A DPD driver was sacked after a customer's camera caught him pretending to deliver a £1,200 iPhone and instead appearing to nab it for himself.
Samuel Taylor ordered a £1,264 iPhone 17 Pro Max from Giffgaff and on 19 January he got a photo from DPD showing the parcel being posted through his letterbox as proof that his new phone had arrived.
Only when he got home from work there was no new phone and his dad told him there hadn't been a delivery at the house.
The 20-year-old checked his house security camera footage which showed the delivery driver pulling up outside and picking out a parcel from his van before getting to Samuel's door.
Advert
However, the footage then showed him walking away from the door appearing to still be holding the same parcel before getting in his van and driving away.
Samuel said he felt 'shocked' and 'robbed', which is understandable because that was his parcel and the delivery driver was caught on camera walking off with it.
The Rochdale man got in touch with DPD to complain but they allegedly told him his new iPhone had been delivered and he should take it up with Giffgaff, but he instead reported it to the police and posted footage of the incident to social media to get DPD to 'take accountability'.
The delivery company has since confirmed their driver was 'removed from the business' and they 'whole-heartedly' apologised to Samuel.
Samuel said he was 'really disgusted a delivery driver would act like this'.
He said: "When I got home my dad said it wasn't actually there. We checked the cameras and saw what happened. I was just really annoyed and I feel robbed.
"I don't think he noticed the cameras. I'm shocked someone could do that. I thought it might've gone back to the warehouse but we got in touch with DPD and they said it hadn't been signed back in."
He also didn't end up getting his phone, though Giffgaff have refunded his deposit and are reviewing his case.
Samuel has said he 'wouldn't want to use DPD again' as he feels like he can't trust them, and he would like to have the phone he paid for.
A DPD spokesperson said: "We have carried out a thorough investigation and can confirm that the driver has been removed from the business.
"We have a zero-tolerance approach to incidents such as this and will always take firm action. We apologise whole-heartedly to Mr Taylor and have informed Giffgaff."
A Giffgaff spokesperson said: "We're sorry to hear that Samuel did not receive his new iPhone as intended.
"We are aware of the issue and have identified that the proof of delivery was not compliant with our requirements.
"This has been raised with the delivery company and is under review. As is standard practice with such cases we have also refunded the initial deposit to him."
Greater Manchester Police confirmed the incident had been reported to them.
Joe Harker