Poor Customer Service - Delivered

The operations statistics look so impressive for parcel delivery firm Yodel which delivers parcels for a host of major online retailers including Amazon, Argos, Boots and Tesco Direct. Yodel handled over 14 million parcels in the run-up to Christmas 2013, sorting over 860,000 parcels on its busiest day. It moved to seven day a week deliveries throughout December 2013 and operated an additional 13 sites to add capacity. It delivered over 52,000 bouquets of flowers on 23 and 24 December alone.Yodel's Chairman has been quoted as saying:"Feedback from our clients has been extremely positive and we are delighted that our partnership approach has worked so well".So, what went wrong with Yodel's customer service last Christmas?

Yodel and Hermes have been named as the parcel delivery firms with the worst customer service, according to a survey of 9,000 MoneySavingExpert.com users.

In his commentary on the results of the survey, Martin Lewis expresses a typically forthright opinion on the performance of Yodel:

"Yet again Yodel has come bottom of the delivery pile. It's not quite as hideous as last year when 71% rated it bad – but it should act as a serious warning to anyone thinking of using it, or a company that uses it."

So Yodel is getting better! It didn't perform as badly as in 2012! A small crumb of comfort perhaps for Yodel's management.

However, the most important issue for Yodel is how its customers (the online retailers) will view the survey (and perhaps other surveys or mystery shopping exercises they conducted themselves). If the end customer (households) associate poor delivery service with the retailer, then the parcel firms will come under pressure. A great example of how important it is when choosing working with suppliers.

For Yodel, the good news is that they can now collect their award for being the worst parcel delivery firm. It has been left under the flower pot behind the the shed next door...