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

Former_MSE_Emily_W

Poll started 10 January 2023

With more of us shopping online, parcel delivery firms are playing an increasingly important role in many people's lives – and of course they've been under intense pressure lately, particularly in the run-up to Christmas. So it's time for our 10th annual poll to check how couriers are doing, and to find out which have been really delivering...

Click here to vote in the poll. 

Did you vote? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below.
If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

Thanks!

cw18

My experiences all seem to fit with others - my votes were all in the highest for those services.

I was more surprised by the number of companies listed that I've never come across (or even heard of!)

A little worried that I have currently have a delivery due with one I've not had dealings with before, and their rating isn't great.   Having had a dig around their website (once notified who was delivering it) I already had concerns about whether or not I'd get it because of the options I don't have (I can't even ask for it to go to a collection point, but the chances of them attempting delivery when there's anyone at the property are slim to zero )   The company I ordered from have previously used two delivery services who allow me to arrange to pick up from a central point, so I don't know why the change to a lower level of service!!

bcu67

I am always surprised DPD do so well and Evri/Hermes so badly. 
While Evri aren't great - I never seem to have too much of a problem. 
We have had the same guy delivering to us for the last 8 years, but we are rural Norfolk. 
They are also cheap to post parcels and have tracking as standard. 

DPD we regually have problems with. Like this week our pacel was due to be delivered Friday, which they missed, so then get text saying Saturday which they missed, then text saying Monday which they missed and then Tuesday when they finally delivered. It's great they give an hour but very rarey turn up within that hour.

I always hope it is anyone but DPD. 
Amazon logistics are always great. If they can do it, why can't the others. 

Nickvale

I had a small parcel for Evri to deliver in the first week of December. It tracked fine, then just stopped, out for delivery, for ten days. It was a UK address, nothing complicated, and I tried to contact them to find out what had happened, but their automated call system didn't recognise the tracking codes I entered, and there was no way to talk to anyone about the issue. Fortunately the parcel did eventually get delivered, two weeks after the original day it went out for delivery, but the customer service was non-existent

naill

It’s no wonder Hermes changed their name to Evri hoping that all would be forgotten on just how AWFUL their service is. In my experience parcels just lost then destroyed with no recompense, late delivery, late collection,non existent customer service, I could go on.
Why folk continue to use this shambolic company to save pennies is beyhond me. 

Most in the know will state PLEASE NO EVRI COURIER SERVICE when sending or expecting goods.

Anotherusername123

I can’t see the chart (ipad) but fwiw evri here is atrocious, Royal Mail is good and DPD tend to be excellent. Amazon is exceptional.
However, the response of the seller is just as important for me. Few will admit that it is their contractual obligation to provide the goods/services and some tell customers to contact the courier. As far as the contract is concerned, we the recipients are not the customers of the courier company, which is partly the reason why it’s often so difficult to contact courier companies.

Good companies will refund/replace straight away. I had an evri parcel dropped on my front door step while were away. I told the company and they refunded me immediately. Other companies insist on waiting for the alloted period before the courier declares the parcel lost and with others it’s like getting blood from a stone.

I have got so fed-up with evri that I have cancelled any delivery subscriptions I had with sellers which use evri and always feedback to companies that, while their products may be fab, they are being let down by shoddy courier companies.

SleepingSheep

with Evri  the service level very much depends on your local courier.   We have a great guy who is always polite, on time and delivers to our third floor flat.    My friend who is on the other side of London has had endless problems with them.   We previously had an fantastic postman too, but he appears to have left because now all the building's post is just left on the top of the postboxes in the lobby with a rubber band around, for us to sort through.  

Beakster

I have an eBay shop and I send a few thousand parcels a year, now mostly with Royal Mail. About 1% go missing but the claims process is simple and I can call them if needed.

I receive around a thousand parcels a year, some with Evri.

I live in rural Norfolk and Evri have a very high turnover of couriers in my area, near Thetford. I don't think any have lasted more than a few months. Several have told me that they can't make enough money and I've also been told that the management is a problem, also with a high turnover. They've also told me they have no sickness cover provided, if they are ill the parcels just stack up.

Every time a courier leaves Evri their service just falls apart. I've had to wait 4 weeks for some parcels. others will show as delivered, but haven't been. Evri will say 'sometimes we manually update the tracking' (lie about it?) and then to wait a further 48 hours and then still claim the parcel was delivered as that's what the tracking says. I know that every delivery will have a photo and GPS location, so I continue to point this out, demanding the proof until they eventually admit the parcel is lost and I can claim back from the sender. I wonder if they would admit the loss if I was the sender?

I've had parcels left next door, outside in the rain, even though they have a picture of my parcel box. Another time a neighbour found a parcel of mine at the side of the road a quarter of a mile away. And why can't they ring the bell when they do deliver?

I honestly don't know how they are allowed to trade. I don't always blame the couriers, the regular ones have been great, I think it's the mostly company and the way its run. They really just do not care. I wish Evri didn't exist, buying stock for my business would be a lot less stressful!

I'd like to know if anyone has tried to claim from Evri, were they successful, how was the process?

Beakster

CORRECTION: In my post above I said 1% of Royal Mail parcels go missing, it should say about 1 in every 1000.

Martint

Just how well your courier performs seems very dependent on the individual driver. Our usual Evri driver was good on all counts, then he was transferred to another round and it all fell apart. For an insight into how bad management is with these  companies I suggest folks watch the 2019 Ken Loach film Sorry We Missed You. Horrifying, highly exploitative and inhuman. Please don't berate the driver, he/she is doing his best in a s**t job.

cw18

I had a few Hermes deliveries during the early months of the Covid pandemic, and the lady who delivered them all was great.   She realised I still had to go out to work (key worker), so we agreed a safe place which she used several times.

I then had nothing else through them until I was notified that Evri had a package for me last October, but I went into their system and followed the instruction to ask them to leave it at a local shop (official drop off point for them).   They then attempted delivery at my home while I was at work on the Saturday (for which I got an email), and again on the Sunday while I was out (no notifications, I just happened to spot it on their system that evening).  It went 'out for delivery' again on the Tuesday - and that was the end of it.   Early November I contacted the sender to say it had never arrived, and sent them screenshots.    They sent a replacement with Royal Mail that day which arrived within 48 hours.   I've actually paid slightly more for a few items I wanted in order to get them from someone who doesn't ship with Hermes/Evri, as our local FB group is full of complaints about parcels that never turn up (or sometimes get delivered to totally wrong addresses !!) so I don't feel that it was just one unlucky situation.

DPD have generally been good, but I had one delivery where I wasn't home and they immediately took it to the local drop off (didn't try me a second time like they're supposed to, and he ignored the safe place instructions I'd supplied on their site) - only our local drop off isn't really local and I can't get to it (convoluted, time consuming and expensive bus journey, and I don't have a car).   I had to wait for it to go back to the sender, and then have it re-shipped to my works address.   I didn't expect it to arrive while someone was on site, but the local drop off point for there is somewhere I can get to.   The driver for that area tried my work address 4 times until he caught someone on site - and it was me he got     I had nominated a safe place for my work, but on his earlier visits the yard gate had been locked so he couldn't even get to that!    I'd happily use DPD again, but only to my work address now.

I was expecting my package this week to come DPD so used my work address, but the sender used Yodel this time.   I wasn't happy as I couldn't nominate a safe place, and couldn't divert to a local collection point.    The system said it had to be given to a person, but they'd try neighbours - only we don't really have any at work.   I thought it would end up going back to the sender as not being able to deliver it, but I got back to the office tonight to find it sitting on a desk waiting for me - so someone must have been on site when the courier arrived.   Huge cheer and sigh of relief from me.   Am going to confirm with the sender if they've totally changed from DPD to Yodel, as if they have I'm not sure I'm going to be able to place an order with them again unless I know I'll be off work when delivery is due

Amazon have been hit and miss over the years.   I wasn't impressed (7 years ago) to come home and find a £250 combi oven dumped on my front doorstep whilst I was at work !!   They'd also left a large set of weights (£80) - or so they said.   But only half the set was there, so I had to put a claim in for that one.    Things have been pretty good since then, but the last few weeks I've seen lots of Amazon packets just sitting in full view on front doorsteps, so whenever possible I'm having everything delivered to a local collection point (shop).   I have to try and time the ordering of larger items or things from other sellers (which aren't being shipped by Amazon and are unlikely to go into my mailbox) so that they'll arrive when I'm off work, but I'm starting to worry about which delivery service other sellers will be using due to the problems I've been having.

My first choice is always Royal Mail.   Some would say I'm biased as I work for them, but they've always been my first choice even before I joined them.   The local delivery office (not the one I work in) is only a 5 minute walk from home if I need to collect something, although the opening hours aren't great for workers - that's one complaint we get from people that I totally agree with.   My regular postie knows a couple of places/neighbours where he can leave things for me, so I generally only have to work out a pick-up when he's off.