Post: Many complaints about lost or late letters – the reason

In the summer of 2022, the Federal Network Agency received a large number of complaints about letter and parcel delivery. This is reported, among other things, by the Tagesschau, but the Federal Network Agency itself has not yet received any reports in this regard.

According to this, 6,500 complaints about Deutsche Post were received by the Federal Network Agency in July and August 2022. For comparison: In the six months of the first half of 2022 there were a total of 8,900 complaints about the Post and in all of 2021 there were 15,100 complaints. A significant increase in the number of complaints can thus be seen for July and August 2022.

The complaints state that letters and parcels either did not arrive at all or only arrived with a delay. There is also talk of incorrect postings: the letter initially ended up in the wrong mailbox and only later did it reach its correct addressee. Many of the complaints come from the big cities of Berlin, Nuremberg and Munich, but people also complain from small towns. The Federal Network Agency initiated 14 ad hoc reviews and asked Deutsche Post DHL to rectify the deficiencies.

It is interesting how Die Zeit emphasizes that many complaints will relate to letter delivery this summer. Normally, most of the complaints would be about parcel delivery otherwise.

Around one billion letters are delivered in Germany every month.

That’s what the Post says

Deutsche Post explains the high number of complaints with absences due to illness (Covid-19), summer vacation and a shortage of skilled workers. Deutsche Post emphasizes that the situation has now stabilized again. However, the Federal Network Agency contradicts this with the statement that many complaints would still be received in September. However, the numerous complaints by no means only concern Swiss Post/DHL, but also other postal and parcel services. However, the focus is on Swiss Post because it is the market leader.