A Ring doorbell camera in Edinburgh captured an Evri courier standing on a package to squeeze it through a letterbox. the incident, which damaged a parcel of Oliver Bonas earrings, has sparked criticism regarding the company's reliance on automated customer service.
The Ring doorbell footage of the Oliver Bonas parcel
The incident occurred last Tuesday when Terri Hand ,a 39-year-old safety and health coordinator from Edinburgh, received a notification from her Ring doorbell. Upon checking the footage,Ms. Hand discovered an Evri delivery driver attempting to squeeze a package through her letterbox by standing on top of it. The parcel contained jewelry from the fashion retailer Oliver Bonas.
According to the report, the driver’s attempt to compress the package resulted in damage to the contents. While Ms. Hand noted that the items were "a little squished but ok," the physical force used to bypass the size constraint of the letterbox became the center of a larger dispute regarding delivery standards and driver conduct.
The "clearly AI" response that ignored the damage
Following the incident, Ms. Hand attempted to resolve the issue through Evri’s official channels, but she encountered what she described as "basically non-existent customer service." As reported by the Daily Mail, Ms. Hand received an email that she characterized as a "clearly AI response," which apologized for the damage but failed to address the specific behavior of the driver.
Instead of a human representative addressing the video evidence, the automated system advised her to contact the seller directly. This prompted Ms. Hand to reach out to Oliver Bonas, who provided a partial refund and returned the delivery charge. While the retailer acted quickly, the lack of a personalized response from Evri left the customer feeling ignored.
The "insane pressure" facing Evri's third-party drivers
The incident highlights a growing tension in the logistics industry between strict delivery windows and the physical limitations of residential infrastructure. Ms. Hand acknowledged that "drivers are under insane pressure," suggesting that the driver's decision to stand on the parcel may have been a misguided attempt to complete the delivery rather than returning it to the depot.
Evri has since addressed the situation, stating that the delivery was handled by a third-party driver whose actions fell below the company's expected standards. As a result of the footage, Evri confirmed that the driver will no longer be delivering on behalf of the company. Despite this, the company maintains that its couriers are rated an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars by the communities they serve.
The gap between Evri's 4.6-star rating and the driver's actions
While Evri has terminated its relationship with the specific third-party driver, several questions remain regarding the company's systemic response to such incidents. It is unclear how many other customers have experienced similar "novel solutions" from drivers attempting to meet tight deadlines. Furthermore, the incident raises questions about whether Evri's reliance on AI-driven customer service is contributing to a disconnect between reported service ratings and actual consumer experiences.
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