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Yodel says flower suppliers caused Mother's Day delivery delays | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Yodel failed to deliver some Mother's Day flowers on time due to the actions of its suppliers, said the company. | |
Marks and Spencer, Interflora, Moonpig and Waitrose selected Yodel to deliver some of their bouquet orders. | |
The courier firm has been criticised in the past for failing to deliver on time and for breaking goods in transit. | |
Yodel said that all of its Mother's Day deliveries arrived by 6pm on Sunday but some customers say that they are yet to receive their orders. | |
"We handled over 400,000 Mother's Day flower deliveries for a number of retailers over the Mothering Sunday weekend, in addition to our normal parcels," said Yodel. | |
"A small number of Saturday deliveries encountered delays and we would like to apologise to anyone whose delivery was affected. | |
"This was due to a combination of issues, including problems that flower suppliers had in getting the flowers to us on time and retailer incorrect labelling issues." | |
'Something has gone wrong' | |
All of Yodel's Mother's Day orders had been delivered by 6pm on Sunday, said Yodel. However, some customers are still waiting for their deliveries. | |
An email sent by Marks and Spencer earlier today and seen by the BBC appeared to admit outstanding problems: "It's not the quality of service which you have a right to expect from M&S. | |
"Something has gone wrong at this time, and for this we sincerely apologise. You will receive your order today if you have not done so already." | "Something has gone wrong at this time, and for this we sincerely apologise. You will receive your order today if you have not done so already." |
Some affected customers have had their purchases refunded and received a £15 voucher. | Some affected customers have had their purchases refunded and received a £15 voucher. |
Marks and Spencer uses Yodel to deliver only orders of flowers, it said, and has "no current plans to change [courier]". | |
Interflora, which also used Yodel, said: "We were advised of some delivery issues on Saturday by Yodel, who assured us that any outstanding gifts would be delivered on Mother's Day itself. | |
"We contacted each of our customers this affected personally to advise them of the delay and resolved this with them." | "We contacted each of our customers this affected personally to advise them of the delay and resolved this with them." |
The florist would not say how many orders were affected. | The florist would not say how many orders were affected. |
Complaints on Twitter | |
Waitrose also declined to comment on the number of orders affected by Yodel's delays. | |
"Out of tens of thousand of orders, only a tiny handful were not successfully delivered," said a Waitrose spokesperson. | |
"We've apologised sincerely to all customers who were affected and given them replacement flowers, or a full refund." | |
The BBC asked Moonpig about its Yodel deliveries but the company has not yet responded. | |
Some disgruntled customers have taken to Twitter to complain about their experiences. | Some disgruntled customers have taken to Twitter to complain about their experiences. |
"Failure to deliver for mothers day disappointing, not to mention your lack of response to complaints #poorservice," said twitter user and Interflora customer Catherine Jones. | |
"No delivery was not what I expected when I ordered M+S flowers," said a Marks and Spencer customer on twitter. "Didn't make my mum feel special! Not a #HappyMothersDay." | "No delivery was not what I expected when I ordered M+S flowers," said a Marks and Spencer customer on twitter. "Didn't make my mum feel special! Not a #HappyMothersDay." |
However, online florist ArenaFlowers said that it has been satisfied with Yodel's service this Mother's Day. | However, online florist ArenaFlowers said that it has been satisfied with Yodel's service this Mother's Day. |
It used Yodel to send tens of thousands of bouquets successfully to customers this week, said the company's chief executive, Will Wynne. | |
Poppies | |
Yodel was recently criticised after some Remembrance Day ceramic poppies were broken in transit. | Yodel was recently criticised after some Remembrance Day ceramic poppies were broken in transit. |
The poppies were part of a display at the Tower of London to commemorate those who died in World War One. | The poppies were part of a display at the Tower of London to commemorate those who died in World War One. |
The courier responded to complaints of late deliveries and breakages saying "our staff have been briefed to treat these packages with the utmost care". | The courier responded to complaints of late deliveries and breakages saying "our staff have been briefed to treat these packages with the utmost care". |
Yodel is the UK's second-largest parcel carrier and handles more than 155 million parcels every year, according to the company. | |
Yodel posted a £112m loss for the year to 30 June 2013. | Yodel posted a £112m loss for the year to 30 June 2013. |
The Barclay brothers bought Yodel in December 2012 and refinanced the company's debt with HSBC. | The Barclay brothers bought Yodel in December 2012 and refinanced the company's debt with HSBC. |
This fuelled accusations of bias in the Daily Telegraph's coverage of HSBC, as the Barclay brothers also own the newspaper. | This fuelled accusations of bias in the Daily Telegraph's coverage of HSBC, as the Barclay brothers also own the newspaper. |