“Two thirds of online shoppers suffer problems with parcel delivery,” claims Citizens Advice

More than two thirds (69%) of UK online shoppers have had parcels lost, damaged or turn up late in the last year, according to new research from Citizens Advice.

In a statement issued today (16 June), Citizen Advice said that other common delivery gripes included parcels being left in unsecure locations, such as bins, and  unnecessary failed deliveries – where people waited at home for a parcel, only to receive a note saying they’d missed it.

The report, entitled ‘Parcel delivery: Delivery services in the online shopping market’, draw on a survey of over 2,000 online shoppers carried out in December 2016. The key findings included:

• 38% of people have had a parcel arrive late –  including more than one in ten (16%)  who paid for premium delivery service.

• More than 1 in 10 have received damaged items.

• More than 1 in 5 had a parcel go missing

• 28% had a parcel left in an unsecure location

• 28% were at home but had a note through the door saying the parcel couldn’t be delivered.

Interestingly, 54% of people said that they don’t take any action if their parcel is late – such as complaining or asking for a refund. A third of those who received a damaged parcel also said that they don’t take action. In some cases, this may have been because they didn’t know to whom they should address their complaint: the research found that half of consumers were unsure about who was responsible for the delivery of their parcel in the first place.