Where do lost parcels go? Do they find their waaaayyyyy home?

[Skirtingboards]

I've had two different parcels go missing within the last year, both from Hermes.

It's been delayed for nearly a week, so Debenhams have told me they assume it's lost in transit. Luckily they still have the items in stock, so they're sending a replacement.

What happens to these lost parcels? Are they dumped by snowed-under couriers, or are the items stolen or what?

I find it difficult to believe that that many parcels actually vanish into thin air. I also don't like the idea of other people opening them if I've ordered bras.

Some of them are stolen - either by the couriers or by neighbours. Some languish in other people's hallways for weeks.
Some sit at a depot before being returned to sender.

I once ordered a snowsuit for my then toddler son and pair of jeans for me - so a pretty bulky parcel. The clothes retailer said courier claimed it had been left in my postbox, but when I explained that was physically impossible as it was a normal sized letterbox opening about 2 inches wide, they refunded the order - snowsuit had gone out of stock :( About six months later someone dumped the parcel outside my front door!! No idea if someone had received it by mistake then finally got round to dropping it off, or what. Didn’t really need a snowsuit in May and was too small by then anyway!

Watchdog did a piece on this yesterday, the drivers put them in the bins, which end up being emptied

Did you see the piece about Hermes on Watchdog? Apparently a lot of their parcels end up in your wheelie bins if you're not in and if you don't check likely in landfill by now......
Of all the fucking stupid places to put a parcel I would have thought wheelie bin was number one!!
I had a parcel 'delivered' by Hermes - I could see the van outside and the man walking up and down but by the time I'd thrown my clothes on and run out he was gone. I searched high and low knocking every door in the street but no parcel...... it was located a week later in the wheelie bin of a neighbour 4 doors down (who had luckily been on holiday so not put their bin out....) Madness!!

Hermes (or possibly yodel it was one of the 2) once left my parcel under a car on someone's drive way 8 doors along from my house - quite a substantial way given there was also a road junction between us.

Luckily for me it was spotted by the distant neighbours before they run it over and bought up.

Status was shown as "delivered to a safe place"

The thing is, mine is still showing as delayed at the depot, so it hasn't been delivered to anyone or put in any bins.

Round us several post offices have merged and I have had so many things not arrive recently because of it, including a custom handmade item that the artist ended up having to redo for me. I'm getting a bit stressed about Christmas presents not arriving in time or getting lost. Our delivery guys are generally good, although they often claim I wasn't in, DP and I work from home so someone is always bloody in!

I once had a series of undelivered parcels. They all turned up about 6 months later with an apology from the Post Office, there’s been an incident and the van had been impounded!