01 · What happened
A customer who could not find his parcel asked DPD’s chat assistant to tell a joke, write a poem about a useless chatbot, swear, and criticise the company. It did all four, including calling DPD the worst delivery firm in the world. His screenshots spread widely in January 2024.
02 · Reported cause
DPD: “An error occurred after a system update” on 18 January. The company said it had operated the AI element in its chat successfully for a number of years.
03 · What they changed
“The AI element was immediately disabled and is currently being updated,” DPD said.
04 · Sources
Facts on this page are limited to what these sources report. Checked in September 2026.