I want to start by making clear that in no way do I hold DHL in any way responsible for US Customs delays in shipping. Not their fault. However…
For those of you stuck waiting for your 3S to get from China to your doorstep, I highly recommend that you become the “squeaky wheel” to DHL to help move things along. Text chat them. Request a call-back. Unfortunately, it seems you need to pester them to get things moving and get basic info on tracking.
My delivery is now 8-days late. Most of that was caused by US Customs clearance. However, the DHL online tracking system is all but useless – non-informative bullet points and complete lack of accurate updates vs what the reps can tell you in person.
Case in point… by late last week, I was aggravated with lack of progress through US Customs. A couple of text chat support sessions with DHL later, I managed to get a call-back from a supervisor on Friday morning. Miraculously, my package cleared Customs in the time between the text chat and the call from the supervisor. Could be coincidental?... but I don’t think so.
Next case in point… As of this morning, the online tracking system @ DHL still showed “on hold” in Charlotte. However, in text chat and then a callback from a supervisor, I was assured that my package would be on a truck for delivery this morning. And once again, coincidentally or miraculously, the online system just updated to show "out for delivery".
And if you want to call them directly (800-225-5345), do NOT let the robo-system that answers take you down the path of automated tracking. It will tell you nothing and not give you a way to get to a human. Instead, just say “customer service” when the computer answers. And when it asks if you are trying to track a package, say NO. That seems to be the only way to get a human on the phone.
For those of you stuck waiting for your 3S to get from China to your doorstep, I highly recommend that you become the “squeaky wheel” to DHL to help move things along. Text chat them. Request a call-back. Unfortunately, it seems you need to pester them to get things moving and get basic info on tracking.
My delivery is now 8-days late. Most of that was caused by US Customs clearance. However, the DHL online tracking system is all but useless – non-informative bullet points and complete lack of accurate updates vs what the reps can tell you in person.
Case in point… by late last week, I was aggravated with lack of progress through US Customs. A couple of text chat support sessions with DHL later, I managed to get a call-back from a supervisor on Friday morning. Miraculously, my package cleared Customs in the time between the text chat and the call from the supervisor. Could be coincidental?... but I don’t think so.
Next case in point… As of this morning, the online tracking system @ DHL still showed “on hold” in Charlotte. However, in text chat and then a callback from a supervisor, I was assured that my package would be on a truck for delivery this morning. And once again, coincidentally or miraculously, the online system just updated to show "out for delivery".
And if you want to call them directly (800-225-5345), do NOT let the robo-system that answers take you down the path of automated tracking. It will tell you nothing and not give you a way to get to a human. Instead, just say “customer service” when the computer answers. And when it asks if you are trying to track a package, say NO. That seems to be the only way to get a human on the phone.
