Two of Greece’s biggest domestic courier companies on Wednesday issued separate statements in the wake of increasing consumer complaints over lengthy delay in the delivery of parcels – a development that comes in a now more than four-month nationwide partial lockdown in the country.
Both ACS and Hellenic Post’s (EL.TA) door-to-door service referred to a massive volume of orders recorded, the product of the ongoing lockdown, which has seen the greatest part of the retail sector shut down, as well as the online version of “Black Friday” and the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
EL.TA’s statement said the volume of orders this period, compared to the corresponding period of 2019, is up by nearly 61 percent.
On its part, ACS, the biggest parcel delivery service in the country, informed consumers that the average length for delivery is now six working days, possible higher for the greater Athens and Thessaloniki regions.
The statements came amid a crescendo of criticism by the press and on social media over the delays, while another particularly annoying phenomenon is parcel delivery services leaving notifications outside main entrances of recipients’ apartments and homes – instead of carrying the actual parcel – whereby the latter are obliged pick up the order themselves from a warehouse.
