Third of UK shoppers experienced parcel delivery problems last month

The fourth annual parcels league table from Citizens Advice has shown that almost 15 million online shoppers in the UK experienced a delivery issue with a parcel they received in the last month.

According to the league table, which looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against criteria including customer service, delivery problems and how well they meet accessibility needs, four out of the five firms (Royal Mail, Amazon, Yodel and Evri) saw their customer service scores drop from last year. DPD’s score remained the same.

Room for improvement

Citizens Advice found that 36% of all e-commerce shoppers in the UK (14.8 million people) experienced a delivery issue with a parcel they received in the last month. Problems included parcels left in insecure locations and parcels arriving late. The worst offenders were Yodel (42%), DPD (40%) and Evri (37%).

Accessibility scores improved across the board but more progress is needed, with 3.3 million people who have an accessibility requirement (39%) still unable to share their needs, Citizens Advice reported.

Of the people who experienced a problem with their delivery, 48% had a further issue trying to resolve the problem, such as not being able to find the right company contact details or not receiving a response. This is the highest level for three years, with all providers except DPD seeing their scores on customer service decline in the last year.

More needed from Ofcom

Citizens Advice argued that Ofcom (the UK regulator for communications services) needs to take tougher action on declining customer service standards. The charity is calling on Ofcom to start investigating carriers whose complaints processes are still not up to scratch, and fining them if necessary. It also wants Ofcom to expand its guidance on accessibility to make sure people with accessibility needs are able to share them with parcel companies – and monitor the outcome.

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said, “For four years in a row, our parcels league table shows that when it comes to customer service, poor-performing parcel companies are clearly stuck in transit. Worrying numbers of people face having to chase lost, late or damaged parcels, and those with accessibility needs are continuing to be overlooked by firms.

“With a seasonal surge of deliveries on the horizon, parcel companies must do more to protect shoppers. Ultimately, we need Ofcom to get to the root cause of these persistent failings and, where necessary, fine the worst offenders if they fail to up their game.”