DHL Shipping services

[Ai Kazi]

I hope this is allowed here as I had a very bad experience with DHL and I wanted to inform everyone in warning, I saw another user on DoA who had a similar problem... Mods feel free to remove/move this!

My first instance with DHL was when I bought a DSLR camera through someone on ebay. I paid nearly a thousand dollars for this thing and it was sent DHL and required a signature at my request. Usually what happens, is that if I wasn't there then the DHL person would leave with the package and come back the next day until they have verification on someone to sign the package.

The DHL person forged my signature (which it was apparent to anyone else that the man forged it as he even miss-spelled my last and first name...which was written on the box) and left it at my doorstep. Thankfully I live in a very safe neighborhood and no one picked up my package.

I called DHL and they were very apologetic and assured me that they would get to the bottom of it.

Anyway, I buy some items in bulk from someone on the MP, and they ship it out via DHL to me. AGAIN the package had a forged signature and was left on my front doorstep.

I've had this happen to me twice already. I will never use DHL and I warn everyone on using them too. :angry

[hobbywhelmed]

I don't know about forging signatures, but even Fed Ex trips up. I get orders of crickets in, and he's supposed to get a signature as they come with a "live-on-delivery" guarantee. SEVERAL times, the Fed Ex guy doesn't even knock on the front door, and by the time we notice the truck and get out there, he's pulling away, and has just left the box in the shade (still visible from the street, though).

Postal carriers have done that too and never gotten signatures on things they're supposed to.

[Sola]

Another thumbs-down for DHL here. I bought a harp from someone on DoA, and didn't even know that they were "trying" to deliver it until i heard from the seller that they had been calling her - in Korea - to find out if she wanted it returned.


They claimed to have been by and left slips three days in a row, but my husband works from home, and more often than not, right underneath the front window. :mad


In the end, i had to go out to the main depot - twice - a trip of two hours each way - to get my package, and then only after begging the desk person to look for it ("We don' ha' it.") and waiting 30 minutes. :dead


DHL for the maximum hassle.

[Merry]

I've had the same situation with DHL forging a signature and just leaving a box on our doorstep the two times they delivered here....which makes me believe it's pretty much SOP with them I live in an townhome complex so leaving a box is not particularly safe. Plus, all delivery service are supposed to be aware that they can leave parcels at the front office and that we've signed paperwork saying the ladies there may sign for parcels. They have to drive by the office on their way in and out of the complex so it wouldn't be too hard to follow the rules!

[Mid]

I have a slightly different experience with DHL, but also negative.

After a long and awful wait from a face-up artist who will remain nameless, my doll was sent back to me by DHL. Everything arrived fine (our mail is delivered to my grandmother's house, and more often then not she's around to accept packages). Two months later, I was sent a customs bill. Just for information, my grandmother is wise to customs now from me, and always asks when a package is delivered if there is any customs due. She was told there was none.

This was an incredibly sour experience, and I really warn against DHL if your countries customs charges you for dolls! This surprise bill really hurt any faith I had in this company.

[Seiko]

I guess I'm the only one in the world who has never had a problem with DHL. I mean, I got my package from Japan the very next day ^___^;

Now, that said, I highly caution DHL or ANY private services like Fed Ex and etc. to countries that charge customs. Because you will get slapped with the fees. @_@; ACTUALLY, even in the US when using a private service, you face the chances of getting slapped with heavy customs. It's just how private services versus the public mail system works in the US (The US Mail System pays for the custom fees for the most part, if I remember correctly, and is a service to you as US citizens using the public mailing service whereas a private service is not paying your custom fees XD)

Now, on the flip side. I have never used DHL to get a doll. I just wanted to say I did have a relatively pleasant experience with them when I did use them, but I still would never recommend anything but the general postal service for shipping things like dolls and etc.

[SharonFish]

Now, that said, I highly caution DHL or ANY private services like Fed Ex and etc. to countries that charge customs. Because you will get slapped with the fees. @_@; ACTUALLY, even in the US when using a private service, you face the chances of getting slapped with heavy customs. It's just how private services versus the public mail system works in the US (The US Mail System pays for the custom fees for the most part, if I remember correctly, and is a service to you as US citizens using the public mailing service whereas a private service is not paying your custom fees XD)

Actually, this problem, as I understand it, is not that you are paying any actual customs fees. In the US there are none for dolls. But if the private service has to involve their customs expert then they charge you a fee for that. So basically if they have to check and make sure that there are no customs, they will charge you for having to check.

My faith in DHL has been gone ever since I learned about them sending human organs to someone by mistake. :o

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2921130

[FunnyLori]

I also had a NEGATIVE experience with DHL. I bought a cell phone via ebay from a shady seller. The phone was shipped DHL. They left a note on my door when I was not home saying that they would re-deliver the next day (when I have to work), and if it isn't signed for they would return the phone in two days if I did not pick it up from their terminal, in Eugene. I live in Corvallis (over an hour a way by car) and I do not own a car.

I had to rent a car ($200) just to drive to Eugene and pick up the phone.

The lady on the phone was pleasant, but not at all useful.

Me: "Can you tell me when they will come by with the package, so I can only take an hour off of work? I cannot take a whole day off."

Lady: "No Ma'am, they will deliver it sometime between 8am and 8pm."

Me: "Can you redeliver the package on Monday?"

Lady: "No Ma'am, they will only redeliver it tomorrow."

Me: "Can I have it sent to my lab?"

Lady: "No Ma'am, you have to have the person who shipped it to you change the address. If you need it, you can come down to our terminal on Saturday between 10am and noon."

(Ebay person sucks, and stated in auction "Ships to Paypal confirmed address only.")

Me: "Can I talk to the manager of the terminal?"

Lady: "No Ma'am, we do not have a way to give you that number or connect you to the terminal."

[Merry]

Actually, this is a MUST for all eBay sellers as one is only covered by eBay/PayPal seller protection if the item is shipped with delivery confirmation to a confirmed address. In fact, in the email PayPal sends when a buyer has sent payment, PayPal will specifically warn the seller against shipping to an unconfirmed address since doing so makes the transaction ineligible for the Seller Protection Policy.

This is discussed in more depth here in PayPal's User Agreement (http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/terms-outside). Search for 'Seller Protection Policy'.



(Ebay person sucks, and stated in auction "Ships to Paypal confirmed address only.")

[Malice Librarian]

I've had problems with DHL as far as the way they handle packages - it's like they have them knocking around in their trucks while they're travelling. While thankfully none of the things I've purchased were ever damaged, the boxes always look like they went through a war. DHL sucks.

[Kurosakura]

Well... unfortunately, DHL is the only affordable option I can offer to people who want to buy dolls from me. Do you want to get charged $120 for EMS from the post office... or $60 for next-day USA delivery from DHL?

Luckily I've not had a problem with them yet!

[killingsissy]

My husband works for dhl here in italy. he 's a courier.
Sorry to hera such bad things about dhl. here in italy dhl works very well and fast.
Is quite expansive but safe.
my advice is when you find somthing irregular...call the customer service.
Is not god to leave a pack infront of a door...the dhl customer care must know when there's something wron in order to find who is responsible.

[Lizzard]

There is a horrifying thread on DoA about DHL that is worth reading (http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168272). Short version? Dolls were removed from their boxes and empty parcels were delivered to two different doll owners. DHL refuses any responsibility.

Kurosakura, I am a strange bird, granted, but I would happily pay more for EMS than to have DHL used for any expensive item I purchased. I hope you give your buyers a choice?

[Sola]

It's funny that it's not the first time i've heard words to that effect; DHL showing exemplary performance pretty much everywhere except North America. The US and Canada seem to be the sad bastard stepchildren of DHL's international service. Don't know if they have poor hiring practices on this side of the pond, or don't pay enough, or their distribution lines are snarled, or some other unfathomable problem, but god help you here, even if you live in a major city.


It's good to know there's at least one way to get a package into Italy and into the right hands, though. :oops

[paperbot]

it was my best friend who had the DHL issue, not me, but she's not registered here as a user. I figure her issue is just as valid nonetheless for me to post. :P

she bought a doll from someone in Germany on DoA. the girl sent the doll by DHL and the doll didn't arrive and didn't arrive and so forth. she contacted the seller, and the seller responded with the news that DHL "could not find her house", so it was being shipped back to Germany.

my friend lives in an area which recieves a load of traffic right off a major roadway that stretches right across the state. the houses are labeled very clearly and it's damn near impossible to miss seeing the street sign. I mean, her house is basically RIGHT THERE. it's not hidden behind another house or even a freaking tree. it's a good 3/4 down the street and if you can count you can find it.

I swear, if DHL couldn't "find her house", I can't imagine they'd be competent enough to find their way out of a damn paper bag. I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't be able to find my own house, but then again my house is located off many streets in a dense neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. but a house that is right off the highway? PLEASE. morons. *seethes* =__=

[Lelei]

I had to rent a car ($200) just to drive to Eugene and pick up the phone.

Ugh... I lived in Eugene up until this August and can concur that the DHL office there is a huge pain to deal with... all my incidents occurred with that office (plus it is so far from Eugene city proper.)

amazon.co.jp will only ship via DHL and while it is fast (1-2 days usually) DHL *always* beats up my packages... I once received a book with a torn cover because the box was so badly mangled, despite the fact that amazon shrink-wrapped them between cardboard backing. Another time they left my boxes with a person living in the apartment building next to mine (not even in my building)--their explanation was, "he gets a lot of packages from us." I don't even... know where the logic on that one begins. You'd think they were only hiring the mentally challenged as delivery persons. :mad

What really takes the cake is when I bought an extremely expensive doll from a seller in France... US people should be aware that in Europe sellers frequently prefer to mail by courier rather than the national mail service and DHL is the default 'proxy' courier for many European couriers. And any package sent via courier is much more likely to be stopped by customs--if it is over $1000 you are pretty much guaranteed to have it held by customs. Occasionally they let it go if there is an extremely detailed outside-pocketed packing slip and customs declaration.

I wasted about 4 hours in 7 different phone calls, $10 in faxes, about $100 in their ridiculous pick-up fees, and waited three whole weeks while DHL got my doll out of customs at LaGuardia.

The package arrived with a huge rip/puncture in it that went all the way through the bubble wrap and her doll box (luckily not through the pillows protecting her) and extremely beaten up. Worse yet, they left it in the hallway of my downtown apartment building--which did not have a locked entrance. The signature was provided by "Mary"--there were only three other tenants in my building, all single males. :(

If you're left with no choice but to ship via DHL, at least make sure watch the tracking it so you can have someone home when it comes--and if it's for a $$$ item, that the person shipping marks down the value to a couple hundred or you *will* get screwed by fees just to have them determine that you don't owe anything in customs and to pick it up. :angry

[GothicKDM]

I work with a company that deals with DHL items everyday, people dropping them off and mailing them out. I honestly wont ever send things via DHL again...

The first time was a ebay item, and it took them a week to find the girls apartment, I had to email her their number with the tracking number and she got things straightened out.

I've had a person complain because they delivered a express letter to an apartment and just stuck it in the outside door...and it blew away and into the grass, they didnt deliver it to a actual person.

Another idem was delivered to the wrong address....a number was confused and switched when entered into the system, but the scan sheets are attached right next to the address written on the box...it was a big headache for this person, and DHL isnt taking responsability because "they delivered it to the correct address"......and the person sent out a replacement.....it got lost...i think he sent another one out to replace that and it got lost as well

They lost an order for another person that was being sent to us, had to refund the person their order.

They have a new system now, upgraded their kiosk.....it cost me 36 dollars to mail a 1 1/2 pound small box to California....I was expecting 20 or even 25....not 36 - 39
And our one frequet person...his items are about 10 - 20 dollars.....his usual 10 dollar shipment cost him 40 dollars...

DHL is my last resort ever....i only ship via USPS, and have never had a problem

[Kahli]

I've had only bad experiences with dhl home service, they never seem to make an actual attempt to my house- they just take it to the USPS office and then it takes another day or two to get the item delivered by my mail carrier.
when it's dhl to the school, I've never had a problem. It seems they are more geared to work with businesses.
for home deliveries, I prefer UPS because their tracking actually works- and their insurance means something (unlike the post office, whose delivery confirmation is useless and there is NO tracking).

[nikita]

Oh gods, don't even get me started with DHL! I also had a similar problem with them when I ordered my DSLR 3 years ago and they were used to ship it to me! I will NEVER buy from anyone that uses them to ship their stuff!

[Bandwidth Broad]

Delivery confirmation is exactly what it sounds like. The fact that a parcel has been delivered is only entered into the system AFTER the packet has been delivered.

Express mail provides tracking, as does EMS. Priority does not. Registered mail takes longer because each time your item changes hands, somebody has to sign for it. However, and this is a big however, the actual transactions do not show up in the computer, nor are they supposed to.

USPS does a fantastic job, given that it has to move tens of millions of individual pieces of mail daily. Oh, and btw, in most markets, USPS ends up delivering parcels for UPS, Fed Ex, and for DHL. It's cheaper for the couriers to pay USPS to deliver than it is for them to go out and deliver the parcels themselves.




I've had only bad experiences with dhl home service, they never seem to make an actual attempt to my house- they just take it to the USPS office and then it takes another day or two to get the item delivered by my mail carrier.
when it's dhl to the school, I've never had a problem. It seems they are more geared to work with businesses.
for home deliveries, I prefer UPS because their tracking actually works- and their insurance means something (unlike the post office, whose delivery confirmation is useless and there is NO tracking).

[javasoy]

My experience with shipping company ranks as such:

FedEx > UPS > DHL > USPS

Of course FedEx is always the most expensive one

[H3LL_KaT]

Another thumbs down for DHL. I ordered a lens for my camera and Amazon used DHL to ship. I never got my lens, DHL said they left it on my stoop. Since they didnt get a signature like they were supposed to they lost and I got my lens replaced by Amazon.

[zalem]

My USPS experiences have generally been better then UPS. DHL has never worked for me either.

[Merry]

I know I've posted in this thread before but I've just had another bad DHL experience.

Yet again, DHL delivered a parcel to the wrong address and, yet again, the package finally found it's way to me, opened and riffled through by the person at the wrong address.

So, if I remember correctly, that makes two times this has happened and twice the parcel's been left leaning against my front door in full view of the entire parking lot and everyone walking by (I'm in an apartment complex).

Seriously, bad show.

There should be a FedEx thread as well since today I had FedEx Home delivery leave a large parcel full of over a hundred dollars worth of merchandise, including a butane torch (wouldn't it be great if the thieving kids around here got their hands on that!), leaning against my front door. Just brill, guys. :mad

[jwegger]

I've had nothing but problems with DHL as well, I was expecting some financial papers that were sent overnight from the east coast on a monday, they arrived the following monday because they had been sent ground and then I had to go to the depot to pick them up because the driver just drove by the house and didn't stop. (claims he chouldn't find the house) Dell uses them to deliver computers again I had to go and pick it up. The Fedex and UPS drivers along with my postal carrier all leave packages next door with my parents if we are not home. Also with fedex charging extra for a signature the default for many shippers is to waive the signature

[TheSacrificialMaiden]

I'm in Canada and I'm not a fan of DHL. Missed a delivery. Called, they said that it would be delivered the next day. For the next two days someone was at home all the time night and day, yet they just left another missed delivery message and went on their merry way. Then I had to pick the package up from their location which was in a crazy industrial park in the middle of nowhere with one very infrequent bus...and my package was beaten to crap...

[pbrennan42]

Looking at this thread and the one at DoA, don't you guys have enough evidence already for a class action?

Just sayin'...

Phil.