Courier Slams People Ordering 'Non-Essential Tat' During Coronavirus Lockdown

A courier has criticised Brits who are ordering 'non-essential tat' amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With the country in lockdown, many people are spending their free time shopping online, with one delivery driver from Manchester claiming she is delivering piles of non-essential items every day - more than before quarantine measures were introduced, in fact.

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The self-employed courier - who wishes to remain anonymous - has criticised people who are placing such orders, arguing that key workers like herself shouldn't have to risk their health for such frivolous purchases.

She said: "Please stop ordering non-essential tat. While you keep ordering online, workers in warehouses are risking their lives having to keep picking and packing it, and us couriers have to keep putting ourselves at risk collecting from crowded depots to deliver it.

"My load on Friday was 120 just for a small estate in Prestwich. There was another 104 waiting for me the next morning - all non-essential.

"We understand we are key workers, and we are happy to do our job and risk our lives and the lives of others to deliver essential key items for people to survive during the lockdown.

"I've delivered Superdrug packages which I'm sure are full of handwash, and educational items from places like The Works - all that is totally fair enough.

"But when people are ordering clothes online, that is madness. I don't understand where they're going in this stuff anyway at the moment? 120 parcels in a day is much higher than the average number I was delivering pre-coronavirus.

"The worst thing is, I have to go back to the same homes three days later to pick up the items when people decide they want to return them anyway. Shoppers are not thinking about the impact they are having."

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Despite being paid per parcel, the 40-year-old mother said she would much prefer people to stop delivering non-essential items, both to minimise the risk of the disease spreading and to free up more time for delivering essential items.

She said: "The couriers are getting more and more scared. We want to remain in employment and do our bit to help, but we don't want to risk ourselves unnecessarily.

"We get paid per parcel, but at the moment I would rather come in and find 10 parcels which are clearly all essential, than 120 which aren't.

"If you continue to buy things you don't need, you are forcing people to risk their lives in packed warehouses packing the items too. The high street shops have shut, so why are online clothes retailers still able to sell?

"If it was a small business struggling to survive, I could understand more but these are big multi-million pound companies. It just seems crazy."

It's okay to not panic. LADbible and UNILAD's aim with our Coronavirus campaign, Cutting Through, is to provide our community with facts and stories from the people who are either qualified to comment or have experienced first-hand the situation we're facing. For more information from the World Health Organisation on Coronavirus, click here.

Topics: uk news, Coronavirus

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey