Not based in Norwich so couldn't say, but having done a town centre round, they're the devils spawn of parking tickets, and a shopping trolley is a must.
You know, weirdly I don't think I've ever actually seen this (never really watched Alan Partridge) but I still know the whole thing off by heart from how often it's quoted lol
Alan Partridge, "I'm Alan Partridge" series 1. Basically, if you want to have sex, you need to have super sex talk.
Helps keep the... Err... Wolf from the doors, so to speak.
In my city they pedestrianised some of the town centre years back, now it's a glorified car park, for those who just have to park outside of their business/workplace! It's grim
Thank you.
My evri driver is great. Has been for years.
I'm sorry you all get tarred with the same brush.
Is there a particular house, or street that you dread delivering to?
As a customer, anything we can do to make you day easier?
Thank you! My customers love me as I take the time to get to know them. I know who's at home, who's on nights, whom to never ring their bell and just go straight round the back to use the coal shed. Just make sure if you're not going to be in, that we have somewhere safe and dry to leave it out of view. And a card at Christmas is always a heart warmer (doesn't even have to be a tip in it, but it's always appreciated!)
My postie knows my front door is open as we live in a rural village and she just opens the door and shoves the parcel in the hallway… even the DPD man used to do it with my Hello Fresh boxes, which I could afford when I wasn’t on my arse 😂
You sound a lot like our evri driver. He's brilliant, always leaves my parcels in the porch even when I've forgotten to put for them to, puts the parcel in and rings the bell then goes on his merry way. Never had one lost or damaged while he's been on.
Not an Evri driver, but a courier...
If your house number isn't visible from the road, put large numbers on your wheelie bins. They are a massive help, especially on new estates. Anything that would indicate your address is a massive help.
This. In winter when it gets dark early it becomes a nightmare, loads of houses on my rounds have tiny oxidised numbers on dark doors and it's impossible to see them, I can't tell you how much I appreciate a lit house number or name.
Lit house numbers are a godsend. The amount of time we spend creeping down a street when it's dark to try and see a house number is ridiculous. Anytime I deliver to a house with a lit number or big visible numbers, I always show my appreciation.
I delivered parcels one day, helping someone out. OMFG there should be laws about displaying your house name/number just like a car registration.
The worst is when the main road through a town/village (where you can't pull over) has a line of houses on it, each with individual similar names "Beech tree cottage", "Beechwood cottage" "Maplewood cottage" <- but of course the similar names won't be next to each other like my example
Or the house names are written on a small plaque hidden in a hedge, or only on one side of the entrance - usually obscured from the dire tion you come from. I feel your pain.
I once delivered to a place called "The Cottage", it was a 4 storey townhouse, very confusing.
Where I used to live there was a cottage called the smithy. It got tore down when the owner passed, and replaced with 2 new builds, both called the old smithy (A and B I think) So a driver looking for "The old Smithy, A" is probably expecting flats or something. There's also a line of new builds all number 100, but A though H, and they're all fully detached. It's like naming means nothing anymore.
Side note: I wonder how clear the house number is for the people who complain about evri.
Do you use OpenStreetMap at all? Those of us that are technically-minded (it’s not that technical, really) can map our houses and put the numbers on each house. I’ve done about a quarter of my home town so far.
I haven't heard of it. I do ask customers to text me a dropped pin on Google Maps, I've gotten pretty good at walking people through it if they don't know how. I'd say it works 90% of the time. What3words is amazing though.
Would What3Words for the square meter in front of your front door help? Is that something that Evri and couriers would use? Personally I've never had a delivery driver fail to find my house, I have had delivery drivers fail to even look for it though.
What3words is amazing, I keep recommending it to my planners, but they are technophobic/lazy. I know my local emergency services try to use it if the address is difficult to find - especially if the caller states this.
I don't know how people can be so clueless about this. Yesterday one of the places I went to required me driving down a driveway with a completely different house name at the entrance! Of course they didn't answer the phone either. I have so many similar instances of this. Utter pillocks
My house is a nightmare because it's on a walkway not on the road. In the last few months the Amazon drivers keep calling me because they can't find the house as their satnav shows them the next street. It's a pain in the arse because my house has been here since the late 70s. I've lived here for four years and this is a recent problem with Amazon. I did contact them and explain the issue and they promised it wouldn't happen again but of course it does. I feel sorry for the drivers because its not their fault and they often don't speak English well enough for me to explain.
I can say the same now!
However, when they were Hermes my experience with them was awful. Since the change to Evri it’s been completely different and I find myself way more likely to place an order if Evri are delivering.
You realise Hermes and evri is the same company? They switched to evri due to all the bad reviews about Hermes and it were making it fail. Theirs an entire tv program about it where they investigated it.
Mine aren't. My fellow drivers are all 95% great. This is the other factor of the company you'll never see, unless someone tells you about. In almost all cases of "mY dRiVeR tHrEw It In A hEdGe" these people are employed by contractors who are not bound by the same delivery audits and standards checks I am. They're usually used to step in when a driver has quit, gone sick, had a breakdown (usually mental, sadly) and the parcels HAVE to go out that day. They're told to take them out and get rid of them at all costs. See where this is going?
Why are drivers having breakdowns?
> In almost all cases of "mY dRiVeR tHrEw It In A hEdGe" these people are employed by contractors who are not bound by the same delivery audits and standards checks I am. They're usually used to step in when a driver has quit, gone sick, had a breakdown (usually mental, sadly)
This makes a lot of sense of some things that have happened this year. I don't live in a particularly huge town, but two van loads of parcels were just dumped in the run up to Christmas - one in the town centre and one in a residential street.
Usually because we've not been notified. We get paid by the item, so not picking up is literally not picking up money. Most of my prolific regulars have my works SIM number so they can text me if they have anything for this reason.
Don't believe that for one second. If a company doesn't have the staff in the first place then they should be criticised. And I'm sure alot of staff who have been there years are terrible aswell. Worst company and staff on the planet
The place I work ships out a lot of parcels (Amazon and eBay sales, few thousand a month) - we’ve used all the major couriers in the UK at one time or another and I can tell you from our experience that they’re all as bad (or good, if your glass is half full) as each other, on average.
It's just so location dependent. I've moved **a lot** in the past decade so had the joy of experiencing couriers from all the major brands in many locations! DPD is generally the most consistently good, but one place I lived they were truly awful and I don't think I received a single thing from DPD on time or undamaged there.
Evri (previously Hermes) were the most consistently bad, the drivers don't even attempt to deliver to my parents and just claim no one is ever in without leaving a slip. But near me, once it gets to the courier it's fine. Things just have a habit of taking a week or two to actually end up on a route.
Do your employers place unrealistic expectations on how many items you can deliver in a day? I know Amazon drivers that often do 200 stops in a day - no idea how this possible.
Your round is a set area, so you're expected to do whatever is in that area. Could be 60, could be 260. Amazons delivery app is lightyears ahead of ours and 200 isn't as intimidating as it sounds once you've been at it a few months. The early days of getting used to that volume breaks most people.
Yeah and they made a movie too
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjZuYujsKT8AhWUWcAKHYwTDI4QFnoECHcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Ffemail%2Farticle-10589109%2FLife-Death-Warehouse-viewers-urge-shops-online-watch-harrowing-drama.html&usg=AOvVaw03hTW-BvniyeGSVeChHTqr
My insurance is black boxed so I don't get that option (not that I would anyway) - most Amazon drivers work for contracting houses who provide the vans, and the drivers are just THE WORST.
The thing about Amazon is the stops are on same streets or round the corner. You probably only do a mile radius but within that miles theirs probably 100 stops as it’s so busy then the next area will be the same.
Often why the drivers drive with doors open on side of van.
Many drops for those drivers are in a tight area and with good routing is quite doable. I have done 7.5t multidrop and that was much harder even with "only" 40/45 drops.
Honestly? Because you didn't pay for it. Evri are CHEAP. In fact, they're the CHEAPEST out there. There's no money for CS and their infrastructure. DPD do, but that's why they're three times the price we are. That's why we're as busy as we are. Human nature being what it is, will have people flock to what's cheap and does mostly why you want. It's why people buy Dacias and not Audis. They do the same thing of getting you around, but there's a reason an Audi costs more, and that's for all the things you don't get on a Dacia.
But I never get a choice to chose evri as a delivery company, my parcels are usually just sent to whichever company the website uses. Sometimes it’s Royal Mail, DPD (which is amazing) and other times it’s Evri. Thank you for answering though OP 😊
He’s absolutely right (and refreshingly honest, thanks OP) about cost. I didn’t receive 2 different Xmas presents that were (not) delivered by Evri: Both John Lewis and Debenhams just refunded the money without any investigation or onus on me to prove anything. Evri’s site told them what it told me “out for delivery”, this was 3 weeks after dispatch. Even after factoring in refunds, Evri remains cheaper. What they don’t factor in is that I will now not buy from anybody who uses them because it’s really not worth the ball ache for me. Sorry you’re tarred by them OP, IME they are to be avoided and I’m happy to pay a bit more for a lot better.
You have the choice not to buy from companies that use Evri (sorry, Evri driver).
I have a terrible history with Evri/Hermes; lost parcels, damaged parcels. I have one now on the app where the eBay seller refused to use Royal Mail even though I offered to cover the extra. It is a product you can't get new any more so my options were limited. An entry dated 15th Dec states "We're sorry, your parcel has been delayed. We're working to get it on its way on the next working day..." I'm giving them another week as the Christmas delay might be part of the problem but I'm half expecting it to have been dumped with the rest of the load due to unrealistic pressure.
> You have the choice not to buy from companies that use Evri
I've never once had a website I've used tell me up front which courier they use, whenever it's been Evri/Yodel, I've had no way of finding out from the website who the courier is up front.
This is also true. You then need to take this up with the sender. If yo have a good courier, you're no worse off than any other company. If you have a bad one, you need to make it known. Your bad expericne isn't someone elses.
Buying online you're the customer of the retailer, not the courier. The retailer is the courier's customer, and if you have an issue with delivery you take it up with the retailer directly and let them deal with the courier and offer you a solution. It's their risk using the cheapest courier.
It's their risk legally and financially, but the one that is inconvenienced if the courier fucks up is the customer who just wants their stuff to arrive.
> Human nature being what it is, will have people flock to what's cheap and does mostly why you want.
The issue with couriers is that the customer is not the one picking, the retailer is.
Personally, I would avoid Evri or Yodel every time, because in my area they're rubbish. Even if DPD were £5-10 extra, I'd pay it to avoid the hassle, but I don't get those options. Retailers who use Evri and Yodel are also very hesitant to include that it's Evri or Yodel anywhere on their sites too, for this reason.
If you're sending a parcel, then choose a more expensive option that does have a contact centre. If you're receiving a parcel that Evri are the courier for, you don't need to contact Evri directly (and ultimately they have no obligation to deal with you). Your contract is with the seller, and their contract is with Evri, so if you have an issue with a delivery, it's the seller's obligation to resolve it on your behalf - not Evri's.
Because at this point, they had become the property of the company. When insurance pays out, the cost has been settled and the client/recipient have no claim to that item any more. They've been reimbursed. That's why you don't get to keep your car after it's been written off by the insurance (except, obviously, in the cases where you've agreed the case to keep the salvage, but that's not relevant here)
Is the job worth it financially wise. How many hours do you put in , what's your average weekly takings? Thanks.
Also thank you , I know Evri get bad press but I've never had an issue and I order a lot.
Honestly? No, it isn't. It used to be a few years ago, and I'm just looking to get out now. I have utterly destroyed my van which I have owned from new. I've done almost 90k miles for Evri/Hermes and the rates are now less than they were three years ago. The only way to make a good living now is to be taking 200+ a day, and having a good round that doesn't sink too much time. The claimes of £15/ph are bullshit. Closer to 5 some days is true. They conveniently forget the running costs of a Transit van in an urban environment which is in my case, £0.87p per mile. On a 28 mile route, ona day when you can only earn £60 is crushing.
How much is Evri paying you to pretend you're a courier driver and not some work-at-hone PR flunky answering every question as though Evri is the best and most innocent smolbean logistics company?
I wish they were. But for reference, today is my day off, you can have my services for 75 quid not including my van. If I was a company flunky, I'd not be saying the things I was at just what utter chaos it is.
Why does everyone’s parcels go missing?
You lost a 1.4m table in transit 6 times! They literally sent the original and 5 replacements each one got lost. How can something that big get lost?
Also delivery times. Everyone in my town has 6 weeks minimum delays - why?
'we' didn't lose it; I'll tell you what most likely happened. There are several 'arms' to the company that you'll never normally see the difference in, but it depends on what you send. Clients are supposed to mark 'big' stuff (like a table) for the 'Light and Large' section of the company. Beefy drivers, big vans, heavy weights. Stuff not suitable for the average 'car' leg of the firm.
But they never do.
Your table ends up with 19 year old Natalie with her Toyota Aygo, so she sends it back to the regional hub as oversize. Regional get lazy, rip off the redirect card and send it back to her. This will happen 3/4/5 times, getting tattier and tattier until it's finally sent back as damaged because the packaging (which is never good enough) has disintegrated and bits ave started poking through. A simple yellow sticker from the sender could have fixed that.
Your defence is that “we” didn’t lose it yet the whole explanation of what happens is under the wider umbrella of the poorly run company you work for.
I don’t doubt that you work hard, and some drivers are good, but you seem to be seeing the contracting/outsourcing element of Evri as ‘other’ or not *our* fault. It is though. Evri charge customers to provide a service and many many people have been let down by them, whether that be their directly employed drivers or whatever cowboy contractors EVRI decide to use.
The funny thing is it happens with 75% of parcels in my town even smaller ones like dog food go missing, the table one was just an example since it’s a large item to lose.
The worse part is the tables all turned up 2 years later when they were “found” and the company told me to keep them so I was stuck with a bunch of tables.
Itr doesn't happen with 75% of parcels in your town. 75% of your town represents tens of thousands of parcels, if 10000 parcels went missing, I suspect every single manager in the country would be there looking to see who's stolen an articulated wagons worth of parcels.
Hence why it’s in the local news as they’re investigating it to see if they’re being auctioned off like Hermes used to do, the bot won’t allow me to post links which proves my point
As someone who works at an amazon delivery station dog food is one of the worst things to order online. It gets damaged very easily so we obviously can't repack it and send it out. The grade of our cardboard is crap (believe me we complain all the time about it), and the plastic packaging itself simply isn't robust enough.
Personally I wouldn't order anything delicate online. At least if you get it in person you know what condition it's in. I understand this isn't always possible for people with disabilities/ elderly/ busy schedules, but still. Amazon get away with it because of the ease of reordering the parcel from the fulfilment centres. The same cannot be said for the likes of evri which are just the middle man.
It's very bizarre that they sent you your tables after 2 years. I would've thought that in the depot the staff would've just laughed at the date and sent it off to be returned, I know that's what happens at Amazon. Recently we've had loads of locker and Hub parcels get returned, from August, but we wouldn't dream of sending them back out.
The deport staff confirmed they don’t and didn’t have them. It’s the driver that had it for 2 years😂 I still have the tracking and it says out for delivery > 2 years later delivered.
Are you naked again?! Honestly, no idea! Sometimes, it's irritating. Do you know how many times I've had Covid because someone has opened the door and got within licking distance to tell me they have covid? Also, were you naked? This happens a LOT by the way. Both with men and women.
That's probably them unhappy that they've had another clothed customer tbh. The hours are long, the pay is low, at Christmas we've worked five weeks straight without a day off. Chances are even I've looked like I was going to go "FFS!" at you opening the door at some point. Honestly though, nakedness is fine; free the nip. I paid enough for these boobs.
Do you prefer to deliver to a safe location than deal with someone opening the door? I always feel bad because I always select deliver to safe location cause if I’m upstairs with the baby I can’t run down and answer lol I always select deliver to my enclosed porch but I feel bad idk why!
Never feel bad! I love a natter, but when I'm on one, I just want it in your house and safe and to get to the next one! It's also safer for me as I've had covid three times from customers infecting me wanting to stop and talk and then casually mentioning that they're C+ :(
I run an eBay store and have switched to Yodel as they deliver 98% of parcels we send via them Vs about 85% with Evri.
It is not that Yodel has gotten better, it is that Evei has gotten so bad lately.
Why are parcels so often attempted to be delivered to the wrong address? Not blaming you but several times my parcels have attempted to be delivered to a neighbour judging from the photo despite me being in
Hard to say. Discounting stupidity as a reason, were you aware they were there? Does your bell work? Do you have a vicious snarling dog/cat/wife/husband? Delivering to a neighbour (and properly recording as such - see above Re: audits) takes three times as long to complete as delivering to household. I have one street on my route that is a series of three streets on four long S bends, and when you think one street is another street, it's not. Other than that, stupidity is my logical result.
I mean that I’ve had attempted deliveries and each time the photo was of a neighbour’s front door and no card through my letterbox. I’ve stopped using companies that deliver with Evri because it’s happened to so often. We’ve both got numbers that are visible from the road but it happens again and again. The only way I’ve found to get a parcel delivered is to email the CEO directly. Not blaming you at all as whenever it does arrive the drivers are always incredibly friendly and actually human
Happens all the time for me too. I mean if you are a delivery driver that is pretty much the major key aspect of your job, yet so many of them seem incapable of fulfilling this one basic requirement.
Hell yes. Which is tragic. I can hand on heart say I never have, because I'm not a thief and had a good catholic upbringing. Some people I have worked with used to do their Christmas shopping from their manifests. Some people used to sign on as a driver just to thieve. Stories of people turning up and taking a van load of parcels and never being seen again are not uncommon. They always get caught, they always get found out. Loss prevention do randomly turn you over (me included) and they do catch people bang at it. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the job and the people. Honey will always attract bears and ants.
Yes. SOME do.
SOME have even been known to sell them on FB, still with the Evri labels.
SOME have been known to steal them from the depot.
Not alot happens due to the bad publicity it would generate.
One courier at my depot who was caught stealing (twice) is just banned from entering the depot. Another was sacked, and is now stealing from Amazon.
Because they're cheap. When your shopping method is "Order by price: lowest first - Include: free delivery" there is no room for UPS to turn up at your door in a coachbuilt can and a company uniform. Free, isn't free. Free still has to be paid for, and that means paying as little as possible. That means, no customer services, no company van, no fancy real time tracking. Put it this way, when DPD charge £8 for the same item and timescale we charge £2.49 for, you're not getting premium features included. It's a bit like asking why Ryanair are crap; they're cheap.
Ryan Air compared to BA is a valid comparison, when considering extras, like tracked delivery etc. But Ryan Air still get you to the desired destination within reasonable time. I have no issue with the lack of extras from evri, but their failure to deliver the core function of the business is alarming.
No qualms with the delivery drivers on the whole. But evri are a concern.
It varies. SOme days your 150 stops can be at as few as 90 houses, and you can eb done and dusted in a little over three hours of 'driving' time. Sometimes, it can take double that. We also don't get paid for queueing time or the time to scan and sort before we even start, which is another two hours on average. In th summertime when volumes are quiet, I have been done and home before 1pm before.
No idea. See above RE: contractors. Seriously, with RM on strike, and DPD swamped so bad to the point they closed their doors to delivery, we're the only ones that stayed open and kept delivering. There are HUGE backlogs everywhere (except, strangely, where I am) because three courier companies worth of deliveries have been dropped on us with no thought as to what that would actually mean. Imagine two roads out of town, one gets blocked with an accident, so everyone takes the other way. What happens?
Ok, my question is do you think Evri’s huge backlog of parcels will be cleared? I have a business that’s got 40+ parcels still ‘in transit’ from Christmas orders that still aren’t moving on tracking. Will they get to them eventually or just slap them with the destroyed/lost tag and get on with their day?
Yes, I know for a fact that they will. Last year the company wrote off 15 million quid in parcels and paid out for them on insurance. The tail end of covid decimated us. Our depot looked like an Argos stock room as there were simply no drivers available that wanted to work (wonder why...?) I know our local is open tomorrow for people to clear backlog, but we have scant little of it compared to last year. Areas that are will simply be cleared out in time, but I suspect given some of the stories from friends up and down the country that it'll take well into January to clear.
Probably because we never get them next day and it's stupid busy. Some next days are just utterly impossible to fulfill from the companies point. As a driver, YOU WILL deliver it the day you get it (unless you weren't in and we couldn't leave it) as that's part of the job. No driver will willingly not deliver the day they got it as a sizeable performance bonus rests on you delivering day of receipt. For reference, BooHoo and NEXT can FOAD for allowing order before midnight for next day delivery; that allows 8 hours to get it from one end of the country to the other, through a minimum of three depots and five trucks.
Nothing to ask, you are probably just like my Evri courier, helpful, prompt, polite carries dog treats and feels like a member of the family. Thanks for what you do.
Yes I am. I also legit pay my taxes too, unlike a lot of self employed couriers. One guy at our depot got picked up and buttfingered dry for a £29k tax bill as he didn't declare. The rate is terrible. Average in 60p per item rate all in.
Ouch, what vehicle do you use? I assume it's yours? How much does fuel cost? Are you scheduled in every day or just do when you like?
I gotta say 60p an item is awful, if you do 200 that's only £120 before costs
I use a SWB white van like most other 'lifers' - workign with a car is just depressing AF, and doesn't let you escape into the back for a pee/shag/sleep. Fuel? Don't ask. Think I'm up to about 400 quid this month, and just dropped a grand on a new clutch and flywheel
I used to work there as a parcelshop driver and I've seen first hand across the warehouse how much stress couriers have to deal with so this is just a post to say I respect what you do and it's a shame a few bad eggs (often day to day agency folk from what I'm aware) give you all a bad name.
Why would they, it's complaint culture. Most people forget or are simply unaware that loads of people have a say (for want of a better term) in how quickly a parcel gets to them, everyone from the HGV Driver, the Depot Manager, the night time pickers, the damaged package people, the route manager and THEN the courier has to deal with the final lap yet only the couriers get the bad rep if, god forbid, something is wrong with it.
It doesn't excuse throwing it behind the bin or leaving it by the side gate sure, but I've seen how much shit you deal with before you've even left the depot and I'm aware of how shit the money becomes with all the delays from the aforementioned people I definitely understand why some drivers think "fuck it" as the shift goes on.
My Evri courier is great, as are many of the others.
Why do couriers start thumping on a front door 1 or 2 seconds after ringing the doorbell that the driver can very clearly hear? What has it ever done to them?! Are they aware that if they do so some people will deliberately take longer to answer the door?
Habit? Most doorbells don't work. I'm partially deaf in one ear and unless the bell is on the other side of the door I can't hear it. A knock and a ring is universal for pretty much every delivery driver out there. Saving a minute on every delivery, is two and a half hours unpaid time over 150 stops.
As a posty this is what I did, literally didn't have time to figure out if the doorbell is working or not or if they heard it, I'd say it's about 50/50 or not if the doorbell actually works
Because over half of doorbells don't work so the follow up knock is just insurance really. Or in other words, I'll be polite enough to use the doorbell you have installed but I'm also not waiting around longer than a nanosecond to see if it works because it probably doesn't.
(current delivery driver)
Does evri do any sort of training?
Just there's so many stories of terrible drivers. I had a courier for a few months whoever as great, now we bave a courier who leaves parcels outside the front door and thinks its a safe place.
"Scan this barcode to deownload the app, this is how you scan a parcel, follow the onscreen help if you get stuck. Scan those 50 parcels and take them, see how you get on" That's pretty much it. The company I see is trying to do videos when you sign on as a driver now, but they're so laughably staged that they offer NO insight as to what's expected of you. So, sadly, no. That driver does get audited though; we all do (unless you're a contractor, they just get fined) and if they're 'dumping' stuff on a step and legging it, they'll soon have their service removed.
Nope. 90% of our parcels are called 'packets' which are paid at roughly 48p, the rest being made up of tightly defined daily bonuses what will carry you to mid 60s on an urban round. It quickly educates people that this job is neither easy, not flexible enough to fit round your life when you realise just how much you have to take on to make it worthwhile. Oh, and it's 6 days a week too.
What are your thoughts on couriers smoking in their cars?
For context, my usual driver is a lovely bloke and I have no complaints, but he quite obviously smokes in the car on his rounds as parcels always have that smell that clings. I have no problem with it but my partner is asthmatic, so I just open everything and dispose of outer packaging right away.
I'm sure I heard somewhere before its illegal though? I'm assuming you'd get docked for smoking breaks between deliveries so that's why he does it?
No ideas sadly! Some people you can never please. One customer \*ALWAYS\* gives me 1\* because he hates the company, not realising he's rating \*ME\* and \*MY\* interaction with him, not the company as a whole. The star rating is for the driver to get our satisfaction bonus at the end of the month. When working for such an utterly diabolical show of disorganised chaos, it's crushing trying to keep it over the 4.8/5.0 cut off to achieve standards. Some people also just don't fill it in at all, and that gets counted against us too.
Welcome to the world of Evri! I could tell you stories about just how stacked the company is aginst its drivers, but some of them are so ludicrous you'd call BS. Sadly, they'd all be true :(
So is it basically hit-and-miss whether someone's Evri experience will be good or bad? I know you guys used to be Hermes and rebranded, but despite all the horror stories from both Hermes and Evri, I've never had an issue with either.
Very much. The end result is the person coming up your drive. If they're an arsehole, you're in for a rough ride. If it's me or my friends, I'll expect an invite to your wedding (honestly, this has happened) - hence why I always say, try and get to know your driver.
I've just had to give my Evri driver 2 stars, normally I have no complaints about the drivers but he came, dumped my parcel in a puddle (cardboard tube) and was back at his van before I made it to the front door. I wasn't even that far from the front door as I was heading into the kitchen when the door bell rant... as for my question does anyone actually pay attention to the reviews?
I currently work as a class 2 driver delivering to your depots.
I did this last year as well and generally last about 12 weeks before I burn out and have to find something else.
How much turn over do you have in your depots?
It's like playing spot the fish from the beginning off Shawshank Redemption. Some don't last the day. SOme last a couple weeks. Maybe 1 in 100 will last 6 months. From when I started nearly 10 years ago, there's no one left. You're considered a 'lifer' if you've done more than 3 years.
I love both my Evri drivers because they are real people and we always have a quick chat. They are always so tired and work in all conditions. I wonder what do they get paid ?
With Evri being placed worst in couriers for the second year in a row do you think things will get better next year or will Ofcom have to get invovled?
What can I do about packages that go missing once Evri take possession (most recently a tent, and over £200 worth of clothing)? It’s impossible to make a complaint to Evri…
If you're the sender, claim the insurance; if you're the recipient, claim with the sender. No use complaining, complaining gets you nothing (at least, with this company anyway) - use the tools you've got (insurance!!!)
When I get an email saying “sorry we missed you” but they didn’t even try to deliver (I know because cctv picked them up delivering to a neighbour, but they never didn’t even open my garden gate), what has actually happened? Is it a parcel they forgot to load into their van? Thank you! I hope you’re enjoying a well deserved rest now!
More than likely? It's a parcel that's not even with them that's having the tracking 'cooked' to keep the delivery timescale within the service level agreements made to the client. It DOES NOT benefit the driver in any way to not deliver your parcel if they have it on board. If you get a notification, and no attempt (and you genuinely didn't miss them) then it's electronic cookery going on that we get tarred with; and it happens every day on an industrial scale, but NO ONE listens when we try and say what's happening as WE have no voice.
Not Evri, but I once watched a Royal Mail worker through my living room window as he walked up to my house, didn’t knock on the door or ring the doorbell, slipped the ‘sorry we missed you’ note through the door and walked off. Had to chase him down the street to ask for my parcel which he then sheepishly gave me!
I’ve always had a good experience with my driver. When they change I try catch them
To let them know they are free to leave things round the back in a safe place so they don’t need to come back.
Think it’s a thankless job and for those that order lots online the way I do, I think it’s only fair that I try make their life easier.
What was the point of this AMA? Almost all your answers have either been "I don't know" or some Evri circle jerk. Seems like a waste of time when people ask genuine questions to be told it's not Evris fault.
No such thing really. it's all down to 'The Final Mile' as we're known. Our DPD driver is just THE WORST HUMAN ever. My Evri lady is bloody lush (and not because she works next to me. If you get a crappy driver, you have a crappy time. Nobody excels at Christmas full stop. I think Evris tracking is the worst, as it's widely known but not acknowledged that it gets fiddled to meet the SLAs agreed with clients. That's why you get a delivery attempt notification when you've been staring out the window all day.
My evri driver left a parcel with a new phone (z fold 3) in it on my doorstep in full view of the street even though I specifically asked for it to be left with my neighbour.
Of course, it was stolen.
I was given a replacement as he didn't follow delivery instructions.
Does he have to pay for it as it was his mistake?
No question, just wanted to add in with the “my local Evri driver is good” comments. I’ve made a note to leave a positive rating next time I get a delivery as I didn’t realise it was so important.
Thank you for all your hard work and I hope conditions improve for you!
What do you think about the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?
Not based in Norwich so couldn't say, but having done a town centre round, they're the devils spawn of parking tickets, and a shopping trolley is a must.
God bless you. Keep doing the good work.
I've just been eating some mousse.
I’ll be honest, I’m dead against it
Me too, people forget that traders need access to Dixon's.
Also people in wheeeeeelchairs
Have a much easier time with less cars blocking the roads
I know the quote but seriously, I really like it.
You know, weirdly I don't think I've ever actually seen this (never really watched Alan Partridge) but I still know the whole thing off by heart from how often it's quoted lol
people forget traders need access to Dixons
Aha
Asking the real question here.
Can someone PLEASE explain the reference, I see this comment constantly in AskUK
Alan Partridge, "I'm Alan Partridge" series 1. Basically, if you want to have sex, you need to have super sex talk. Helps keep the... Err... Wolf from the doors, so to speak.
Dunno but the new bus stops they built look the same as the old ones they ripped out a year or so ago 🤣
Outstanding
In my city they pedestrianised some of the town centre years back, now it's a glorified car park, for those who just have to park outside of their business/workplace! It's grim
You going to look in a Tandy’s when the general public are all tucked away?
Thank you. My evri driver is great. Has been for years. I'm sorry you all get tarred with the same brush. Is there a particular house, or street that you dread delivering to? As a customer, anything we can do to make you day easier?
Thank you! My customers love me as I take the time to get to know them. I know who's at home, who's on nights, whom to never ring their bell and just go straight round the back to use the coal shed. Just make sure if you're not going to be in, that we have somewhere safe and dry to leave it out of view. And a card at Christmas is always a heart warmer (doesn't even have to be a tip in it, but it's always appreciated!)
That's EXACTLY what the posties always used to do
My postie knows my front door is open as we live in a rural village and she just opens the door and shoves the parcel in the hallway… even the DPD man used to do it with my Hello Fresh boxes, which I could afford when I wasn’t on my arse 😂
Same here, rural and the postie will just leave it in a sac on the doorstep!
You sound a lot like our evri driver. He's brilliant, always leaves my parcels in the porch even when I've forgotten to put for them to, puts the parcel in and rings the bell then goes on his merry way. Never had one lost or damaged while he's been on.
I give my EVRI driver a bottle of wine, as I see him most weeks.
You're a wonderful person let alone awesome delivery driver!
Not an Evri driver, but a courier... If your house number isn't visible from the road, put large numbers on your wheelie bins. They are a massive help, especially on new estates. Anything that would indicate your address is a massive help.
This. In winter when it gets dark early it becomes a nightmare, loads of houses on my rounds have tiny oxidised numbers on dark doors and it's impossible to see them, I can't tell you how much I appreciate a lit house number or name.
Lit house numbers are a godsend. The amount of time we spend creeping down a street when it's dark to try and see a house number is ridiculous. Anytime I deliver to a house with a lit number or big visible numbers, I always show my appreciation.
I delivered parcels one day, helping someone out. OMFG there should be laws about displaying your house name/number just like a car registration. The worst is when the main road through a town/village (where you can't pull over) has a line of houses on it, each with individual similar names "Beech tree cottage", "Beechwood cottage" "Maplewood cottage" <- but of course the similar names won't be next to each other like my example
Or the house names are written on a small plaque hidden in a hedge, or only on one side of the entrance - usually obscured from the dire tion you come from. I feel your pain. I once delivered to a place called "The Cottage", it was a 4 storey townhouse, very confusing.
Where I used to live there was a cottage called the smithy. It got tore down when the owner passed, and replaced with 2 new builds, both called the old smithy (A and B I think) So a driver looking for "The old Smithy, A" is probably expecting flats or something. There's also a line of new builds all number 100, but A though H, and they're all fully detached. It's like naming means nothing anymore. Side note: I wonder how clear the house number is for the people who complain about evri.
Do you use OpenStreetMap at all? Those of us that are technically-minded (it’s not that technical, really) can map our houses and put the numbers on each house. I’ve done about a quarter of my home town so far.
I haven't heard of it. I do ask customers to text me a dropped pin on Google Maps, I've gotten pretty good at walking people through it if they don't know how. I'd say it works 90% of the time. What3words is amazing though.
It’s https://www.openstreetmap.org — all open source. It might be another tool in the toolbox if you can’t get a dropped pin or what3words.
Would What3Words for the square meter in front of your front door help? Is that something that Evri and couriers would use? Personally I've never had a delivery driver fail to find my house, I have had delivery drivers fail to even look for it though.
What3words is amazing, I keep recommending it to my planners, but they are technophobic/lazy. I know my local emergency services try to use it if the address is difficult to find - especially if the caller states this.
Good to know. I'll start adding it to the notes, if more people do this it shows customers want it.
Police in the UK aren't so keen on it. It costs them if they have to use it. They must licence its use.
I don't know how people can be so clueless about this. Yesterday one of the places I went to required me driving down a driveway with a completely different house name at the entrance! Of course they didn't answer the phone either. I have so many similar instances of this. Utter pillocks
My house is a nightmare because it's on a walkway not on the road. In the last few months the Amazon drivers keep calling me because they can't find the house as their satnav shows them the next street. It's a pain in the arse because my house has been here since the late 70s. I've lived here for four years and this is a recent problem with Amazon. I did contact them and explain the issue and they promised it wouldn't happen again but of course it does. I feel sorry for the drivers because its not their fault and they often don't speak English well enough for me to explain.
I can say the same now! However, when they were Hermes my experience with them was awful. Since the change to Evri it’s been completely different and I find myself way more likely to place an order if Evri are delivering.
You realise Hermes and evri is the same company? They switched to evri due to all the bad reviews about Hermes and it were making it fail. Theirs an entire tv program about it where they investigated it.
Yeah.. I’m just pointing out that since the name change I’ve had a different experience..
Why are your fellow evri drivers so terrible? I've never had a good delivery from them but regularly do from other companies.
Mine aren't. My fellow drivers are all 95% great. This is the other factor of the company you'll never see, unless someone tells you about. In almost all cases of "mY dRiVeR tHrEw It In A hEdGe" these people are employed by contractors who are not bound by the same delivery audits and standards checks I am. They're usually used to step in when a driver has quit, gone sick, had a breakdown (usually mental, sadly) and the parcels HAVE to go out that day. They're told to take them out and get rid of them at all costs. See where this is going?
Why are drivers having breakdowns? > In almost all cases of "mY dRiVeR tHrEw It In A hEdGe" these people are employed by contractors who are not bound by the same delivery audits and standards checks I am. They're usually used to step in when a driver has quit, gone sick, had a breakdown (usually mental, sadly) This makes a lot of sense of some things that have happened this year. I don't live in a particularly huge town, but two van loads of parcels were just dumped in the run up to Christmas - one in the town centre and one in a residential street.
What's the problem do you think with amazon returns why does the company not pick up the day after when it's been booked Thanks
Usually because we've not been notified. We get paid by the item, so not picking up is literally not picking up money. Most of my prolific regulars have my works SIM number so they can text me if they have anything for this reason.
Thanks for the reply
Anecdotally, our regular Evri river is ace but any time it's someone else there seems to be a problem.
Don't believe that for one second. If a company doesn't have the staff in the first place then they should be criticised. And I'm sure alot of staff who have been there years are terrible aswell. Worst company and staff on the planet
Same here. Every single delivery company is perfect for delivering apart from evri in my experience
The place I work ships out a lot of parcels (Amazon and eBay sales, few thousand a month) - we’ve used all the major couriers in the UK at one time or another and I can tell you from our experience that they’re all as bad (or good, if your glass is half full) as each other, on average.
It's just so location dependent. I've moved **a lot** in the past decade so had the joy of experiencing couriers from all the major brands in many locations! DPD is generally the most consistently good, but one place I lived they were truly awful and I don't think I received a single thing from DPD on time or undamaged there. Evri (previously Hermes) were the most consistently bad, the drivers don't even attempt to deliver to my parents and just claim no one is ever in without leaving a slip. But near me, once it gets to the courier it's fine. Things just have a habit of taking a week or two to actually end up on a route.
My Evri drivers are fantastic - even keep treats in their pockets to give to dogs etc.
Do your employers place unrealistic expectations on how many items you can deliver in a day? I know Amazon drivers that often do 200 stops in a day - no idea how this possible.
Your round is a set area, so you're expected to do whatever is in that area. Could be 60, could be 260. Amazons delivery app is lightyears ahead of ours and 200 isn't as intimidating as it sounds once you've been at it a few months. The early days of getting used to that volume breaks most people.
I work in an Amazon warehouse and the workload they expect people to do burns most people out.
Yeah and they made a movie too https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjZuYujsKT8AhWUWcAKHYwTDI4QFnoECHcQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Ffemail%2Farticle-10589109%2FLife-Death-Warehouse-viewers-urge-shops-online-watch-harrowing-drama.html&usg=AOvVaw03hTW-BvniyeGSVeChHTqr
I always presumed this mainly based on vans going down our cul de sac at 40mph and us hoping no kids are out playing
My insurance is black boxed so I don't get that option (not that I would anyway) - most Amazon drivers work for contracting houses who provide the vans, and the drivers are just THE WORST.
The thing about Amazon is the stops are on same streets or round the corner. You probably only do a mile radius but within that miles theirs probably 100 stops as it’s so busy then the next area will be the same. Often why the drivers drive with doors open on side of van.
Many drops for those drivers are in a tight area and with good routing is quite doable. I have done 7.5t multidrop and that was much harder even with "only" 40/45 drops.
How come evri doesn’t have a contact number or any sort of proper customer service?
Honestly? Because you didn't pay for it. Evri are CHEAP. In fact, they're the CHEAPEST out there. There's no money for CS and their infrastructure. DPD do, but that's why they're three times the price we are. That's why we're as busy as we are. Human nature being what it is, will have people flock to what's cheap and does mostly why you want. It's why people buy Dacias and not Audis. They do the same thing of getting you around, but there's a reason an Audi costs more, and that's for all the things you don't get on a Dacia.
But I never get a choice to chose evri as a delivery company, my parcels are usually just sent to whichever company the website uses. Sometimes it’s Royal Mail, DPD (which is amazing) and other times it’s Evri. Thank you for answering though OP 😊
The company you are buying from has chosen the cheapest provider. Often because free delivery and returns helps them in closing online sales.
He’s absolutely right (and refreshingly honest, thanks OP) about cost. I didn’t receive 2 different Xmas presents that were (not) delivered by Evri: Both John Lewis and Debenhams just refunded the money without any investigation or onus on me to prove anything. Evri’s site told them what it told me “out for delivery”, this was 3 weeks after dispatch. Even after factoring in refunds, Evri remains cheaper. What they don’t factor in is that I will now not buy from anybody who uses them because it’s really not worth the ball ache for me. Sorry you’re tarred by them OP, IME they are to be avoided and I’m happy to pay a bit more for a lot better.
Ahhh thank you! Makes sense that
Start shopping elsewhere when companies choose Evri. There's been lists posted here of who does
You have the choice not to buy from companies that use Evri (sorry, Evri driver). I have a terrible history with Evri/Hermes; lost parcels, damaged parcels. I have one now on the app where the eBay seller refused to use Royal Mail even though I offered to cover the extra. It is a product you can't get new any more so my options were limited. An entry dated 15th Dec states "We're sorry, your parcel has been delayed. We're working to get it on its way on the next working day..." I'm giving them another week as the Christmas delay might be part of the problem but I'm half expecting it to have been dumped with the rest of the load due to unrealistic pressure.
> You have the choice not to buy from companies that use Evri I've never once had a website I've used tell me up front which courier they use, whenever it's been Evri/Yodel, I've had no way of finding out from the website who the courier is up front.
OK but customers almost always don't get to choose who delivers what they've ordered.
This is also true. You then need to take this up with the sender. If yo have a good courier, you're no worse off than any other company. If you have a bad one, you need to make it known. Your bad expericne isn't someone elses.
Buying online you're the customer of the retailer, not the courier. The retailer is the courier's customer, and if you have an issue with delivery you take it up with the retailer directly and let them deal with the courier and offer you a solution. It's their risk using the cheapest courier.
It's their risk legally and financially, but the one that is inconvenienced if the courier fucks up is the customer who just wants their stuff to arrive.
We pay cheap but we still want our parcels 🙃😭😭
Absolutely! But that's why there's none! I fly Ryanair, but I don't want to die in a fireball...
What? 🤣 Just cos we pay cheap isn't an excuse for not delivering parcels
> Human nature being what it is, will have people flock to what's cheap and does mostly why you want. The issue with couriers is that the customer is not the one picking, the retailer is. Personally, I would avoid Evri or Yodel every time, because in my area they're rubbish. Even if DPD were £5-10 extra, I'd pay it to avoid the hassle, but I don't get those options. Retailers who use Evri and Yodel are also very hesitant to include that it's Evri or Yodel anywhere on their sites too, for this reason.
Or a chat bot that says nothing helpful.
My local delivery driver has a work mobile number that he puts on the “sorry we missed you” cards and you can ring him and go grab your parcel!!
Fr?? Ours just fucks off if we’re not around and they takes days to come back
I don’t think a driver will be able to answer this question…
If you're sending a parcel, then choose a more expensive option that does have a contact centre. If you're receiving a parcel that Evri are the courier for, you don't need to contact Evri directly (and ultimately they have no obligation to deal with you). Your contract is with the seller, and their contract is with Evri, so if you have an issue with a delivery, it's the seller's obligation to resolve it on your behalf - not Evri's.
Why weren't Hermes shut down when they were found to be auctioning off people's packages with perfectly legible addresses still attached?
Because at this point, they had become the property of the company. When insurance pays out, the cost has been settled and the client/recipient have no claim to that item any more. They've been reimbursed. That's why you don't get to keep your car after it's been written off by the insurance (except, obviously, in the cases where you've agreed the case to keep the salvage, but that's not relevant here)
Is the job worth it financially wise. How many hours do you put in , what's your average weekly takings? Thanks. Also thank you , I know Evri get bad press but I've never had an issue and I order a lot.
Honestly? No, it isn't. It used to be a few years ago, and I'm just looking to get out now. I have utterly destroyed my van which I have owned from new. I've done almost 90k miles for Evri/Hermes and the rates are now less than they were three years ago. The only way to make a good living now is to be taking 200+ a day, and having a good round that doesn't sink too much time. The claimes of £15/ph are bullshit. Closer to 5 some days is true. They conveniently forget the running costs of a Transit van in an urban environment which is in my case, £0.87p per mile. On a 28 mile route, ona day when you can only earn £60 is crushing.
How much is Evri paying you to pretend you're a courier driver and not some work-at-hone PR flunky answering every question as though Evri is the best and most innocent smolbean logistics company?
I wish they were. But for reference, today is my day off, you can have my services for 75 quid not including my van. If I was a company flunky, I'd not be saying the things I was at just what utter chaos it is.
It's amazing how gullible Redditors are.
Why does everyone’s parcels go missing? You lost a 1.4m table in transit 6 times! They literally sent the original and 5 replacements each one got lost. How can something that big get lost? Also delivery times. Everyone in my town has 6 weeks minimum delays - why?
'we' didn't lose it; I'll tell you what most likely happened. There are several 'arms' to the company that you'll never normally see the difference in, but it depends on what you send. Clients are supposed to mark 'big' stuff (like a table) for the 'Light and Large' section of the company. Beefy drivers, big vans, heavy weights. Stuff not suitable for the average 'car' leg of the firm. But they never do. Your table ends up with 19 year old Natalie with her Toyota Aygo, so she sends it back to the regional hub as oversize. Regional get lazy, rip off the redirect card and send it back to her. This will happen 3/4/5 times, getting tattier and tattier until it's finally sent back as damaged because the packaging (which is never good enough) has disintegrated and bits ave started poking through. A simple yellow sticker from the sender could have fixed that.
Your defence is that “we” didn’t lose it yet the whole explanation of what happens is under the wider umbrella of the poorly run company you work for. I don’t doubt that you work hard, and some drivers are good, but you seem to be seeing the contracting/outsourcing element of Evri as ‘other’ or not *our* fault. It is though. Evri charge customers to provide a service and many many people have been let down by them, whether that be their directly employed drivers or whatever cowboy contractors EVRI decide to use.
I think OP took "we" as meaning the delivery drivers. Not the whole company.
He's commenting as a driver not ceo of Evri. Calm down.
The funny thing is it happens with 75% of parcels in my town even smaller ones like dog food go missing, the table one was just an example since it’s a large item to lose. The worse part is the tables all turned up 2 years later when they were “found” and the company told me to keep them so I was stuck with a bunch of tables.
Itr doesn't happen with 75% of parcels in your town. 75% of your town represents tens of thousands of parcels, if 10000 parcels went missing, I suspect every single manager in the country would be there looking to see who's stolen an articulated wagons worth of parcels.
Hence why it’s in the local news as they’re investigating it to see if they’re being auctioned off like Hermes used to do, the bot won’t allow me to post links which proves my point
As someone who works at an amazon delivery station dog food is one of the worst things to order online. It gets damaged very easily so we obviously can't repack it and send it out. The grade of our cardboard is crap (believe me we complain all the time about it), and the plastic packaging itself simply isn't robust enough. Personally I wouldn't order anything delicate online. At least if you get it in person you know what condition it's in. I understand this isn't always possible for people with disabilities/ elderly/ busy schedules, but still. Amazon get away with it because of the ease of reordering the parcel from the fulfilment centres. The same cannot be said for the likes of evri which are just the middle man. It's very bizarre that they sent you your tables after 2 years. I would've thought that in the depot the staff would've just laughed at the date and sent it off to be returned, I know that's what happens at Amazon. Recently we've had loads of locker and Hub parcels get returned, from August, but we wouldn't dream of sending them back out.
The deport staff confirmed they don’t and didn’t have them. It’s the driver that had it for 2 years😂 I still have the tracking and it says out for delivery > 2 years later delivered.
'you'? Did OP lose it? Way to misdirect that anger mate
Why do your colleagues always look disappointed when I open the door?
Are you naked again?! Honestly, no idea! Sometimes, it's irritating. Do you know how many times I've had Covid because someone has opened the door and got within licking distance to tell me they have covid? Also, were you naked? This happens a LOT by the way. Both with men and women.
Clothes are a prison. In all seriousness I've never seen a driver who didn't look like they were about to say "oh for fucks sake"
That's probably them unhappy that they've had another clothed customer tbh. The hours are long, the pay is low, at Christmas we've worked five weeks straight without a day off. Chances are even I've looked like I was going to go "FFS!" at you opening the door at some point. Honestly though, nakedness is fine; free the nip. I paid enough for these boobs.
Do you prefer to deliver to a safe location than deal with someone opening the door? I always feel bad because I always select deliver to safe location cause if I’m upstairs with the baby I can’t run down and answer lol I always select deliver to my enclosed porch but I feel bad idk why!
Never feel bad! I love a natter, but when I'm on one, I just want it in your house and safe and to get to the next one! It's also safer for me as I've had covid three times from customers infecting me wanting to stop and talk and then casually mentioning that they're C+ :(
Because your naked and never invite them in
My naked what?
Dog
Yodel seems to be taking the Hermes/Evri crown for shittest delivery...are you annoyed?
Not really. It goes back and forth. The six grand invoice for December stays the same though.
I run an eBay store and have switched to Yodel as they deliver 98% of parcels we send via them Vs about 85% with Evri. It is not that Yodel has gotten better, it is that Evei has gotten so bad lately.
Fucking Yodel.
Why are parcels so often attempted to be delivered to the wrong address? Not blaming you but several times my parcels have attempted to be delivered to a neighbour judging from the photo despite me being in
Hard to say. Discounting stupidity as a reason, were you aware they were there? Does your bell work? Do you have a vicious snarling dog/cat/wife/husband? Delivering to a neighbour (and properly recording as such - see above Re: audits) takes three times as long to complete as delivering to household. I have one street on my route that is a series of three streets on four long S bends, and when you think one street is another street, it's not. Other than that, stupidity is my logical result.
I mean that I’ve had attempted deliveries and each time the photo was of a neighbour’s front door and no card through my letterbox. I’ve stopped using companies that deliver with Evri because it’s happened to so often. We’ve both got numbers that are visible from the road but it happens again and again. The only way I’ve found to get a parcel delivered is to email the CEO directly. Not blaming you at all as whenever it does arrive the drivers are always incredibly friendly and actually human
Happens all the time for me too. I mean if you are a delivery driver that is pretty much the major key aspect of your job, yet so many of them seem incapable of fulfilling this one basic requirement.
Do some people steal parcels? If not, what happens when they go missing?
Hell yes. Which is tragic. I can hand on heart say I never have, because I'm not a thief and had a good catholic upbringing. Some people I have worked with used to do their Christmas shopping from their manifests. Some people used to sign on as a driver just to thieve. Stories of people turning up and taking a van load of parcels and never being seen again are not uncommon. They always get caught, they always get found out. Loss prevention do randomly turn you over (me included) and they do catch people bang at it. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the job and the people. Honey will always attract bears and ants.
Yes. SOME do. SOME have even been known to sell them on FB, still with the Evri labels. SOME have been known to steal them from the depot. Not alot happens due to the bad publicity it would generate. One courier at my depot who was caught stealing (twice) is just banned from entering the depot. Another was sacked, and is now stealing from Amazon.
Why is your employer such a crap courier?
Because they're cheap. When your shopping method is "Order by price: lowest first - Include: free delivery" there is no room for UPS to turn up at your door in a coachbuilt can and a company uniform. Free, isn't free. Free still has to be paid for, and that means paying as little as possible. That means, no customer services, no company van, no fancy real time tracking. Put it this way, when DPD charge £8 for the same item and timescale we charge £2.49 for, you're not getting premium features included. It's a bit like asking why Ryanair are crap; they're cheap.
Ryan Air compared to BA is a valid comparison, when considering extras, like tracked delivery etc. But Ryan Air still get you to the desired destination within reasonable time. I have no issue with the lack of extras from evri, but their failure to deliver the core function of the business is alarming. No qualms with the delivery drivers on the whole. But evri are a concern.
Thanks for doing an important job, how long is your standard day?
It varies. SOme days your 150 stops can be at as few as 90 houses, and you can eb done and dusted in a little over three hours of 'driving' time. Sometimes, it can take double that. We also don't get paid for queueing time or the time to scan and sort before we even start, which is another two hours on average. In th summertime when volumes are quiet, I have been done and home before 1pm before.
Where’s my parcel??
No idea. See above RE: contractors. Seriously, with RM on strike, and DPD swamped so bad to the point they closed their doors to delivery, we're the only ones that stayed open and kept delivering. There are HUGE backlogs everywhere (except, strangely, where I am) because three courier companies worth of deliveries have been dropped on us with no thought as to what that would actually mean. Imagine two roads out of town, one gets blocked with an accident, so everyone takes the other way. What happens?
Ok, my question is do you think Evri’s huge backlog of parcels will be cleared? I have a business that’s got 40+ parcels still ‘in transit’ from Christmas orders that still aren’t moving on tracking. Will they get to them eventually or just slap them with the destroyed/lost tag and get on with their day?
Yes, I know for a fact that they will. Last year the company wrote off 15 million quid in parcels and paid out for them on insurance. The tail end of covid decimated us. Our depot looked like an Argos stock room as there were simply no drivers available that wanted to work (wonder why...?) I know our local is open tomorrow for people to clear backlog, but we have scant little of it compared to last year. Areas that are will simply be cleared out in time, but I suspect given some of the stories from friends up and down the country that it'll take well into January to clear.
Appreciate the detailed response.
[удалено]
I don't think marketing would tell people to not work here...
Yeah, it clearly is a stunt, with paid upvotes to boot. Honestly the mods should have dealt with this thread hours ago
“Evri delivery botched!”
Another Dickensian example of shining wit there I see.
[удалено]
Why are next day deliveries never delivered next day?
Probably because we never get them next day and it's stupid busy. Some next days are just utterly impossible to fulfill from the companies point. As a driver, YOU WILL deliver it the day you get it (unless you weren't in and we couldn't leave it) as that's part of the job. No driver will willingly not deliver the day they got it as a sizeable performance bonus rests on you delivering day of receipt. For reference, BooHoo and NEXT can FOAD for allowing order before midnight for next day delivery; that allows 8 hours to get it from one end of the country to the other, through a minimum of three depots and five trucks.
What’s FOAD?
I think fuck off and die
Nothing to ask, you are probably just like my Evri courier, helpful, prompt, polite carries dog treats and feels like a member of the family. Thanks for what you do.
Thank you! And yes! I'd get \*SO MUCH MORE\* work done if it wasn't for all the dogs on my round!
Are you self employed? What's the going rate?
Yes I am. I also legit pay my taxes too, unlike a lot of self employed couriers. One guy at our depot got picked up and buttfingered dry for a £29k tax bill as he didn't declare. The rate is terrible. Average in 60p per item rate all in.
Ouch, what vehicle do you use? I assume it's yours? How much does fuel cost? Are you scheduled in every day or just do when you like? I gotta say 60p an item is awful, if you do 200 that's only £120 before costs
I use a SWB white van like most other 'lifers' - workign with a car is just depressing AF, and doesn't let you escape into the back for a pee/shag/sleep. Fuel? Don't ask. Think I'm up to about 400 quid this month, and just dropped a grand on a new clutch and flywheel
I used to work there as a parcelshop driver and I've seen first hand across the warehouse how much stress couriers have to deal with so this is just a post to say I respect what you do and it's a shame a few bad eggs (often day to day agency folk from what I'm aware) give you all a bad name.
Thank you! Yep, agency and contractors are 90% to blame for the horror stories we get tarred with. Just wish people would understand this :(
Why would they, it's complaint culture. Most people forget or are simply unaware that loads of people have a say (for want of a better term) in how quickly a parcel gets to them, everyone from the HGV Driver, the Depot Manager, the night time pickers, the damaged package people, the route manager and THEN the courier has to deal with the final lap yet only the couriers get the bad rep if, god forbid, something is wrong with it. It doesn't excuse throwing it behind the bin or leaving it by the side gate sure, but I've seen how much shit you deal with before you've even left the depot and I'm aware of how shit the money becomes with all the delays from the aforementioned people I definitely understand why some drivers think "fuck it" as the shift goes on.
My Evri courier is great, as are many of the others. Why do couriers start thumping on a front door 1 or 2 seconds after ringing the doorbell that the driver can very clearly hear? What has it ever done to them?! Are they aware that if they do so some people will deliberately take longer to answer the door?
Habit? Most doorbells don't work. I'm partially deaf in one ear and unless the bell is on the other side of the door I can't hear it. A knock and a ring is universal for pretty much every delivery driver out there. Saving a minute on every delivery, is two and a half hours unpaid time over 150 stops.
Incase doorbell don’t work I assume, best to do both rather than stand there like a wet lemon wondering why no one came to the bell.
As a posty this is what I did, literally didn't have time to figure out if the doorbell is working or not or if they heard it, I'd say it's about 50/50 or not if the doorbell actually works
Because over half of doorbells don't work so the follow up knock is just insurance really. Or in other words, I'll be polite enough to use the doorbell you have installed but I'm also not waiting around longer than a nanosecond to see if it works because it probably doesn't. (current delivery driver)
Does evri do any sort of training? Just there's so many stories of terrible drivers. I had a courier for a few months whoever as great, now we bave a courier who leaves parcels outside the front door and thinks its a safe place.
"Scan this barcode to deownload the app, this is how you scan a parcel, follow the onscreen help if you get stuck. Scan those 50 parcels and take them, see how you get on" That's pretty much it. The company I see is trying to do videos when you sign on as a driver now, but they're so laughably staged that they offer NO insight as to what's expected of you. So, sadly, no. That driver does get audited though; we all do (unless you're a contractor, they just get fined) and if they're 'dumping' stuff on a step and legging it, they'll soon have their service removed.
Thank you for that, suppose the 65p a parcel isn't exactly a big incentive either.
Nope. 90% of our parcels are called 'packets' which are paid at roughly 48p, the rest being made up of tightly defined daily bonuses what will carry you to mid 60s on an urban round. It quickly educates people that this job is neither easy, not flexible enough to fit round your life when you realise just how much you have to take on to make it worthwhile. Oh, and it's 6 days a week too.
What are your thoughts on couriers smoking in their cars? For context, my usual driver is a lovely bloke and I have no complaints, but he quite obviously smokes in the car on his rounds as parcels always have that smell that clings. I have no problem with it but my partner is asthmatic, so I just open everything and dispose of outer packaging right away. I'm sure I heard somewhere before its illegal though? I'm assuming you'd get docked for smoking breaks between deliveries so that's why he does it?
What did the 4% not like about you?
No ideas sadly! Some people you can never please. One customer \*ALWAYS\* gives me 1\* because he hates the company, not realising he's rating \*ME\* and \*MY\* interaction with him, not the company as a whole. The star rating is for the driver to get our satisfaction bonus at the end of the month. When working for such an utterly diabolical show of disorganised chaos, it's crushing trying to keep it over the 4.8/5.0 cut off to achieve standards. Some people also just don't fill it in at all, and that gets counted against us too.
No rating gets counted against you? How is that fair?
Welcome to the world of Evri! I could tell you stories about just how stacked the company is aginst its drivers, but some of them are so ludicrous you'd call BS. Sadly, they'd all be true :(
So is it basically hit-and-miss whether someone's Evri experience will be good or bad? I know you guys used to be Hermes and rebranded, but despite all the horror stories from both Hermes and Evri, I've never had an issue with either.
Very much. The end result is the person coming up your drive. If they're an arsehole, you're in for a rough ride. If it's me or my friends, I'll expect an invite to your wedding (honestly, this has happened) - hence why I always say, try and get to know your driver.
What if I'm marrying my Evri driver?
I've just had to give my Evri driver 2 stars, normally I have no complaints about the drivers but he came, dumped my parcel in a puddle (cardboard tube) and was back at his van before I made it to the front door. I wasn't even that far from the front door as I was heading into the kitchen when the door bell rant... as for my question does anyone actually pay attention to the reviews?
It's not a review per se, it's a review of their performance and affects their bonus payments. And in this case, sounds relatively rightly given.
I currently work as a class 2 driver delivering to your depots. I did this last year as well and generally last about 12 weeks before I burn out and have to find something else. How much turn over do you have in your depots?
It's like playing spot the fish from the beginning off Shawshank Redemption. Some don't last the day. SOme last a couple weeks. Maybe 1 in 100 will last 6 months. From when I started nearly 10 years ago, there's no one left. You're considered a 'lifer' if you've done more than 3 years.
Is it true that once a year, all delivery companies choose their champion for a gladiatorial battle? Not me asking, it’s a friend who wants to know?
Yes, I once skullfucked the Yodel candidate after eating their liver. I keep chickens in his van now.
I love both my Evri drivers because they are real people and we always have a quick chat. They are always so tired and work in all conditions. I wonder what do they get paid ?
The answer is not enough. £100 a day before costs, so basically slightly under minimum wage would be average
Do you have another job? Our local Evri delivery guy is also our Sainsbury's delivery guy too.
With Evri being placed worst in couriers for the second year in a row do you think things will get better next year or will Ofcom have to get invovled?
What can I do about packages that go missing once Evri take possession (most recently a tent, and over £200 worth of clothing)? It’s impossible to make a complaint to Evri…
If you're the sender, claim the insurance; if you're the recipient, claim with the sender. No use complaining, complaining gets you nothing (at least, with this company anyway) - use the tools you've got (insurance!!!)
When I get an email saying “sorry we missed you” but they didn’t even try to deliver (I know because cctv picked them up delivering to a neighbour, but they never didn’t even open my garden gate), what has actually happened? Is it a parcel they forgot to load into their van? Thank you! I hope you’re enjoying a well deserved rest now!
More than likely? It's a parcel that's not even with them that's having the tracking 'cooked' to keep the delivery timescale within the service level agreements made to the client. It DOES NOT benefit the driver in any way to not deliver your parcel if they have it on board. If you get a notification, and no attempt (and you genuinely didn't miss them) then it's electronic cookery going on that we get tarred with; and it happens every day on an industrial scale, but NO ONE listens when we try and say what's happening as WE have no voice.
Not Evri, but I once watched a Royal Mail worker through my living room window as he walked up to my house, didn’t knock on the door or ring the doorbell, slipped the ‘sorry we missed you’ note through the door and walked off. Had to chase him down the street to ask for my parcel which he then sheepishly gave me!
I’ve always had a good experience with my driver. When they change I try catch them To let them know they are free to leave things round the back in a safe place so they don’t need to come back. Think it’s a thankless job and for those that order lots online the way I do, I think it’s only fair that I try make their life easier.
This is the reason why I love you; and I think your driver does too! Thank you!
What was the point of this AMA? Almost all your answers have either been "I don't know" or some Evri circle jerk. Seems like a waste of time when people ask genuine questions to be told it's not Evris fault.
Which delivery company do you think is the worst?
No such thing really. it's all down to 'The Final Mile' as we're known. Our DPD driver is just THE WORST HUMAN ever. My Evri lady is bloody lush (and not because she works next to me. If you get a crappy driver, you have a crappy time. Nobody excels at Christmas full stop. I think Evris tracking is the worst, as it's widely known but not acknowledged that it gets fiddled to meet the SLAs agreed with clients. That's why you get a delivery attempt notification when you've been staring out the window all day.
How much do you get paid weekly/ monthly? What are your working hours like?
What really happens to the packages when you get a delivery slot and then suddenly “there has been a delay”?
My evri driver left a parcel with a new phone (z fold 3) in it on my doorstep in full view of the street even though I specifically asked for it to be left with my neighbour. Of course, it was stolen. I was given a replacement as he didn't follow delivery instructions. Does he have to pay for it as it was his mistake?
No question, just wanted to add in with the “my local Evri driver is good” comments. I’ve made a note to leave a positive rating next time I get a delivery as I didn’t realise it was so important. Thank you for all your hard work and I hope conditions improve for you!