Blind_Io's Fury!

[Blind_Io]

As some of you know, I have been experiencing an ongoing battle with DHL this week. I will post the full story later, but this will give you the general idea. Read from the bottom up, the first one is my complaint and I only had 1000 characters. I think I used 997 of them. The middle one is what passes for a reply and the top one is my response. I removed all identifying information, including tracking numbers.

Enjoy the fury.

~~~~~~

Yes, the shipment was picked up, because I drove 20 miles each way in rush hour traffic to get it because your delivery driver didn't even leave a notice on the door for me to sign! If I had not checked the online tracking I never would have known it was on the truck in the first place. This was the second package I had to pick up in person in one day! Add it up, that's 80 miles of driving at California fuel prices - half of it in rush-hour traffic. Then when I do get there at 6:00 to get my package I'm told it's not there and I end up waiting over half an hour. This is just one more in a long line of events that has caused me to despise and abhor DHL. Your company is a shining example of how to annoy, anger, insult and generally drive away customers. I have been apologized to ad nauseum regarding my last package, but it didn't change the half-assed job of this shipment. If your company spent half as much energy fixing problems as you do apologizing for them, DHL would probably manage to deliver packages before they are actually shipped.

The way I see it is this: DHL has lied to me, misled me and in the end I feel like I am a babysitter. I have to constantly check my shipments to make sure they are where they are supposed to be and at the end of the day I still end up doing DHL's job myself. Every package I have ever had shipped via DHL I ended up having to pick up at the Oakland shipping station. To me that means DHL has yet to get on the board with a successful delivery. DHL can only seem to get it to their station and then I have to carry the ball the rest of the way. In fact, I feel that DHL owes me a rebate for my shipping costs because they failed to complete the task I paid for.

"Sorry for the inconvenience" is insufficient. That's corporate-speak for "we don't give a shit, now go away." There were three complaints against the Oakland station in ONE DAY! They don't answer the 1-888-2-RETURN number on the delivery slips (when they actually leave a delivery slip), they are surly and rude. Even when a national operator pages the driver to call me they just ignore it. When I'm told I will get a call from the corporate office to discuss my "experience" the call never happens. I honestly don't understand how DHL is still in business the way they treat customers. If a contractor failed as miserably as DHL has, he would be sued into the ground and have his license revoked.

I don't want empty apologies, that time has come and gone. What I want is an explanation. I want to know why no one answers the 1-888-2-RETURN phone number. I want to know why the national operator treated this like a normal occurrence. I want to know how a driver can leave a delivery slip on the correct door that says the address is incorrect. I want to know why a package was scanned as "delivery attempted, occupant not home" and no slip was left at all. And most importantly, I want to know what DHL is planning to do about it.

The Bay Area is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country; I wonder how many people are as mad as I am but simply choose to quietly switch to UPS or FedEX? I wonder what will happen when I email the online merchants from whom I purchased and tell them that I regretfully cannot order from them because of their choice of shipping company?

I await your reply,
Mr.

Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:33:16 -0700
From: CustomerService@dhl.com
Subject: RE:'DHL=003-346-271' US Shipment
To:

Dear ,
Thank you for contacting DHL.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. Our records indicate that the shipment was picked on 09/17/07, 18:31 by %%%%%. As per another tracking number I request you to get back with tracking number to assist you further regarding the shipment.


If I can be of further assistance please advise.

Thank you using DHL.


Bernard
DHL Express
Customer Service



-----Original Message-----
From:
Date: Monday, September 17, 2007 05:06 PM
To: customerservice@dhl.com (customerservice@dhl.com)
Subject: US Shipment

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS
================================
This is also regarding shipment: . I only have 1000 characters,
but I feel I could fill a book with my week-long ordeal with DHL. Your
company is staffed by either the grossly incompetent, incredibly
alcoholic, or just plain cognitively impaired individuals I have seen
outside of a hospital psych/drug ward. DHL's incompetence to perform the
simple task of delivering packages astounds me and the lack of any kind of
customer service is astonishing, even in today's marketplace. The
1-888-2-RETURN phone number rings and no one answers, drivers leave
notices on the correct residence that the address is incorrect, phone
calls to remedy the situation never happen, and now packages are listed as
"delivery attempted" but no notice was left at the address. I have
already made one 40 mile round-trip to get a package today and now I will
have to do it again. 80 miles, half of which is in rush-hour traffic and
will take well over an hour. DHL is a joke - and everyone will know it.

TRACKING REQUEST
================================
Tracking :


CONTACT INFORMATION
================================
Name :

Email Address :
Phone :

Response Pref :

OTHER INFORMATION
================================
Cust sent email? : No
Referring page : www.dhl-usa.com/custserv/contactus.asp
OS : Windows (General) / Windows XP (Specific)
Browser : Mozilla, version 1.8

[thedguy]

I was expecting to find a picture of a Plymouth Fury.

[Spectre]

Um... DHL is owned/operated by the German Post Office. Why on EARTH would you expect union postal workers to do their jobs???

[KaJuN]

I can totally understand and I agree with you in your frustration. But I can't help but get the sense that your complaints will never be read by a human at DHL. It's a sad truth about today's world; faceless corporations that couldn't care less about their customers or their employees. As long as they make some money the rest is irrelevant to them.

As for shipping packages, FedEx all the way for me. They're faster, usually cheaper, and my stuff always arrives in the same condition that it was in when it was shipped out. I've never had to deal with anything like what you're going through. USPS is a close second.

[smib]

Stick it to the man!

[Scott]

I agree... DHL blows...

I hope you pursue this to a suitable ending!

[wooflepoof]

UPS ftw

[Alok]

Interesting to note as I work part time for DHL here in Germany, but I guess the reason why I am surprised might be that you are in the states and DHL might not be as fully covered or as "germanically"(new word?) managed as here in Germany? I believe Fedex and UPS are both American firms, and my accounts in germany are quite the same for both, as I always use DHL after I had similar experiences with UPS with my laptop shipping back and forth, once even to Taiwan when it should have ended up with me.

Since I have some insider knowledge of the inner workings of the DHL/UPS HUBS, ie the larges centres where all the packages come to, a change in the attitude/attention levels of people who work the systems greatly affect where a package ends up and what sticker goes on it. The way packages are machine sorted, if one worker is a bit slacking on attention or say he is listening to music, he could easily, as I had a supervising experience once, ship a package to a next HUB where the package can loop back to the sender easily.

So yea, I dont know how the system works, but if you get in touch with the people at the DHL hub that is responsible for your region, you should be closer to getting an explanation.

Cheers

[NecroJoe]

My dad said on a number of occasions: "There are three ways this job can be done. Fast, cheap, and right. You get to pick two."

You want it fast and right? FedEx.
You want it fast and cheap? Use UPS.
You want it cheap and right? Use USPS.
You want it at all? Stay the fuck away from DHL.

I work in a home-retail store and my store along ships out over 500 packages a month. About 2 years ago, we switched from UPS to DHL because of significant cost savings. Long story short, we have been back with UPS for about a year and a half.

Here's why DHL sucks:
1) "Delivered" as a status can simplyt mean that they dropped it off at the post office, and will let the mail man deliver your package whenever they get to it.

2) They quote 14 days for all within-US packages. So, let's say you give them 15 days, and then you call to track your package. "Oops. Sorry. After 14 days, that information is archived and we no longer have access to it." Better luck next time.

3) A guy in a stained, unmarked grey tank top, and cargo shorts comes to my pick-up area, smoking, and tries to walk into the building past me and says "I'm here to take stuff form you guys."

4) The vans had no shelves in them. That means everything they carried was just piled in the van.

For every package that made it, we had one, with hundreds of dollars of merchandise, lost.

They lost a nationwide account because of their ineptitude. Our regular UPS guys welcomed us back warmly, and our service has been nearly flawless, especially with their new "package intercept" options.

[Lilleput]

My DHL packages always gets delivered by the mail man so i can't justify the premium they take...

[Redliner]

As far as I used them, using the Mail for this kind of services worked out pretty well.
How is the US Mail for things like that?

[Mischief007]

USPS is actually pretty good. I've had a number of things shipped from the States to Canada. USPS tracked it nicely and the hand off to Canada Post was well done as well.

I have not heard good or bad things about DHL. Currently there are people here who want UPS to lower its brokerage charges when packages come from Canada. So a lot of people complain. Truthfully, Fedex and UPS are probably the best package shippers I've had even when I had to pay brokerage charges. USPS is awesome for cheap mail. Never dealt with DHL personally.

Good luck Blind_Io, let us know if you get further into getting some answers from a corporate company.

[Phila]

Good luck man, I used them 3 times and 3 times I did not receive a package although online it says "Package delivered with signature."

[un-dee]

Interesting to note as I work part time for DHL here in Germany, but I guess the reason why I am surprised might be that you are in the states and DHL might not be as fully covered or as "germanically"(new word?) managed as here in Germany? I believe Fedex and UPS are both American firms, and my accounts in germany are quite the same for both, as I always use DHL after I had similar experiences with UPS with my laptop shipping back and forth, once even to Taiwan when it should have ended up with me.

Since I have some insider knowledge of the inner workings of the DHL/UPS HUBS, ie the larges centres where all the packages come to, a change in the attitude/attention levels of people who work the systems greatly affect where a package ends up and what sticker goes on it. The way packages are machine sorted, if one worker is a bit slacking on attention or say he is listening to music, he could easily, as I had a supervising experience once, ship a package to a next HUB where the package can loop back to the sender easily.

So yea, I dont know how the system works, but if you get in touch with the people at the DHL hub that is responsible for your region, you should be closer to getting an explanation.

Cheers

Yeah, DHL was always top notch for me as well. Everything I order is at my house the next day.

[tigger]

Damn, I didn't know DHL sucked that bad. I got the same runaround some of you guys did a couple years ago when I ordered a bunch of suspension bushings. I got half one day and the rest never came. Tracking said they were all delivered, then I got the other half USPS two days later iirc . I use FedEx now if I can. Anyone who can get me 120lbs worth of cylinder heads from Tennessee in 3 days (without the packaging even being dinged up!) has my business.

[rskrobot]

and our service has been nearly flawless, especially with their new "package intercept" options.

I used this the other day. UPS missed me at home, I sent an email from their website, someone called 15 min later and scheduled a meet with the driver 15 min from where I was. Very nice.

Definitely let us know how this works out, if at all.

[Blind_Io]

UPDATE:

Bernard,

Either directly address the questions I have asked, or please forward my complaint to someone who can. Otherwise, the empty apologies won't mean a thing. I have had the misfortune of dealing with DHL several years ago and I experienced similar customer disservice. In the last week I had two packages in rapid succession and both experiences were borderline insulting. I feel I have given DHL adequate opportunity to improve, waiting a couple years for the company to straighten out and then having two complaints in rapid succession. Clearly giving DHL time was a waste, as was expecting some kind of improvement while my complaint was still fresh in the collective mind. The proverbial ink had no sooner dried on my signature for one package than I was turning around to go pick up a second.

I think I have been more than generous in my requests for explanation. I am giving you the chance to show that perhaps DHL isn't quite as dysfunctional as this particular station; that possibly this is the only station staffed by untrained simians.

Please consider this opportunity carefully, I will take and responses into consideration when I draft the letters to the respective shippers.

Sincerely,
############.

Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:58:52 -0700
From: CustomerService@dhl.com
Subject: RE:'DHL=003-346-271' US Shipment
To: ##############

Dear #####,
Thank you for your reply.


We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. We regret that the quality of service you received recently did not reflect the quality we strive for and appreciate your taking the time to let us know of your experience. It is candid feedback such as yours that helps us find new ways to improve our service offerings.
Providing customers with superior support is a standard we feel is important. We apologize for not maintaining that standard during your recent encounter with us.

Please be assured that customer satisfaction is very important to us. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced and appreciate your patience and cooperation


If I can be of further assistance please advise.

Thank you using DHL.


Bernard
DHL Express
Customer Service

[tigger]

I am giving you the chance to show that perhaps DHL isn't quite as dysfunctional as this particular station; that possibly this is the only station staffed by untrained simians.

The bullshit responses they keep giving you are amazing. Indeed, they're giving you the big corporate "fuck off." I say that if you can't get an answer by going through the proper channels, start blowing up DHL trucks. Or if you feel like a real hardass burn down a distribution center. Not that it will get you an answer, but it could make you feel better .

[jeffy777]

I say that if you can't get an answer by going through the proper channels, start blowing up DHL trucks. Or if you feel like a real hardass burn down a distribution center. Not that it will get you an answer, but it could make you feel better .

Yeah, if being scared to pick up the soap is what you would classify as feeling "better"

[Blind_Io]

Not impressed by his reply either.

Dear #####,

Thank you for your reply.


Thank you for taking your valuable time to express the displeasure you have experienced using our services recently. I can certainly empathize with your frustrations, and offer you a sincere apology for the inconveniences caused you. We view such complaints as an opportunity for growth an improvement.


I have forwarded your message to the appropriate party for review and corrective action. I, again, apologize for DHL not meeting the level of service that DHL strives to provide our most valued customers. I trust all future shipping experiences with DHL will meet or exceed your expectations.


If I can be of further assistance please advise.


Thank you using DHL.


Bernard
DHL Express
Customer Service