Watch: 'Friendly' Evri driver sacked after ramming mop through letter box to 'hit customer's Labradors'
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A usually 'friendly and happy' Evri delivery driver has been sacked after he was caught on camera shoving a wooden mop through a customer's letterbox to 'hit' her beloved Labradors.
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Hide AdZoe Mitchell says the 'happy chap' driver has been her regular for around five years so was stunned when her Ring doorbell app filmed his outburst late last month [August 28]. The 31-year-old's shocking footage shows him poking the hard end of a wooden mop through her letterbox as he glares through the partially frosted front door window. He then violently thrusts the mop forward to apparently 'hit' her two 'friendly' dogs Bella, eight, and Reggie, seven, who often bark when a delivery comes.
The recruiter is confused why the courier would want to attack her dogs but suggests they could have 'caught' his hand as he tried to post a 'safe place' delivery note. In footage from seconds earlier, dog barks can be heard when the man rings the bell but Zoe says there's no footage of him pushing the note through. She's been left 'upset and angry' by the incident and complained to Evri the same day, however she says the same man has delivered to the house twice since then.
Zoe, who lives alone with her dogs, says she's scared for her own safety and shared her story in the hope it would push Evri to relocate the driver. After being contacted by reporters Evri confirmed they have sacked the courier and said that while the driver's hand had been bitten when making the delivery, his actions were 'inexcusable' so he wouldn't work for them again.
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Hide AdZoe, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said: "I felt sick when I saw it because I knew they would be up against that door. Bella would have both paws on the door and her belly would have been covering that letterbox, so I think he's hit the dogs and it might have shocked them.
"The dogs could have nipped at him but you can't see that on the video and there's a wall-mounted parcel box to use anyway. Even if they did, that doesn't excuse what happened afterwards. If they'd have had their mouth open then it could have done some serious damage. At first I thought he was throwing the parcel through but when I watched it again he's chuntering something when he walks to the door and he's angry.
"He peeps through the glass, angles the mop and forcibly hits it through, then he pulls it out and throws it down. He seems so aggressive. When he hears the dogs barking in the first video he stands back from the door so he knows the dogs have come down the stairs and gone to the door.
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Hide Ad"They do dive at the door and bark so people will think I have guard dogs but they're soft as anything when you open the door and they're really friendly. He must have been having a really bad day and he might have put the delivery note through and then the dogs could have dragged it off him and caught him."
Zoe, whose clothes were delivered to her 'safe place', says her external post box could have been used so she isn't sure why the driver chose to pass the note through her letterbox in the first place.
She says she struggled to speak to Evri staff on the phone about the issue that day so passed her complaint to someone she knew at the company. The recruiter says she was assured an 'investigation would be launched' the following day but since then she claims the man returned to make two deliveries while she was out.
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Hide AdZoe said: "It's just me and my dogs and it's made me feel very unsafe. If he wasn't scared to do that on camera then what happens if he comes back to the house now I've told people about it.
"I just want him to be moved so he doesn't come to my house, so if the driver hadn't been back then I wouldn't have had to escalate it."
Zoe, who claims she reported the incident to West Yorkshire Police, says the driver has been kind when she's spoken to him before and she's even previously given him a five-star review. Zoe said: "What shocked me and lots of [local] people is he's been the local Evri guy for five years and I've even given him five-star reviews before.
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Hide Ad“He's friendly to talk to when I've been in and opened the door and when I've not been in he's left my parcels in my garden by my patio window to make sure they're safe. Everyone on the estate has said he's such a friendly, happy chap."
She has now taped her letterbox shut and stuck a notice on it telling delivery drivers to 'please use the post box on the wall'. Her Facebook post said: "I didn't want to post this publicly, but I'm now feeling completely ignored and unsure of what to do next.
"It's not like me to ever put things online but the fact it was done to my dogs and being ignored with no action taken I had no other choice and I also worry for anyone else with pets! About three weeks ago, an Evri driver grabbed an old mop I had left near my bins, ready for the tip, and shoved it through my letterbox to hit my dogs.
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Hide Ad"In the video, you can clearly see him doing this aggressively, then throwing the mop down afterward. He left my parcel in the designated safe place and there was no need for him to come to my door.
"I have a wall-mounted letterbox, so there was no need to use my front door but despite this, he still put the delivery slip through the door! The incident happened after doing this [...]. My mum had to go straight to mine to check on my dogs, and I'm so upset because he could have seriously hurt them.
"I'm furious that he's still delivering to my home. I haven't been in when he's come by, but if I had been, I would have spoken to him directly."
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Hide AdOne commented: "Wow that's SHOCKING!" Another said: "Wow if he feels confident to do that on camera imagine what extent he would go to not being recorded. Worrying! Disgusting behaviour." A third added: "I'd be absolutely fuming if this was me. I hope you get sorted."
Evri confirmed the driver would not work for them again but said it was a rare incident and their couriers have been awarded more than three million five-star ratings on Trustpilot. They said Zoe reported the issue to a member of the local team who was then unexpectedly away from the business - they apologised that this 'was not escalated effectively initially as it should have been'.
They said they have since spoken Zoe to offer support. An Evri spokesperson said: "These actions are not the caring behaviour that we expect from our couriers and we have apologised wholeheartedly to the customer.
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Hide Ad"Unfortunately, the courier's hand was bitten when delivering to this property, however their reaction to this was inexcusable. We have a zero-tolerance approach to behaviour of this nature and have taken immediate steps to ensure that this courier will no longer deliver for us."
West Yorkshire Police have been contacted for comment.
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