Best and worst parcel delivery firms revealed in Citizens Advice annual rankings

For the third consecutive year, UK parcel firms have been delivering disappointment, according to the Citizens Advice Parcels League Table.

With no company scoring a three-star rating, the results underscore a pervasive issue in delivery services, as consumers nationwide face ongoing problems.

The table, which assesses the top five delivery companies by parcel volume against criteria including customer service and accessibility, has positioned Evri and Yodel at the bottom with a mere two stars.

Meanwhile, Royal Mail and Amazon Logistics barely lead the pack with a modest 2.75-star rating.

In the past month alone, 13.3 million people reported a delivery issue with their most recent parcel.

The complaints ranged from parcels left in insecure locations to late arrivals, with Yodel, DPD, and Evri identified as the worst performers.

The investigation also highlighted the challenges consumers face when attempting to resolve delivery issues.

Nearly half struggled to find contact details or receive a response, and over half found it difficult to resolve their problem, a figure that jumps to 60% among people with disabilities.

Particularly concerning is the industry’s failure to address the needs of disabled customers.

Almost all firms scored poorly in this area, despite an estimated 7.2 million people expressing an accessibility need.

The data paints a bleak picture of the sector, with little improvement in handling delivery problems since the last year.

As a result, Citizens Advice is urging Ofcom to review its guidance on complaints and accessibility by April 2024 and to consider enforcement actions if no significant improvements are made.

Citizens Advice said its online advice page on undelivered orders has seen a 78% increase in views since 2019, it underscores the urgency for reform in the parcel delivery industry.

Citizens Advice is calling on parcel firms and the regulator to take action now, the charity proposes three recommendations:

1. Parcel companies should use the league table results to identify areas they need to improve. It’s clear from our results that delivery problems remain an outstanding issue, with a particular focus on parcels being left in an insecure location. With no improvements on delivery problem scores since last year, the rate of parcel problems remains far too high across the board.

2. Ofcom should conduct a review of their new complaints and accessibility guidance by April 2024 and should consider enforcement action, such as launching investigations or issuing fines, if there have been no significant improvements by this date.

3. Ofcom should expand its monitoring processes, to fully capture the type and rate of delivery problems across the board. This should include issues consumers have when they both receive and send parcels. And results should be used to take action against companies with persistently high rates of problems.

Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “For the third year running our league table reveals online shoppers are being let down by a substandard delivery service. This is an issue we feel has been neglected for far too long.

“We continue to hear from consumers that are chasing up lost, late or damaged parcel deliveries, it’s become an unfair and at times, costly burden to bear.

“With a seasonal surge of deliveries on the horizon, parcel companies must take action to protect shoppers and get to the root cause of these persistent failings.”

Citizens Advice Consumer Expert, Jane Parsons, gives her top tips to help combat parcel delivery issues:

1. Check delivery information – Before you place an order, find out the delivery times, costs and returns policies for the items you want

2. If you’re out of the house during delivery – Consider asking a neighbour or friend if it can be delivered to their address if you think it may be a time or date you’re not home. But beware, if you do provide details of a safe space or nominated neighbour and something goes wrong with those arrangements it’s not the seller or courier’s responsibility

3. Online trader or online marketplace? – Make sure you know if you are dealing with a trader or a private seller on an online marketplace as dispute processes may vary.  If you have an issue with a trader, a dispute can be raised directly with them, but if it’s a private individual it may be easier to go through an online marketplace’s dispute process

4. Check reviews – It’s always worth taking a careful look at reviews to gain an insight as to how reliable the parcel company is and how well they deal with missing parcel complaints and refunds

5. Who to deal with when a parcel goes missing – Your purchase and contract is with the seller. If your parcel goes missing you should speak to them to deal with the problem, not the courier company