Brexit blamed for Christmas parcel delivery - from Norfolk to London
Paul Hensby, from Overstrand, tried to send a parcel from Cromer Morrisons to south London using delivery service ParcelCompare. It still hasn't arrived. - Credit: Paul Hensby
Brexit has been blamed for a month-long delay in getting a Christmas parcel delivered from north Norfolk to London.
Paul Hensby, from Overstrand, said he was furious the presents he had sent to his two granddaughters in south London, had still not arrived after he posted them off in early January.
Mr Hensby said: “My granddaughters are very upset and I’m furious about it."
Mr Hensby used a delivery company called ParcelCompare, which works with other couriers including DPD.
ParcelCompare has since offered to refund the money Mr Hensby's paid to have the parcel delivered.
A spokesman for the firm said: "The delay is indeed due, in part, to the impact of Brexit, even though the delivery is for a UK address.
"Many international parcels across all networks, not just DPD, have been blocked at Customs because of incorrect paperwork.
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"Packages from the EU are also being turned away by receivers at their doorsteps because they are unwilling to pay unexpected extra fees.
"All these items are being returned to depots before shipping back to the original senders and, as you can imagine, this is creating very significant backlogs at many depots."
But Mr Hensby said he was not impressed the delivery firm was using Brexit as an excuse.
He said: “I wasn’t able to see them before Christmas because of the Covid restrictions so at the beginning of January I used ParcelCompare to find the best delivery service.
"I paid the £7 cost using their website and took the parcel to the Morrisons in Cromer as instructed.
“I’ve sent more than 25 emails to ParcelCompare to find out why the parcel hasn’t been delivered, and their latest reply said the delay was due to the Brexit transition.
"I can’t believe they’re using this as an excuse for not delivering a parcel that only has to go 120 miles from Norfolk to London."
The ParcelCompare spokesman added: "As Mr Hensby acknowledges he has sent 25 emails to us since mid-January. This can be unproductive as each email requires an answer which delays all our customers’ enquiries further."
