Serious questions have been raised over the standards of the UK's largest newspaper and magazine wholesaler after a Birmingham retailer alleged months of persistent failures and an ineffective complaints process, with other retailers across the country reporting similar concerns.
Retailer Adeel Imran, who runs Go Local Bell Lane store in Birmingham, has raised some serious concern against Smiths News, questioning the wholesaler's attitude towards independent convenience retailers and an ineffective complaint resolution process which "exist only to generate reference numbers".
Speaking to Asian Trader, Imran said, "For at least the past six months, Smiths News Birmingham has repeatedly failed to collect our newspaper returns as agreed. Newspapers are delivered to our store every day, but returns are frequently left building up for days at a time and are often only collected once a week.
"This is not an isolated incident or a temporary service issue. It has become the normal pattern of service despite countless reports, complaint references and formal complaints.
"Despite repeated phone calls and emails, the problem continues. Every time I contact Smiths News I am assured that the issue will be resolved the following day, yet nothing changes. The same promises are made time and time again while the collections continue to be missed.
"I have raised numerous complaints and received multiple reference numbers, yet the situation remains exactly the same. In my experience, the complaints process appears ineffective," he said.
Imran alleges that despite numerous phone calls, complaint reference numbers and emails, the problem still remains unresolved.
"No collections were made throughout the whole of last week and the accumulated returns were only collected on June 21.
"Today, no collection was made despite a newspaper delivery being completed. The driver delivered newspapers to the front of the shop, leaving them on the public footpath, but once again failed to collect the returns from the rear of the premises," Imran told Asian Trader today (June 23).
Adeel Imran
Retailers are being promised resolutions but as Imran pointed out, Smiths News' complaints process appears to "exist only to generate reference numbers rather than actually solve problems".
"What I find most disappointing is that collecting returns is a basic and essential part of the service provided by Smiths News. I am not asking for anything extraordinary. I am simply asking for the service that retailers pay for and reasonably expect to receive.
"As retailers, we are paying for a service that is simply not being provided. We should not have to spend time every morning chasing collections, making phone calls and reporting the same issue repeatedly when we are trying to run our businesses and serve customers," Imran said.
Imran's allegations appear to echo wider frustrations within the sector, with several independent retailers sharing concerns with Asian Trader over Smiths News' deliveries and credits issues.
Retailer Christine Hope, owner of Hopes of Longtown, said late deliveries and missing credits have become a recurring issue at her store.
"Delivery is consistently an hour later at the moment," she told Asian Trader. "On average, three times a week I will be requesting credits not issued."
Retailer Nikesh Patel of Costcutter Lumbertubs in Northampton also reported problems with delivery times, magazine allocations and credits.
"They are always very late delivering papers in the morning, upping magazine quantity by a lot even if you only sell one, randomly sending magazines that we have not asked for, and they carry on sending magazines even when asked to stop," he said.
Patel added unsolicited firm sale magazines are his biggest frustration. "Sending magazines on a firm sale when we have not asked for it is the most annoying thing about them," he said.
Another retailer, Roli Ranger who owns highly regarded shops in Sunninghill and Ascot in Berkshire, acknowledged facing similar issues.
"Deliveries are pretty consistent down here, but the same issues crop up – chasing missed credits, box out of firm sale titles etc," he said.
Having lost confidence that the issue would be resolved directly, Imran said he has now escalated the matter to the Press Distribution Forum.
"If a retailer can spend months reporting the same issue, provide evidence, receive multiple complaint references and still see no improvement, there are serious questions to be asked about service standards, accountability and the effectiveness of the Smiths News complaints process," he said.
When approached by Asian Trader, Smiths News expressed regret and apologised to the retailer, describing the incident as a lapse that fell below the standards it aims to deliver.
"While the vast majority of our operations run smoothly across the UK, we act quickly to address any issues that arise," a spokesperson said today (June 23).
"We remain committed to supporting independent retailers through reliable service, responsive support and clear escalation routes."
The wholesaler confirmed it is contacting the retailer directly "to ensure returns collections are carried out correctly on a daily basis and to confirm that they have not been financially impacted by any delays."
"We apologise to Mr Imran for this lapse in service — it clearly falls below the high standards we aim to deliver," the spokesperson added.
"We will work closely with the customer to resolve the issue and will continue to monitor service levels to ensure there is no repeat of this situation."