October 29, 2009
Dear DHL,
I am writing to convey my extreme frustration and disappointment in using your shipping services to receive a package in Dakar, Senegal.
The original package was shipped from Aurora, CO on 10/19/09 tracking #3134979676. The package cost $185.00 to ship. I tracked the package through Brussels on 10/21/09, and then the package went completely off the grid. As of Monday 10/26/09, a week after the package had been shipped, there was no update online about the package’s status.
When I finally called the DHL office in Fann-Residence, Dakar, I was told that the package was in customs at the Dakar airport. Although my local phone number was available on the shipping bill, I was not informed that the package had arrived in Senegal until the following day when I was already on my way to the airport to authorize customs procedures.
At the airport I was surprised to learn that not only would Senegalese customs charge me over $100 in customs fees, but that the DHL office here would also charge me over $50 to process the package through customs. I had the option of navigating the customs process myself, but I would still have to pay DHL $50 to release the necessary paperwork to take the package through customs myself.
Having few options, I authorized DHL to process the package through customs. After waiting for another hour for this to take place, I was told that I could not pay the additional charges (76,800 CFA or $171.00) with a credit card. I had two options to pay for my package, a check drawn from BCIS, a Senegalese bank, or cash. I was furious to learn that an international company is not capable of accepting a credit card payment on a charge that was close to $200. I was obligated to leave my package at the DHL office at the Dakar airport and return with cash.
Today when I returned to pay my customs duties and DHL fees, the office processed my payment, but told me that they no longer had my package as it had been sent to the DHL office originally specified on my waybill. While inconvienent as I had already made two trips to the airport, I agreed to retrieve the package at the Fann-Residence office. When I called the Fann-Residence DHL office to confirm that I could retrieve my package, they told me that the package had not yet arrived in Senegal. When I insisted that it had arrived, and that I had already paid the customs duties on it, they told me that the package must still be at the airport.
I have now made four phone calls to the airport trying to determine the location of my package, which has now cost over $356 to send. Neither the airport office, nor the Fann-Residence office can verify the location of my package.
This is not the level of professionalism or customer service that I expected to receive from DHL. Suffice it to say that I will never use DHL’s services in the future, either domestically or internationally.
Sincerely,
One pissed off customer
What a discouraging story. The reason people use DHL is because they're the international shipping specialists. Instead, they seem surprised by the delays and extra fees, on top of losing track of where your package is. There's another package originating in Saudi Arabia with the identical airway bill number; is that a normal event? If you look at the tracking detail of the Saudi Arabian package, there is an obvious overlap of information coming from two packages.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I shipped a package to WARC. DHL local called me a week later to say DHL Dakar could not find the address. DHL Dakar is, as you're probably painfully aware having visited them, across the street from WARC.
ReplyDeleteYes--the first time we tracked the package we found that they had used the same tracking number for a Saudi Arabian package. WTF?
ReplyDeleteThe end of the story--the woman who was the most condescending and the most insistent that she had sent our package to the other office was in fact wrong, and had our package the whole time. When we made our third trip to the airport to retrieve the package, did she apologize? Of course not.
OK, so she didn't apologize or acknowledge any responsibility for losing track of your package, but at least she refunded all your fees and gave you a couple of coupons for free soda with your next Papa John's pizza delivery order.
ReplyDelete