A delivery driver was seen on CCTV 'frisbeeing' a parcel over the heads of two dogs to their owner's disbelief.
Lucy Doggart had ordered a dress from ASOS to be delivered to her home in time for Ladies Day at Aintree races on Friday, April 8. But the 21-year-old was less than impressed after looking out the window on Friday to see plastic packaging shredded across the garden where her two dogs were playing outside.
After spotting the ASOS branding among the tattered packaging, the hairdresser realised what had happened and rushed out to find the parcel ripped open and the dress on the floor "covered in slobber". When checking the CCTV footage she was stunned to watch the Evri - formerly Hermes - courier frisbee the parcel to her back door, prompting the curious pups to chase after it.
The footage even shows 'mischievous' XL Bully 'Mystery' in the garden before the driver launched the parcel across the garden, unwittingly confirming to the dog that it was a toy for her. The courier's delivery photo shows one of the dogs waiting excitedly for the parcel to come their way.
Evri said they had apologised to the customer, provided a 'goodwill payment' for the inconvenience and were helping to arrange a replacement item.
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Lucy, from Burnley, Lancashire, said: "I've got the races on Friday and I'd ordered some dresses from ASOS - I'd ordered a few but one of them came separately. I was getting ready for a wedding and I looked out the window and there was loads of plastic on the patio where the dogs were.
"I saw the ASOS pattern and thought 'oh my god'. I quickly ran outside to collect the dress off the drive. It only took her about a minute to shred it. Mystery is very mischievous, she will chew anything - she owes us thousands that dog.
"I thought [the driver had] just put the parcel over the gate but [when we watched the CCTV] he'd actually thrown it for the dogs. The dog's taken it from the back door to the bottom of the drive and then she's proper ragging it about like a toy.
"When I looked for the [delivery confirmation] email I realised he'd taken a picture with the dog in it as if he'd delivered it to the dog. You'd think he'd realise that wasn't a good idea. On the delivery photo you can just tell from the look on her face that she knew what she was in for."
The two large dogs - XL bully Mystery and cane corso-great Dane cross Saber are both still young, at just one and ten months old. Being big breeds Lucy said she understands that they can look scary and put drivers off delivering to the house, so she keeps them fenced in the back garden when they are outside.
Lucy said that most delivery drivers come to the front door, which is a separate garden that the dogs don't have access to, but this driver failed to do so. Instead she claims he chose to throw the parcel across the garden and over the heads of the dogs to the back door, who were at the fence wagging their tails at the visitor.
The cameras show that within minutes Mystery snatched the package, took it to the bottom of the garden and ripped it open, before Lucy came out running to retrieve the dress.
Lucy said: "We have a front door and he'd come to the back patio, so he could've knocked on the front door but he's just obviously chosen to deliver it to the dogs, which is bizarre. Most people do come to the front door but he just didn't. There were about five people in the house at the time.
"I get that they're big dogs and they look quite scary but they would never hurt a fly. I just couldn't believe that he'd thrown the parcel to the back door knowing that the dogs were there. I just don't know what was going through his mind."
The hairdresser said she has now sent the dress back to ASOS with a note about what happened with the delivery in the hopes of getting a refund. She plans to complain to Evri about the service and says the experience has put her off ordering from retailers who use the courier.
Lucy said: "It's annoying because it could have been something expensive. It was only a £30 dress luckily but it ended up on the drive covered in slobber. I wasn't impressed at the time but watching back the CCTV you've got to laugh.
"I've sent the dress back to ASOS but I don't know if I'll get anything back for it. I never order from ASOS so I'd never had those delivery people before. I saw a dress I liked for the races but I probably wouldn't be ordering from there again."
An Evri spokesman said: "We have spoken to the customer to apologise and provided her with a goodwill payment for the inconvenience. We are also helping to arrange a replacement item.
"Our local team has spoken to the courier involved and explained the importance of ensuring that deliveries are made to a safe place if the recipient appears not to be at home."
ASOS declined to comment.
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