It’s always frustrating when letters and parcels arrive late or go missing - now more than ever - and new figures show that the number of complaints made against postal services in Germany rose significantly in the first half of 2020, despite reports that deliveries were running more smoothly. 

Number of complaints against Deutsche Post soars

In the first six months of the year, customers complained much more frequently about Deutsche Post and its competitors than in the previous year. The Federal Network Agency received more than 10.000 written complaints by the end of June, compared to around 8.700 complaints in the same period last year.

Around half of the criticisms concerned parcels, with the most common issue being delivery problems. This is surprising since, according to parcel delivery providers, deliveries were proceeding much more smoothly at the height of the coronavirus crisis because so many more people were home to accept packages.

A further 35 percent of the complaints related to letters. Since Deutsche Post has an 80-percent market share when it comes to delivering letters, it stands to reason the overwhelming majority of these complaints refer to the company’s service. The rest of the complaints were about other issues like post offices or post boxes. 

More problems with the post or just more complaints?

Anyone who experiences issues with the post service in Germany can contact the Federal Network Agency, which is the regulatory authority responsible for the postal and parcel industry. You can also lodge a complaint directly with Deutsche Post by calling their hotline.

However, it remains to be seen whether the growing number of complaints is actually indicative of a deterioration in the service’s quality. This is because until relatively recently many people were not aware that they could make a complaint. 

Responding to the figures, Deutsche Post emphasised that the number of complaints is tiny in comparison to the total number of items processed - approximately 57 million letters are delivered in Germany by Deutsche Post each day.