In February I sent a 10KG shipment with insurance up to 500 EUR to a non-EU country. Because of this, I also filled out the CN23 customs document and put it on the package to be reviewed by the recipient country’s customs. There I filled every item in the shipment with quantity, price, and individual weight.

Initially, the shipment moved normally according to online tracking. After 3 days it arrived at Frankfurt Airport and the last status of the shipment said “The shipment is being prepared for air transport and loaded into a shipping container”. More than 2 weeks passed last the status did not change. I started the investigation by filling out DHL’s official investigation form on their website. About 2 weeks later they replied with the message “We lost your package and could not find it, please fill out the refund form with the contents of the package and we will refund you your money”, and they attached a PDF refund document and a DHL link where I can submit the filled out refund form. I filled it out and submitted it.

A week later they replied again, this time saying:

>We ask for your understanding that we cannot assume any liability because the shipment could not be transported further due to the content in the recipient country for customs reasons. The respective provisions can be found at [zoll.de](https://zoll.de).
>
>In this context, we would also like to draw your attention to the corresponding provision in our General Terms and Conditions for DHL Paket International that you, as the sender of the shipment, are obliged to comply with the customs regulations of the respective country.

First, they declared my package as lost and when I requested a refund now they change their word by saying it is somehow my mistake and customs in the recipient country did not accept my package. This is weird because the official tracking on the DHL website never mentioned that package got out of Frankfurt Airport. Non-delivery instructions on the package also said “Return to sender”, so I assume if they could not deliver it for whatever reasons they should have returned it to me. And why do they make an excuse about the recipient country’s customs? I also contact the recipient country’s shipping company which should have received the package, but they said they did not receive it.

I called their customer service, and the woman I talked to was trying to avoid all of my questions. She claimed that the package was shipped, and they cannot refund but I ask for proof since their online tracking does not state that it got shipped and is no longer at the Frankfurt Airport. They don’t provide any proof. I also asked if they claim that the package is shipped and why they declared it as lost when I first started the investigation, and she just said that “the lost message was a mistake, you can ignore it”.

A week ago I sent another email to DHL and asked them to reinvestigate and provide me proof that the package was actually shipped, if not refund me my money. Today they replied:

>We have received your objection to the result of our investigation. Based on your objection, we have looked at your request again. However, we came to the same conclusion as in our previous letter.

So, here am I… The package contained items with a total value of 220 EUR, paid DHL 52 EUR to ship it, it is all gone. DHL first declared my package as lost, then they changed their word when I asked for a refund. They now claim that the package is shipped by they don’t provide any proof, and online tracking also doesn’t show it.

What to do next? Has anyone had a similar experience with DHL or any other shipping company? What was the end result? This whole thing seems completely bizarre to me. It looks like DHL or anyone can lose/steal people’s packages and get away with it?!

# Edit:

A lot of people in the comments mention that German customs could hold my package because it contained chocolate (not just any, sealed, factory-made Milka chocolate, also mentioned on the CN23 customs document). But online tracking clearly states that the package passed customs in Frankfurt and no irregularities have been detected. [Here’s](https://imgur.com/a/q0h4qZ0) the screenshot of the complete online tracking.

In 3 places it clearly states:

>The shipment has been released after its additional inspection in the country of origin.

And clicking on more info brings up DHL’s own website which states:

>**The shipment has been released after its additional inspection in the country of origin.**
>
>The security check (e.g. aviation security/dangerous goods) on your shipment has been successfully completed and no irregularities have been detected. Your shipment will now be forwarded to the country/area of destination.

11 comments

  1. So: You seem to avoid the elefant in the room: **what** was in the parcel and was that indeed allowed to be sent into the recipients country? This seems to me like the key stone, doesn’t it?

    If DHL tells you it got loaded into the shipping container, but it got taken out of that container by the customs agency in the other country before getting into the hands of another parcel service first – the shipping tracking would not be updated before the customs opens it, seizes it, destroys it, whatever.

  2. Was anything in the package that might have caused issues with the customs office of the receiving country? Have you contacted them about your package? If they confiscated it then neither shipping company is able to help you.

    DHL giving a “we lost it” without actually checking what really happened doesn’t seem odd to me, sounds like employee only checked wether the package was still in Frankfurt, didn’t find it and therefore assumed they lost it.

    Otherwise you can complain to the authorities or get a lawyer involved. But before I would definitely try to find out if their story is possible to be true.

  3. I would just get airtags if i were to send big and expensive packages like that. I do not have any advice. Just don’t give up and be persistent. If you payed insurance then they should reimburse you or at least give package back.

    One thing you can do is see if any items are not allowed in recipient county. Send email and ask. That eay at least you’ll knowif they are lying.

  5. If it was a customs problem it will be shipped back to you at your expense or else you will have to fill out more paperwork (while paying for storage) to authorize them to destroy it. If customs on the other side seized, e.g., the chocolates, normally the offending item would be removed and destroyed and the remaining shipment processed as usual OR the whole shipment is held for return or destruction.

    They are clearly fucking around with you. You will almost certainly not be satisfied by whatever result you get with this case, but I would argue that you should pursue it to its imbecilic end otherwise they think they can pull this crap on everyone with zero accountability.

    “They” is not just DHL.

    Ask me how I know these insane procedures.

  6. >could not be transported further due to the content

    Sounds to me like there was something in there that shouldn’t be in there.

    I heards some full body costumes sometimes get stopped by customs. Once it’s in their hand youll have to talk to the custom services

    >The respective provisions can be found at zoll.de.

    At this point there is nothing DHL can do or change about that

  7. They usually deny every or most claims immediately to shake the majority of people off their backs. You then complain and then those are the ones that get resolved.

  10. I had similar problems with DHL (Send a big Package to NZ which arrived totally destroyed and soaking in some oily liquid).
    DHL Customer Service ignored nearly all Emails, was not helpful on the phone. What helped was contacting them via Twitter. I uploaded pics of the shipment and tagged DHL, they are very helpful at Twitter…maybe this helps.

    DHL Tracking dies Not Show anything After your parcel was uplifted at FRA.

    > Check the mail/Post Company Homepage in the country of destination, use your DHL Tracking number it should work of the piece really arrived

    > Check the customs Homepage of the country of destination they always have a List of prohibited items
    – if all was good to ship – send another mail and Tell DHL That nothing illegal was bering Exported to country X

    If you did ship a forbidden item, it was most likely removed from the package. The remaining pieces should have been shipped to the consignee (maybe with a customs Fine to be paid by the consignee)…

  11. DHL sucks. Customer service is non-existent. If you go to the “Postamt” for info, they’ll tell you that they work for the Postbank and actually have nothing to do with parcels beyond accepting and forwarding them.

    The thing is, EVERY parcel service sucks today. The whole industry has been infiltrated and destroyed by greedy speculators. Worldwide, I’m assuming.

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