Evri: Carmarthenshire villagers still without Christmas gifts

Villagers have been left waiting for their Christmas presents to be delivered by courier company Evri.

Many people living in Cefneithin, Carmarthenshire, said they had not received packages, or contact, from the company.

One woman said a £70 gift she ordered in November has still not arrived, despite Evri claiming it had.

Evri said that most parcels were delivered by Christmas and apologised to those experiencing delivery issues.

In total, 11 residents in Cefneithin have contacted BBC Wales to report issues.

Charlotte Jukes, 40, is still waiting for a £70 chef's knife she bought for her husband.

"This may seem like a small amount of money, but I am a disabled wheelchair user and work part-time so it took me a while to save for," she said.

"I'm very upset that it did not arrive in time for Christmas and more upset that Evri are claiming it has been delivered when it hasn't been."

She said the Evri parcel tracker listed the parcel as delivered on the 27 December, but there was no photographic proof of the delivery.

Mrs Jukes added that footage from her video doorbell showed that no Evri courier parked outside or approached their door on that day.

Evri's main point of contact is an automated online chat which has made it difficult for Mrs Jukes to get answers, so she has been left without the gift.

Marie McAvoy, 56, said she bought three Christmas presents between 15 and 18 December, before the advertised Christmas delivery date and paid for express delivery.

She said she got an email on Christmas Eve saying her packages would be delivered that evening, but they never turned up, followed by an email saying no-one was home when the delivery was attempted.

"I had not been out of the house all day," she said.

"For me, I live on my own, I didn't have a spare £150 on Christmas Eve to go and buy alternative presents."

Ms McAvoy said her sister, mother and brother-in-law had to go without presents, and although "they are grown ups and they understand" she felt frustrated.

"With the cost-of-living crisis, people are penny pinching… and some will have been waiting for presents for their children."

She said she has still not received her packages, or had any reply from Evri.

Rachael Thomas, 39, from Foelgastell near Cefneithin, said Evri had lost three of her deliveries in December, labelling the company "diabolical".

"I had to spend loads of time seeking refunds off companies, some of which have issued gift cards which I am to afraid to use to order online as the same will happen," said Mrs Thomas.

She added that Evri have not updated her on the whereabouts of these three parcels since mid December.

"They emailed saying they had tried to deliver, again another lie as three people were home and I have a Ring doorbell."

Danielle Griffiths, 34, said she was left disappointed after two bespoke photo books of a family trip to Lapland, which she paid £13 for express delivery, did not arrive until 5 January.

"I'm very disappointed. It's a flaw that the company does not have a backup plan for these situations," she said.

Evri said: "During the Christmas period we successfully delivered over three million parcels each day despite increased volumes due to Royal Mail Strikes, staff shortages and bad weather which affected all carriers.

"The vast majority were delivered in time for Christmas unless we were unable to due to the wrong address, people not being in and/or poor packaging resulting in the item being separated from the address.

"We apologise to the small number impacted for the inconvenience and disappointment and advise that people experiencing delivery issues should contact their seller who will in turn contact us regarding a replacement or refund."