Passing the parcel or passing the buck; who pays for all the careless deliveries?

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

The pandemic fuelled an explosion in online retail in Ireland, where growth had been sluggish compared with some European Union countries, and the Covid restrictions prompted many shops and shoppers to overcome barriers to online shopping that they might otherwise not have

With more people buying and selling online, more demands were placed on delivery companies and delivery drivers, who often found themselves working from dawn to dusk getting parcels into the hands of consumers.

Sometimes they did not actually get parcels into hands, though. The need for contactless deliveries and social distancing meant companies dispensed with signatures as a proof of delivery and drivers engaged in what amounted to a guessing game with their customers.

Doorbells would be pushed, parcels would be left on doorsteps and drivers would leave as if fleeing the scene of a crime.

Generally speaking it was grand. But sometimes it was not.

Stories started to emerge of enthusiastic dogs wolfing down clothes and expensive technology left on the street for all the world to steal. Books and art were deposited in wheelie bins and taken away by binmen unaware of the new world order and the fact that they were sometimes compacting the shopping of those living along their routes.

The hangover from the pandemic has yet to lift and many drivers working with some companies remain under extreme pressure to deliver, which has led to some parcels of high value still being left on the doorsteps of houses, exposed to bad weather and bad people.

On at least four occasions in recent weeks Pricewatch has bought fairly low-value products from a popular online retailer and had them delivered straight to our door – but only to the door – before the delivery vans disappeared into the gloom.

This page calls Dublin’s north inner city home, and while it is a lovely place to live it is neither crime- nor rain-free, so the fact that none of the parcels was stolen or destroyed by downpours despite lying unattended for hours is close to miraculous.

The carelessly delivered parcels – which could just as handily have been left with any one of a dozen direct neighbours who are all wearily accustomed to accepting packages for others on the street – prompted Pricewatch to take to the platform formerly known as Twitter to see if others had noticed deliveries being dumped on their doorstep.

In not much more than a day we had received hundreds of responses, with virtually all of the companies whose vans are seen criss-crossing the country being called out for poor deliveries.

The shoppers

Caroline Sweeney had three parcels “dumped” at her door over Christmas. They were “not even addressed to here,” she said. She couldn’t get hold of the delivery company so “delivered them myself to correct addresses”.

Louise Cuddy had a package left on her doorstep in November. “I was away for half an hour at the time but package never turned up. Retailer took no responsibility and I couldn’t get through to the delivery company despite trying. Was €70 out of pocket.”

Rosita...