VERY DELAYED DELIVERY AND BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE

I am the owner of a small shop specialising in the sale of electric cigarettes, e-juice and accessories and have recently been involved in major delays and terrible customer service from DHL express.

I have placed an order from China to be shipped to South Africa and decided to use DHL as they promised to have my goods delivered within a 4-6 day period, provided that I pay a sum of extra money for air freight delivery.

1 week later I had to call to find out what's going on with my parcel and was then requested to submit other documentation which was required from customs. This is understandable as customs needs to inspect all goods coming into the country as well as to make sure goods are not under declared. My documentation was submitted on the same day, within an hour of ending the call with the DHL agent.

2 days later I called back again to find out what's going on with parcel, I was then requested to make payment for vats and duties. Payment was again made within an hour and proof of payment was sent to DHL.

All I could see was on their website where I was tracking my parcel was "Clearance event" multiple time so slightly annoyed I called back again only to be told this time that I now had to submit more documentation to customs. This time they wanted a packing list. Once again, on the same day, I submitted my documentation and now requested that DHL call me back if anything else is required.

It is important for me to note that at this point, because my goods were not delivered I had also lost out on a lot of business because I had already promised my customers items which was in the parcel for delivery.

Sadly, I didn't receive a call and had to call back again to see what it the status of my goods. The DHL agent now tells me that my goods have been stopped for inspection by customs. Slightly furious as this was a Friday I demanded answers which could not be given to me. DHL promised again that the goods could be delivered the weekend as customs works weekends now, but when I called Saturday morning, the lady from DHL working with my parcel was not in and nothing could be done to help me get my goods the weekend. I had now lost out on more business because of this pathetic service. But it gets worst.

When I called again on the Monday, DHL now requested that I needed to send through proof of payment for my parcel. This was sent immediately.

When I called back a day later, the DHL agent now tells me that I had under declared. Furious with the agent, I demanded them to explain where and how I had under declared as I was very confident in my documentation all being correct. After some investigation, the DHL team leader explains to me that one of their co-workers had charged me the incorrect vats and duties amount, hence why customs had been requesting so much documentation and wanting to stop my parcel for inspection, and also why they had stated that I had under declared.

My parcel was delayed all this time because of a mistake one of their co-workers had made. I asked to speak to the manager (Esmond Krishna) who I requested from to be compensated for a mistake which they had made on their side. The manager said that I should make payment for the additional vats and duties and copy him in the mail with proof of payment to get the whole process done as quick as possible. Payment was again made within an hour. The manager said he would maybe work something out to compensate me a free delivery or discount on my next order, but Tuesday when I called back, nobody at DHL even had a clue that I had made payment for additional vats and duties, the manger was unavailable to speak to me and now their systems were down.

I have requested the manager to call me back twice and still haven't received a call, I have paid for a 4-6 delivery turn around time for my parcel and have now been waiting 3 weeks. As a small business owner I cannot afford such massive delays in my stock and I will not let this go without being compensated correctly.

I have paid for a service and I expect that service to be rendered correctly otherwise I should be refunded accordingly. I find DHL's service to be shocking throughout this period and I would not recommend anyone to use their courier service without being able to cover yourself when delays like the above can arise. If you are promised 4-6 day delivery time, find out what happens if they don't stick to their promise. Find out how you can be compensated if they don't stick to their word as innocent hard working people are loosing out on clients and money because of this kind of service.

We have already started seeking legal advice which is looking very promising for us and I would recommend others to do the same if you are treated this way. Apologies for the long story for anyone reading, but don't let others walk over you when you have paid money for goods or a services, know your rights and know that you can do something about it.