[NHCOLL-L:4869] RE: Don't use DHL to ship

[Kathleen Kelly]

Unfortunately, our Division has encountered many problems using DHL for our
international shipments.  Because of this, I have switched to FedEx and have
found it to be more reliable with better customer service.

I will second the earlier comment that there is limited/no feedback from
customer service when additional paperwork is needed. In all instances of
problems I've encountered, I have had to go through several rounds of calls
to find out where my parcel was and why it was stopped. Most recently, I had
a parcel stuck in Hong Kong en route, and after requesting that it be
returned to us for fear of having the specimens damaged, they still
proceeded to send the package to its original destination. This is AFTER I
received a follow-up call and new tracking number for its return to sender.
In the same incident, I was told that my package was a safety hazard because
it contained ethanol. I was following all IATA and DOT regulations for
Excepted Quantities (EQ), including packing, labels, and detailed
letters/MSDS and sending to a country that DHL accepted EQ. When I
questioned the representative, they had no idea what EQ was, and just kept
repeating that the package was flagged because it contained ethanol and was
a danger. The overarching safety/EQ contact at DHL has been very helpful in
the past to resolve problematic shipments, but I've found that
representatives assigned to individual cases are either poorly or uneducated
in DHL excepted quantities policy.

Regarding customs/DHL-inspection, we have received several boxes of
specimens with inner specimen bags opened and resealed with DHL tape. Though
it might not be allowed, clearly some DHL employees are opening bags.
Luckily, nothing was damaged.

In short, I concur that DHL has changed a lot in the past few years as far
as safe and reliable shipping. I would recommend against  using them.


Kathleen M. Kelly
Collections Assistant
Division of Amphibians and Reptiles
Department of Zoology

Field Museum of Natural History
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois  60605-2496
T: 312 / 665. 7722
F: 312. 665. 7697
E: kkelly at fieldmuseum.org



On Thu, Jul 15, 2010 at 8:58 AM, Dirk Neumann <Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de>wrote:

>  Hi Deb,
>
> if I understood right, your samples were shipped with DHL express ? There
> is a difference between DHL express and DHL worldpost (the fromer Deutsche
> Post - that's why I am asking), these are two completely different companies
> united under the DHL brand name. (DHL worldpost parcels are handed over to
> and delivered  from USPS inside the US. To my knowledge there haven't been
> any hold problems with DHL worldpost so far)
>
> I've forwarded your complaint to the DHL headquarters here in Germany. If I
> don't receive an email answer, I will try to get a direct contact at DHL.
> If available, could you email the tracking number of the shipment ?
>
>
> Could you please also check whether the docs you'd mentioned were added
> accessible on the outside of the parcel, or not ? Customs and especially
> carrier staff are no allowed to open parcels to retrieve the docs needed for
> customs clearance. In many cases there is only a commercial invoice added on
> the outside, which lacks in many cases the relevant information needed for
> customs clearance.
>
> All the best
> Dirk
>
>
>
>
> Am 15.07.2010 13:52, schrieb Schneider, Gregory:
>
>  I’ve never had a problem with DHL, especially their customer service.
> (Actually, my experience has shown DHL customer service to be outstanding.)
> But I’ve had difficulties with U.S. Customs regarding clearing wildlife
> shipments, and especially regarding customer service.  I think we all know
> there are at least two sides to the story.  You may have a choice of
> international shippers, but they all must clear U.S. Customs.  Some ports
> are better than others.
>
>
>
> Greg Schneider
>
> Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
>
> Museum of Zoology
>
> University of Michigan
>
> Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079
>
> 734 647 1927     734 763 4080 (FAX)
>
> ges at umich.edu
>
>
>
> *From:* owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [
> mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu <owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu>] *On
> Behalf Of *Trock, Debra
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 14, 2010 12:58 PM
> *To:* NHCOLL-L at LISTS.YALE.EDU
> *Subject:* [NHCOLL-L:4861] Don't use DHL to ship
>
>
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>
> We have recently had a horrible problem with DHL that I want to relate to
> all of you.  We had a visitor coming from Madagascar.  He left 4 large boxes
> of plants with DHL in Madagascar on July 1, along with the required
> phytosanitary certificates, export papers and an extremely thorough list of
> the species enclosed.  The boxes arrived at the Cincinnati DHL hub on July 3
> rd.  The customs inspector “did not like the look” of the phytosanitary
> certificate and held up the shipment on July 4th.  On July 7th our
> departmental Admin. Assistant contacted DHL and they told us the package was
> on its way to San Francisco.
>
>
>
> When it had still not arrived on Monday, July 12 we called DHL again and
> were told that the shipment was going to be put on a plane back to
> Madagascar that night.  All the while our visitor, whose sole purpose for
> coming all this way was to work on those specimens, was here waiting for
> them.  I spent all day on Monday calling our contacts at USDA, people at
> DHL,  customs at the Cincinnati airport, and finally, at 10:00 p.m. ET was
> able to talk to the Ag Specialist customs guy who held the shipment.  When
> he put a hold on the shipment, DHL was supposed to contact us to let us
> know, and they never did.  DHL was also supposed to supply the shipping
> list, which they said they didn’t have, but had been given to them with the
> phytosanitary certificate.
>
>
>
> I sent a species list to the customs agent and he immediately cleared the
> shipment and told me that he would try to get DHL to put the shipment on the
> plane Monday night to get it to us.  Once again, DHL did not get it done.
> In fact, we called on Tuesday and they assured us that they had received the
> clearance from customs and that the boxes would be on the plane on Tuesday
> night.....it was not.  Now they have assured us that it will be on the plane
> tonight, Wednesday.
>
>
>
> This customs agent told me in no uncertain terms and repeated in a later
> e-mail that DHL is notorious for not contacting shippers and consignees when
> there is a problem with paperwork......they just don’t do it!!  He further
> urged me to keep track of these problems and complain.....here is the text
> of what he said.
>
>
>
> “If you have trouble shipping material through DHL, be sure to have
> everyone involved with the shipment write a complaint letter (paper, not
> email) to the company.
>
> Emails just get deleted. Paper letters are more likely to get read,
> especially if they are sent certified mail.”
>
>
>
> From my verbal conversation with him he indicated that this is a systemic
> and growing problem with DHL.  I know that some of you prefer to use DHL
> rather than USPS, but this particular customs agent seemed very emphatic
> about their shortcomings.
>
>
>
> I hope this prevents some of you from having the same problems we’ve had.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Deb
>
>
>
> Dr. Debra Trock
>
> Senior Collections Manager
>
> Botany Department
>
> California Academy of Sciences
>
> 55 Music Concourse Drive
>
> San Francisco, CA 94118
>
> PH:  415-379-5363
>
> FAX:  415-379-5737
>
> dtrock at calacademy.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Dirk Neumann
>
> Tel: 089 / 8107-111
> Fax: 089 / 8107-300
> email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
>
> Postanschrift:
>
> Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
> Zoologische Staatssammlung München
> Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
> Münchhausenstr. 21
> 81247 München
>
> Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
>
> ---------
>
> Dirk Neumann
>
> Tel: +49-89-8107-111
> Fax: +49-89-8107-300
> email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
>
> postal address:
>
> Bavarian Natural History Collections
> The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
> Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
> Muenchhausenstr. 21
> 81247 Munich (Germany)
>
> Visit our section at:http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
>
>
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