March 1, 2007
Why does anybody use DHL?
Back in the late 1980s when I was working at a top-end Manhattan gallery, DHL was the courier service of choice. What has happened since? I don't know, but the fall from grace has been dramatic. None of my antiques-and-collectibles colleagues has a good word to say about the company. All have tales of packages damaged, lost, and misdelivered -- and most importantly, of total lack of responsiveness to their complaints.
And now I'm wrestling once again with DHL over a simple delivery. FedEx is consistently great, and UPS at least leaves the package, even if they can't be bothered to ring the doorbell. DHL neither delivers nor rings -- each time, all we get is a (non)delivery notice hung on the door, followed by days of being run around: forced to navigate a burdensome voice mail system in order to request redelivery that either never occurs, or which involves the furtive hanging of another "delivery attempt" tag on the door without so much as a ring or a knock.
Incidentally, notes on the door stating that we are in and the bell should be rung seem to have no effect, and when my wife called and asked that the DHL driver call us if he couldn't get a response with the doorbell, she was told that as a matter of company policy the drivers don't carry cell phones, just radios!
PS Immediately after posting, I stopped and wondered if I was going too far in criticizing a company based upon what might just be the fault of a single bad employee. But others have had parallel experiences, and then I called yet again trying to arrange delivery of the latest mishandled package (four alleged delivery attempts, one notice left -- all during a period we've always been home). I presented myself as frustrated yet sympathetic, wanting to report what would appear to be a terribly negligent driver. The manager was out, so I left my cell phone number for him to call me. I was told he'd be right back. Four hours later and it's nearly the end of the work day, and no response. Looks to me as if DHL is doing something fundamentally wrong when in comes to basic management, at least when it comes to deliveries.
PPS And now in the news, DHL misdelivers human body parts to a couple expecting parts for a table -- while two similar packages "broke open, scattering their contents" in transit. The fun isn't over, either: "Authorities believe 28 more bubble-wrapped human organs and body parts could be dispersed across the country". Hat tip to reader Chris S. for the link.
Posted by David on March 1, 2007 7:43 AM
I think the problem with FedEx is limited insurance options which leaves UPS as the choice carrier with "Hold for pickup" as the best choice.
Posted by: Charles on March 1, 2007 1:22 PM
The last time DHL stopped by the office to drop off a package (he rang the bell, but for the front door, not the side door where the office is) he was checking the place out like he was planning to come back and rob it - he gave me the creeps.
We ship by Purolator and they do try to fix things when deliveries don't work out as planned. Their drivers also don't act like thieves when they visit.
Posted by: ScottH on March 2, 2007 1:01 AM
"Limited insurance options" for FedEx? I don't follow. In any case, FedEx is reliable enough that antique dealers can buy third-party shipping coverage for FedEx packages that costs next to nothing.
UPS is problematical for antique dealers on at least two major counts. The biggest is that they allow their drivers discretion to leave packages without obtaining signatures, even if the sender has specified that a signature must be obtained. And often when those drivers exercise that discretion and leave a package on a doorstep, they don't even bother to ring the bell. This is why the third-party shipping insurance policy I mentioned above covers UPS shipments only up to a fraction of its coverage of shipments by FedEx and Express Mail. Meanwhile, UPS's own insurance is less than optimal, in that it specifically excludes art, antiques, and other "irreplaceable" items -- even if they are in fact multiples with an established market value. Story I heard was that UPS got scammed some ten or fifteen years back on prebroken antiques, and they (over)reacted by pulling coverage of antiques entirely.
Oh, and if UPS ever gets a package with a PO Box address on it, watch out: they will deliver it according to an internal compilation of associated box addresses and street addresses. That compilation is not always correct or up to date, and the delivery will occur without notification of the recipient, even if a contact number is provided. A number of UPS items ended up on my ex's doorstep as a result.
Posted by: David on March 2, 2007 9:20 AM
Dell shipped a laptop they had repaired back to me using DHL. It got 'lost', and when I spoke with the Dell customer sevice representative about the problem, he told me that in his experience DHL LOSES ABOUT 1 OUT OF EVERY 10 computers they ship via DHL.
I've never gotten my repaired computer back, but Dell did give me a replacement at no charge. But why Dell continues to use DHL is a mystery to me.
Posted by: max on March 2, 2007 1:07 PM
In my neck of the woods, Fedex is fantastic, DHL is so-so, and UPS is horrid. It's UPS that we avoid at any cost - even if it means refusing to buy items if UPS is the only shipping option.
Posted by: Christine on March 2, 2007 11:20 PM
There's a story in the news tonight about a misdirected DHL shipment that went to a home in Michigan.
Unfortunately, the contents included a partial human head and a liver. It was a shipment of cadaver parts for dissection, sent from China and labeled in Chinese.
Posted by: Jon H on March 4, 2007 1:15 AM
Finally got the package (some books from Amazon France), but it took yet more calling until I reached our driver's manager, who personally dropped off the shipment that afternoon. Prior to reaching that manager, I chatted with a couple of the office staff, and they made it clear that misdeliveries and irate complaints were very much the norm there.
I also had a conversation about this with a neighbor, who recounted an incident a few months back reminiscent of ScottH's comment above. She was standing outside our house and was approached by a large, gruff, and rather threatening-appearing man who asked her if she knew me. She said no, only realizing after he left and climbed into a DHL van that he was a deliveryman.
Posted by: David on March 4, 2007 10:07 PM
I hear you. I think DHL is trying hard to improve their service, and it sounds like you have a bad driver.
I also agree with you on FedEx. FedEx is the JetBlue of shipping right now. I
To avoid this problem in the future you could use DHL's Signature Release option and they will simply leave the package.
You might also consider their Hold at Location option. This tells DHL to deliver the shipment to DHL's local hub for will-call-style pickup.
...Maybe these will work for you, then again, maybe they're useless suggestions. Either way I'm convinced DHL+FedEx+UPS, etc. will be improving their services tremendously over the next few years.
We (Emerica) has the technology to fix these problems, it just takes a while to implement it.
Posted by: Brien on March 22, 2007 11:50 AM
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