PARCEL giant Evri admits it will lose track of eight million packages this year — 22,000 a day.
The delivery company, which estimates it will handle 800million parcels in 2025, predicts it will lose track of one per cent of them.
That equates to 153,846 parcels every week. Some will eventually reach their destination after a delay.
But others will not arrive at all thanks to being damaged or stolen.
Evri counts late or lost parcels under the same category — making up the one per cent.
The firm insists that most issues with packages stem from poor quality of packaging or labels becoming separated from the parcel.
Evri last year delivered more than 730million parcels. Thanks to an investment boost of £32million in operations and customer services, it claims to have a 99 per cent success rate.
The scale-up saw the firm deal with 12million customers per week last year.
And more than 7.3million parcels a year did not reach their destination on time or at all in 2024 — 20,000 a day.
Evri delivers 4,000 parcels to UK households every minute during peak delivery periods.
Now some are questioning whether the sudden scale-up has impacted on customer service.
Professor David Edmundson-Bird, of Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “When businesses expand too quickly without proper infrastructure and planning, customer service often becomes a significant casualty of growth.”
Evri said its couriers are rated 4.7 out of five by customers and it is “on track” to handle 800million parcels this financial year — with more than 99 per cent successfully delivered on time.
Offering advice on lost parcels, consumer expert Jane Hawkes said: “Customers awaiting parcels from Evri might be disheartened to hear this.
“Although 99% of parcels are delivered successfully, the mis-delivery, loss or theft of the 1% does cause a great deal of stress, inconvenience and upset.
“It’s important to remember that your contract is with the retailer NOT the courier.
“It is up to the retailer to investigate, find a solution and if appropriate provide a refund or appropriate redress. Make your problem theirs.”
The article has been amended since publication following a legal complaint to clarify that the figure of 22,000 represents parcels which Evri predicts will fail to be delivered on time, as opposed to parcels which will never be delivered, and the majority of delayed parcels reach their intended recipients.
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