Courier caught on camera throwing parcel over fence
A Hermes courier has been caught on CCTV hurling a £50 package over a fence - without even ringing the doorbell first.
Nineteen-year-old Kaitlin Mitchinson, from Chester-le-Street, had ordered an expensive package of makeup - including several glass bottles - from online beauty company Beauty Bay last week.
See also: Astonishing message written on Hermes delivery note
See also: Courier delivery leaves customer climbing the walls
She was waiting at home for the delivery, but nobody rang the bell.
"Instead of coming to the door or checking the gate it's been thrown 20 feet away from the top of the garden," she tells the Chester-le-Street Advertiser.
"I was waiting for the delivery and I got a message to say it had been posted through the letter box. I checked and it wasn't there so I looked outside because it's happened before."
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She discovered the package in the garden - and CCTV footage showed that the delivery driver had simply thrown it over the fence.
"I'm surprised it didn't smash," she says. "The eye shadow alone was £41 and if that had broken it would have been a complete waste of money."
Hermes has apologised, and says the courier concerned no longer works for the company.
It's by no means the first time that Hermes couriers have been criticised for being slapdash. A delivery woman was also caught on camera throwing a parcel over a gate in 2015; similarly, she didn't even try to open it first.
And a year earlier, another threw a package up on to a roof, from where it had to be retrieved with a ladder; at least the courier had the decency to leave an apologetic note.
However, Hermes isn't the worst offender when it comes to problem deliveries. In a survey last year, Which? concluded that Interlink gave the worst service, followed by TNT and Fedex.
If something goes wrong with a delivery, it's up to the retailer to sort it out, so you should contact the seller rather than the delivery company. If a package has been left anywhere other than a place you've suggested, you should still be able to get a refund if it's stolen.