Citizens Advice: One year on and parcel firms haven’t got their act together

Citizens Advice has revealed the scale of “dodgy deliveries” still blighting online shoppers in the UK, with its second annual parcel league table.

Four of the top five firms failed to secure even a 3-star overall rating, after being scored against criteria including customer service, parcel problems and accessibility needs (such as people needing longer to answer the door).

Citizens Advice found:

• No parcel companies hit 3 stars when it comes to meeting the needs of disabled customers and any other individuals who require adjustments for how they receive parcels. DPD scored highest with 2.4 stars, but across all delivery firms, people needing extra support with their delivery were more than twice as likely to face delivery problems, compared with those who didn’t (54% and 26% respectively).

• Yodel scores the lowest score on any criteria, scoring 1.70 for customer service. Close to half (43%) of Yodel customers polled by Citizens Advice reported a problem with their last delivery, compared to just over a quarter (28%) of Royal Mail customers.

• Almost half (46%) of customers who had an issue with their last delivery faced further problems when trying to find a resolution, such as not being able to find the right contact details or not receiving a response. Worst offenders were Yodel (52%), Evri and DPD (both 51%).

• Despite facing problems, customers still awarded the parcel companies improved trust scores compared to last year, with Amazon and Royal Mail achieving 4.33 stars. The charity says this could point to shoppers’ generally low expectations of delivery firms.

Citizens Advice also revealed its online advice ‘If something you ordered hasn’t arrived’ has been viewed almost 211,000 times in the last 12 months, and was viewed 52,000 times in the three months leading up to Christmas 2021.

The scores

The top five delivery companies by parcel volume were measured against four criteria using data from Citizens Advice Consumer Service, consumer polling and social media complaints.

 

Rank	Company	Cost	Customer problems	Accessibility	Customer service	Trust	Overall score
1	Royal Mail	1.00	3.00	2.00	3.13	4.33	3.00
2	Amazon Logistics	N/A	2.80	1.80	3.20	4.33	2.75
3	DPD	2.67	2.00	2.40	2.30	4.00	2.25
4	Yodel	1.00	2.00	2.00	1.70	2.33	2.00
5	Evri*	1.00	1.80	1.80	1.80	2.33	1.75

Ofcom is responsible for the parcels market and recently reviewed its regulation, including consumer protections. It announced improvements for disabled people and people needing to complain. However, the charity wants the regulator to do more to stop problems happening in the first place.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “One year on and parcel firms haven’t got their act together, with nobody delivering a 4 or 5-star service.
“Behind the figures are shoppers seriously let down when parcels go missing or are late. The needs of those who rely most on online shopping, such as disabled people, are being forgotten.

“Our findings show there’s more for Ofcom to do to protect shoppers, and if these firms don’t up their game, it should be fining them.”