Angry customers targeted Amazon's Twitter feed for breaking delivery pledges
More than 140 complaints were lodged to the firm in just 24 hours yesterday
Twitter feed of Hermes, which delivers for big retailers, drew 250 complaints
Families face the heartache of missing out on Christmas presents because of a national shortage of delivery drivers.
Angry customers have targeted Amazon’s Twitter feed, berating the online retailer for breaking delivery pledges.
More than 140 complaints were lodged in just 24 hours yesterday.
The Twitter feed of Hermes, which delivers for big retailers including Debenhams and Zara, was hit with almost 250 messages from disappointed shoppers.
With Christmas just five working days away, it is feared the courier services will not be able to clear their backlog of online orders.
And the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is considering launching an inquiry into whether Amazon is breaching its commitments.
Its Prime subscribers pay £79 a year for guaranteed next-day delivery.
The shortage of drivers has been exacerbated by the spike in demand before Christmas.
The Hermes Twitter feed was full of complaints about missing packages as well as messages saying problems had not been resolved.
One customer, Rik Mullins, wrote: ‘I have just received notification of a parcel delivered from Amazon through yourselves. Says successfully delivered to porch. I have no porch!’
Nick Wallace wrote: ‘Two direct messages, three tweets, a complaint lodged with Amazon, and still I’ve had no response from you about your shoddy service.’
Farrukh tweeted: ‘Disorganised. Unprofessional.’
Hermes, which also delivers for Next, John Lewis, Amazon, Tesco, ASOS, Topshop and Boohoo, is second only to Royal Mail in terms of Christmas delivery volumes.
Experts at the consumer group Which? said shoppers can claim a full refund from a retailer that fails to deliver as promised.
But that will be of little help to online buyers whose gifts do not arrive in time for Christmas – and the complaints on Twitter will only be the tip of the iceberg.
Ryan Stackhouse was among those complaining to Amazon. He tweeted: ‘Second time now a Prime delivery date has not been fulfilled. Total waste of a day.’
A spokesman for the ASA confirmed it was considering whether to launch an investigation after being contacted by frustrated Amazon Prime customers.
MPs on the Commons work and pensions committee and the Commons business committee have written to the US retailer seeking assurances that its drivers are not under unfair pressure.
The letter puts the boss of Amazon UK, Doug Gurr, on notice that the company is expected to abide by employment, health and safety laws.
This includes ensuring drivers do no more than 11 hours a day. Some drivers were said to do up to 14 hours without a break.
Amazon, which delivers 140million parcels a year in the UK, apologised for any delays, saying: ‘This is a busy time of year and due to high order volumes, estimated delivery dates can vary.’
It said it wanted couriers to ‘be fairly compensated and treated with respect’. A spokesman added: ‘We’d ask any customers with questions about their deliveries to contact us.’
Amazon’s website says the last order date for standard delivery before Christmas is Wednesday.
It says its Prime customers can order some items on Christmas Eve with same day delivery.
Hermes said 99 per cent of the 300 million parcels it delivers over a year arrive on time.
A spokesman added: ‘We have strict delivery standards and the types of incidents highlighted here are extremely rare and not acceptable to the business.
'Our Twitter and Facebook pages are predominantly focused on customer service, providing a convenient method for our customers.