Evri, formerly known as Hermes, ranked as worst performing parcel firm for second year running

Evri has been ranked as the worst performing parcel firm for the second year running.

The company, formerly known as Hermes, failed to secure even a three-star rating out of a possible five in rankings by the Citizens Advice.

It was scored against criteria including customer service, parcel problems and accessibility needs such as people needing longer to answer the door.

Yodel, DPD and Amazon Logistics also failed to reach three years in the gradings by Citizens Advice.

Evri came in last for a second year running in the organisation’s annual parcel league table.

It’s despite an overall improvement by Evri to score just 1.75 stars overall.

Evri has stated that the survey from Citizen’s Advice is based on “inaccurate data”, and said that it has raised “significant concerns” about the organisation’s survey methodology.

Yodel was given the lowest score on a single criteria of all the firms, achieving 1.7 stars for customer service.

Almost half of Yodel customers polled by Citizens Advice (43%) reported a problem with their last delivery.

Royal Mail achieved the highest overall score, but still only managed three stars.

According to Citizens Advice, its online advice for customers who have not received a delivery has been viewed almost 211,000 times over the last year.

The organisation has suggested that parcel firms that continually fail consumers should be fined by regulator Ofcom.

Chief executive of Citizens Advice, Dame Clare Moriarty, stated that there are shoppers being “seriously let down” by parcels going missing or being delivered late.

“One year on and parcel firms haven’t got their act together, with nobody delivering a four or five-star service,” she said.

“Behind the figures are shoppers seriously let down when parcels go missing or are late.

“The needs of those who rely most on online shopping, such as disabled people, are being forgotten.

“Our findings show there’s more for Ofcom to do to protect shoppers and if these firms don’t up their game, it should be fining them.”

A spokesman for Ofcom pointed to moves to bolster its regulations on companies in 2023.

They said: “We agree that some parcel companies are failing their customers when deliveries go wrong.

“So we’re strengthening our regulations next year to make sure people are treated fairly by parcel firms.

“We welcome research that shines a light on their performance, which we are monitoring too.

“If we’re not satisfied with how companies respond when our new protections come into force, they may face enforcement action or tighter rules in future.”

A spokesperson for Evri said the company had made “significant investments” to improve its services.

They also disputed the data used by Citizens Advice in compiling the table.

“As the UK’s leading dedicated parcel company, Evri delivers over two million parcels each day and we pride ourselves on offering a fast, reliable, sustainable service which doesn’t cost the earth for consumers and business alike,” they said.

“Evri is rated great on Trustpilot with a score of 4.2, based on over three million independent reviews and we have a loyal client base, including over 80% if the high street and we have long-standing and loyal clients who have worked with Evri for an average of ten years.

“We have made significant investments to improve our services as we grow, adding dedicated customer service teams operating seven days a week in depots; building the biggest parcel distribution hub in Europe, in Barnsley; and expanded our ParcelShops and Lockers, which help customers to send and receive parcels at over 10,000 locations nationwide, improving first-time delivery rates and reducing the carbon footprint of each delivery.

“The survey from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau is based on inaccurate data and we have raised significant concerns with them about their survey methodology which uses historic volume data, is overly reliant on Twitter and includes references to fake and incorrect handles.”

A Yodel spokesperson said the company disagrees with the methodology and findings of Citizens Advice.

“We are fully committed to continuously improving and have invested heavily in customer service infrastructure over the last year, including the launch of a new app and proof-of-delivery images which provide customers with greater transparency.

“We disagree with the methodology and findings of this report. Our own parcel data and Have Your Say programmes show that 84% of our customers had a positive experience with us over the last six months.”