A PARCEL delivery company has come under fire for eight weeks’ worth of parcels not being delivered to a Tavistock home.

Gemma Sakamoto has complained directly to the CEO of Evri about six parcels which have not been delivered to her home at Westbridge Cottages for the past two months or have been delayed or effectively cancelled through refunds.

During her lobbying campaign she discovered that her neighbours in the old Bedford cottages had also been effectively abandoned by Evri — so the collective number of parcels not delivered or late is likely to run into the hundreds. Including toys and clothes for her son, aged one.

Gemma, a married mother of a toddler, said: “It looks like the whole of Westbridge cottages have been affected. I thought it was just me and intially I wasn’t too worried when I didn’t get a couple of parcels and just accepted it as part of the downside of online deliveries.

"Therefore, I just asked for a refund from the supplier as you have a right to. But it kept happening again and again and I started looking into it and asked on social media if anyone else had the same problem. It soon became apparent many of my neighbours had the same problem — Westbridge Cottages is a blackspot.

“I got absolutely nowhere complaining and trying their online chatbox forever waiting for responses to my complaints. I was getting really frustrated and annoyed that they weren’t addressing the problem.”

Meanwhile Gemma received a social media message from an Evri driver from the area who understood her problems and volunteered to visit the Evri depot and check what the hold-up was.

Gemma explained: “I was really pleased to get this contact and offer to help. She was obviously sympathetic to mine and everyone else’s concerns about waiting for items that were badly needed in some cases.

So, I accepted her offer and she discovered all our many parcels fromn the cottages dumped in one pile – undelivered.

“It’s shocking that we could be treated like this — as if our custom doesn’t matter. Who knows what vital items were languishing in the depot.

“I was happy to accept anyone’s help with this and to go the top with our complaints., There are many people who have lived in these cottages for many decades and are older foilk who don’t have an effective voice to tackle big corporate organisations or don’t have the time to be on the internet or the phone for hours.

“So, I even found out how to contact the CEO of Evri and challenged him. Within a few days this bore fruit, because I had four parcels of the five still outstanding and of those I have already got refunds for. I’m obviously pleased, but it shouldn’t rely on someone like me having the time and tenacity to track down the top man.”

An Evri spokesperson said: “We are sorry that a small number of customers in the local area have experienced delays in receiving their parcels. All outstanding parcels have now been delivered and we thank everyone for their patience and understanding.”