Watchdogs today demanded stronger protection for parcel customers as it was revealed two in three have had a problem with a delivery in the last three months.
Parcel deliveries in Britain have surged 50 per cent to more than four billion a year on the back of the pandemic and a switch to online shopping.
This has been accompanied by an explosion in complaints - running at 600 per hour - and now consumer groups are demanding fines on failing courier firms.
Hermes, Yodel, DPD, UPS, DHL, Amazon, Royal Mai, Parcelforce and others stand accused of failing to meet delivery promises and making it difficult to complain.
Average parcel deliveries are around 10million a day, but this balloons following Black Friday and a tidal wave of parcels is now flooding warehouses and streets.
This graphic was released as part of Ofcom's latest research into the parcel industry in Britain
These are the top ten issues experienced by Britons with deliveries in the past three months
A graphic shows the biggest issues with any supplier when sending a parcel in the past year
At the same time, every Christmas reveals tales of woe with items going missing, being mishandled and damaged.
Some of the most common complaints included being unable to get through to the right person and the company then refusing to take responsibility.
People said it was difficult to find out how to complain and even when they did it would often take a very long time to get any sort of resolution.
Industry watchdog Ofcom has announced plans to improve how delivery firms handle complaints along with new rules to ensure disabled people are treated fairly by postal companies.
An Ofcom survey found that 64 per cent of customers have experienced problems with deliveries in the last three months.
It said: 'Around a quarter of senders find it difficult to make a complaint, or to contact parcel operators, when their delivery goes wrong.
'Two in five say their complaints are only partially resolved, while almost one in ten are left with their complaint completely unresolved.
'Our evidence also suggests an inconsistent level of service across the industry: customers' satisfaction scores on complaints handling range from just 29 per cent for one operator to 71 per cent for another.'
Ofcom would not say which firm had the worst record on handling complaints.
However, it has published a table giving an overall customer satisfaction rating, which puts Hermes at the bottom with a figure of 57 per cent.
This graphic shows why people contacted the retail or parcel operator about a package
The top difficulties experienced by people when making a complaint or contacting a supplier
This Ofcom graph shows who consumers complained to and whether the issue was resolved
Second worst was Yodel on 61 per cent with UPS on 74 per cent, Parcelforce on 79 per cent and both the Royal Mail and FedEx scored 80 per cent.
A Hermes delivery driver claimed he made a delivery attempt of a customer's parcel by sharing a photo of himself wearing
