John F.

I ordered a mattress from Wayfair on 26 July. I was given a delivery date of 28 July and a DHL tracking number. I checked the tracking number on 28 July and DHL hadn't even received the parcel. I contacted Wayfair and I was informed that an investigation would be carried out and a replacement sent if necessary. I received an email from Wayfair on 2 August confirming that the replacement had been ordered and telling me to expect an email with confirmation of dispatch and the tracking number. I contacted Wayfair again on 3 August when no email had been received and I was told that the courier had not collected the parcel but it would be sent the next day. I had still not received confirmation of dispatch on 5 August so I contacted Wayfair again. This time I was told the mattress was out of stock but I could expect a mattress to be dispatched on 9 August! I have already been waiting for the mattress for ten days and 9 August would be too late even if the mattress is actually delivered. I have wasted enough time 'chatting' with Wayfair's 'customer service agents' without getting a resolution and now I'm going to cancel the order. Wayfair is totally unreliable. AVOID!

I'm signing the petition on the Parliament website, https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/*******, asking the Government to establish a regulatory body and ombudsman to oversee the UK courier industry and resolve disputes if you are fed up with the attrocious service provided by some parcel delivery businesses. The regulation of the courier industry, much in the way Royal Mail is regulated, was recommended in the Citizens Advice damning report, 'Sorry We Missed You', on the industry. MPs will have to debate the issue if more than 100,000 people sign. I'm doing this because I have had an appalling experience with Hermes for the past year since my regular delivery driver had to resign and Hermes has often struggled to find anyone at all to deliver and collect parcels. I've had parcels delayed by over a week, nearly two weeks (with the box squashed and battered as if it had been at the bottom of a pile of delayed parcels) on one occasion. Hermes' customer services is as good as useless and the only way of contacting a real person competent to deal with your problem seems to be to contact the CEO's office.

In common with with many other consumers I have had an appalling experience with Hermes the UK parcel delivery business and I view with disbelief Trustpilot's 4.4/5 star rating for Hermes in its Hermes UK profile. Why is this so at odds with other reviews and assessments of Hermes?:

Sitejabber: 1.1/5 stars
Trustpilot profile for Hermesparcelnet for which Trustpilot receives no income from Hermes and has no invited reviews: 1.3/5 stars
Trustpilot profile for Hermes (no 'UK') for which Trustpilot receives no income from Hermes and has no invited reviews: 1.4/5 stars
Trustpilot profile for Hermès (the luxury goods business) that is effectively a profile for Hermes because the overwhelming majority of reviews are posted by people who mistakenly believe they are reviewing the pacel delivery business: 1.4/5 stars
Amazon customers: 2.1/5 stars
Review Centre: 1.3/5 stars
Reviews.io: 1.2/5 stars
MoneySavingExpert opinion poll that rated Hermes 14th worst of 17 parcel delivery businesses
BBC 'Watchdog' programme that reported Hermes was the parcel delivery business it had received most complaints about

One reason is that most if not all positive reviews on the Hermes UK profile are reviews that Truspilot has allowed Hermes to invite. Danny Richman in his report 'Can you trust Trustpilot? – 9 million reviews studied', https://www.seotraininglondon.org/can-you-trust-trustpilot/ uses Hermes UK's Truspilot profile as an example of how invited reviews paint a false picture. He found that 81% of all reviews (predominantly invited) were "excellent" and 7% "bad" but just 9% of uninvited (termed 'organic') reviews were "excelllent" and 88% "bad". Another reason could be that Trustpilot's "advanced software" deems a worryingly unknown but apparently significant proportion of negative reviews to be "suspicious" and removes them. I have had all seven of my justifiably critical, honest and objective reviews of Hermes UK removed in this way and they haven't been reinstated when I've provided tracking information and correspondence with sellers.

Trustpilot receives payments from Hermes. This raises concerns about Trustpilot's independence and integrity and whether its reviews should be trusted.

I have now had seven reviews critical of Hermes, posted in its Hermes UK Trustpilot profile, deemed "suspicious" and removed, some retrospectively, by Trustpilot's "advanced software". This review, which I am confident is honest and objective, was the last one to be removed:

"The last tracking event for a parcel that Hermes should have delivered on Friday 13 August told me that at 08:21 that day it was "on its way to the courier". But it didn't reach a courier and wasn't delivered. Neither was it delivered on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or today. Additionally, a collection (a return not initiated by me) scheduled for today was missed. It appears that Hermes, having lost the generally reliable courier I had for eight years a few weeks ago, once again can find nobody to deliver or collect parcels in my area and undelivered parcels are piling up at the depot. It will be the fourth time this has happened with parcels previously delayed by up to twelve days."

Trustpilot receives payment from Hermes for the Hermes UK profile which allows the company to invite reviews, a high proportion of which are positive. How inviting reviews boosts the ratings of businesses, with Hermes UK given as a example, is explored in Danny Richman's (SEO Training) report 'Can you trust Trustpilot?'. Richman appeared on a BBC Watchdog programme that examined Trustpilot's misleading ratings of some financial services businesses. Forgive me for suspecting that Trustpilot's "advanced software" also removes an unknown proportion of negative reviews from the Hermes UK profile. Unless Trustpilot monitors the decisions made by the software and publishes the proportion of reviews of individual businesses it removes we have no way of knowing. What I do know is that I posted exactly the same review in the Hermes (no UK) profile, for which Trustpilot receives no payment, and it is still there. Also there are no invited reviews in this profile and the "advanced software" does not appear to remove any critical reviews. Perhaps that is why it rates Hermes as "bad" with 1.4/5 stars when the Hermes UK profile that earns income for Trustpilot rates Hermes as "excellent" with 4.4/5 stars. 1.4/5 stars and "bad" is consistent with the ratings and rankings other sites have awarded Hermes.