Strange eBay T&C for postage

e.g.

Royal Mail don't accept batteries.

;-) not to worry - I was paying any attention to that. They are all the same - generic version of the original.

Why then are they happy to send to any address other than those postcodes? Do they specifically screen post that goes these for batteries?

In message snipped-for-privacy@candehope.me.uk>, charles snipped-for-privacy@candehope.me.uk> writes

AIUI, not individual lithium batteries. However, I think they might be OK if they are part of and enclosed in equipment (but you need to check this).

perhaps air transport is involved

Doesn't look like it.

A friend's husband drives a Royal Mail lorry overnight from Manchester to Edinburgh 5 days a week.

Does look like it.

They have no issue when sending from any address to any address within the UK, only when the recipient lives in Scotland, NI or a few (random looking) postcodes.

Well, *lithium* batteries.

I have this week, bought 8 Nokia BL-6F Lithium batteries that fit my TENS machine and they were delivered by Royal Mail. No disclaimers or aggravation.

Yup

even original batteries catch fire if the quality control hasn't worked

it isn't where the battery is made that's the problem. It how it is checked

The RM may ban certain items from their system but they don't know what is in the packages that go through the system especially if packed in such a way that disguises the content. I've had boxes of batteries and some "dodgy" liquids delivered by RM.

Transported by air?? Seems unlikely. Brian

Well that cannot be so as I've had things with lithium batteries in them via royal mail. Maybe they have a bad reputation for combustion, which might actually suggest not to touch this particular source with a 6 ft pole, on the other hand do Hermes like their vans to catch fire? Brian

I was in my local post office on Thursday. Notice above the counter states they do not accept lithium batteries in the post.

A lot of Royal Mail is sent by air within the UK. However, they usually apply the air freight restrictions to all post, just in case it is flown at some point en route. They may have special arrangements with these suppliers for destinations they know will not involve air transport.

Then the supplier is being cheap.

The Royal Mail rules clearly state that lithium cells/batteries not contained in equipment are prohibited.

I always order one lithium cell when doing a CPC order. That forces them to use UPS (usually next day) instead of Royal mail (usually several days). It's cheaper than the 'next day' charge.

EX = Exeter DD = Dundee ML = Motherwell CF = Cardiff FY = Blackpool (Fylde) KA = Kilmarnock BB = Blackburn

That sounds like a really random collection of postcodes.

I was wondering if they were postcodes that happened to have islands in them whose ferries might cause issues, but FY is only greater Blackpool and BB and ML are landlocked.

Maybe they've just had problems with deliveries in those areas and have decided to block them?

BTW, a battery for a fiver including tools and delivery sounds suspiciously cheap...

Theo