Amazon, Royal Mail, DPD, Yodel and Evri all under fire for 'persistent failings'

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk ... l-28147220

There have been calls for regulator Ofcom to intervene after report reveals 13 million people were let down by delivery firms in the past month alone

Five of the UK's biggest parcel delivery firms have been slammed for offering a 'miserable' service after it was revealed that a shocking 13 million people had been let down with below-par service in the last month alone.

The snapshot survey by Citizens Advice showed that shoppers continue to face a substandard delivery service with no major parcel firm securing even a three star rating out of five. Industry heavyweights Evri and Yodel were rated the worst carriers at just two stars but even top of the table Amazon and Royal Mail only managed a meagre 2.75 out of five each.

With Black Friday on November 24 and Cyber Monday on November 27 as well as Christmas being just weeks away, many more families are relying on courier services to deliver items ordered online. The report was commissioned amid concerns that the system is creaking, especially due to the time pressures imposed on drivers.

Following the shameful results, Citizens Advice is calling on the industry regulator Ofcom to take action. It recommends Ofcom conducts a review of its complaints and accessibility guidance by April 2024 and consider enforcement action, such as launching investigations or issuing fines, if there have been no significant improvements by then.

Citizens Advice arrived at the figure by asking more than 8,000 people who had received a parcel in the past month for their experiences and a third - equivalent to 13.3 million people nationwide - experienced some sort of issue, including parcels left in unsafe locations or arriving late.

The Citizens Advice parcels league table looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against criteria including customer service, delivery problems and accessibility needs (such as people needing longer to answer the door).

Full list of delivery firms from best to worst

Amazon Logistics - 2.75 stars
Royal Mail - 2.75 stars
DPD - 2.25 stars
Yodel - 2 stars
Evri - 2 stars

Citizens Advice also revealed its online advice page: ‘If something you ordered hasn't arrived’ has been viewed almost 222,000 times in the last 12 months, a 78% increase in views since 2019.

The survey found:

13 million experienced delivery problems: A third of shoppers (34%) experienced a delivery problem with the last parcel they received. Problems included parcels left in insecure locations and parcels arriving late. Worst offenders were Yodel (40%), DPD (37%) and Evri (34%).

Poor customer complaints processes: Of those consumers that experienced a problem with their delivery, nearly half (43%) of consumers then had a further issue when trying to resolve the problem, such as not being able to find the right company contact details or not receiving a response. In the end, over half (53%) of those that had further issues found it difficult to resolve their problem. This figure rose to 60% of people with a disability.

Failing disabled customers: Almost all parcel firms scored 2 stars or below when it came to meeting the needs of disabled customers or individuals who require adjustments to how they receive parcels. An estimated 7.2 million people have an accessibility need they’d like to share with their parcel delivery company. However almost half (45%) of these people were unable to do so.

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “For the third year running our league table reveals online shoppers are being let down by a substandard delivery service. This is an issue we feel has been neglected for far too long. We continue to hear from consumers who are chasing up lost, late or damaged parcel deliveries, it’s become an unfair and at times, costly burden to bear. With a seasonal surge of deliveries on the horizon, parcel companies must take action to protect shoppers and get to the root cause of these persistent failings.”


Chris Ashworth, of Evri, told The Mirror: “We are disappointed with where Citizens Advice has placed us in its parcels league table – after a year of significant investment and listening to our customers to improve our service. Our ambition is that every customer’s experience with Evri is a positive one, and we work hard to understand each instance when this is not the case. Our rising parcel volumes are proof that customers and retail clients are voting with their feet and trust us with their deliveries. We have invested more than £130m to improve our UK operations in the last two years with 99% of the 730 million parcels we handle annually delivered on time.

A Yodel spokesperson said: “We welcome feedback and invest heavily to continuously improve our service. However, this report is not reflective of our own parcel data, which indicates that 98.7% of the 200 million parcels we handled over the last 12 months were delivered correctly on the first attempt.”

An Amazon spokesman said: “The vast majority of deliveries make it to customers without issue. In the rare case something occurs, we work with customers directly to make it right.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “We are pleased to come joint first of Citizens Advice’s parcels league table. We are working hard to further improve our quality of service and continuing to introduce more convenient options for customers to access our services, including automatic redelivery and safe place delivery preferences.”

[hans solo]

Joint 1st

[Mr Rush]

There have been calls for regulator Ofcom to intervene

Always good to lead an article with a laugh.

[SpacePhoenix]

There have been calls for regulator Ofcom to intervene

Always good to lead an article with a laugh.

Ofcom may as well be disbanded

[TopperGas]

What's the better most customers complaining order a parcel knowing they wouldn't be in when it arrived then expected the delivery person to guess whether they wanted it taken back to the DO, left in a safe place or delivered to a neighbour, likewise I can't recall one customer informing us they have mobility issues since that recently went live on the PDA.

[Basildon Bond]

Seems like a note taped near the doorbell saying "I may take a few minutes to answer" beats the app. If I see someone struggling to the door I mention having a note, or if they are always in I even say "shall I just leave the packet at the back door, knock, and you can collect it in your own time?" Or leave it higher up on top of a bin if bending down would be too much.

It's amazing how many think a note would help (and for all of RM, Amazon, DPD, etc.) so they aren't filling out details on multiple apps for different couriers. It's like without me mentioning a note on the door or by the bell they would have never thought of it for themself.