Travel testing ‘mess’ as drop boxes overflow

Private firm Randox takes criticism after collection points across the country are inundated with swabs

ONE of Britain’s biggest private test firms was hit by an angry backlash from travellers yesterday after pictures emerged of dozens of its swabs piled up in plain view on streets. The images of its overfull metal drop boxes with completed test kits balanced on top of them and awaiting collection were branded a “symbol of the absolute mess that PCR testing has become”.

Randox, which is said to have made £120 million from processing 15 million tests since the start of the pandemic, recommends customers should use its free drop boxes to return test samples.

However, there are only around 200 of the drop boxes around the UK, which has left some customers angry.

One customer, Gavin Marshall, tweeted: “Forced to pay @Randoxofficial over the odds for Day 2 PCR test, drive 30 mins to drop off sample because so few collection points only to find it overflowing and insecure. Covid travel rip off.”

Another, Claire Hawke tweeted: “You think that’s bad? Try living in Cornwall! Only one Randox drop off point in the county. And it’s in Saltash so may as well be in Devon as it’s literally the other side of the bridge (for ref: Saltash is 71.5m from Penzance).”

The row comes amid growing pressure on the Government to crackdown on the chaotic travel testing system that has led to allegations of rip-offs, misleading pricing and holidaymakers missing flights because of delays in returned test results.

The all-party Future of Aviation group of MPS has published a study showing Covid travel tests can cost as much as five times the price of a return flight to Europe. Ryanair flights from East Midlands airport to Barcelona and from Exeter to Alicante were available for £18 between Aug 24 and 27. But the typical charge for a post-return PCR test is £93, according to the research.

One senior industry insider warned of “an accident waiting to happen” for those companies that relied on home testing and had to return results within the required 48 or 72 hours’ time frame.

Randox, which partners with 19 major airlines or travel firms, said its drop boxes were emptied “up to” four times a day. Its tests cost between £43 and £96 for day two and/or day eight tests. It said 99.9 per cent of all samples for international travel are reported to its customers within 24 hours of their receipt at the Randox laboratory, based in Northern Ireland.

It offers an alternative of using DX drop boxes with each kit requiring a return label – or paying for an alternative private courier although this, it told customers, was “at your own risk”.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, who revealed the problem on Twitter, said it was a “symbol of the absolute mess PCR testing had become”.

Randox said it was working “in dynamic and rapidly changing circumstances and is committed to continuously improving its logistics network, to ensure that international travellers receive their results in time”.