More delivery drivers skip home deliveries, leaving packages at unexpected pickup points
Complaints about parcel delivery practices are mounting, with two recurring problems standing out: drivers skipping home deliveries in favor of dropping parcels at pickup points and packages being left in unsafe or unusual locations where they are later lost or stolen.
The Dutch consumer program Radar reports that parcels intended for home delivery are frequently rerouted to pickup locations or mishandled during delivery. In some cases, packages are left at the door and then disappear; in others, they are never properly delivered at all, despite system notifications suggesting otherwise.
The issue has been documented on a large scale. Through the Radar Panel, nearly 20,000 respondents shared experiences with parcel delivery services. Sixty percent said that in the past three years, they had a package delivered to a pickup point even though home delivery had been selected.
One panel participant described a situation in which a delivery driver appeared to bypass addresses entirely. “Then I received the message saying ‘we missed you,’ while I saw the driver’s vehicle still at the end of the street. When I confronted the driver, he said he was ‘too late’ and therefore had skipped a few addresses.”
Other reports highlight missing or mishandled deliveries around homes. One participant, Carsten, said he once found a fragile parcel in his paper bin. On another occasion, a package disappeared entirely after being left at the front door. “Our video doorbell shows the delivery driver ringing the bell and leaving the package at the front door. After that, the package disappeared from our garden and was therefore likely stolen.”
Pickup points are also reportedly feeling the strain. Staff at these locations report frequent complaints from customers whose parcels were sent directly to them instead of being delivered to homes. They say the quality of delivery varies less by carrier and more by individual drivers and local conditions.
According to these pickup point operators, delivery failures are more common in areas where access is difficult, such as remote locations or apartment buildings. They also report that drivers paid per parcel are more likely to bypass home delivery and go straight to pickup points to save time.
Despite customer anger, some pickup point operators also express understanding of the drivers’ situation. A location in Limburg told Radar about the pressure placed on delivery workers. “We often hear that the workload is high and that many parcels must be delivered in a short time. Sometimes they only have one minute per package. I can imagine that you then have to make the choice to skip certain addresses. These problems need to be solved from the top down.”
DHL said it regrets when it does not meet customer expectations but argued that it must see complaints in context. The company said that about 1 percent of deliveries do not go as planned. It attributed disruptions to a range of factors, including incorrect addresses, sorting errors, label issues, late shipments from senders, missed network connections, traffic delays, and occasional driver mistakes. It added that it continues to invest in digital tracking tools, alternative delivery options such as pickup points and parcel lockers, and training programs for its more than 15,000 employees.
DPD said it recognizes that parcels are sometimes incorrectly delivered to pickup points or marked as “not at home” when recipients were present. The company said this behavior is not the service it aims to provide.
It disputed claims about per-parcel payment and said its drivers are employed under standard labor agreements via transport partners. It said it uses scan data to monitor deliveries, including cases where parcels appear to be repeatedly misrouted, and conducts follow-up investigations with drivers and transport partners.
Pickup network ViaTim told Radar it is not opposed to media contact with its pickup-point partners but aims to protect individuals running local pickup locations, who are often private citizens. The company said that past media coverage has, in some cases, led to negative consequences for individual points and, therefore, it centralizes such communication.
