
There is a computer company based in Portsmouth that refuses to post to the island saying it costs more. I asked the courier they use, which does deliver for other companies to the island, if they charge more for island delivery, they told me that they do not.
If I come across this on ebay I just message the seller and tell them that it costs the same to post parcels to the Isle of Wight as UK mainland and all of them have changed their listings. No problems at all.
Friend of mine puts stamps all across the top of the envelope thinking we have a different postal system!!
Don’t ask Bob Seely; he is too busy being interviewed on GB News about the lockdown and Russia/Ukraine. He is not interested in the Island.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_43A5NO6Hg
I often come across the vagaries of couriers etc. but today was a very strange one. A small,(50g) plastic, non aerosol bottle of 50+ sun block “milk” was marked as “Can’t post to your address”.
The fact that I buy the same product around this time every year from Amazon and just used the “buy it again tab” didn’t make any difference. This year they have obviously decided it is too risky to send it.
I bought a wooden garden chair from a company on the mainland and they were quite happy to despatch it me but would not include the recommended wood stain along with it.
This is actually a form of discrimination against Island residents which has been going on for years. The law states that mail must be delivered to all parts of the United Kingdom. Perhaps the local MP should sort this one out urgently instead of promoting some other dream projects like trains..
Precisely. Royal Mail will deliver anything ‘permitted’ to the IOW. We all know its part of the united kingdom. Well, actually, some people don’t . This whole argument has nothing to do with Royal Mail not delivering to the IOW.
Exactly, people would soon complain if their goods get destroyed by some one else’s liquid leaking or fire damaged by a lithium battery. Retailers selling same goods on Island is different in that it’s in bulk, usually by own transport and brought over on early morning ferries. Amazon deliver to Island . But Amazon only middle man like eBay and you are buying from individual sellers mostly, same sellers on eBay,Onbuy and Temu.
Hazardous items can only ship in special containers on the lorry or van which must be closed sides.
It’s not too complicated to understand.
I’ve never had a problem, I do 99% of my shopping online and very, very rarely have a problem. I’ve orderded carpets, white goods, electronics, batteries from mainland companies and never had any issues.
Only once did I have an issue when I ordered a desk from Wayfair during lockdown. Found (what I thought) was the perfect one in terms of dimensions and set-up, but the seller cancelled the order and refunded me. Fair enough, if you don’t want to deliver to me, I’ll take my custom elsewhere, your loss.
Even cheap crap from Wish and Shein has no issues getting to me.