More than a third of online shoppers – almost 15 million people – experienced a problem with a parcel delivery in the last month, according to an annual Citizens Advice study.
Just before a Black Friday and Christmas shopping surge, the charity said its survey revealed a “worrying trend” of worsening customer service among delivery firms.
While Royal Mail and Amazon both achieved an overall score of three out of five stars, standards continued to slip in areas including customer service.
Four out of the five firms included in the study – Royal Mail, Amazon, Yodel and Evri – saw their customer service scores drop from last year, while DPD’s score remained the same.
The Citizens Advice parcels league table looks at the top five delivery companies by parcel volume and measures their performance against customer service, delivery problems and how well they meet the needs of consumers who have extra accessibility needs, such as needing longer to answer the door.
Its survey suggests 36% of all online shoppers in the UK experienced a delivery issue in the last month, such as parcels left in insecure locations and arriving late.
The worst offenders were Yodel (42%), DPD (40%) and Evri (37%), according to the poll.
Of those who experienced a problem with their delivery, 48% had a further issue trying to resolve it – the highest level for three years – including not being able to find the right company contact details or not receiving a response.
All providers except DPD saw their score on customer service decline in the last year.
Citizens Advice called on Ofcom to investigate carriers whose complaints processes were failing consumers, and fine them if necessary.
It also wants the regulator to expand its guidance to make sure people with accessibility needs are able to share them with parcel companies.
Citizens Advice chief executive Clare Moriarty said: “For four years in a row, our parcels league table shows that when it comes to customer service, poor performing parcel companies are clearly stuck in transit.
“Worrying numbers of people face having to chase lost, late or damaged parcels and those with accessibility needs are continuing to be overlooked by firms.
“With a seasonal surge of deliveries on the horizon, parcel companies must do more to protect shoppers. Ultimately we need Ofcom to get to the root cause of these persistent failings and, where necessary, fine the worst offenders if they fail to up their game.”
An Amazon spokesman said: “Every day at Amazon, incredible employees and independent delivery partners come together to provide fast, reliable and safe delivery for our customers. The vast majority of deliveries make it to customers without issue. In the rare case something occurs, we work with customers directly to make it right.”
A Yodel spokesman said: “The overwhelming majority of the 200 million parcels we handled over the last 12 months were delivered correctly on the first attempt and we actively encourage and welcome all customers to provide feedback on every one of our deliveries.
“Our ‘Have Your Say’ feedback survey encourages all customers to review their delivery. In the last 12 months we have received over 5.5 million responses and 86% of our customers have had a positive experience.
“We have also made specific improvements to the accessibility of our services, including options for customers to divert deliveries and share any specific requirements with us via the Yodel app.”
A spokeswoman for Evri said: “This year we will deliver around 800 million parcels, including millions for Amazon. We have invested £32 million to further improve our own operations, with over 99% of parcels delivered on time, and to make it easier for consumers to contact us we have opened up new ways to get in touch online and by phone.
“We are committed to instilling a culture where every parcel matters and we know there is more to do. That’s why we’ve launched a partnership with disability equality charity Scope, to help disabled people and ultimately all of our customers have a better parcel delivery experience. ”
Royal Mail said: “Since last year we have led the industry by providing customers with options to register their accessibility needs. This includes requesting posties ‘knock louder’ or take more time when waiting for a customer to come to the door.
“We are working hard to further improve our service and have continued to introduce more convenient options for customers, such as automatic redelivery and safe place delivery preferences. We also have a robust, accessible complaints process in place with avenues to escalate to impartial bodies.”
DPD said: “We don’t recognise the findings from this survey at all and have raised significant concerns about the methodology, directly with Citizens Advice.
“In contrast, a recent survey from consumer group Which? gave DPD an 88% customer satisfaction score, while DPD topped the Money Saving Expert parcel delivery customer satisfaction poll for the ninth time in 2024.”
Opinium Research surveyed 8,011 UK adults who had received a parcel in the last month from Royal Mail, DPD, Yodel, Amazon Logistics or Evri between September 13 and October 11.
