COURIER firm Evri has been blasted by a Powys resident after she tracked down a missing parcel – which had been left behind a grit bin in the middle of nowhere.
Rhayader resident Susan Waters says there have been issues in the town and surrounding communities for several months, with parcels going missing, being delivered to the wrong address or not delivered at all.
Susan, 62, and others say the situation in the town and the surrounding communities of Llanwrthwl and the Elan Valley has become “ridiculous”, and exacerbated by Evri’s usually reliable driver being temporarily replaced when he took a holiday.
Susan says the latest “debacle” occurred on Monday, October 13, when she tracked down a rogue parcel to a grit bin on an isolated lane towards St Harmon, a mile and a half from her home.
Susan sent us a video of her journey to retrieve her package, which she described as a “magical mystery tour”.
“There is nothing around here whatsoever. No houses, nothing, so it would be impossible for it to be a residential point," said Susan, after collecting her item, hidden behind the back of a green grit bin outside Rhayader, on Brintirion Lane.
“It’s a green grit box on the side of a lane, nowhere near my house."
Blasting Evri as "useless", she added: “I’m absolutely furious.”
On the way home she encounters a lost sheep wondering along the lane, and jokes: “Perhaps the sheep is looking for its parcel as well.” Her home's name clearly marked on her front gate.
It follows on from a previous issue with an Evri delivery she experienced last week.
“After last week’s experience I updated my delivery instructions with Evri, including my What3Words location,” said Susan.
“You cannot speak to a human at Evri. Unfortunately, eBay, Temu and now Amazon also seem to be using Evri as their courier.”
Susan located the parcel thanks to a neighbour, who believed she knew the grit bin pictured in the image sent to Susan by the driver.
It transpired it was behind another bin located further up the road, which Susan eventually identified by the moss on its lid, which indicated it was sitting under some trees.
“It was sleuth time,” added Susan.
“We inspected three bins for moss until we found the right one. The total drive was three miles.”
An Evri spokesperson said: “Customer satisfaction is a top priority and we have apologised to Susan that her recent experience fell below the high standards we expect.
“The temporary driver will no longer be delivering on behalf of Evri.
“We encourage all customers to make sure their address details are accurate and add a precise map pin via the Evri app, to ensure drivers have an exact delivery location.”
Evri added that it is on track to deliver more than 900 million parcels this year. It also said its couriers are rated on average 4.6 out of 5 stars by the communities they deliver to.