Summary

  • Ofcom's 2026 parcel survey puts overall delivery satisfaction at 75%, down from 78% in 2025; satisfaction among people who contacted a firm about a problem fell from 47% to 43% across the contact process.
  • Seven in ten recipients reported at least one delivery issue with any operator in the previous six months. Ofcom is considering stronger consumer rules after its 2023 intervention, with a further postal-market update due in December.

The parcel can arrive at the door; the answer can still get lost. In its 27 October release, Ofcom put average satisfaction with parcel delivery at 75%, three points below 2025. Among people who contacted a delivery company about an issue, average satisfaction across the stages of contact fell four points to 43%. The worst deterioration was in getting hold of the company and getting the issue resolved. That is the point at which a logistics business stops being a tracking screen and has to become accountable to a person.

The underlying survey pooled two 2026 waves, January and July, with 4,179 UK respondents aged at least 16 who had recent delivery experience. The results describe what recipients said happened. Seventy-one per cent reported an issue with at least one operator in the previous six months, up from 68% in 2025. A late parcel, an inappropriate drop-off or a doorbell too quiet to hear can all count; 71% is not a formal complaint rate. Ofcom also found issues reported by 76% of people with disabilities or limiting conditions, against 68% among those without such conditions.

Volume was no refuge. Ofcom says 4.6 billion parcels were sent and received in Britain in 2025, up 8.6%. The industry has more traffic and a weaker contact score at the same time. The complaint desk has become harder to wave away as a side issue. Parcel companies control the delivery instructions, tracking data, contact route and resolution process. Recipients control none of those systems when a box lands in the wrong place.

Ofcom tightened rules in 2023 on complaint handling and treatment of disabled customers. The regulator says firms made some improvements afterward. The 2026 contact score nevertheless fell, and the reported disability gap remains. Ofcom is now considering further action, including stronger regulation. The release names no proposed rule; its next annual postal monitoring report is expected in December.

The company table adds a sharper incentive. Amazon and FedEx each scored 56% on average satisfaction across contact-process elements. Yodel scored 34% and Evri 26%; Ofcom says those two have occupied the bottom for a fourth consecutive year. Yodel now trades under the InPost brand after an acquisition. The numbers are survey measures, not fines. They show where repeated experience has outrun the industry's promise that a customer can fix what went wrong.