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CONCERNS have been raised about Christmas deliveries as new research finds two in three had at least one issue with their deliveries last year.
Parcels lobbed over fences, forged signatures and packages chewed almost beyond recognition by foxes were just some of the festive delivery disasters endured by online shoppers last year.
In a separate survey, delivery firm UPS was consistently the worst courier for keeping customers satisfied across key categories, according to research by Which?
One in four UPS customers said they were unhappy with the delivery slots offered (23%) and how the company communicated with customers (24%), and one in 10 (11%) said they were not pleased with where the delivery driver left their order.
The consumer organisation surveyed more than 2,000 people about their experience with deliveries during Christmas last year and around two-thirds (69%) said they had at least one problem.
One respondent said that their signature was forged by a courier to suggest they had personally accepted the delivery, when in fact it had been left on their doorstep while there were people inside waiting for it to arrive.
Nearly one in five (18%) told Which? their delivery arrived late last year, while one in ten (11%) said they did not receive their delivery in time for Christmas. These included a grandfather who had to buy extra gifts for his grandson because the toy robot he had ordered failed to arrive on time.
Almost a quarter (23%) who shopped online last Christmas said at least one delivery did not arrive at all – leaving them to face the inconvenience of having to apply for a refund or buy the product again.
The survery was carried out as consumers have been forced to rely on online retailers and deliveries this year due to the pandemic with demand expected to be higher than ever during the festive season.
In a separate survey, Which? asked more than 13,000 members about their experience with major couriers between March and August and it was UPS that got the worst critique.
One UPS customer told Which? they received a smashed computer after it was delivered upside down by UPS, despite a clear “this way up” label on the box. For communication with customers, Amazon (85%) finished joint top with DPD (86%), with the highest proportion of satisfied customers. DPD was also the best delivery firm for delivery slots, with more than eight in 10 (82%) happy with the slots offered for their most recent delivery.
Royal Mail had the most satisfied customers in the category for where deliveries were left. More than nine in 10 (93%) happy with where the driver left their most recent delivery.
All delivery firms performed well when it came to maintaining social distancing guidelines.
Adam French, Which? consumer rights expert, said: “Christmas is when we really want parcels to arrive on time – but unfortunately it’s also peak time for late, damaged or missing deliveries and we have heard stories of shockingly bad service from the big courier firms.
“With more people than ever expected to shop online this Christmas, it is worth getting your orders in as soon as possible. It’s also important to remember that retailers are responsible for ensuring orders arrive in a reasonable timeframe, so don’t be afraid to make a complaint if you are having problems.”
A UPS spokesman said: “At UPS, we deliver an average of 20 million parcels per day around the world and pride ourselves on our service quality and reliability. As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on third party research.”
“The safe handling and delivery of all parcels in our care is our absolute priority. We take any damage to goods very seriously, and deeply regret any upset and inconvenience caused to this individual. The service described does not appear to meet the high standards we expect from all our staff and we would therefore like the opportunity to investigate the matter internally.”
