Frustrated residents have been taking to community groups online to try to get to the bottom of where their parcels are- asking neighbours to keep an eye out for missing packages and struggling to find the rightful owners of wrongly delivery items.

After searching through popular neighbourhood community pages, the Gazette found 53 posts from disgruntled residents about missing parcels since January 1, 2021.

In the comment section of each post other residents shared their own experiences of recent delivery issues in Basingstoke. 

On Sunday, August 1, one Facebook user took to the community page ‘Spotted Basingstoke’ to plead with a thief to return her birthday present.

She wrote: “This is definitely a huge long shot but did anyone see someone take this package that was left outside my door on Friday? Basswood Drive area near the hospital. My best friend sent me this for my birthday that was on Friday. Unfortunately my partner and I were away for the weekend so we missed the delivery. The delivery driver just bloody left it on the doorstop rather than in a SAFE place.

“Message for whoever took it, if you can just return it to my doorstep, not in the box or anything, I won’t ask any questions. I know times are tough right now but my best friend sent me this and it would mean a lot to me if you would just return it. Thank you.”

Later the woman discovered another parcel had been taken, she added: “Looks like two parcels have been taken. My boyfriend also had something delivered whilst we were away and this has also just been left on the doorstep. Funny thing is, it was a present for me and it was a pillow with my boyfriend’s face on it. So hope you enjoy that!”

In July another baffled resident took to Facebook to after a delivery driver sent a picture of a parcel in a doorway of a house that wasn’t hers.

She said: “Does anyone recognise this door? My daughter had a parcel delivered today and it says it’s here but that’s not our house? Just trying to work out where it might be.”

According to new research by Citizens Advice, five and a half million (one in ten people) have had a parcel lost or stolen in the last year.

The research also found 38 per cent of all UK adults have received a ‘Sorry you were out’ card despite being home, resulting in some parcels being left in insecure places like doorsteps and bins.

This happened to one Basingstoke resident who took a snipe at Amazon online after three parcels were left on their doorstep.

The resident left a sarcastic post on the ‘Spotted Popley Basingstoke’ Facebook pages saying: “Big shoutout to the children banging on my door to let me know that I had three parcels delivered by Amazon left on my doorstep .[The children provide] better service than some delivery companies.”

The majority of delivery companies receive no penalty for lost or stolen deliveries.

Currently only Royal Mail is the only delivery firm subject to fines if this happens, despite 58 per cent of parcels being delivered by other companies. Royal Mail is also the only delivery company to have an Ofcom-regulated complaints process.

But consumers often have no say in what delivery company is used to delivery their goods, with that choice being made by the retailer.

It means customers face a lottery when it comes to fixing problems or getting compensated for lateness or loss.

Matthew Upton, Director of Policy, at Citizens Advice said: “When it comes to parcel deliveries, the power of choice is in the hands of the retailers, not those receiving the parcels. So when we find our parcels under a bush or behind our bins, it's easy to lay the blame at the door of individual hard working drivers.

“But the reality is that these failings are baked into the system. Overworked drivers, no routes to compensation and a lack of penalties for poor service equals a lack of meaningful consumer protection.

“Addressing the sheer pressure that drivers are under and holding companies to account is the real way to improve this essential service for the millions of people who rely on it.”

Citizens advice believe all delivery firms should face penalties for losing parcels and want the process for getting compensation for late or lost deliveries to be made easier. They also wish delivery drivers had better protections stating that ‘insecure’ working conditions can lead to poor practices like leaving before consumers get to the door.