North entrepreneurs hit by rip-off delivery charges are being urged to take part in a major new project to uncover the extent of the problem.
Citizens Advice Scotland today launches an online survey for businesses across the country to outline unfair charges they face and how it is affecting them.
The survey is the first of its kind in Scotland and CAS chief executive Margaret Lynch believes more than 20,000 firms could be affected.
She said: “We’ve been campaigning for years on this issue of high delivery charges. In 2011-12 we collected evidence from over 3,000 Scots, and published research which found that delivery firms applied huge additional charges to postcode areas that included one million Scots, not just in the far north but across much of the country.
“Our study also found that deliveries to some of these areas have mark-ups of over 500% more than the standard costs, and that many delivery companies refused to deliver to parts of Scotland at all, while others were unclear or misleading about their charges.
“Until now we have mainly focused on the impact this has on individual consumers. But we have also been contacted by many businesses, particularly small business.
“High delivery charges can be absolutely devastating for them, both when sending and receiving parcels.
“We estimate that there are well over 20,000 businesses that could be affected.
“We want to assess how bad this problem is, so we are today opening a survey that is just for businesses. It’s their chance to have their say and contribute their evidence to our campaign.
“Throughout the campaign we have said that Scots don’t want ‘special treatment’. All they want is a fair deal.”