Yodel tops list of WORST parcel delivery firms (again)

Yodel's been ranked third-worst for the last two years and has now been rated worst overall in our fourth annual poll, with 57% of users saying their experience of the company was 'poor'. Just 18% said they received 'great' service from the firm, a worse performance than last year when it received 21%.

Yet there's good news for rival company DPD, which was again rated the UK's best parcel firm, as it has been every year we've run the poll.

A massive 71% of DPD customers said their experience was 'great', compared with second-place Royal Mail Parcels at 49%. Collect Plus, part-owned by Yodel, scored 47% for 'great' service and came third.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, says: "We live in the age of delivery, yet service levels from some firms are dire. They don't ring the doorbell, parcels are misdelivered, they're left in bins or under cars – and it leaves many grinding their teeth in frustration.

"Part of the problem is that we usually have no choice about the delivery firm used, as the retailer we buy from decides it. Worse, we have no relationship with the delivery firm as the retailer is their employer.

"I was once booed by a conference of senior retail-company bigwigs when I told them that I hoped they suffered brand damage if the firms they chose to do deliveries messed up.

"Yet this is important. If you have had an abominable delivery service, complain to the retailer and make sure they know – hopefully they can rectify the situation. And make them justify why they use firms with dire reputations. If they won't do it, then we must vote with our pockets and stop buying online from firms that use crap delivery services."

For full details on your rights and how to fight back, see our Delivery Rights guide.

Parcel firms ranked from worst to best as voted by MSE users

What do the worst-performing firms say?

A Yodel spokesperson says: "We're disappointed with our standing. We survey, on average, 4,100 customers a day which equates to over 20,000 customers a week, which is more than any other independent poll. Comparing it to our own customer data, over the last six months, we have consistently averaged over 80% positive feedback.

"We continuously challenge ourselves to improve our service and we have seen huge improvements over the last two years but clearly we still have significant ground to make up.

"We are constantly looking at ways to further improve the business. We have specifically invested over £30 million in technology over the last two years. Our customer feedback shows us that the investments we have made are having a positive impact on the customer experience, but we recognise that there is work we need to do with our retail customers to boost this service experience further."

Second-worst performer City Sprint was also asked to comment but declined to do so.