MSE asked its users to rate their experience of each delivery firm they had used during the past 12 months. People had the option to rate specific couriers used throughout 2021 as either ‘great’, ‘OK’ or ‘poor’. The poll received more than 9,000 responses and was carried out after a challenging year for firms providing essential services amid the continuing pandemic.

MSE users voted Amazon Logistics the best parcel delivery firm for its work in 2021, knocking DPD Local off the top spot.

DPD Local’s sister company DPD – which held a seven-year winning streak until 2020 – has stayed firm in second place for two years in a row. Overall, five out of 17 firms are rated better by MSE users in this year’s poll compared to last year’s poll.

At the other end of the scale, CitySprint and Hermes received the poorest ratings from MSE users. Though a minor improvement of just 1% on last year’s ‘great’ score, CitySprint sits at the bottom once again, with just 12% rating it so.

This year’s results see Hermes/MyHermes drop down two places to 16th place. Yodel also remains in the bottom three for the seventh year running.

Chris Newlands, news and investigations editor at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: “There’s no doubt that this past year has once again proven to be very tough for parcel delivery firms, especially with some staff forced to self-isolate. But sadly, we continue to hear of missing, late, damaged and dumped parcels – so it’s important for consumers to use their rights and vote with their feet when firms don’t deliver the goods.

“If it’s something you’ve ordered, chances are you won’t get much choice on which firm shows up at your door. But if you’re unhappy with the delivery, or it simply doesn’t arrive, complain to the retailer – that’s who your contract’s with – and make sure they know. It’s their responsibility to put things right, and if others are complaining too, they will have no option but to apply pressure on their couriers to raise their performance, or ultimately they’ll use another service.”

What you should know about your delivery rights

When you buy something online, your contract is with the retailer, not the delivery company. Unless you paid directly for the delivery with a parcel firm, then it’s the store that owes you a duty of care.

If the item doesn’t turn up or is damaged, your rights under the Consumer Rights Act kick in and you should be due a full refund or replacement.

If your parcel is late, you can likely send it back. If you ordered something online and it turns up late, under the Consumer Contracts Regulations you’ve got 14 days after you receive a package to notify the seller that you have changed your mind, regardless of whether it’s faulty or not.

You then have a further 14 days to send back the item. This means if your parcel doesn’t arrive in time for what you need, you can send it back and get a refund.

If you had to wait in for a delivery that was delayed, you may be able to get compensation. If you had to take extra time off work for a redelivery, you may be due compensation for ‘consequential loss’, such as loss of earnings or holiday taken. Importantly, you can’t claim for the original no-show day, this is for ‘extra time’ taken off.