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Complaints Information Kuwait

Goodbye DHL?

So I’ve been pushing DHL EasyShop a lot recently as a replacement to Aramex’s Shop&Ship but now it looks like I am going to start pushing Aramex again.

I received an email earlier today from a reader telling me about how DHL has new calculations for the weight. So I called them up and spent 20 minutes trying to understand how to calculate my shipping weight and honestly I still don’t know exactly how it works. The DHL employee told me its simple mathematics, I told him the last thing I want to do with my life is start plugging in formulas and make calculations to try and figure out how much my shipping cost will be. Here is what I understood:

If you get a package that weighs 2KG but it comes in a big box that gives you a volumetric weight of 8KG then you do the following:

8 – 2 = 6
6 > 5 = charged based on volumetric weight

So the formula looks something like

v: volumetric weight
w: actual weight

v – w = x
if x > 5 then you will be charged based on volumetric wieght
if x < 5 then you will be charged on actual weight Lets try it again. I have a shipment that is 6KG but the volumetric weight is 10kG the answer is? 10 - 6 = 4 4 < 5 so I pay based on actual weight The biggest problem is you can't figure out what the volumetric weight (v) of your package is until it arrives to your DHL mailbox which means you can't estimate the shipping cost. Seriously who at DHL came up with this smart idea? They had a chance here to gain customers that were pissed off with Aramex and now with this new change I think other customers like me will move back to Aramex. Update: I just passed by the Kuwait City DHL branch to pick up my package. What can I say, its hard not to like them. They’ve increased the amount of staff at that branch to 2 which is a good move since 1 guy wasn’t enough and I paid the regular shipping fee for my package which was based on actual weight since it was 2.5KG. I guess I will keep using DHL for everything under 5KG. I will use Aramex for items that are over 5KG but under 13KG and I will use MyUS for items 13KG and up. Life is complicated like that.

59 replies on “Goodbye DHL?”

Mark, I have a FedEx EXPRESS shipment that is held in customs since January 2nd, 3 days have passed, called FedEx, and they say they still don’t know when it will clear customs. Is this common with DHL too?

Also boxes are usually more than 20% larger than the product dimensions. For example my drobo came nicely packaged in big box. the hard drives came in much larger boxes. my g11 came in a box that was around 75% larger than the camera etc..

DHL suck i had a box today weighing 2.5 kg but got charged 43kd plus 14.500 for ministry inspection. the content of the box cost me less that that! reall unimpressed!

We have to blame the seller and not the shipper for that. Shipping is based on volume – which means the more empty volume you occupy in the shipping box, the less you can ship.
If a memory card is shipped in a giant box, you can’t expect DHL to take the hit and charge you only for the weight of the box – though it would be nice if they do.

Well, I assume it all comes down to how desperate you are to get your item.

In a hurry? Brush up your math skills and use DHL.

Don’t care when you receive the item? Aramex is your company.

Don’t want to order online? Fly to Dubai and pick it up.

Really need it now – local store + local store tax.

Mark, here’s why.

“In line with today’s advanced aircraft design and technology, it is necessarry for DHL Express to adapt a new computation in order to make efficient use of cargo space and to avoid over-bulking. By doing so, we can better streamline our operations and in the process, deliver the benefits of space saving back to our customers. This initiative will also encourage shippers to improve packaging efficiency by using more compact and environmental-friendly packaging, thus reducing shipment volume and resulting in reduced shipping costs.”

https://www.dhl.com/publish/g0/en/tools/volume.high.html

Don’t you see?. DHL is trying to help us, the airlines AND the environment!!!

You should be rooting for them!

Mark is absolutely correct, nothing with guarantee you shipping box dimensions. I have used amazon for three years and to this day I still receive the same items in different sized boxes; and frequently when ordering multiple items they are shipping separately because they are located at different amazon facilities. bad move DHL

I received a package that has 2 adult sweaters, 2 children sweaters, and 1 children shoes from Ralph Lauren using DHL’s shop and ship, first of all I had to pay the tax even though it is shipped to OH and not NY, and second, the rip off customs charged me KD17, and DHL charged me KD20!! A guy was picking up his package and he was shocked that DHL alone charged him KD96!!! They said that this is they’re new charges since Jan 1!! I guess I will be back to Aramex 🙁

DHL have their own airlines, so to them it does not make any difference because they don’t have to follow the airlines rules, unlike Aramex !!

Tsk Tsk, bad move, DHL.

Mark,

i opened up an account with DHL based on your recommendation and honestly i was not impressed. First of all, although i went through the DHL website, i somehow registered straight with borderlinx and therefore had to pay borderlinx immediatly once the items reached my mailbox so they would ship them.

Furthermore, i ordered on the 22nd of december with express shipping from amazon, hoping to beat the christmas traffic, and my shipments arrived in ohio on the 24th, but borderlinx, god bless them, decided (without informing me) that their office will be closed from the 24th, all the way to the 28th, so my packages only arrived on the 29th, which meant that they shipped on the 30th, and then got stuck in customs for a few days. (To the person who mentioned their packages being stuck in customs, i have to clarify that it was not DHL’s fault as they were working from the 2nd of Jan but Customs was on official holiday until the 4th.

Also, when i went to pick up my package today, there was only 1 guy working the counter in Khalejiya, and maybe three customers, with the packages thrown on the ground next to one of the seats in plain view of everybody, i could see all the names of the people and the places they ordered from. Anyway, what should have taken 2 minutes turned into a 30 minute wait cause they could not verify that i had already paid borderlinx, and the one guy could not deal with my problem until he finished with the other people. In the end i got my stuff but i think this is it for me with DHL, i hate aramex as well, so i’m kinda stuck but what to do.

Finally, about the volume and shipping costs, the guy said that this will only apply for packages over 5Kgs in weight, anything less will be charged by weight only. Or maybe it was the other way around but 5kgs is the threshold for something.

BTW i paid no customs fees, although i had paid to borderlinx, around 1.5 kd for stuff worth around 65Kd, i was worried i’ll be charged in kuwait as well but i wasn;t.

Sorry, very long, but maybe this will be helpful to somebody.

I got a package last saturday from Aramex they txt me 3kd but we paid 7.5kd because the package has no receipt and guess wut was inside? A membership pack now how could i get a membership pack that has receipt? and before that they charged me 5% for orderin a game console that they told me we wont charge for video games, dvds, computers, consoles and any electronice device including mobile accessories. So id rather pay double the amount with DHL than someone steal my money from Aramex and yes add the 2 week delays

anony: If you signed up at borderlinx directly I am assuming you are also paying for your shipments based on volumetric weight since the price and weight listed on the borderlinx site when you track your package is not the same as it would weigh and pay in Kuwait since they charge you based on actual weight here not like on the website.

I’ve been there today. After some arguments with the guy in Ardiyah, he agreed that any shipment received by them in Ohio before 1st January would be charged according to the actual weight. So instead of paying KD65 for my shipment I received today I paid KD21.

Mark, Since my packages contained only books, their actual weight was higher than their volumetric, because they were tightly packed in the box, I made sure to check.

Omar, i did sign up at borderlinx but only after pressing the link on the dhl website, not sure how i got routed to the stand-alone borderlinx site.

I just picked up my package and the guy in ardiya said that the actual wight is for all shipments under 5 kg anything above will go to volumetric wight.

I have been a customer with DHL since last june and belive me their services has been declining.

cajie says
Don’t you see?. DHL is trying to help us, the airlines AND the environment!!!

You should be rooting for them!

—–
I wonder where their help went when I lost a package and they only said that DHL don’t care about the package as it can only refund me $100/- as it says in the contract.
———
As for what can we do, well, let’s get a group discount from them. With all the presence we have here I think we could get something. At least return it as it used to be before.

The guy I spoke to said otherwise. He gave me an example that if your package is 1KG but the volumetric weight is say 10KG, 10-1 is 9 which is higher than 5KG so you will be charged on volumetric weight which is 9KG.

I should also add that he said it was very rare that your volumetric weight of a package would be that much higher than the actual weight. So my question is if its that rare why implement this and scare off customers with all this confusion? I highly doubt they have the right person in charge of all this at DHL.

I think that they called weight by volume or something like that. An example would be if you ship a package that is 5 lbs. you think that you are going to be charged for a five pound shipment. Guess again. DHL has a formula to triple the cost to ship that package. The phrase is dimensional weight, I just remembered. The DHL formula will say that you can ship 20 lbs. in that box. DHL will charge you for 20 lbs. instead of 5 lbs. Bunch of crooks. I use to work for them, I know. Use another carrier. DHL likes to toot their own horn. A lot of hype on how good they really are.

Good for you pal, you may say goodbye with no regret exactly like what I did 🙂
Why should a person shop online if he’ll end up paying more than what’s available in the market? DHL is overcharging not more..!
Imagine: shipping a light package of 1 Kg & dimensions of 20 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm DHL will charge me for 2 Kg instead!! It’s double the actual weight…..! So what if I shipped a larger packages but still light? If this is the case I’d feel like a big time jack looser & I’d prefer buying expensive items from the expensive shops in town :-S
So I decided to never leave aramex shop & ship again, they charge me for the actual weight of my packages and now I can shop online as much as I desire! I’d never feel like I’m robbed again…. They charge me for the volumetric weight only if I have an overweight shipment which is about 28 Kg or more IMAGINE!! :).. Well, there is nothing hidden in their calculations, even they’ve explained to me very well when and why I’d ever be charged for customs duty, and much more! They guide me so I know how to save money instead of being overcharged. I hope one of their members is reading this post to know how I’m happy & satisfied using the shop & ship service. SHOP & SHIP TEAM YOU ROCK !!!! :)))))

at Adsonic
in their website you can change the basic insurance from 100$ to any amount you want but you have to pay exter 1% or 2% of the amount of invoice

the volumetric weight is not made by DHL it is a standard calculation way used by all couriers.

I am not in love with their laws or them but to me it is a lot better than the policy of stealing money behind my back and unexplainable delay for example Christmas holidays you can’t blame them for that imagine someone telling you to work first day of eid lol.

now I picked my package today in usa it had a V-weight of 6.3 and an actual weight of 2.5 and I was charged for 2.5 so far so good.
I know all company charges with volumetric you might not notice it because you never got a flash memory packed in a huge box yet :p

if you want to blame someone blame the shipper or add a note in the more information box saying
“Don’t shipping my memory stick in a package that fits an elephant” -or something like that they might understand lol-

so far I am satisfied for not paying DHL fees so that they clear the taxes *I don’t mind paying taxes it’s the law lol*

Aramex takes money for the clearance and USWS takes 13kd for clearance so again dhl is still better.

anony

What I know is that all registration is done by https://www.borderlinx.com and you are not forced to pay online for it. if you pay online you should print a copy of the receipt as a prof for you.
also you should not pay online because the calculation of the weight on the site is not accurate since they weigh the packages in Kuwait and also calculate dimensions this way you have a good proof of reason you. the difference can vary from 13.5kd to 40kd.

In the end everyone has their experience and everyone just go with what makes them feel better ^-^

they should have it infront of the front desk so people can understand them more! because the guy there is aloof and rude and does not handel customers very well, plus i dont understand him he speaks way too fast!

Alright, here is how DHL calculated volumetric weight.

Its Height X Width X Length in CM / 5000. Then you apply the formula Mark stated in his post. I mean if your always within that 5KG threshold your fine. So you could have something that weighs 30KG in a box that has a volumetric weight of 35 and you would still be charged by weight. Guess I am sticking with DHL then 😀

That was the old shipping method calculation, they changed that to just volume weight a few months back. Are they switching back?? how reliable are your sources

Well I spoke to two different people and other users here have also communicated with other employees. I am not sure if its like before because I thought before all packages were charged based on volumetric weight, now there are exceptions.

Very true

And remember NOT TO “COMBINE” YOUR Packages in Amazon!

If you combine a bunch of DVDs or DVD Box Sets..etc thinking that you will save money , you will end up paying much more than the actual cost of the DVDs, as they will arrive in a big ass Amazon box, filled with silly air cushions.

BTW

Aramex service is showing a clear improvement , instead of the usual 15-20 days now it takes 7-9 days.

Yes Aramex said their doing their best to resolve the issue, once they do you know most of us will jump back to them without hesitation for pretty much all out shipping needs. Especially with their concrete customs formula. 5% if > 100 USD + 1KD

If that is true that they will charge us based on volume how come we didn’t receive any notice from them? If they do so simply tell them I won’t pay for it based on volume because you didn’t inform us PERIOD!!!

I don’t know why but mark i always read ur blogs and it seems you want everything to be as you want.
this is international rules so what can we do if they increase the prize or not.
like it or not.
anyway hope one day ur not ruling the world

Gouki simple, you switch shipping companies. DHL is not a monopoly we have a lot of options to choose from so if you don’t like their new rule just shift to Aramex or MyUS or USWS or any other company.

i was wondering why you don’t deal with fed ex i love their service and it worth the money you spent .

but aramax they are really bad the people there they don’t know what they are talking about or even when your shipment will receive home as simple as that. really HATE them and the service too every time i’m in the phone with aramax i get so angry coz they don’t have any papers to approve that the costumes take that amount of money so they have a lot of mistakes 1 time i pay more money coz they don’t know how to count the package after 2 hour phone call i know the right amount .

so i’m trying my best to see the best service and price and i want to
thank you and you did help me a lot by comparing the prices coz i know you will get a headache just thinking about dealing with thees company

I guess Aramex is getting better , I had a box that left Aramex NY on the 8Th , yesterday I picked it up . Another box left DHL on the 8Th today it is still under Clearance

Gouki: so you mean Aramex are breaking the law by not charging based on volumetric weight ? at the end DHL will lose its share of this market if they don’t change their policy, they might think its not feasible at this time but on the long run it will pickup and become one of the major sources of income if it was properly implemented.

P.S: Gouki it would be nice to see Mark rule the world for a change at least what he wants is what the people want.
P.S#2: why does your ip show that you are connected from dhl.com ? you don’t work there, do you ?

Volumetric Weight can be measured by using the formula: L x B X H /1000000 = X .. where X is the total CBM value.

1 Ton = 1 CBM..

If the weight is more than CBM Value they charge you based on actual weight, but sometimes it so happens that the total dimension of the box ( CBM value ) is higher than the actual weight of the box. In this case they will charge you based on the Volumetric Weight or CBM Value.

This is how you calculate this shit, but i agree DHL has absolutely ridiculous ways of fleecing its customers..they aren’t honest at all !

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