Evri hounded my business to try and lure us out of our Royal Mail contract. When I finally typed back: “our customers would literally desert us if we moved to Evri” there was no reply lol
Thank you for sharing this. I have literally wondered whether businesses think like that or whether Evri offers such a good deal - they are willing to lose some customers (or have to offer refunds) over it.
I live in a large building complex where Evri will claim delivery, their customer service will insist tracking says it’s the right location (well yes, but we have 200+ flats, all with identical doors) and it may take days to track it down or it never turns up at all.
So sadly I have on occasion opted for Amazon vs an independent business if I want to be sure I get something in a timely fashion.
It depends on your contract (dictated by parcel volume) with Royal Mail but Evri works out roughly half the cost per parcel which can be a significant cost saving to businesses — especially as consumers really do not like paying shipping for online orders. But I always wondered how much of that cost saving is lost by having to replace parcels that customers just don’t receive. At least Royal Mail provides compensation to retailers
A bit misleading to say this house sold for £300,000 a mere decade ago. What actually happened is someone bought half the property in 2014 for £375,454 and then picked up the other half for £300k the following year and joined the two leaseholds into a single freehold. They’re large houses (even before you put up an enormous extension) and a lot of them are split into two flats. London prices are crazy, but not quite that crazy.
Retailers should have to declare at checkout who the delivery company will be - then you can bail and get the item elsewhere when you see that it's Evri.
When it is possible, it is best for services to be delivered in markets where there is competition. But some services are not suited for this - for example where there are economies of scale, high external costs that can't be measured and attributed, or the need for a public service ethos. Those services should be delivered by a monopoly provider. That provider should either be in the public sector or should be selected by the public sector for a fixed term contract through competition. In any case there should be a strong public sector client. (Both the fixed term contracts and the strong client are missing in the water industry, for example.)
I think the delivery of parcels should be such a monopoly. The present model leads to overuse of resources (many not-full vans duplicating routes, vans left blocking roads or bus and bike lanes because of the need for speed) and poor service. It undermines the economics of Royal Mail, the ex-monopoly provider (and of their post deliverers, some of whom who get to know people on their rounds and retain a public service ethos. There was a petition on our street when our postman got shifted to another round.)
It is politically hard these days directly to take private services under public control, though perhaps easier than it was ten or twenty years ago. The intermediate solution is strong regulation of the competitive market. Once delivery companies are forced to pay their full social cost, they will tend to go out of business.
The newsletter version of the graphic accidentally missed out Kingston/Bexley. Updated online! With apologies to readers of those two boroughs, who we love as much as any other… !
Evri have also taken to retrospectively updating tracking records to claim a parcel was delivered several days before. Fortunately I had doorbell footage to prove otherwise.
Just saw an ad for the Omaze house on Facebook, and predictably a large proportion of the comments are “couldn’t pay me to live in London” / “crime capital of Europe” / “far too dangerous” etc etc
I hope the driver who smashed into my friend this year got a pay cut. She was driving to her job as an emergency room doctor on New Year's Day. He ran a red light and smashed into her. Broke her pelvis in four places and she was off work for half the year. He still hasn't been brought to justice.
That sounds truly awful and while the driver should see some sort of repercussion, I think the company should bear some of it too. The reason they run red lights and rush around like crazy is because of the per package rate that Evri pay. If the delivery drivers were paid fairly they wouldn't need to rush like this and we'd all live on safer roads and have our packages delivered to us normally. Hope you friend makes a full recovery!
This is precisely it and why the model works so well for Evri - it's everyone else's problem while their highly leveraged sponsors reap all the income. A bit like blaming their customers for mislabeling parcel sizes. That should be dealt with at an Evri processing level not at the last mile by the "self employed" employed driver. You could almost say they don't care and it's just volume for them. As long as they get that contract/ income... My biggest bug bear is this again demonstrates the lie of consumer choice. I'd pay more for a "better" courier but I more often than not have no idea when I make an online the contracted courier used. So again Evri get off scott free because my consumer power is eroded and I can't choose not to use them....
Also I think there is a real problem with the law. If he'd attacked her with a baseball bat and broken her pelvis in four places he'd be in prison. But because the weapon was a car, the law doesn't seem to care.
What happened to your friend was awful but the law rightfully distinguishes between deliberately attacking somebody with a baseball bat and accidentally smashing onto someone in a car. They’re both bad and they can have identical outcomes, but it’s right to punish somebody more severely for doing it intentionally.
Look, just because you've operated a cafe by licence historically, does *not* mean you have a god-given right to do so indefinitely. The Corporation is entirely correct to grant licences based on various factors, including revenue maximisation. That revenue gets spent on public services.
Look I’d call it Kilburn, the estate agent calls it Mapesbury, the resident on the street described it to us as Cricklewood. Such is the rich variation on how Londoners view which area they belong to.
No filler here! But Battlebridge, Hatcham, Newington are the ones that come to mind. Much more fun is when a previously rough area gentrifies and people start describing their house as in that area, rather than the safe suburb they use to claim.
Re: blood donations. Near where I live is a local church that ran a blood donor clinic every few months so local residents could all just book in there, and from what I could see it was always busy. They've stopped doing it now and several friends and acquaintances have told me they haven't given blood recently as they don't have time to go to the larger donor centres. I know giving blood is meant to be a priority, but it does make life easier if it's only 10 minutes down the road rather than a 30-40 minute commute.
The Tooting Common cycle path debate is so ridiculous. Someone suggested on a local parents group putting speed bumps in, which I imagine would discourage the many children who use it to cycle to and from school/Balham. Although I would agree more broadly that Londoners have yet to socially work out how to solve antisocial e-bikers…
Evri hounded my business to try and lure us out of our Royal Mail contract. When I finally typed back: “our customers would literally desert us if we moved to Evri” there was no reply lol
As the saying goes:
"Evri parcel lost or damaged"
I mean, at least they have self awareness
Thank you for sharing this. I have literally wondered whether businesses think like that or whether Evri offers such a good deal - they are willing to lose some customers (or have to offer refunds) over it.
I live in a large building complex where Evri will claim delivery, their customer service will insist tracking says it’s the right location (well yes, but we have 200+ flats, all with identical doors) and it may take days to track it down or it never turns up at all.
So sadly I have on occasion opted for Amazon vs an independent business if I want to be sure I get something in a timely fashion.
It depends on your contract (dictated by parcel volume) with Royal Mail but Evri works out roughly half the cost per parcel which can be a significant cost saving to businesses — especially as consumers really do not like paying shipping for online orders. But I always wondered how much of that cost saving is lost by having to replace parcels that customers just don’t receive. At least Royal Mail provides compensation to retailers
A bit misleading to say this house sold for £300,000 a mere decade ago. What actually happened is someone bought half the property in 2014 for £375,454 and then picked up the other half for £300k the following year and joined the two leaseholds into a single freehold. They’re large houses (even before you put up an enormous extension) and a lot of them are split into two flats. London prices are crazy, but not quite that crazy.
Retailers should have to declare at checkout who the delivery company will be - then you can bail and get the item elsewhere when you see that it's Evri.
When it is possible, it is best for services to be delivered in markets where there is competition. But some services are not suited for this - for example where there are economies of scale, high external costs that can't be measured and attributed, or the need for a public service ethos. Those services should be delivered by a monopoly provider. That provider should either be in the public sector or should be selected by the public sector for a fixed term contract through competition. In any case there should be a strong public sector client. (Both the fixed term contracts and the strong client are missing in the water industry, for example.)
I think the delivery of parcels should be such a monopoly. The present model leads to overuse of resources (many not-full vans duplicating routes, vans left blocking roads or bus and bike lanes because of the need for speed) and poor service. It undermines the economics of Royal Mail, the ex-monopoly provider (and of their post deliverers, some of whom who get to know people on their rounds and retain a public service ethos. There was a petition on our street when our postman got shifted to another round.)
It is politically hard these days directly to take private services under public control, though perhaps easier than it was ten or twenty years ago. The intermediate solution is strong regulation of the competitive market. Once delivery companies are forced to pay their full social cost, they will tend to go out of business.
London Boroughs - Is it me or has Kingston been left out?
The newsletter version of the graphic accidentally missed out Kingston/Bexley. Updated online! With apologies to readers of those two boroughs, who we love as much as any other… !
Evri have also taken to retrospectively updating tracking records to claim a parcel was delivered several days before. Fortunately I had doorbell footage to prove otherwise.
Just saw an ad for the Omaze house on Facebook, and predictably a large proportion of the comments are “couldn’t pay me to live in London” / “crime capital of Europe” / “far too dangerous” etc etc
Forget the Omaze house. I want to live next door with the Addams Family.
I hope the driver who smashed into my friend this year got a pay cut. She was driving to her job as an emergency room doctor on New Year's Day. He ran a red light and smashed into her. Broke her pelvis in four places and she was off work for half the year. He still hasn't been brought to justice.
That sounds truly awful and while the driver should see some sort of repercussion, I think the company should bear some of it too. The reason they run red lights and rush around like crazy is because of the per package rate that Evri pay. If the delivery drivers were paid fairly they wouldn't need to rush like this and we'd all live on safer roads and have our packages delivered to us normally. Hope you friend makes a full recovery!
This is precisely it and why the model works so well for Evri - it's everyone else's problem while their highly leveraged sponsors reap all the income. A bit like blaming their customers for mislabeling parcel sizes. That should be dealt with at an Evri processing level not at the last mile by the "self employed" employed driver. You could almost say they don't care and it's just volume for them. As long as they get that contract/ income... My biggest bug bear is this again demonstrates the lie of consumer choice. I'd pay more for a "better" courier but I more often than not have no idea when I make an online the contracted courier used. So again Evri get off scott free because my consumer power is eroded and I can't choose not to use them....
Also I think there is a real problem with the law. If he'd attacked her with a baseball bat and broken her pelvis in four places he'd be in prison. But because the weapon was a car, the law doesn't seem to care.
What happened to your friend was awful but the law rightfully distinguishes between deliberately attacking somebody with a baseball bat and accidentally smashing onto someone in a car. They’re both bad and they can have identical outcomes, but it’s right to punish somebody more severely for doing it intentionally.
There is nothing accidental about deliberately driving through a red light
No. But the outcome was unintentional (albeit predictable).
Look, just because you've operated a cafe by licence historically, does *not* mean you have a god-given right to do so indefinitely. The Corporation is entirely correct to grant licences based on various factors, including revenue maximisation. That revenue gets spent on public services.
Many Evri drivers literally steal parcels, as has been documented many times!
It’s not Cricklewood, it’s Kilburn
Look I’d call it Kilburn, the estate agent calls it Mapesbury, the resident on the street described it to us as Cricklewood. Such is the rich variation on how Londoners view which area they belong to.
This could be an idea for a filler piece one day - the contested place names of London and how they've evolved over time.
No filler here! But Battlebridge, Hatcham, Newington are the ones that come to mind. Much more fun is when a previously rough area gentrifies and people start describing their house as in that area, rather than the safe suburb they use to claim.
So often get annoyed at people describing things as in Finsbury Park when they're really in Highbury...
I never get bored of laughing at Clapham Junction. It’s in Battersea, but was named when Clapham was the richer area.
Re: blood donations. Near where I live is a local church that ran a blood donor clinic every few months so local residents could all just book in there, and from what I could see it was always busy. They've stopped doing it now and several friends and acquaintances have told me they haven't given blood recently as they don't have time to go to the larger donor centres. I know giving blood is meant to be a priority, but it does make life easier if it's only 10 minutes down the road rather than a 30-40 minute commute.
It's interesting how crucial this systemic analysis is. Thank you.
The Tooting Common cycle path debate is so ridiculous. Someone suggested on a local parents group putting speed bumps in, which I imagine would discourage the many children who use it to cycle to and from school/Balham. Although I would agree more broadly that Londoners have yet to socially work out how to solve antisocial e-bikers…
My short story about predictions https://nimnim1.substack.com/p/poly-hell