Pete's Log: DHL woes
Entry #1676, (Life in General)(posted when I was 31 years old.)
Mamie spent Christmas alone in Japan this year (well, not alone, just without family). For this reason, I decided to make an effort to get her presents to her on time. I picked up Diana's presents for Mamie when I visited her in Tübingen, picked up some from me and Gandhi, boxed it all up, and took it to the Deutsche Post. Deutsche Post owns DHL, and so all packages are sent via DHL. I picked the Post because they far more locations in Munich than any of their competitors. So it was more convenient.
So on December 8th, I dropped the package off. I was given the choice of normal or expedited service. The normal service would take about 10 days. The expedited service would take 5-7 days, and cost 44 euro more.
Since my package included an advent calendar and ornaments for Mamie's Christmas Stick, I picked the expedited option, so she could make some use of those before Christmas.
I sent Mamie the tracking number for the box. Here's what the tracking page had to say on December 9th:
| Date/Time | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 08.12.09 08:54 | The shipment was processed at the outbound hub | The shipment was handed in at local post office by customer |
| 08.12.09 16:57 | Parcel centre of dispatch | Shipment to abroad was processed at the outbound hub |
| 09.12.09 05:43 | International Parcel Station | Shipment to abroad was processed at the International Parcel Station (IPS) |
And then nothing happened. On Dec 18th I finally called them to see what was going on. They told me that things were a bit busy because of Christmas, but that it had been rather a while since the last update on my pacakge, and they could initiate a search for it. I asked them to please initiate a search. I was given a number for the search and they would contact me as soon as they found out anything.
By Dec 21, there were still no updates on the tracking page, so I called them again. The lady I talked to this time was sympathetic to my concerns about the package getting to Mamie by Christmas, but she told me that their international package facility was completely swamped and that there just weren't enough flights leaving the country to handle all the packages.
My question to them is: did Christmas take you by surprise this year? Doesn't it happen on the same date every year?
But then, on Dec 23: hope!
| Date/Time | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 23.12.09 06:49 | Departure from outward Office of Exchange in Country of Origin | Departure from outward Office of Exchange in Country of Origin |
Maybe, Mamie and I thought, if it left Germany on the 23rd, it would arrive in Japan on the 24th. And then perhaps the Japanese end of things would run a bit better and she might have it on the 25th.
To avoid the problem of the package being delivered while she's not at home, I'd had it sent to her work address. But now we were facing the problem that her work was going to be closed from Dec 26th through January 3rd. Alas, this turned out not to be a problem either. Because again the tracking page went another week without updating.
I did, however get a nice letter from DHL, apologizing for the delay and informing me that under international postal regulations they had 8 weeks to look for the package, and basically that I should leave them alone. Great. Thanks.
Finally, on Dec 31, the package arrived in Japan. From there things went relatively quickly, given the New Year holiday:
| Date/Time | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 31.12.09 10:19 | Arrival at inward Office of Exchange in the Country of Destination | Arrival at inward Office of Exchange in the Country of Destination |
| 31.12.09 10:20 | Handed over to Customs in Country of Destination | Handed over to Customs in Country of Destination |
| 05.01.10 12:46 | Departure from inward Office of Exchange in the Country of Destination | Departure from inward Office of Exchange in the Country of Destination |
| 06.01.10 10:15 | Arrival at local delivery office in the Country of Destination | Arrival at local delivery office in the Country of Destination |
| 06.01.10 11:38 | Arrival at local delivery office in the Country of Destination | Arrival at local delivery office in the Country of Destination |
| 06.01.10 13:28 | Final delivery: The parcel was successfully delivered | Final delivery: The parcel was successfully delivered |
Needless to say, I am not impressed. I mean sure, I'm glad it at least got there. But what did I pay the 44 euro extra for? In the end, it took them 29 days to get it there. Even if I'm generous and count only business days, it took 20 days.
So my plan now is to write them a polite letter informing them that I am displeased and that I would like a refund of 44 euro, since their expedited service took longer than the regular service should have.
I'll let you know how that goes.
Mamie's put her opinion on youtube.