DHL sent my package back

[cabineer 2]

Hi all,

 

I ordered a poster from Australia in January and just found out that DHL posted it back because "Empfänger/Firma unter der angegebenen Anschrift nicht zu ermitteln". This is completely false. It is a perfectly valid address, which my Anmeldungbescheinigung and other packages received (via DHL) can confirm. There are signs with my surname on the front door, the Eingang to my building and my own door.

 

I obviously don't think it's fair for me to pay for it to be posted back to Germany but do I have a choice? Is it worth paying a visit to DHL? What are my rights here?

 

Thanks in advance!

[juuleeah 195]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I wrote a letter of complaint, they replied with apologies and gave me one of those postage paid stickers for a parcel within Germany. It was not close to the actual postage I had to pay again, but at least they didn't just ignore it. Give it a try.

[Darkknight 2,306]

 

What Are My Rights?

Easy.. You have none.

[Beuel 4,946]

Does your street name have Umlauts or ß ? I order DVDs from the UK quite often and somehow the labeling system turns ä ö ü and ß into "Zeichensalat". If my street name wouldn't be so long and still recognizable I guess the delivery guys would have problems to identify the address.

[marc138 72]

@OP: DHL are largely incompetent with anything that requires minimal thinking, call them, raise some hell (try to remain somewhat friendly by German standards, rude by anyone else´s), they should be used to it, they might try to help. In terms of rights: You, or the sender, had a contract for delivery with DHL, they did not fulfill their duties under said contract and were not kept from it by you since your address was valid and your name was visible. Try to explain that to them. Your rights would certainly depend on which law is applicable, Australian or German.

 

@Beuel: How about converting Umlaut to the spelled out version, e.g. ae instead of ä, and ß to ss, maybe the labeling system can work with that, the postman should be able to.

[erdbeere 35]

not really the same thing but DHL must really be hiring a lot of lazy idiots lately...

i had 3 packages delivered in the past 2 weeks...

 

the first one... I was home all morning, my boyfriend all afternoon... the doorbell never rang, but when I got home in the evening I found a notice from DHL that they were there and I have to pick up my package fromt he post office the next day..of course not the one right around the corner from me, but the one thats a PITA to get too and even more of a PITA to get home from when carrying a large heavy package.

 

the 2nd package... a few days ago I tracked a package online and that evening it said 'package delivered to recipient'... once again, we were home all day and there was no package, and this time no delivery notice... the next morning, the doorbell rings so we open the door to the building and wait and wait at our apartment door and no one comes up... a little while later i went down and found a delivery slip in the mailbox..this time he brought my package to some store down the road.

 

today the doorbell rang, once again i buzzed open the building door and waited but no one came up... i went downstairs and found my package sitting in the building entrance for anyone to walk away with!

 

so..i'm pretty furious that just because they hire lazy idiots i have to go out of my way and o half their job for them because they cant take the 2 minutes to take the elevator to the 2nd floor and hand me my package. morons.

[featherlight 1,367]

Tell them this giving them the delivery dates and times and any numbers on your packages. They must be able to trace their own delivery men and deal with them appropriately. If you don't tell them they will imagine the guy is doing his job satisfactorily.

[erdbeere 35]

Already let them know... twice. we called after the 2nd package and then sent an email th 3rd time laying eveything out .. lets see what happens :)

[Bricks 42]

 

Hi all,

 

I ordered a poster from Australia in January and just found out that DHL posted it back because "Empfänger/Firma unter der angegebenen Anschrift nicht zu ermitteln". This is completely false. It is a perfectly valid address, which my Anmeldungbescheinigung and other packages received (via DHL) can confirm. There are signs with my surname on the front door, the Eingang to my building and my own door.

 

I obviously don't think it's fair for me to pay for it to be posted back to Germany but do I have a choice? Is it worth paying a visit to DHL? What are my rights here?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I wish you good luck and a piece of advice is to avoid DHL whenever you can.

They sent back a package I had paid over 100 Euro for to a company that they had just quit cooperating with, either package or the money is lost. I tried for several months without success. DHL promised to send the package back to me again but when I reminded them they repeated a previous message.

No matter what I wrote them, I kept getting back the same response, as if they just had there a limited ammount of auto-replies that were sent, regardless of what people wrote them. Had I not been so upset loosing money for no good, I would have thought it was hillarious.

There is even a homepage on the Internet entirely dedicated to the incompetence of this company.

 

But then again, you might just be a lucky bastard. So keep trying. And the more people that are upset with them, if miracles do happen, perhaps one day DHL will be striked by the lightning of enlightement aswell.

[BadDoggie 1,553]

 

DHL are largely incompetent with anything that requires minimal thinking

 

 

DHL must really be hiring a lot of lazy idiots lately

I watched a nwes/magazine show a couple of weeks ago in which a reporter went undercover as a DHL driver with a hidden camera. To keep it short and sweet, DL is a separate, independent subsidiary of the Post. The trucks are overloaded (with packages filling the passenger seat, too, workers have no rights, sick tiume can result in pay docking & firings. They're overworked, usually forcewd to put in 12-16 hours/day. Any mention of "Betriebsrat" gets them fired -- highly illegal, but easy enough to get around.

 

Avoid DHL like the plague. Ideally you use a different company and send DHL the receipt/label showing them you did ship and explaining why you didn't do it with them.

 

woof.

[Beuel 4,946]

 

they will imagine the guy is doing his job satisfactorily.

Actually, they did, according to their orders.

[Small Town Boy 6,671]

 

Is it worth paying a visit to DHL?

 

What do you think?

 

 

Avoid DHL like the plague. Ideally you use a different company

 

Good advice. Except that the other companies are even worse.

[sosarx 1,661]

Cheap, cheaper , cheapest, fast, faster, fastest....

 

at some point we pay the price.

 

If any of these companies like DHL. GLS , FedEx , UPS would charge € 1.- more in order to rise payments for their employees or subcontractors or in order to have more delivery vans running ...we all would choose... the cheaper one .

[elberry 55]

Happened to me too. DHL tried to deliver an Amazon package while I was at work, then they told Amazon I had refused to accept it. I emailed Amazon and got a full refund.

 

German companies tend to regard customers as dirty scum to be beaten, raped, cut into small pieces, eaten, and otherwise exploited where possible. They don't respond to a simple "you didn't do what I paid you for" email, indeed they print out such emails and invite the whole lederhosen-wearing-office to gather around for a good Schnitzel-eating-laugh. I had this experience with my German insurance company too.

 

The best thing, I think, is to send a normal & polite "you didn't do what you were paid to do" email, and when they ignore it, go to the Ombudsmann if there is one, and also their Compliance Officer and CEO. These people are vermin and respond only to brutality. Take away their lederhosen and see if they still find humour in the situation. Stamp on their Schnitzel.

[rick_de 825]

These people are vermin and respond only to brutality. Take away their lederhosen and see if they still find humour in the situation. Stamp on their Schnitzel.

 

love it! LOL

[cabineer 2]

Thanks for all the replies. Will update shortly!

[cabineer 2]

Update:

 

DHL responded to my email, vaguely apologising for the mistake, but also stating that the sender paid Australia Post for a service and as such, entered into a contract with AP for the package to be delivered to my address. A service that was not delivered. The Australian Postal Industry Ombudsman have confirmed this and I am now waiting for a response from AP, who aren't happy that they have to pay for DHL's screw-up!

[Lyra 506]

I've ordered two items - one from Amazon one from another supplier.  Both to be delivered by DHL.  (If only there was an "anyone but DHL" box one could tick for delivery options.)  The Amazon one is rather expensive, the other not so much. 

 

I've now received two emails (lucky me).  First one non-Amazon says that DHL attempted to deliver at 17.56 on Saturday and there was no-one there to receive the package.  Total rubbish of course, we were at home and no-one attempted to deliver anything.   DHL say that the left a card - they didn't.  The second email (Amazon delivery) is identical - except that it doesn't say that they left a card.  They didn't leave anything with our neighbours (I've checked).

 

I called DHL this morning.  Polite but firm.  Well, assertive by my standards, probably total wuss by German standards. They were sympathetic and suggested that I try the local post-office to see if it's been returned there, so I'll do that later today.  Apparently if I have ID and if they can find the packages they should hand them over.   Well maybe....

 

Otherwise sorry and all that but you have €500 insurance automatically so claim with Amazon.  This happens all the time (yes, I know that!) nothing we can do.  Has it not occurred to anyone in your company that if this happens regularly maybe you should do something about it? 

 

I'll go to the post office, and I fully expect to be making a claim with Amazon, but does anybody know if there's anywhere at DHL I can complain to apart from their customer lack-of-service phone numbers and email addresses?  I'd really like to take this one further, but I'm running up against a brick wall when I look for somewhere to go.  Yeah, yeah, hopeless optimist, I know expecting some sort of service from DHL, but you never know and if I don't complain nobody will do anything.  

[black1 1,688]

It's probably to do with the strike. I have been waiting for a parcel since 12 June. DHL said that they came last Thursday but no one was here - not true. I got the card on Friday and went to collect it. They told me it was not there, the post office is full up, that it is beyond chaotic and they are turning the vans away and they told me I should come back on Tuesday. On Saturday another parcel was delivered by DHL, the first driver I have seen at the door for weeks. Basically they are trying to clear the log jam as well as they can. Amazon stuff can always be reordered, I am waiting for several ebay parcels of books that cannot be replaced at that price.

[Lyra 506]

Well actually this particular Amazon item can't be re-ordered.  It's a birthday present.  I'm going to have to buy it elsewhere now because I'm running out of time and it will cost me considerably more.  Which the Amazon refund won't take into account.  

 

If they're having problems on account of the strike that's understandable.  A delay I could live with.  It's the outright lies that annoy me.  They did not attempt to deliver the packets on Saturday.  This isn't the first time that it's happened either and last time there was no strike to blame.