Parcel delivery company Evri has apologised to customers following concerns that parcels were being dumped with no attempt to deliver them to customers.
A number of residents in the Gosport area have contracted The News, as well as the town’s MP Caroline Dinenage, with reports of numerous parcels being “abandoned”, leaving customers without the goods they have ordered.
In some instances good Samaritans have found parcels and reunited them with their owner after finding them left in the incorrect place.
One affected customer, who asked not to be named, said: “As you cannot get through to Evri by phone there seems to be nothing to hold them to account.
“(It is) absolutely appalling service abandoning people’s orders that they’ve paid for with their own hard earned case.
“But there are amazing members of the public that are helping these abandoned parcels get to the people that ordered them.”
The Gosport MP has also written to the chief executive of Evri, previously known as Hermes, to raise the issue as well.
In a statement she said: “It certainly looks like Evri will be on the naughty list this year!Over the last 24 hours I’ve been made aware of numerous incidents where Evri parcels have been dumped or marked as delivered with no attempt made to actually reach the recipient.
“With Christmas fast approaching, this is incredibly frustrating for local people who are relying on timely deliveries. Many of their regular drivers are excellent but we all know that horrible feeling when you’re waiting for a parcel and it just doesn’t arrive.
“I have written to the CEO of requesting a full investigation into these cases and for the situation to be put right urgently. Thank you to Cllr Lesley Meenaghan for bringing this to my attention.”
Evri told The News that its dedicated Public Affairs team is in close contact with Caroline Dinenage’s office, and has requested some further information to help look into this.
It said that it was on track to deliver over 900 million parcels this year, with the vast majority being delivered successfully on time. But it apologised to customers who were not receiving their parcels.
In a statement the company said: "This is the busiest time of year for parcel deliveries, and demand is higher than ever as volumes double. Our priority is to handle every parcel with care, and we apologise to any customers in the area who have experienced issues.
“We’re looking into cases with our delivery partners in the area, where deliveries do not meet the high standard we expect. Anyone who needs help can get in touch with our dedicated customer service team.”