package delivery
At Christmas time, the DHL package does not arrive at home: why you should not order cash on delivery
At DHL, the Christmas season means, above all, massive stress. Certain services must then be deferred.
© Jonas Walzberg / DPA
Most people should pay for their parcels with Paypal, credit card, advance payment or invoice – but cash on delivery is still often offered and is considered safe. Cash payment at the front door has disadvantages, especially during the Christmas season.
In the run-up to Christmas, almost nine million parcels land in German private households every day. As the market leader, the DHL deliverers probably make the largest contribution to this. The group calls this time “heavy traffic”. To ensure that you receive your parcels reliably, you as the recipient can actively contribute to making the work of the parcel services as easy as possible. Unfortunately, this is accompanied by cuts in online shopping.
No direct delivery of cash on delivery parcels from November
Again star learned from DHL that it is best not to order parcels cash on delivery in “weeks with particularly heavy shipments”. In one specific case, a small parcel for less than 20 euros was (inevitably) ordered cash on delivery and the tracking initially followed the usual sequence: electronic notification, preparation for onward transport, delivery base, delivery vehicle. But then: “The shipment could not be delivered and will be taken to the branch.” Irritating, because the recipient would have been there at the specified time. Only response from DHL: “operational reasons”.
On the same day, the package turned up at the branch and after a long queue and the payment of the outstanding amount, it arrived safely at its destination. But why the detour? Asking DHL creates clarity. From the beginning of November until the “letter and parcel volumes drop after Christmas”, DHL does not deliver any cash on delivery items to the door. An order to a private address always leads to delays.
DHL’s statement reads as follows: “In order to relieve our mail carriers in these weeks of the year when there is a particularly high volume of mail, cash items (cash on delivery items, items with customs duties, items with additional payment) have been delivered directly to the post office since the beginning of November. This process has It has proven itself during the peak phase of the corona pandemic and ensures the smoothest possible delivery, even with significantly increased shipment volumes.”
Other forms of payment – or other delivery address makes sense
So if you have the opportunity, you should have such packages sent directly to a branch – or choose another form of payment. From the point of view of the deliverers, this is understandable. Since most amounts are quite odd, every delivery involves the hassle of changing money, which lengthens the entire working day – so that other customers can no longer fit into the schedule. DHL did not want to reveal how many shipments this affects. When asked how high the proportion of shipments with cash payment at the front door was, the company replied: “We don’t provide any information on that, sorry.”