Evri slammed as South Coast parcel deliveries delayed, misplaced or even dumped in a car park

After receiving numerous complaints from residents and Hampshire county councillor Lesley Meenaghan, Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage wrote to Evri CEO Martijn de Lange, raising concerns about parcels being regularly delayed, misplaced, or left in unsafe locations.

In her letter, she said she had been made aware of “numerous cases” of Evri parcels being “dumped or marked as delivered with no attempt made to actually reach the recipient”.

With Christmas approaching, she added: “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.”

Dame Caroline has called for a full investigation and urged the company to “put the situation right urgently”.

Romsey and Southampton North MP Caroline Nokes also wrote to Mr de Lange, reporting “increasing numbers” of constituents complaining about failed deliveries.

She said parcels had been “abandoned in piles in random rural locations” and highlighted round 84 as a particular area of concern.

She warned that small businesses relying on Evri were “bearing the brunt of angry customers” and the financial cost of replacing lost goods.

Poole Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan likewise raised concerns about parcels being left at incorrect addresses or “dumped” outside the homes of vulnerable residents.

He said residents often received the same “proof of delivery” photograph for multiple deliveries.

Mr Duncan-Jordan said: “This has severely undermined confidence in your internal processes and has left constituents struggling to challenge incorrect delivery claims effectively,” he wrote.

Bournemouth East MP Tom Hayes also added his voice to the criticism, saying: “What should be a simple, assured parcel-delivery process has become increasingly stressful and inadequate.

Mr Hayes said: “The situation has deteriorated to the point that the people I represent have created a dedicated Facebook group to track down missing parcels and deliver them to the right homes themselves.

“The volume and consistency of complaints point to systematic problems in Evri’s local operations, rather than isolated mistakes.”

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Dame Caroline said that after sending her initial letter she received confirmation the company would “look into it”.

She added: “When I shared some photographs showing a pile of parcels dumped in a car park, the boss of Evri wrote back saying they had already identified the delivery driver responsible, who has now been removed and replaced.”

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.”