Survey of parcel delivery firms gives thumbs up to DPD, Royal Mail and Parcel Force with Yodel and Hermes bottom of pile

Yodel has been named as the UK's worst parcels delivery firm for the second year running, with over half of its customers rating it as "bad" on a poll on website MoneySavingExpert.

The annual customer service satisfaction survey of the parcels sector named Hermes as the second worst parcels firm after it attracted a "bad" rating from 30% of customers.

DPD was named as the best parcels delivery firm with two thirds of users reporting a "good" experience.

Yodel, which delivers parcels for a host of household names, including Amazon, Argos, Boots and Tesco Direct, was by far the worst performing delivery firm according to the 9,000 website users who responded to the survey.

Just 22% of Yodel customers reported a good experience, with 58% saying theirs was bad. Parcelforce and Royal Mail customers reported the post positive experiences, with 12% and 11% saying their delivery had been bad. Around 33% of TNT customers were unhappy with their delivery.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "Yet again Yodel has come bottom of the delivery pile. It's not quite as hideous as last year when 71% rated it bad – but it should act as a serious warning to anyone thinking of using it, or a company that uses it."

He noted that consumers often have little choice of courier, as they are invariably chosen by the retailer. "It's time we put pressure on retailers to stop inflicting this type of delivery on us. Any customer who has an abominable delivery service should complain to the retailer and ask them to justify why they use firms with such dire reputations. Ultimately though, until we vote with our pockets and stop using firms that employ poor delivery agencies, that won't happen."

Parcel couriers have become an increasingly important part of the retail environment as more of us shop online. Figures published today showed that online non-food purchases were up almost 20% this Christmas compared to last, with parcels firms carrying much of that increase.

A spokesperson for Yodel said: "We are very disappointed by the results of the MoneySavingExpert poll but have serious concerns about its validity. MoneySavingExpert's poll is unverified and open to influence by parties with a vested interest in affecting the outcome of the survey. The results are inconsistent with the independent and verified feedback that customers are giving us on TrustPilot, which places Yodel ahead of all its main competitors.

"As at 10 January 2014 Trust Pilot scores Yodel at 4.5, ahead of a major competitor average of 2.8."