Are you waiting for a parcel today?
Here’s hoping these weren’t one of yours……
An investigation has been launched in Fife after a number of parcels destined for paying customers were spotted loosely strapped to the roof of a car.
The situation was spotted by Glenrothes man Colin Cookson, who has condemned the actions of the driver working for Hermes’ professional parcel delivery service being operated out of its Dunfermline depot in Elgin Street.
The car can be seen full of large cardboard boxes but, a number of parcels can be seen in a precarious state on the roof of his vehicle.
“Parcels are being sent out on car roofs, not roof racks… for delivery and for which customers have paid the £4 delivery rate to have their parcels delivered by a bonafide courier in a van with courier insurance,” Mr Cookson said.
“No doubt people will be delighted to learn that because of the cheap car roof delivery arrangement parcels are often arriving wet and covered in road grime.”
A spokesperson for Hermes said the firm had identified the courier featured in the photo and spoken to them to ensure such an incident will not be repeated.
“Our delivery standards state that all parcels must be treated with due care and attention and never exposed to the elements,” the Hermes spokesperson added.
“All of our couriers are fully insured.
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“Rates for parcels differ depending on a wide range of factors, with each delivery round designed to ensure that the courier is able to earn well in excess of the minimum wage – in fact the average hourly rate in our network is £13.19.”
The incident is just the latest dodgy delivery to hit the headlines and comes just weeks after a delivery driver working for UK Mail, a division of DHL, was sacked after being caught on CCTV stealing a parcel from a doorstep.
The man was captured on camera arriving to drop off one parcel and leaving with another in the Largoward area.
Other high profile incidents reported in recent years included a Hermes courier caught on CCTV earlier this year hurling a £50 package over a fence in Chester-le-Street, although remarkably the glass bottles inside did not smash.
And in 2014, a man from East Sussex arrived home from work to discover a card telling him he had missed a delivery.
However, rather than highlighting it had been left for a neighbour, left in a bin or back at the local depot, the note revealed: “Stuck on roof – sorry!”
It had been wedged in a gutter 20 feet in the air, and the courier was sent back to retrieve it with a ladder.
