Online trade
Package doesn’t arrive? This consumer advice center website helps if you have trouble with DHL and Co.
Almost everyone has experienced problems with packages these days
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During the holidays, online trading picks up even more speed – and the parcel services have to cope with considerable additional workloads. This also leads to more problems. A new website gives advice on how best to deal with these.
Even if the city centers are festively decorated, the trend towards online shopping has long since become established for Christmas shopping. The burden on the parcel services is correspondingly high. But even if occasional errors are understandable, consumers are at risk of late, incorrectly delivered or even lost packages Christmas is an extreme nuisance. A new tool from consumer advocates is intended to alleviate the suffering somewhat – and promises help if something goes wrong.
The so-called “Post-Angry Tool” can be found directly on the main page of the Association of Consumer Advice Centers. You can access it with this link. The principle is very simple: As a consumer, you use the tool to specify exactly what problems you have with a letter or package – and then you receive advice straight away. ““After selecting the issue that applies to you and providing a few details, you will receive initial legal assessments and sample letters to enforce your rights and complain,” the site explains.
This is how the tool works
Most of the typical questions asked by consumers are offered. So long waiting times, wrong drop-off locations, missing delivery notes and so on. If a package has not been delivered despite delivery confirmation, the tool initially advises patience. If several days have already passed, it offers a sample letter to request the responsible parcel service to search.
An important point is the question of who to contact. The responsibilities are not always clear. If a package from an online retailer is lost, customers should not contact the parcel service, but rather the retailer, advises consumer protection. And also offers a sample letter here. In the case of privately sent packages, the site also provides tips on how to request compensation.
If the problems cannot be solved, you can also use the tool to contact the Federal Network Agency’s arbitration board directly.
Legal situation is not always on the customer’s side
However, the offer of help does not mean that consumers will always like the tool’s answers. “This is permissible unless you have objected to such a replacement delivery,” it says in the case of a complaint when packages have been left with a neighbor. If you don’t want that, you have to object to the replacement deliveries, advise consumer advocates.
Consumer advocates are also dampening expectations when it comes to delivery to a branch that is far away. “The respective parcel service is allowed to decide for itself where and how shipments that could not be delivered personally are made available for collection,” it says in the case of corresponding complaints. “There are no legal requirements in this regard, for example regarding distances or reasonableness.” In plain language it means that: You have to swallow the toad – and pick up the package where it landed.
The consumer advice centers report what you should generally pay attention to when receiving packages By the way, here.
Increasing problems
The decision to create the tool was made because of increasing complaints from consumers, reports Julia Gerhards, consultant for consumer law and data protection at Consumer advice center Rhineland-Palatinate, to the AFP agency. “We have been receiving a lot of complaints about the service provided by postal and parcel services for many years. Over time, the number has increased,” she explains. “We hope to be able to help delivery service providers improve their service in the future.”
Source:Consumer advice center tool