As we hurtle headfirst into the final week to Christmas, the challenge of wrapping and packing awkwardly shaped presents is nigh. While some will be wrapping this week, others will still be waiting for gifts to be delivered…
This year I bought from a mixture of places – some presents I purchased in person earlier in the year and some I hunted for online when I found little inspiration on the high street.
Thankfully all of my presents are hidden under my bed and are ready to be adorned with festive paper this weekend. But some of the 2,000 people we recently surveyed aren’t in that lucky position…
Christmas deliveries
When we asked more than 2,000 people about their experience of receiving deliveries in the past month, we found that just a third had received all their deliveries as expected.
For one in five at least one delivery was late and the same proportion told us that at least one delivery did not arrive at all.
People complained about lengthy delays, lack of communication, delivery instructions ignored, and packages being damaged when forced through letterboxes.
Around 10% said a delivery had been left outside the door without consent, 4% had a delivery left in a rubbish or recycling bin and 3% had it thrown over a hedge or fence.
Retailer responsibilities
When things go wrong with your delivery, it can be difficult to know who to turn to. Is it the courier’s fault for leaving your parcel with the ‘neighbour’ 11 doors down? Or, is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure your goods arrive with you?
In a different survey we ran recently we also found that there’s still confusion about who is responsible when something goes wrong during the delivery process.
Only half of these shoppers knew to contact the retailer if posted goods go missing after being left on the doorstep or in the garden without permission. Around a third incorrectly thought that they should contact the delivery company and one in seven said that did not know who to contact.
It might seem odd to blame the retailer in a situation where it was clearly the courier who left your order out in the rain. But, the reason you wouldn’t make a complaint to the courier is because the courier is employed by the retailer to deliver your goods to you. Ultimately it is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure you receive your goods.
Does buying online outweigh delivery issues for you? Are you still waiting for Christmas presents to arrive?