RESIDENTS on a Scottish island have been told they have to travel several miles to collect their parcels after Evri’s sole home delivery driver resigned.
It has been reported that some customers will have to make a 40-mile round trip from their homes to collection points to receive their parcels.
There has been a breakdown in the Evri delivery service on Skye, Raasay and Ornsay which is leaving customers with no alternative but to collect their own packages according to the Press and Journal.
Evri had hired a self-employed driver to take packages from companies such as Matalan, Next, Vinted, Amazon, and Asda to customer’s homes on the islands.
Parcels are now being dropped off at central collection points in post offices.
The packages arrive in bulk on the island and are redistributed to Post Offices in Portree, An Crubh (Ornsay), Struan, Glendale, Broadford, Raasay, and Ardvasar.
Residents were only informed about the change when they started to receive text messages asking them to pick up their parcels when they had expected them to be delivered.
According to the P&J, Skye and the neighbouring Raasay and Oronsay, receives thousands of parcels every day from Evri and when the post office in Portree was closed in the afternoon – many parcels were re-routed to the next nearest post office on Raasay, a ferry journey away.
They also reported that in one Post Office more than 600 parcels are still waiting to be collected.
Some residents on the island have posted online the journeys they have to make to receive their packages, which include school uniforms for the new term.
Other residents have voiced concerns about those who don’t have transport to get to the collection points and rely on the home delivery service.
One person said they had been charged “a fortune” for delivery and that they now need to make a six-hour round trip to Inverness to get what they need.
The Evri driver on the island said they would cease deliveries “for personal reasons” after 20 years of service.
A spokesperson for Evri said: “Our ambition is that everyone’s experience is a positive and we apologise to any customers who have been inconvenienced by the temporary parcel diversion scheme.
“We are urgently seeking self-employed couriers to join and serve the local community. The role offers great flexibility and competitive earnings with a bonus to join.”
The delivery firm said they are offering a £2000 joining bonus for anyone who takes on the role of the new courier for the island.
