🚨 “DELIVER THEM OR RISK YOUR ROUND” — A DYING MUM, 40KG+ PARCELS, A SERIOUS INJURY, UNPAID WORK, FA

🚨 “DELIVER THEM OR RISK YOUR ROUND” — A DYING MUM, 40KG+ PARCELS, A SERIOUS INJURY, UNPAID WORK, FALLING PAY & NOW EVRI HAS TAKEN MY ROUND: NINE YEARS OF EVIDENCE

I am angry. I am devastated. And after approximately nine years delivering for Evri, I have finally reached the point where I believe people need to see what has been happening.

I apologise for the length of this update.

But how do you explain nine years of your life, your livelihood, your health, the pressure you’ve felt, money you believe you are owed, the fear of losing your work, and what has now happened to your round in a few sentences?

You can’t.

So this time, I want to tell the whole story.

And importantly:

I HAVE EVIDENCE.

Emails.

Photographs.

Recordings.

Payment records.

Historic correspondence.

Medical evidence.

And another former courier who is now prepared to stand up and give her own account.

I don’t want people simply to take my word for what happened.

I want people to look at the evidence and decide for themselves.

 

💔 FIRST, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A DYING MUM

There is something I witnessed years ago that has never left me.

A fellow courier’s mum was dying.

She has now given me permission to speak about what happened and is prepared to provide her own account.

At the time:

I PERSONALLY HAD TO TAKE HER PARCELS TO HER AT HER DYING MUM’S HOME.

I knew why she was there.

I knew what her family was going through.

And I can still remember how I felt turning up with those parcels.

I felt disgusted.

Not with her.

With the situation.

This woman should have been thinking about her mum.

She should have been spending whatever precious time she had left with her.

She shouldn’t have been worrying about parcels.

She has confirmed that she was told, in substance, that the parcels needed to be delivered or she risked losing her round.

Just imagine being put in that position.

YOUR MUM IS DYING.

But somewhere in the back of your mind you’re having to worry:

“What happens to my livelihood if these parcels aren’t delivered?”

And there was another part of that day.

I felt pressure too.

I believed that if I didn’t take those parcels and ensure the work was serviced, my own round could potentially be put in jeopardy.

So I did it.

One courier trying to spend time with her dying mum.

Another courier arriving at that house with her delivery work.

Both with livelihoods to protect.

And somehow the parcels still came first.

I have never forgotten it.

A PARCEL SHOULD NEVER MATTER MORE THAN A DYING PARENT.

That is one of the reasons I’m writing this.

Because what has now happened to me has made me question just how many other couriers have stories they have been too frightened to tell.

 

😡 NOW IT HAS HAPPENED TO MY LIVELIHOOD

After approximately nine years, Evri has now taken my round away.

And this time there is a written trail.

Evri added the LN7 6* postcode area to my existing round, 900305.

I historically serviced DN work.

This wasn’t a separate new round where somebody came to me and said:

“Richard, would you like this additional work?”

It was added to my existing work.

I challenged it.

Why?

Because I was already regularly delivering approximately 60–80 parcels a day.

Driving more than 150 miles a day.

Working approximately 12-hour days.

And I believed this additional geographically separate work could add approximately another 60 miles and 3–4 hours.

I challenged it.

And what followed has left me furious.

 

🚨 “YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION”

Evri management actually put this in writing:

“You are under no obligation to service these rounds…”

Read that carefully.

I’m supposedly self-employed.

I’m supposedly free to decide whether work is suitable.

I’m supposedly “under no obligation.”

But then came the other part:

“…if you choose not to service the round as it is structured, we will need to recover the round and reallocate it…”

How is that a meaningful choice?

“YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT — BUT IF YOU DON’T, YOU LOSE THE ROUND.”

That is how the position felt to me.

I was even told:

“To be clear, we are not seeking to remove any rounds from you.”

But eventually the position became crystal clear.

I was given two options.

Accept LN7 6 as part of my round.*

Or:

Relinquish the round.

Then I was given until the following morning.

If I didn’t agree, Evri said it would return the round to the Contractor team “with immediate effect.”

 

❗ SO I SAID SOMETHING THEY COULD NOT MISUNDERSTAND

I put it in writing:

“I DO NOT RELINQUISH ROUND 900305.”

And:

“I WANT TO CONTINUE SERVICING MY ESTABLISHED WORK.”

I could not have been clearer.

I DID NOT GIVE UP MY ROUND.

I DID NOT WALK AWAY.

I DID NOT SAY I WANTED TO STOP WORKING.

I wanted to continue the established work I had been doing.

I challenged Evri’s decision to add a geographically separate area and then make keeping my established work dependent upon accepting that change.

And what happened?

Evri management replied:

“Consequently, we will proceed with transferring the round (900305) back to the Contractor team with immediate effect…”

I SAID I DIDN’T RELINQUISH IT.

EVRI TRANSFERRED IT ANYWAY.

That isn’t something I’m reconstructing from memory.

It’s in the emails.

And I intend to show those emails so people can read them and make their own minds up.

 

😡 THIS IS WHY I KEEP TALKING ABOUT BULLYING AND PRESSURE

I’m tired of being frightened to say this.

For years, I have felt that the possibility of losing my work has hung over me whenever I’ve questioned something.

Extremely heavy parcel?

What happens if I refuse?

Health problem?

What happens if I can’t service my work?

Missing money?

How many times do I have to chase it?

Challenge management?

What happens to my rounds?

And now:

Refuse additional geographically separate work?

The entire round gets transferred.

I have previously described how this has felt to me as being like blackmail.

I understand that blackmail has a specific criminal meaning, and I am not claiming that a criminal offence has been legally established.

But I will say this:

I HAVE FELT BULLIED.

I HAVE FELT INTIMIDATED.

I HAVE FELT PRESSURED.

And most importantly:

I HAVE FELT THAT MY LIVELIHOOD HAS BEEN USED AS LEVERAGE.

When you have children and a family depending on your income, “do this or potentially lose your work” doesn’t feel like much of a choice.

 

📦 40KG+ PARCELS — HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED?

Then there is the issue that has physically affected my body.

Evri has now told me in writing that normal courier parcels should not exceed 17kg, with Light & Large parcels in the 17kg–30kg range.

Yet over the years:

I HAVE HANDLED PARCELS OF APPROXIMATELY 40KG AND HEAVIER.

I have photographic evidence.

I’ve lifted them.

Carried them.

Loaded them.

Delivered them.

And previously, I have felt that refusing exceptionally heavy work could put my rounds at risk.

So I want a simple question answered:

IF THE LIMIT IS 30KG, HOW DID 40KG+ PARCELS GET TO ME?

If somebody declared a parcel at the wrong weight, that doesn’t magically make a 40kg parcel weigh 15kg.

Someone’s back still takes the weight.

Someone’s stomach still takes the strain.

Someone’s body pays the price.

MINE DID.

 

🏥 I HAVE NEEDED SURGERY FOR MORE THAN FIVE YEARS

This is the part that makes me both angry and incredibly upset.

More than five years ago, I developed a significant hernia.

My doctor has told me the heavy lifting involved in my work caused it.

I still need surgery.

More than five years later.

Why haven’t I had it?

Because I have a family to feed.

Bills to pay.

A livelihood to protect.

And I have been frightened that if I couldn’t service my work while recovering from an operation, my rounds could disappear.

So I kept working.

And working.

And working.

WITH A HERNIA THAT NEEDED SURGERY.

For more than five years.

I chose earning enough to support my family over looking after my own body because I was frightened of what stopping work could cost me.

And after all of that, my round has now been taken anyway.

I cannot properly put into words how that makes me feel.

 

💷 AND WHAT ABOUT THE WORK I BELIEVE I WAS NEVER PAID FOR?

My concerns about money don’t just involve wasted journeys.

They go back years.

Including to COVID.

There are deliveries from that period which I believe I was not properly paid for.

And this is important:

I RAISED IT AT THE TIME.

It wasn’t something I suddenly remembered years later.

A former Evri Field Manager and I tried to recover the money.

We tried to get it resolved.

And what happened?

ANOTHER DEAD END.

I have retained documentation relating to it.

Think about what COVID was like for delivery workers.

While huge numbers of people were safely inside their homes, couriers were still out delivering.

And years later, I’m still talking about money I believe I wasn’t properly paid for.

That hurts.

 

🚗 THEN THERE ARE THE WASTED JOURNEYS

I’ve also repeatedly been sent to customer collections.

I drive there.

Use my fuel.

Use my vehicle.

Use my time.

Then arrive and discover another local courier has already collected the parcel.

I submit the wasted journey request.

And I say numerous payments simply never arrive.

One payment might look insignificant to a huge company.

It isn’t insignificant when it’s your fuel.

It isn’t insignificant when it’s your family budget.

And when these things happen repeatedly over years, they add up.

 

💷 AND AFTER NINE YEARS, SOME OF MY PAY IS LOWER

This is difficult to accept.

After approximately nine years doing this work, I receive less for certain deliveries today than I did years ago.

Yet what happened during those nine years?

Fuel went UP.

Insurance went UP.

Vehicle prices went UP.

Repairs went UP.

Servicing went UP.

Tyres went UP.

Food went UP.

Bills went UP.

The cost of supporting my family went UP.

Yet some of my rates?

DOWN.

How is somebody supposed to keep absorbing that?

 

📄 NINE YEARS — AND I STILL DON’T HAVE MY ORIGINAL AGREEMENT

I signed an agreement approximately nine years ago.

I was never given my copy.

Evri is now trying to locate/provide it.

During this latest dispute, management said Evri reserves the right to change the structure of rounds.

So I asked:

SHOW ME WHERE MY CONTRACT SAYS THAT.

Show me the contractual provision that says Evri can add geographically separate work and then recover my entire established round if I refuse that change.

I still hadn’t received my agreement.

The proposed analyst assessment hadn’t been provided to me either.

Yet:

MY ROUND WAS TRANSFERRED ANYWAY.

 

📊 THEY SAID MY FIGURES WERE OVERSTATED

Management challenged my estimate of the extra mileage and time.

They said the additional LN postcodes only generated approximately 5–10 parcels per day.

But parcel numbers aren’t mileage.

Five parcels scattered across a distant area can require more travelling than twenty parcels in several neighbouring streets.

Management offered an analyst review.

I accepted immediately.

“DO THE REVIEW.”

I wanted objective evidence.

Show me the route.

Show me the mileage.

Show me the travel time.

Show me I’m wrong.

I was prepared to let the evidence decide.

But before that analysis was provided to me:

MY ROUND WAS TRANSFERRED.

 

📞 AND THERE IS A PHONE CALL

The emails aren’t the only evidence.

There is also a recording relating to a management telephone conversation.

I am preserving it.

I intend to make the relevant evidence available where it is responsible and lawful to do so.

Because I am tired of serious situations becoming somebody’s word against somebody else’s.

THIS TIME THERE IS A RECORD.

 

🚪 “USE THE APPROPRIATE CHANNELS”

Management has now criticised me for escalating my concerns and copying senior management, including Evri’s CEO.

But here’s the part that frustrates me enormously:

I HAVE USED THE CHANNELS.

For years.

Territory Management.

Management above Territory Management.

Payments.

Rates.

Health concerns.

Operational problems.

And time and time again, my experience has been:

DEAD END.

How many times should somebody knock on the same door before they’re allowed to knock on another?

That is why I escalated.

That is why I kept this petition.

Because when your livelihood depends upon the people you’re complaining about, speaking up is frightening.

 

💔 REMEMBER THE COURIER WITH THE DYING MUM?

Come back to where this update started.

Because this is why I believe this is much bigger than me.

She no longer works for Evri.

She is now prepared to stand up and provide her own account.

I personally witnessed taking those parcels to her at her mum’s home.

She can personally explain what she says management told her.

Two different people.

Two different experiences of the same situation.

And there will be others.

I am convinced there are couriers reading this who recognise the feeling.

The fear of saying no.

The fear of being ill.

The fear of challenging management.

The fear of questioning your money.

The fear of what happens to your rounds.

How many people are silent because they still depend upon Evri for their livelihood?

 

📁 NINE YEARS OF EVIDENCE

I want Evri—and everyone reading this—to understand something.

I HAVE KEPT RECORDS.

Not just from yesterday.

Over years.

I have:

Emails.

Photographs.

Recordings.

Messages and correspondence.

Medical evidence.

Payment records.

Historic rates.

Evidence concerning exceptionally heavy parcels.

Documentation concerning disputed COVID-era payments.

Evidence of attempts to recover those payments.

Wasted journey information.

Management correspondence.

And now:

THE EMAILS SHOWING EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ROUND 900305.

I am organising all of it.

I am preserving it.

And I intend to seek appropriate independent advice.

I don’t need to shout louder than Evri.

I NEED THE EVIDENCE TO SPEAK LOUDER.

 

❤️ I’M ANGRY — BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING, I’M HURT

I’ve spent approximately nine years doing this.

Long days.

Hundreds of miles every week.

Rain.

Cold.

Heat.

Christmas periods.

COVID.

Heavy parcels.

Vehicle costs.

Health problems.

All because:

I HAD A FAMILY TO SUPPORT.

And after everything I’ve put my body and family through to keep working, I explicitly told Evri:

“I DO NOT RELINQUISH ROUND 900305.”

And the response?

The round was transferred “with immediate effect.”

That hurts.

It makes me angry.

It frightens me because I have a family depending upon me.

But it also makes me more determined that the complete story should finally be heard.

 

✊ THIS PETITION SAVED MY LIVELIHOOD ONCE

When I originally created this petition, thousands of you stood beside me.

YOU HELPED ME KEEP MY WORK.

I was subsequently asked to remove this petition.

I REFUSED.

Thank goodness I did.

Because this petition became my safety net.

And now I need that support again.

I’m not asking anyone to abuse Evri employees.

I’m not asking anybody to make claims they can’t prove.

I’m asking for something much simpler:

LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE.

LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE INVOLVED.

AND ASK WHETHER THIS IS HOW PEOPLE SHOULD BE TREATED.

 

📢 CURRENT AND FORMER EVRI COURIERS — IT’S TIME TO TALK

If you have experienced something similar:

Tell the truth.

Keep the evidence you already lawfully possess.

Keep your emails.

Keep your payment records.

Keep relevant messages.

Keep photographs.

Write down dates and what happened.

Former couriers who no longer have their rounds hanging over them may finally feel able to speak.

One already is.

And perhaps when enough people tell their stories, somebody will finally ask:

IS THIS REALLY JUST A FEW UNHAPPY COURIERS — OR IS THERE A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM?

To everybody who signed my petition before:

PLEASE STAND WITH ME AGAIN.

Share this update.

Share the petition.

Let people see the emails.

And help make sure the experiences of couriers and their families are heard.

A delivery target matters to a business.

BUT A HUMAN LIFE, A FAMILY AND SOMEONE’S HEALTH MATTER MORE.

I’m angry.

I’m upset.

I’m frightened about my livelihood.

But I’m not staying silent anymore.

Thank you for standing with me.

Richard