Stores suspend Scotland deliveries due to cold snap

The new Transport Minister has accused some of Britain's most popular online shops of unfairly abandoning Scotland just before Christmas after they suspended taking orders from customers north of the Border, reported The Telegraph.

In a strongly-worded attack, Keith Brown described as "unreasonable" the decision by Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's among others to suspend home deliveries in Scotland because of the icy weather.

The former Royal Marine said he would be contacting the companies to demand an explanation and an urgent solution. Only food deliveries are continuing as normal.

Thousands of Scots' festive plans have been thrown into turmoil by the move and further delays to online orders could be caused by another spell of severe winter weather forecast for the end of this week.

Parcel Force, one of Britain's largest couriers, has suspended deliveries to Scottish depots. There are also delays to online orders being dispatched from companies including Toys R Us, Boots, Amazon and some online wine sellers.

Some of the affected companies said the recent spell of Arctic weather left their couriers with a large backlog of orders to be dispatched.

But sources close to the new Transport Minister described the move as unfairly punishing Scotland, arguing that deliveries will continue in northern England but not border towns despite road conditions being the same.

Brown said he was contacting the retailers as a "matter of urgency" and it was "imperative" the problem was solved for the Scottish public and economy in the run-up to the festive season.

"This is an unreasonable response to the weather situation and we are pressing retailers to explain the withdrawal of these services from Scotland, and ask that they come forward with solutions so that the backlog is cleared as quickly as possible," he said.

The minister said rules governing hauliers' hours had been relaxed specifically to allow extra deliveries be made to Scotland.

Mike Weir, the SNP's postal affairs spokesman, added: "Instead of pulling the plug, the online companies should be going the extra mile for customers in Scotland.

"We have been experiencing exceptional weather in recent weeks but that is no excuse for a second class service."

But opposition parties said the companies were only in this position because of the SNP's failure to keep Scotland's transport network moving during the cold snap.

It was this failure that prompted the resignation at the weekend of Stewart Stevenson, Brown's predecessor.

Jeremy Purvis, the Scottish Liberal Democrat finance spokesman, said: "The SNP government's chaotic handling of this has to stop. It's an absolute embarrassment that some retailers have suspended Christmas orders and deliveries to Scotland."

David McLetchie, the Scottish Tory chief whip, added: "It's not the responsibility of Amazon to keep the roads clear, it's the responsibility of the Scottish government."

Despite road conditions improving, thanks to the thaw, the Tesco Direct website announced that it had stopped taking orders from customers in Scotland. Its non-grocery arm, which sells a wide range of goods, including books, DVDs and electrical goods, said it could not guarantee Christmas deliveries. Its priority was to deliver goods that had already been ordered. The firm took the decision as its couriers, Yodel, battled to clear a 14-day backlog .

The non-groceries arm of Salisbury's said it had suspended deliveries for Scotland and parts of northeast England, while Asda Direct said it was not delivering large items and had stopped orders for instore collection before Christmas. Marks & Spencer were not accepting any home deliveries for Scotland, due to a week-long backlog, but said online customers could still ask for goods to be dispatched to their nearest store.

Wine companies Virgin and Laithwaites both said they could not guarantee Scottish deliveries before Christmas.

River Island, the clothing chain, said it was unable to take new orders, while current purchases were taking up to two weeks to deliver. Amazon and Firebox, the online retailers, were also suffering delays. Boots suspended its next-day service, although standard delivery was still available.

Parcel Force took the "unprecedented decision" not to accept any parcels for delivery in its Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Aberdeen centres, until it was "confident" it could honour Christmas deliveries.

Home Delivery Network, which serves more than 350 retailers, said its deliveries would be limited or made later than normal.
(Source:www.cargonewsasia.com)