Waiting for a Christmas parcel? 12m will go missing

 At least 12million parcels will go missing this Christmas, research suggests, as consumer watchdogs warn of delivery chaos.

A survey conducted by Which? found one in five people had ordered a gift over the Christmas period which failed to arrive. Consumers also complained about delays, delivery instructions being ignored, lack of communication and damaged parcels.

One person’s package was left under a car, another had a parcel left with a neighbour without permission, who opened it and showed it to others, and a third’s fragile delivery had been “tossed over the gate”.

Which? says consumers should raise complaints with the retailer, not the delivery company. If an online retailer misses a guaranteed delivery the buyer has the right to terminate the purchase and demand a full refund.