DHL thieves

[vj9999]

I ordered a laptop from Dell for my wife. DHL delivered it today. I signed for the package, driver handed it to me. As I was walking back in the house, I said right away that the box feels a little light. It didn't feel like 12lbs. I turn around and by that time driver is already gone.

I look and the bottom seal of the box looks cut (not very obvious) and taped over. I weigh the box. Box weighs 5 lbs.
I get in the car to see if I can find the driver before I open the box. Of course I couldn't.

I call DHL before opening the box and have them note it and see if either driver can come back or whatever else. Lady says she noted it and if I want to go ahead and open the box and call back or call Dell as well.
I open the box and ofcourse. Everything but the laptop is in there. I called Dell and they will send a replacement in 3-5 days plus overnight it. So I'm happy on that account. I told them not to use DHL

I called DHL back and told them they have a thief somewhere in their chain. Sombody from their customer relations will call me back I guess.

I called American Express and had them put a note next to the charge from Dell just in case something else goes wrong so I can have it disputed. On the suggestion of my wife and mom I also went to the police station and filed a report just to be on the safe side.

Anyway. Caveat. If you have anything of value deliver to you and you have to sign, check the box thoroughly before you sign. From now on I will check the box and open it before I sign. If they have a problem with that oh well.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by vj9999

I ordered a laptop from Dell for my wife. DHL delivered it today. I signed for the package, driver handed it to me. As I was walking back in the house, I said right away that the box feels a little light. It didn't feel like 12lbs. I turn around and by that time driver is already gone.

I look and the bottom seal of the box looks cut (not very obvious) and taped over. I weigh the box. Box weighs 5 lbs.
I get in the car to see if I can find the driver before I open the box. Of course I couldn't.

I call DHL before opening the box and have them note it and see if either driver can come back or whatever else. Lady says she noted it and if I want to go ahead and open the box and call back or call Dell as well.
I open the box and ofcourse. Everything but the laptop is in there. I called Dell and they will send a replacement in 3-5 days plus overnight it. So I'm happy on that account. I told them not to use DHL

I called DHL back and told them they have a thief somewhere in their chain. Sombody from their customer relations will call me back I guess.

I called American Express and had them put a note next to the charge from Dell just in case something else goes wrong so I can have it disputed. On the suggestion of my wife and mom I also went to the police station and filed a report just to be on the safe side.

Anyway. Caveat. If you have anything of value deliver to you and you have to sign, check the box thoroughly before you sign. From now on I will check the box and open it before I sign. If they have a problem with that oh well.

I'm not sure what rights we have relative to checking to see if everything is in a package before accepting delivery. I think in your case, it might have been obvious due to the weight, but often it's not that obvious. Many deliveries are so complicated that it often takes hours to tell if everything is there. I think most dealers will willingly replace things that are missing, but I'm not sure if they are legally requirred to.

Most of us aren't going to go to the trouble of telling the delivery person to wait, while you open a package, and I'm not sure that the delivery person is required to wait while you do that. I've never done it myself, however once my wife did (she amazed the heck out of me by telling the guy that since the boxes were dented that she was going to insist on making sure that there wasn't any damage, and made him wait for probably 15 minutes while she opened up 6 boxes. Luckily, this was UPS, and she's on pretty good terms with the UPS driver.

We've had pretty good luck with UPS and FEDEX, but we've had nothing but trouble with DHL. Usually the trouble is that they take our packages to another town with a similar name that is about 220 miles away, then the second problem is that they try to deliver our packages to another nearby house that is someone's summer house, and since no-one is there, they take it back and say that no-one was home to accept it, or they just get lost and can't find us and give up.
Recently though, my daughter sent me some seafood from Md, and the box was supposed to come on a Monday, and was marked "perishable be sure to deliver on Monday". I didn't get it. Finally on late Thursday, DHL pulls up, hands me the now warm box, and says "I don't know if you want this now, it's been sitting around in our office since Monday". This time I refused the package, which for me is really out of character. But my daughter contacted the dealer, and I guess they worked it out with DHL, because I finally got cold seafood a week later.
But back to the issue, yeah, DHL doesn't seem to have nearly the operation that UPS and Fedex has, and if you have the choice, you're probably best off avoiding them from what I've seen. And Fedex Ground is almost as bad... I think they were a company that merged with Fedex, and is not nearly as careful as regular Fedex.
I've never lost anything due to theft though, except something I sent via the US Mail.

[lumpkin666]

UPS is the worst - I've had lots of stuff that "disappeared" when they would "deliver" a package that requires a signature, and they "forget" to get the signature (or even knock on the door, or drive to my house, or not put it in their trunk, etc). I have a note on my account with UPS (at their main office's suggestion) that requires the driver to hold all packages at their office location for me to pickup instead of delivery. This fails about 98% of the time - either they forget and try to deliver, or they never call me and it's something that I didn't know was coming and it gets sent back.

DHL used to be one of my favorites until this last Christmas season. They had a package at the main hub (less than an hour away) that went out for delivery every day for a week, and came back (with no explaination) every day. We didn't get the overnight shipment (that should have arrived the Friday before Christmas!) until after the new year. Everytime we called the DHL number, we always got the "I don't know what's going on, we'll contact the driver/local delivery hub and have them call you" type of excuse.. never a returned call.

[rainman]

I have had problems with all of the major delivery companys at one time or other. But did have a good experince with DHL on my Dell laptop they tried to deliver while the wife and I was at work and left a note that the would deliver the next day but actualy returned the same day after we got off of work so I guest it's hit or miss with them. and the theif may have been someone at Dell instead of DHL got to give them the benifit of doubt.

[vj9999]

Originally Posted by rainman

I have had problems with all of the major delivery companys at one time or other. But did have a good experince with DHL on my Dell laptop they tried to deliver while the wife and I was at work and left a note that the would deliver the next day but actualy returned the same day after we got off of work so I guest it's hit or miss with them. and the theif may have been someone at Dell instead of DHL got to give them the benifit of doubt.

You are right. It could have been somebody at Dell too. I did google "DHL stole laptop" and came across a consumerist.com story with similar complaint and people commenting that had same experience. UPDATE: DHL Laptop Thieves Busted After Reader Complaint

wejones. The box I got had Dell written all over it and top and bottom was sealed with a tape that said "If seal looks broken open and inspect the package before signing." The thing is this is my first Dell laptop, I didn't know what was written on the tape, and driver put the box on the floor beside him while he handed me their device to sign. Had I known I would have checked the box first, but 99.9% of people will not do that.

Dell said they will process the replacement order in 3-5 days and that they will ship it overnight.

They should do what Apple does. Apple sends their stuff in unmarked boxes and shipping label only says ACI.

[lumpkin666]

Originally Posted by vj9999

They should do what Apple does. Apple sends their stuff in unmarked boxes and shipping label only says ACI.

The problem is that people who steal stuff get pretty good at figuring out things like this. It might stop the first time thief, but anybody who spends a little time would be able to figure out what is in the box based on return address (available to shipping employees), or just the basic box size, weight, etc.

[vj9999]

Originally Posted by lumpkin666

The problem is that people who steal stuff get pretty good at figuring out things like this. It might stop the first time thief, but anybody who spends a little time would be able to figure out what is in the box based on return address (available to shipping employees), or just the basic box size, weight, etc.

Especially if you work in a warehouse that handles thousands of Dell orders.

[Sadoun]

I would always recommend that you check your merchandise before you sign on the receipt. Specially for expensive orders.

If you notice that the order is missing something or damaged, you should note it before you sign. Better yet, you should refuse the delivery.

Based on my experience with the 3 shipping companies, DHL, FedEX, and UPS, I find DHL to be the least reliable in terms of their domestic ground and Air delivery. Their International delivery is pretty good.

UPS has proven to be the best for us (and we ship a lot of orders a day). They deliver on time and accurately.

I can't comment on how your laptop VJ end up missing. But it could be several reasons and hard to pinpoint. I am glad DELL is able to rectify it for you.

[bobkat]

I agree. UPS rocks - at least here in Canada.

kat

[ayelvington]

I no longer place orders with vendors if I know that they ship via DHL. I have had way too many problems. DHL got the very lucrative U. S. federal government shipping contract last year and lost in within a few months because of foul-ups.

I usually don't blacklist a company, but DHL is just not worth the trouble.

ay