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  • irishtimes.com - Posted: January 10, 2010 @ 11:10 pm

    Failure to deliver

    Conor Pope

    Helen Curtin from Dalkey was delighted when she got some Marks Spencer vouchers recently. She got onto the MS website and spent a couple of hours browsing the virtual aisles.

    But when she went to check out and pay for the goods there was a problem. Marks Spencer does not ship to addresses in the Republic of Ireland, one of only two places in the world which M&S says it cannot ship to (the other is the Channel Islands) – despite the fact that it accepts international orders through many of its outlets based in Northern Ireland.

    She was incensed at both the time she wasted – there was no obvious indication that there was a restriction on delivery to the Republic – and the fact that her vouchers did not go nearly as far in a shop here as they did online due to the considerably higher prices the retailer charges Irish shoppers.

    When she contacted the store she was told the problem was that we don’t have postcodes. She points out that Amazon and thousands of other international retailers can manage to find Irish addresses perfectly well even though we don’t have postcodes.

    We contacted Marks and Spencer, whose spokesperson said: “We do not currently deliver to Ireland and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused to the customer. Our international delivery service is a new and growing part of our business and we will continue to review new locations going forward.”

    When we pointed out to M&S that their response failed to explain why the store is in a position to deliver to Brazil, Argentina, Iraq and Afghanistan but cannot deliver to the Republic, the company was unprepared to elaborate further.

    • 13 Comments »

    1.
    January 11, 2010
    9:50 am

    This is a huge bugbear to me too; it HAS to be something about the sterling-euro prices and an argument they don’t want to get into, because there is absolutely no other reason for it. Postcodes? Pfff.

    Comment by Rosemary Mac Cabe
    2.
    January 11, 2010
    1:41 pm

    Don’t moan and bitch about M&S and other companies who ‘cannot’ (will not, more like) deliver to the Irish Republic. Take a stance – DON’T shop there. It’s the only answer.

    Comment by Aydee
    3.
    January 11, 2010
    11:48 pm

    A family member works for a store that has an English HQ and also charges higher prices in Ireland. This store does accept online orders from Ireland at the English prices and delivers them to Ireland. They have now discovered that some customers have turned this facility into a nice little earner. They order the goods online and pay the English price, then they return them to an Irish store and get refunded the Irish price, so making a good profit!

    Comment by Veronica Balfe
    4.
    January 12, 2010
    5:15 pm

    They have postcodes in the Channel Islands which makes this excuse invalid.

    Comment by Joe
    5.
    January 14, 2010
    6:55 pm

    There is an ad for the M&S website on the wall in their Dundrum branch. When I asked if that meant we could now shop online, I was told no but I could browse.

    Comment by Maria Walsh
    6.
    January 26, 2010
    7:40 pm

    I had a similar problem when I tried to send toys to Ireland from my amazon account, but the reason given was the VAT and tax differences, certain goods, including clothes are subject to tax when they enter Ireland, likewise my friends in Ireland use Strawberry.net to buy cosmetics and scent, I tried it, it all went fine til the delivery guy asked me for £48.70 in unpaid duty. My Irish mates paid no duty (shhh).
    I think this is actually a tax thing. Not a postcode issue.

    Comment by 127.0.0.1
    7.
    February 22, 2010
    12:09 pm

    When asked in Sept ‘09 ” Please can you tell me why Ireland is still not listed as one of the 80 countries that you can deliver to after ordering online. It can’t be down to the change in currency as you deliver to other countries that don’t use sterling as their currency. What is it that is stopping a company like M&S offer online sales to Irish customers? Your competitors (Next, Monsoon et al) all offer delivery services to Irish customers.” I received the response “Please be advised that we have just started expanding the number of countries that we deliver to. As of yet the Republic of Ireland is not one of the countries that we are able to deliver to. Although we are able to make international deliveries, this is only to countries that we currently have agreements in place for. Please accept our apologies for any upset or inconvenience caused.”
    So they didn’t answer my question then and they haven’t answered your question now.

    Comment by Lynne
    8.
    March 18, 2010
    2:24 pm

    Well, I’m not one for giving up on something so I contacted M&S again on this issue on 11th March 2010 about their lack of delivery options to Rep of Ireland.
    “When are Marks & Spencer going to begin international shipping to Ireland?
    You can send to the Canary Islands, Iceland, New Zealand but you can’t send to Ireland – utterly baffling.”
    and the response I got was
    “Thanks for emailing us about our delivery services. I’ve looked into your query and I can confirm that I’ve contacted the relevant department about this. I can advise you that I’ve passed your comments to our communications team, who are always keen to hear any feedback and suggestions from our customers so we can improve our service. May I suggest that you keep checking our website for this as we’re looking into offering this service in the near future.”
    So, I’ll keep on at them some more I guess!

    Comment by Lynne
    9.
    March 21, 2010
    6:02 pm

    I was in Debenhams in UK recently, saw a jacket priced at £65 but didn’t buy it. The same jacket in Dublin store is priced at €101! I went online and tried to order it but surprise surprise, no delivery to Ireland or “pick up from store” option. I contacted their online services and they could give no concrete reason but did say if I wanted they would make an exception if I ordered through them over the phone and would then deliver here. Progress??

    Comment by SarahG
    10.
    April 1, 2010
    1:37 pm

    Well, we know what will happen now then, they will start to deliver here, but like Warehouse and Karen Millen, will only allow us to pay in Euro, so while it will be great to have the convenience of online shopping, we wont be making a saving with sterling prices. Just wait and see…….

    Comment by ColHC
    11.
    May 9, 2010
    2:10 am

    Am very confused.I live in ireland and have bought clothes from you on line.Yet now I read you do not deliver to ireland.I am so disappointed as I do not leave close to an M&S store.

    Comment by Trish
    12.
    July 6, 2010
    9:01 pm

    have spent over and hour online on the mark and spencers web sit, with a final total amount of 125 pounds owed, only to find that they do not deliver to ireland. i think this is disgracefull and i wont be shoping with them again. I will order online witthother companies who are not moneygrabbers. god knows marks and spencers are making enough off the people of Ireland. A disgusted and disappointed customer

    Comment by mary, cork, ireland
    13.
    September 28, 2010
    2:16 pm

    I live in Ireland (Republic). If I buy on the web can the goods be sent to a store in Belfast to be collected. Please advise,

    Comment by Dolores Clancy

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