Government Acknowledges the Problem, but Delivers No Accountability

The chaos of the Christmas period may long be behind us, but four months on, I am still hearing from constituents who are stuck with the consequences of Evri’s repeated failures.   

In December, I wrote to Evri’s Chief Executive sharing your stories of items going missing, wayward tracking information, Christmas presents ultimately arriving weeks late, and the impossibility of their automated customer service systems.  

Assurances were given at the time that seasonal demand was a key factor for these problems. Yet here we are in April, and the same issues persist for constituents across Newbury and West Berkshire.  

Since then, I have taken a number of steps including: submitted Parliamentary Written Questions to the Government on much-needed regulatory reform, visited the local depot in Thatcham to see first-hand the challenges couriers are facing, and written to both Ofcom and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. Specifically, I pushed for clear timelines for any enforcement action and the improvement of a faceless complaints handling systems, particularly the use of autochat bots.  

Last week, the Government responded. After meeting with senior Ofcom officials, both acknowledged the growing concerns raised by constituents while confirming that Ofcom is “gathering evidence” and has sent a regulatory compliance letter to parcel operators – threatening fines of up to 10% of their revenue “if they continue to fall short.”   

But what evidence is there left to gather? The stories from residents across Newbury, and the many other cross-party MPs who have all raised similar cases on behalf of their constituents, are clear.  

Ofcom’s own customer satisfaction survey places Evri at the bottom of the parcel delivery sector. When customers try to get help, 41% say they are dissatisfied - the highest dissatisfaction rate of any major courier. These findings mirror what constituents continue to report: pervasive service failures, poor complaint handling, and an inability to speak to a person when it matters most. 

To date, there has been no accountability, no timeline for improvements, and just a bot to speak to when things go wrong.  

As I have stressed from the outset, I recognise that parcel volumes are at record levels and appreciate the hard work of front-line staff who are under significant pressure and report being paid as little as 35p to deliver one.  However, for the leadership at Evri, that cannot excuse consistently weak complaints handling processes and service failures.  

So, as I push Ofcom for a response and a regulator that proactively comes to residents need when a delivery service continues to fall short, I will keep you up to date on any further developments.