Delivery firm apologises after parcels dumped in hedge and outside shop at Warwickshire villages
PASS the parcel has turned into a horrible game of hide and seek for villagers whose packages have been going missing. More than 60 people say parcels are regularly delayed, abandoned or lost.
Most involve delivery firm Evri in or around Ettington, Newbold, Atherstone, Fulready, Halford, Long Compton and Pillerton Priors. Parcels are dumped randomly on main roads or country lanes, rather than being delivered to the right doors. One package was left under a hedge.
Other bungles include parcels delivered to the wrong houses and on one occasion six packages were dumped outside Ettington village shop and post office, leaving the owner to deliver them to the correct addresses.
Jenni Bradbury, who lives in Fulready, said she lost three high-value items last year while she was recovering from foot surgery and unable to leave her home for several days. She was shown a photo by Evri, claiming to be her receiving a parcel, despite the fact it had never arrived.
There are also reports of Evri drivers spotted throwing parcels over a garden gate.
Many say they’ve tried complaining to Evri but have had no reply and no acknowledgement of their problems.
Ettington resident Donna Shore told the Herald she’s had Evri parcels dumped at various locations in the village but “none of them actually made it to my house”.
She added: “Luckily someone knew where we lived and came around with them. It’s happening each delivery with Evri and isn’t acceptable. If you have a tracking number, if an item is purchased through Vinted for example, you can get through to Evri customer services but they are useless and just make excuses and say they are very sorry and it won’t happen again.
“The recent parcels that got dumped somewhere else were through retailers like Bershka and Next and I didn’t have a tracking number so you cannot even get through the automated telephone line for Evri. It’s appalling.”
According to Catherine Elliott, Compton Verney is another blackspot when it comes to deliveries.
She said: “I don’t think I’ve ever had an Evri parcel successfully delivered. I did track one down that had been delivered to an industrial estate in Wellesbourne.
“I now don’t order things if they use Evri as their courier.”
Rowena Foster, of Pillerton Priors, said: “Two weeks ago I had a missed delivery notification card left along with a photo of the parcel held over tarmac. I have CCTV and doorbell camera showing no delivery had been attempted.”
And Sally Green of Ettington recalled how last weekend her Evri delivery was never delivered.
“I was home and no one came to the house but the driver had logged with a ‘photo’ that they’d delivered it,” she said. “Think mine was dumped somewhere. I walked round the village looking for it but never found it. I contacted Evri and they said they are looking into it but not had anything back.”
A spokesperson for Evri said: “Our ambition is that every customer’s experience with Evri is a positive one and we are very sorry that in this instance that was not the case. We have conducted a thorough internal investigation and in line with our strict zero tolerance policy for poor behaviour, the driver will no longer be delivering for Evri.”
They added: “We handle 730 million parcels a year and 99 per cent are successfully delivered on time, and we are committed to instilling a culture where every parcel matters and encourage those who work with us to treat every parcel like they would for themselves or a family member.”
