Delivery complaints almost doubled

Have you had any problems with letter delivery lately? Then you are not alone: ​​I too have had to wait an unusually long time for individual shipments on several occasions over the past few weeks. Even within the same city, letters sometimes took 4-5 days to be delivered. Another maxi letter had been on its way to me for almost 2 weeks. Many people in Germany must have experienced this, according to the Federal Network Agency, as the number of complaints about mail delivery nearly doubled in October compared to the previous month.

Among other things, this was also taken over by the Tagesschau. Swiss Post justifies itself by a high level of work stoppages due to corona failures. Moreover, it is difficult, in a tight labor market, to recruit more people. In any case, the Federal Network Agency received around 9,700 complaints in October 2022 – in September 2022 there were “only” 5,000. In total, the authority registers more than 30,000 complaints each year concerning the delivery of mail, which testifies to a significant deterioration in the quality of delivery. Because over the entire previous year, i.e. 2021, there were only 15,000. However, the complaints initially concern all German parcel and mail service providers.

However, most of the complaints would target Deutsche Post, which clearly dominates the mail delivery market. Every month, the German Post delivers around 1.2 billion letters. So in percentage terms, the complaints are minor. But not everyone who is angry immediately begins the complaint process. Therefore, a high number of unreported cases can be expected. There are also critical voices who accuse Deutsche Post of calculating staff deployment too precisely for cost reasons. Corona is just an excuse.

However, Deutsche Post stands by its version and speaks of a total of 6,800 corona failures, around July 2022. Company spokespersons also note that the number of complaints has also increased following the reports medias. This has also been noticed in the past. The articles raise awareness of the Federal Network Agency as a competent complaints body.

According to Deutsche Post, at least 80% of letters are still delivered the next working day and at least 95% the next day, as required by law on a national average. There are local problems, but not general ones. There are problems in about 100 of the 5,000 delivery districts, mostly in urban areas. In some cases, up to 30% of staff would be missing.

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