The following contains important information about delayed parcels, please read it carefully!
We have recently received new information regarding the current situation with shipments to Russia and other Eastern European countries. This info comes directly from the Export Parcel Center of DHL Germany at Frankfurt Airport and we have been encouraged by them to share this with our customers for a better understanding.
If you are reading this, your parcel is unfortunately one of the many parcels that have encountered a massive delay on its way from Germany to the destination country. Possibly you have sent an earlier inquiry and we have already asked for your patience, indicating a regular maximum shipping period of six weeks, and that we could start an investigation after that. However, the new information give cause to extend any usually applying deadlines.
According to DHL the exports of commercial shipments (orders from online shops) to Russia and other locations in Eastern Europe have increased exponentially within the past few months. It's apparently at least ten times as much than it was only a few months ago. Such an increase is completely unforeseen and the current quantity of parcels that need to be forwarded is beyond any capacity of the export center of DHL Germany and also beyond anything the chartered airlines can handle, not to speak of the customs authorities in the destination countries who have in fact already begged of DHL Germany not to send so many parcels so quickly (which is if course not in their power to regulate, but it tells a lot of the situation).
The persons responsible at DHL have told us that because of this none of the usual deadlines currently apply. Neither will parcels be forwarded as quickly as usual, nor can the usual deadline for investigation requests be held (usually after six weeks, now extended until the situation has normalized). This means that we can't start investigations yet, but considering the above they will not be necessary for most parcels anyway, and would only lead to further delays by disrupting the usual forwarding processes.
This information is given to the best of our current knowledge and according to what the DHL Export Center has told us in our investigation why so many parcels to Russia and other Eastern European countries are currently being delayed.
They have ensured us that they do what they can to process as many parcels as they can as quickly as possible, and that steps are taken to improve the general situation (other airlines will be contracted, flight plans will be optimized, parcels will be routed through other countries than before, and through different customs offices in the destination country), but all of this of course takes time. They have also promised to try to see to it that the DHL call center staff will be made aware of these special circumstances, in the hope that they will be able to give you more qualified replies if you contact them.
So we can only appeal to your patience. And if you could bring yourself to refrain from opening a PayPal dispute (or to close it proactively if you have already opened it), based on trust in our shop, this would also greatly help, because those disputes generate a lot of work and bind our own resources which would be better invested in processing orders and customer requests. Don't get us wrong: we do not fear the disputes, but they really slow us down, and we wouldn't be asking this under normal circumstances. Only the fact that currently shipping periods go beyond the 45 days PayPal offers after payment makes us consider asking this at all. If you're in doubt:
You are probably aware that we come with the best credentials, and we can assure you that we don't discriminate between payment methods when it comes to service, i.e. we will do our best to support you independent from the payment method you have selected, and if a parcel is really lost (and confirmed lost after the backlogs have been cleared) you will receive a refund or replacement from us with or without a PayPal dispute, as all our shipments are generally insured anyway, and when we receive the insurance from DHL it will of course be forwarded to the customer. This we can promise.
We ask for your patience and understanding in this exceptional situation. We assure you that we and everyone else involved do what is humanly possible to overcome this and have exports to your countries normalize as soon as possible.
Thank you for your attention.
Best regards
