Aberdeen Sewing Machines Ltd Reviews 288

Antwoord van Aberdeen Sewing Machines Ltd

14 jun 2026

Hi Tina, Thank you for your review. You intially purchased a foot from us and selected the collect in store option. We noticed you lived in the South of England and contacted you to ask if you would like it posted to which you requested that it was posted urgently.

We quoted you our standard postage rate for orders under £30 which is £4.95 plus VAT. This was clear from the outset and was not disputed by you.

Every item we post is first class. Your order was posted first class. In fact the email you initially sent us shows the photo of the envelope showing first class postage was paid for by us. This aspect of your review is incorrect and we respectly request you delete this.

You requested the item was posted urgently and we had missed the post for the day so we (as we often do) make a detour and posted the item in the postbox close to Berryden post office.

As you point out the item is plastic and has to be sent in a Jiffy bag to protect it otherwise it will arrive damaged.

Once you received the item (the following day) you sent me the following email:

**I have received my order thank you, but am puzzled why I have paid nearly £6 for postage when the item has been sent as a large letter in a small Jiffy bag? I would be grateful for an explanation asap please, this is very unfair

Tina England**

To which I replied immediately:

**Thank you for your email.

The foot is sent in a jiffy bag to protect it during shipping. Unfortunately, we have sent it in a smaller envelope before, and it has been damaged in transit.

Unfortunately, the cost of shipping and travel is one of our largest costs. We have tried budget services like Evri but there were so many items that went missing or were delivered to the wrong address, it wasn’t worth our while. So we reverted back to Royal Mail and Parcel Force.

It is a fine line between covering costs and not putting potential customers off purchasing.

We try to keep the costs down and I have outlined the costs involved in postage – which are in line with other online sellers.

The cost of the jiffy bag is £0.45 Plus Vat = £0.54
The cost of the postage is £3.00 + VAT = £3.60

The cost of the software that maps the address between our inventory system is over £300+ VAT per month, which is shared against all the items we send.

The cost of having the mail collected works out at around £36 per month which is obviously shared amongst all the mail items that we send.

For every transaction that runs through the ordering system we are charged between 2-3%.

I don’t have a cost for the labels/printers and ink but it is several £100 per year.

This is the reason we charge £4.95 + VAT for shipping items under £30. For any item over £30 the shipping is free. Which not a lot of retailers offer.

The option to select the postage option is given on checkout. So when you place an order the customer has a choice between paying the £4.95 + VAT for orders under £30.00 or FREE if they collect in store. The costs are not hidden.

We offer a full returns policy so if you still feel like the postage is unfair and would like a full refund, then please return the item for a full refund.

If you would like to discuss please do not hesitate to contact me. Ultimately, we don’t want anyone to feel unfairly treated, and if this is the case, please let me know.**

I phoned you on Saturday morning to discuss your complaint and agreed to refund the postage. Which means for this transaction you placed we made a loss (THe cost of the foot less the cost of Postage) Obviously for any business this is not sustainable.

I hope this comment goes someway to outline the background of your comments.

Can you please delete the comment that the item was sent 2nd class as this is false and NOT accurate. We send everything first class.