Brand promise broken

Your Brand Promise Is Broken in South Africa.

DHL’s brand promise is: “Excellence. Simply Delivered.” What a load of bull.

I am part of a team that lives and breathes service excellence. At BrandLove, we help companies create meaningful, memorable experiences—for their customers and their employees. We know it starts from the inside. When employees take pride, show care, and take ownership, service becomes effortless.

And that is exactly why this experience with DHL South Africa has been so infuriating. Because what we’ve experienced is the complete opposite.

Our shipment has been stuck for weeks due to miscommunication, delays, and zero accountability—and has now been penalised and moved to the State Warehouse. Despite following up relentlessly, we’ve received inconsistent instructions, missing documents, unreturned calls, and silence. The team at DHL has been disengaged, reactive, and frankly, uninterested in solving the problem.

You say you exist to "connect people and improve lives.” Well, your people have disconnected us, delayed us, and actively deteriorated our customer experience.

You say you deliver “excellence, simply.” But your local team has failed at every single one of those words.

As someone who has dedicated my career to helping organisations deliver on their promises—I am deeply disappointed. And I feel compelled to speak up, not just for us, but for every small business and customer who deserves better.

Your people don’t live your brand promise. And that breaks trust. It breaks your brand.

Tobias Meyer (DHL Global CEO) and Jed Michaletos (DHL South Africa CEO) – I hope this reaches your desks. You need to know what’s happening here.

If anyone at DHL truly cares, you can contact me directly: ***

#CustomerExperience #BrandPromise #DHL #Leadership #ServiceExcellence #Accountability #BrokenPromises