DHL delivers frustration and anger

For the past few months the DHL Express’ offices in Prosperita have been flooded with unhappy customers complaining about delays in deliveries, poor customer care and unanswered queries about packages entrusted to the world-renowned courier company.

One of the customers, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity, said that her package arrived in Namibia on 7 November and she is yet to receive it. Fed-up for being given the run around for over a week, the customer decided to put in leave for a day to, once and for all, settle the matter with DHL. When she got to DHL head office, she was referred to Russel Hartney, a supervisor at DHL, who promised to hand over the package the same day.

“He told me that he will go get my package at Customs and Excise and [then]get back to me. I told him that I will drive behind him because he forever says that [and nothings comes off it]. He went into the back office and I sat there for over an hour waiting for Hartney, who just ‘quickly went into the back office to do something’ before we leave for customs,” she said.

Baffled by Hartney allegedly taking over an hour to return from the office, she asked the receptionist to enquire when Hartney will assist her.

“The receptionist came back and said Hartney had gone to Customs. I was shocked because I did not see him leave the office and it turned out he left through the back door. I followed him to Customs. However, the day ended with me not getting my package,” the customer said.

This reporter and a colleague experienced what paying customers of the company had to deal with when, after not receiving any answers on the phone, they visited the office. The two were greeted by an unwelcoming Angus Walsh, who refused to say anything concerning the disgruntled customers and referred this reporter to the DHL Express’ head office in South Africa instead.

“I did not invite you to sit down. I am not prepared to say anything. Send me an email and we will deal with you professionally,” Walsh said.

Swakopmund salon owner, Jupiter Mapiye, suffered the same fate as many other DHL clients in recent years when a parcel, containing Brazilian hair for his salon, failed to reach him.

According to the DHL online tracking network, the package left Hong Kong on 24 October at 23h11. It arrived in Johannesburg at the sort facility on 26 October, was processed and departed for Namibia on the same day. The tracking sheet further reflects that the package arrived in Namibia on 29 October and went through a ‘clearance event’ from 30 October to 04 November, the last date there was any update on the whereabouts of the package.

Mapiye said that the last time they spoke to DHL, they were promised that they will receive their package by close of business on Tuesday, 19 November as the parcel was ready and would be send in the morning hours, the same day. Close of business came, but alas, no package was delivered.

The salon owner claimed that his partners and himself have been calling DHL for a whole month in an attempt to track their parcel, but that they were always met with false information.

“Ever since we tracked the arrival of that package we were calling every single day. Everyday it is another story. We are tired. We were even forced to go to Windhoek only to return empty handed,” Mapiye raged.

He added that there is no such thing as customer service at DHL.

“We call them and then they say they will call us back but they never do. Once they have your number they do not even answer our calls at all, we dealt with Russel Hartney, who I understand is the supervisor, and customer agent Valencia van Wyk, who failed to assist us,” an upset Mapiye said.

Hartney told The Namibian Consumer that he was not at liberty to discuss the matter with the media.

Mapiye then added that all the grief they have gone through forced them to take legal action against the company, especially because their business has been affected.

“We are taking legal action against DHL. We have lost clients, we continue to lose clients, people come and when we do not have hair they go somewhere else. We are tired,” Mupiye, who vowed to never use DHL again and rather opt for the perceived slower transport agencies, said. In addition, he explained that he suspects his parcel was stolen and that this is the reason why they are being given the run around.

DHL Senior Marketing and Communications manager for sub-Saharan Africa, Lee Nelson, said that DHL head office is aware of the current delivery delays concerning certain shipments and are working on resolving the matter.

“DHL Express Namibia has recently seen delivery delays with specific commodities being shipped from Asia, due to issues with value declaration and paperwork. We are working with Namibian Customs to resolve this. In the interim [period], we are attending to the queries from customers whose shipments have been delayed. We expect a more permanent resolution to this matter shortly,” she said.

In terms of poor customer care claims, Nelson said, “We absolutely pride ourselves on customer service and believe that the voice of the customer is incredibly central to our business. Customer service is our number one priority and the situation with these shipments has been a pivotal issue for us in Namibia, and how to deal with it in terms of customer service.

“We don’t always get it right and I apologise if, at any time, our customer service agents didn’t provide the highest level of service. I can assure that, as per my statement, we are looking to resolve the issue of these commodity classes and shipments,” she said.

Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Bevan Simataa, confirmed that there has been a delay in the clearance process of goods. He also confirmed DHL Express’ claim that Namibia Customs and Excise is currently migrating from one system to another with Eros serving as the pilot of the migration. He however said that all Customs and Excise clients, including DHL, were consulted and given training to prepare them for the advent of the migration. Four staff members from DHL Express participated.

He added that in addition to the consultation and the training, Customs and Excise provided on-site support everyday including weekends.

“In our view, there is considerable on-site support to sustain challenges encountered throughout the pilot period and continuously render support to those clients in need,” Simataa said.

Simataa concluded that there are certain procedures that the clearance agent and the carrier have to follow regarding the release of parcels from customs control and if the procedures are followed correctly, then no delays will be encountered, thus Namibia Customs and Excise removes themselves from any responsibility concerning delays to the clearance of any clients.

Having to deal with delayed packages, poor customer care and getting no answers, has become the order of the day for many DHL clients, unfortunately all they can do is continue what they have been doing for a while, and that is to wait.

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