Xmas parcel chaos as over half fail to turn up on time

MORE than half of customers say their online orders have not been delivered when expected in the runup to Christmas, a survey has found.

A massive switch to shopping online has not been matched by the recruitment of the drivers and other staff needed to handle the deliveries.

The net result, according to the survey by consumer group Which?, is that people cannot trust companies to deliver their purchases when promised.

The Daily Mail has detailed how anxious customers have been bombarding the Twitter feeds of delivery companies such as Hermes and DPD with complaints about missing and delayed items.

Hermes is second only to Royal Mail in terms of Christmas deliveries and serves retailers such as Amazon, Debenhams, John Lewis, Asda, Tesco and many more.

Many customers are complaining that couriers are marking items as delivered when there is no sign of them, creating fears they have been stolen. This is a double whammy for online shoppers, because not only are they missing what they ordered but it can be difficult, if not impossible, to get a refund.

Which? surveyed more than 2,000 people about their experience of receiving deliveries within the past month.

Only 35 per cent received all their deliveries as expected. Fiftysix per cent reported that a delivery did not come when expected.

In 26 per cent of cases the item arrived early, which is potentially welcome but can create problems if people are not home.

Twenty-one per cent said that at least one delivery did not arrive at all and for 18 per cent at least one delivery was late.

A Which? spokesman said: ‘Consumers complained about lengthy delays, lack of communication, delivery instructions being ignored and packages being damaged when forced through letterboxes.

‘One person was outraged that a parcel was left under their car, another had a parcel left, without permission, with a neighbour, who opened it and showed it to others in the village.’

The Which? survey found that 12 per cent had a delivery left with an unauthorised person, but had still been able to retrieve it. However, 2 per cent could not get back a delivery that had been handed to an unauthorised person.

Which? said it is important that customers realise that their contract is with the retailer rather than the delivery company.

Consequently, if something goes wrong they should contact the store not the courier firm to sort it out. Alex Neill, of Which?, said: ‘Make sure you know your rights this Christmas in case something happens to your delivery.’

Hermes, which operates as MyHermes, said delivery problems are ‘extremely rare and not acceptable to the business’.

DPD customer service staff have apologised to customers and promised to trace missing items.