Social media sites seem to be inundated with posts from disgruntled customers across East Sussex and Kent who have experienced issues with delivery companies in recent weeks. Parcels going missing, deliveries supposedly delivered but never materialising, parcels delivered to the wrong address and some parcels being dumped. Locally, the finger seems to be pointing well and truly at the delivery company, Evri, formerly known as Hermes.
The problem seems to be worse in Kent were only recently Evri has apologised to customers after huge sackfuls of its parcels were dumped in the woods. The deliveries were found discarded at the end of Beacon Road in Chatham.
A local resident made the discovery while out walking in a wooded area last Sunday. Evri has issued an apology to affected customers and says it has since recovered the items. This may explain why some locals haven’t received their parcels and shoppers have also raised issues over Evri’s tracking app and online help service.
Evri, who recently opened a huge new distribution depot in Aylesford, Maidstone have said: “ We can confirm that we were alerted about a number of parcels that had been dumped at a local fly tipping location.
"Our local team visited immediately and recovered the items. We have contacted the police who are taking the necessary action and we have also launched a full investigation.
"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to reassure the public that this is a rare incident and will not impact deliveries moving forward."
The spokesman confirmed everyone affected will be contacted and replacements or refunds organised. Medway Council was also notified and is encouraging anyone with information to come forward.
Since the discovery, police have arrested a man on suspicion of theft who has been released on bail until March 6 2023, and the investigation continues.
Deliveries are not the only issue facing online shoppers at the moment. The supply chain for many goods and services is also facing huge logistical issues.
Research by Barclays Corporate Banking shows goods worth almost £2bn are trapped awaiting completion in warehouses in the south east due to supply chain issues. Figures show that £9bn of steel and metals products, £3bn of food and drink, £2.6bn of plastic goods and £2bn of electronics across the UK are unfinished because of supply log jams.
With nearly six in ten businesses facing supply chain difficulties, manufacturers are investing in more storage space and moving suppliers closer to home to ease challenges.
Barclays study, Chain reaction, focuses on manufacturing businesses with over ten employees and looks at the impact of supply chain issues. Their research shows that over half (54%) of south east businesses are currently holding items in their warehouses awaiting completion because raw materials, ingredients or component parts have not yet been delivered from suppliers. On average, this "unfinished business" is worth over £1m to each company impacted in the UK.
The trends are reflective of supply chain disruption that has challenged the manufacturing sector since the pandemic and nearly six in ten (58%) south east firms say they are still facing supply issues. This has been exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the UK’s exit from the EU. Customer relationships are now being impacted: almost two thirds (63%) of south east manufacturers say their customers are having to wait longer for products, with 15% describing the hold-ups as "significant’" To offset rising costs such as energy and transportation, over a third (37%) of manufacturers are planning price increases for their own products, of 36% on average.
Perhaps the frustration of late online deliveries will make us all think about returning to traditional shopping methods by buying more from our high street shops but if the shops are also experiencing supply chain delays then this doesn’t solve the problem either. The winter weather, national strikes and the general financial uncertainty at the moment just exacerbates the situation but what’s the solution? You tell me.
