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Wales Online
Wales Online
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Bethany Gavaghan

The final delivery dates for Christmas shopping including Amazon, DPD, Evri and Royal Mail

Been putting off your final Christmas orders and hoping for the best? It happens. But with the Royal Mail strikes, you might want to bear the final delivery dates in mind for the businesses you're relying on so you don't get caught out.

Here we take a look at the biggest delivery firms' final dates - including Amazon, DPD, Evri and Royal Mail itself - so you don't have to. Here's what you need to know:

Read more: Royal Mail last Christmas posting dates in the UK announced - along with some important advice

Royal Mail

You might want to get your skates on if you're relying on the Royal Mail to get your parcels to the right doorsteps this year. The final collection for Royal Mail Tracked 24 ends on Tuesday, December 20.

You can also use their Special Delivery Guaranteed until Wednesday, December 21. The final Christmas postal dates for 2nd Class, 2nd Class Signed For, Royal Mail 48, 1st Class, 1st Class Signed For, Royal Mail 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 have now all passed.

Evri

The advice to get your parcels shipped in time for Christmas at Evri (the new Hermes) is to get it dropped off at 11am on Thursday, December 22 and select a next-day delivery service.

It is advised that you select Evri's next-day service as their usual service can be a little challenging to arrive in time for Christmas. Any later and you're taking a major chance. As long as it's dropped off by 11am on December 22, that should give it plenty of time to arrive on December 23.

Being aware of the time frame given by Evri may be key for customers right now, as the courier company giant has received criticism in Wales after a Welsh MP said people are "facing Christmas misery" due to lost or delayed delivery of packages.

Speaking at a round of questions about the business of commons, Labour MP for Swansea East Carolyn Harris, who hit out at the company, said: "Very very many people across the UK are facing Christmas misery as online shopping deliveries have been delayed or lost by delivery firm Evri. After expressing concerns about this company on social media I have been inundated with stories of late or lost parcels, no or poor customer service, drivers earning less than the national living wage, drivers pay being witheld and pathetic which is insufficient to cover increased fuel charges."

A spokesperson for the company recently said on their Facebook page: "It's a busy time of the year with an unprecedented number of parcels in our network due to Royal Mail strikes and staff shortages. We're delivering over 3 million parcels every day but experiencing some localised delays.

"Please bear with us and we'll get your parcels where they need to be before Christmas."

DPD

The final collection date for delivery to the UK via collection services is Thursday, December 22. If you want your package to be picked up by this date, you must make a booking online by no later than Wednesday, December 21.

People are being urged to make sure their ordered package is at their nearest drop shop on or before December 22 if they're using DPD's drop-off services.

Delivery service DPD temporarily stopped delivering to a number of areas in Wales last week due to ongoing Royal Mail industrial action. This caused disruption to some postcodes in areas like Cardiff, Blaenau Gwent and Chepstow.

Amazon

Although Amazon is promising to deliver people's goods to them up until midnight on Christmas Eve, the company has advised that to avoid disappointment, people should have made their final purchases by Monday, December 19, so that deadline has now passed.

Yodel

Despite Yodel's website not currently giving a specified final date for packages to arrive before Christmas, the company is offering to send parcels within two working days if they are sent with their store-to-door service. This applies for all participating stores, meaning that the cut-off date would be Wednesday, December 21 for people who opt to use their store-to-door service.

It has been a busy time year for Yodel, with them anticipating high levels of demand earlier this year when they created 4,000 new jobs in Scotland, Wales and the South West as the company geared up for the festive season.

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