'Amazon delivery driver kicked my dog in the head'

A woman has described the "shocking" moment a delivery driver kicked her dog in the head as he dropped off her Amazon parcel - before she was offered a £10 voucher when she complained.

Liz O'Brien, 64, was at her home in Leigh, Greater Manchester, when she heard the driver walking into the yard where her three-year-old Cavapoo Alba was roaming.

Liz claimed when she came outside to greet the driver she was "absolutely horrified" to see the man kicking her dog "with some force".

Amazon, which does not directly employ any of its UK delivery drivers, confirmed the incident from 30 January was being investigated.

After contacting Amazon, Liz said she was offered a £10 voucher, which she felt was an insult.

"It isn't about money, you can't have delivery drivers kicking dogs," she said.

"Alba was barking - he would've heard her too - she's got one of those very yappy kind of barks," she said.

"I came out because I was worried she was going to run off through the gate.

"But she didn't, she went to greet him - she's only a little Cavapoo.

"She started jumping up to say hello and with that he turned round and just gave her one almighty kick.

"He booted her. She didn't half yelp and run. I was worried that he'd knocked her teeth out."

After checking Alba for immediate injuries Liz said she went after the driver to try and take a note of his registration - but by the time she got there he had driven off.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing - I was just in shock. Then he just got on his way," she said.

"He just walked off and didn't even shut the gate behind him."

As the owner of a part-time dog daycare business, Liz said she has an enclosed drive complete with a signposted gate alerting anyone who approaches about the dogs.

"We even have a sign up so people know to shut the gate and look out for dogs," she said.

"And normally delivery drivers leave packages on the other side of the gate. It was unusual that he'd come through them."

Liz said she has felt dismissed by Amazon after the incident and misunderstood by the customer service team who spoke to her over the phone and offered her £10 off her next purchase.

"I think they thought throwing a bit of money at the situation would make it go away and that wasn't what it was about at all," she said.

"I want them to be a bit more diligent with the drivers.

"I said to them that it is not about the money, I'm not interested in that. I told them you just can't have delivery drivers going around kicking dogs when when there's no need for it."

An Amazon spokesperson said: "We have very high standards for our delivery service providers.

"We're investigating and we've been in direct contact with the customer."

Liz said despite trying to escalate the issue further, she has struggled to get any more information with Amazon.

"They just want to know if I've got any video photo evidence of it and unfortunately I haven't," she said.

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