A West Lothian mum says she has to avoid ordering from online shops that use Hermes delivery services as she can never rely on it, with parcels arriving late all the time.
Melanie, who wishes to go only by her first name, has recently moved into a new house in East Calder and despite having a reasonably central location, the popular delivery firm's couriers struggle to locate it.
The difficulties experienced by Hermes are all the more baffling as she says other firm's drivers seem to be able to find her home.
Melanie said: "We moved house in December and have had no problems with Amazon, DPD or Royal Mail, then there's Hermes. On average, it's two weeks before we get any parcels we are waiting for.
"If Hermes cannot deliver, why take on business? I have stopped ordering from companies who use Hermes, but ASOS slipped through my net."
Melanie has ordered a pair of new trainers for her daughter and was counting on them being delivered by a specific day. However, Hermes once again failed to get them to the recipient on time, delaying delivery for over a week.
On one occasion, when awaiting delivery, Melanie received a phone call from a Hermes driver. She said: "Delivery driver couldn't find the house, so I gave instructions I've given to anyone coming for the first time."
Having received the parcel an hour later, she said: "I still don't get how every other driver manages to find the house. Although companies promise a next day delivery, does Hermes just throw your order in a corner until they can be bothered if they can't find people's houses."
Unfortunately, when it comes to Hermes, the timing isn't Melanie's only concern, as one of her parcels was not only delayed for over three weeks but also came severely damaged.
What was supposed to be a beautiful angel figurine for a gravestone for an anniversary came smashed nearly in two halves. And another item - a modern glass clock - arrived with a massive crack stretching from one corner to the other.
Reflecting on the poor performance of the courier, Melanie said: "Moving house is stressful enough without having to deal with those issues every time I order something."
When asked about the issue of the constant delays to Melanie's address, a spokesperson for Hermes apologised for the issues.
They added: "We successfully deliver over 700 million parcels a year, but occasionally things do go wrong. We have been in contact with the customer to apologise for the inconvenience and offer a goodwill payment. Having investigated, it appears this was a localised issue which has now been resolved."
Following the reply, however, two more parcels were delayed for weeks, and Melanie said: "Another two parcels not delivered and two weeks missing. I messaged Hermes four times last week, and they haven't replied."
When the delayed delivery was finally attempted, the 'missing house' issue arose again. Melanie said: "Well, they were delivering last night but couldn't find me, so will they find me today? I don't stay in the middle of the North Pole after all."
To that, the Hermes spokesperson said: "We have been in contact with the customer to explain that these parcels were in the system before we made the necessary postcode adjustments to resolve the issue."
