MSE Poll: Parcel delivery firms – which are the best and worst?

Smithy5000

Depends on the area and the driver you get. Hermes bloke round my way is superb, waits for you to get to the door, knows the safe places, actually fills a card out. Amazon were OK but the latest drivers are turning out like yodal.. Throw it from the gate and wherever itands it stays. NE DS.... think that's what they're called, that driver seems to have been a rally driver in a past life. Royal mail have had their moments where I've watch them walk up just to post a card and drive away, opened the door once as they tried to do it and made them go to the van to actually bring my parcel, haven't seen him here anymore.

MalMonroe

shaneym said:

Maybe I am lucky but I have never had any problem with Hermes. 

Me neither.

MalMonroe

I haven't had trouble with any. DPD and Hermes have delivered quite a few over the Christmas and New Year period to us and we haven't had any problems at all.

I have to say that Royal Mail have been superb. We've also recently used their click and collect service a couple of times and it's been great. Because we're self isolating we've been reluctant to go to a post office to get our packages weighed and sent. With click and collect we weigh our own, pay online, print our labels and arrange collection. At only 72 pence per package collection fee, we've been grateful to be able to use it. We just leave things on top of our recycling bin (located in a safe place) and keep an eye out so we know when it's been collected. They then send an email confirming collection and hey bingo! Very impressed so far.

mrkds

Best experiences have been Amazon by far. Fast service.  Live GPS tracking of your delivery. Royal mail and Hermes are Ok most of the time.

My worse experiences have been Yodel and Parcel force.

Yodel annoyingly attempt redelivery the following day without awaiting your instructions. They do this 3 consecutive days and then refuse to deliver your item. So if I'm away from home for these 3 days, I get home to find 3 "sorry we missed you" cards and then any attempt to arrange redelivery for a convenient date get met with a stubborn "no". Instead they force me to travel 50 miles to their depot. A journey that costs more than the value of the item I ordered! 

ParcelForce are just generally unreliable. Not delivering on specified dates or drivers claiming to have attempted delivery when really hadn't. Also thier customer service staff are the rudest I've ever encountered (when you can get though to them!). Given how much they charge, they are quite appalling. 

Hils48

Hermes are useless! Always problems with them. I am still waiting for a parcel sent to me on 02/12/2020 and strongly suspect that I shall never receive it. Royal Mail 48 hour parcel service just as bad as they managed to lose a parcel sent from Lush with contents worth over £50.00 sent to me on 10/12/2020 -now sorted with replacement substitute products, so the gifts didn’t arrive in time for Christmas. Something not right though when a service is paid for and the goods disappear en route. 

Neither company respond to complaints either. 

AM47

MalMonroe said:

shaneym said:

Maybe I am lucky but I have never had any problem with Hermes. 

Me neither.

You were both lucky!  I am having a problem with Hermes: I sent an ebay parcel which was just dumped on the recipient's doorstep and no notification left.  The recipient is elderly and doesn't often go out so didn't know it was there, and didn't know it had been delivered until she contacted me to ask if I knew anything about it.  When I told her it had been delivered a week earlier, and showed her the photo, she explained that she had no idea of that and that in the meantime it had disappeared, presumably stolen.

Hermes wanted me to get her to fill in an online form in order to be able to make a claim but she doesn't have a printer or a scanner or a mobile and wasn't able to do it.

I've contacted Hermes several times to say that the recipient has assured me that this is what happened - and I have seen the photo of the parcel, left in full view on the doorstep - but can't get any response out of them.

Does anyone have any tips, as I'm reluctant for £30 worth of goods to go missing solely because of Hermes's lack of care?

higgorugby

UPS - I'm having an appalling experience ... a package containing ONE document was collected on Jan 21st to be delivered to an address in Southern Spain ... it got to Madrid on Jan 23rd, and has been held there ever since. I can't find out why, no matter how many phone calls and emails .... I've even posted on FaceBook and Twitter, to try to embarrass them into action ... I fully accept that there MIGHT be something that they need from me ... but they only have to ask- just TELL ME WHAT IS NEEDED!!

Thrugelmir

Wonder if in time the shop will be reinvented. So much easy. Find what you want. Pay for it and take it home. 

DCFC79

Like with alot of things this is is another one where not everyone will say 1 courier/delivery firm is the best/worst.

Not used a courier firm for a while, last 1 I used was possibly parcel force a few months ago.

SallySunshine

Never ever had a problem with Hermes, 2 lovely local delivery lady drivers. I do live in a very small village and apparently this seems to be the norm but perhaps big towns, cities 
are different. 

DHL again no problems, take pic of parcel delivered against door, no contact even when I’m in.