DHL Reviews 5,634

I shipped personal items from the US to Paris, France, in September 2025. Filled out all of the paperwork, value under $600 total. The company I used shipped via DHL. There were no Customs issues and my items were delivered to me. (I will note that 3 of my 4 large boxes arrived in Paris within a few days but one was mistakenly sent to South Korea and finally arrived in Paris a week later. All 4 boxes were then delivered to me together in September. Delivery driver refused to bring the boxes to my door even though there is a modern elevator.) However, this is the reason for my low rating: In November 2025, DHL France suddenly sent me multiple texts claiming I owed them over €200 for fees they paid to Customs on my behalf. I called and asked for an explanation before paying (were the texts a scam or legit, can they show me the invoice from Customs, how was the amount calculated and did it include a fee from DHL, why the delay, etc.). Partially due to language difficulties I spoke with 3 different agents but none could or would help me. I was advised by one agent to put my questions in writing by "filing a claim." I did as directed and was assigned a claim number. I have emailed DHL monthly asking for a response to my questions, and referencing my claim number. I have only received automated replies saying they are working on it. It is now April 15 as I am writing this, still no response from DHL.

Ok so we asked for the delivery to be rescheduled as we were expecting it on the Friday but DHL said they were going to deliver on the Thursday - we weren't available for the delivery on the Thursday so pushed it back to the Friday...that was our first mistake..
1 We were job 119 with a delivery slot between 10.27 and 20.00h .....
2 The driver "attempted" to make a delivery at 21.07 , 4 people in the house , no knock on the door and no card left...
3 the image shown on the tracking site of where they attempted delivery bears no similarity to our actual location ....not even close.
4 No push notifications about delivery time etc.
We had deliveries from other companies through the day so there was always someone in the house. Now delivery will be made on Monday ....they think.

Absolutely atrocious ..1 star is over generous based on this experience

The parcel (first 8 digits 24606881) was supposed to arrive in 24h. I've got a delivery confirmation, arrange my schedule to accommodate it, and it did not arrive. Calling dhlexpress france, they informed me it would take " 1 or 2 days longer" with a delivery window 9am to 6pm. No other flexibility whatsoever. This is the second extremely negative experience with dhl france. The final agreement was a scheduled delivery, 5 working days later than estimated.

DHL Express is running a legalised scam on international shipments. My grandmother sent me a personal gift valued at €28 (300 MAD). DHL’s 'Customs Department' unilaterally and falsely inflated the value to €56 just to bypass tax-free thresholds. They then had the audacity to demand €76.10 in undocumented fees for a €28 item.
​When I caught them in this lie, their response was pure extortion: 'We can fix our mistake, but it will cost you an additional €80 amendment fee.' They literally tried to charge me €156 to receive a €28 gift.
​Let that sink in. They refuse to provide a legal, itemized invoice until after they have your money. This is a total lack of transparency and a violation of basic consumer rights. Their customer service agents (like 'Ruben') hide behind scripted 'blabla' while their system holds your property hostage for ransom.
​I have officially rejected the shipment and reported this to the Belgian Consumer Protection authorities (Test-Achats). DHL does not provide a service; they provide a trap. Do not let your family send you anything through this company unless you want to be robbed.

One of the worst shipping and customer support services in the world!

Shipment stuck, sometimes they say they need more info, sometimes a loop of repeated none-sense notifications. The customer support are mean, they give a simple answer and end the chat!

DHL store packed my belongings clearly identifying them as personal items. He put "merchandise" and a $100 value (that's not even close to it) so that the FRENCH charges fees because considered merchandise.

6 emails, phone calls. No answer. On the phone: no help. She gave a number for accounting. Disconnected number. Accounting email: no answer. Terrible company. Don't bother. You will pay the same with Fedex and UPS if not less.

Evil Empire. No concerns for citizens, tranquility of neighbourhoods, or the environment. They just build whatever they want, wherever they want, regardless of the impact on citizens. DHL is evil, heartless, and corrupt. Additionally, they suck at delivering packages and always leave a note in the mailbox instead of leaving the package. Worst company on the planet.

Useless custumer service sas always.

I am adding my review to all of the other poor reviews.
Twenty (20) days—minus Christmas Day and New Year’s Day—from Germany to Spain.
I routinely receive packages from China, the UK and the USA in less time.
DHL’s tracking updates are often cryptic, unintelligible, and uninformative.
With preponderance of these reviews being simply awful, I don’t understand why any merchant would still use them…?

Le colis n'a pas été livré à mon adresse. J'ai alors demandé à le récupérer 2 rue Feydeau .
Au téléphone, on m'a indiqué le 189 rue d'Aubervilliers, 75018 Paris, qui est un chantier
et inaccessible en raison des travaux. J'ai ensuite reçu un email m'informant que le colis serait livré le 16 janvier à mon appartement.
J'ai perdu toute confiance en service DHL et j'annulerai mon voyage à Londres en Eurostar le 18 janvier.

The package was not delivered to my address. Then I asked to pick up from rue Feydeau .
On the phone I was directed to 189 rue d’Aubervilliers, 75018 Paris which is a construction site that is inaccessible if not closed. Then I received a message that it will be delivered on January 16 at my apartment.

I have lost all confidence and will cancel my trip to London on Eurostar January 18th.

I need to add I resolved the issue by going in person 23 rue Feydeau to tell them all of the above. I also asked that wherver the package was, it must now be brought there to that address and put in the consignment boxes and that I receive a code to retrieve it. I nice woman gave me the number beginning 09 for customer service since her own line to customer service was broken. I did as she directed, and a man at customer service said everything would be done tomorrow, and I received an immediate email confirming this action. I do not write reviews to create still more negativity but to find a way out of the situation. I decided going in person to DHL might be the only way to get results and it worked. Hoping I'll find the woman's name and credit her action and efforts here. I am adding 2 stars to review. As a retired person, I have time to spend 3 and a half hours sorting things out—assuming they will be.

Took 20 days to get a parcel that was suppose to arrive in 5/6 days. I understand the fact that it was christmas holidays, but 20 days!? Plus, I ordered a mandatory signing on delivery and the delivery guy didnt call me or rang my door bell… He just decided to leave my parcel on top of my building mailboxes. Where anyone could see it and take it easily. Mind you the value of the things inside were +400Eur. Thakfully and thats why I dont give a more negative review, I was refreshing my tracking situation every 5min and as soon as I saw it was delivered I went downstairs to get it!

You can never know where your package is: Impossible to track package & you constantly get the runaround 😡

I received an email stating i'll be able to receive my parcel with reference 83261627*** by 29th December. I checked today the statut of the parcel and found out it was returned by 24th December evidently without informing me. I can't find any logical reason why this shipment is returned without informing me. And this was not my first nor second time for me not getting my parcels and only had this issue with DHL. I wonder how the he** you still collaborate with companies.

I requested pickup and delivery from Geneva to Lyon online.
However, it seems the French agent hadn't informed the Swiss agent that payment had been completed, so the package was not picked up. Four shipping orders had been created on the MyDHL page, but the destinations were blank.
In the end, I had to go and collect the package myself by train.

I paid 149 euros for an express overnight delivery from Toulouse to Lyon. It took 7 days to travel about 5 hours and they refsued to even partially refund me.

When someone sends you something via DHL, it should be taken as a personal insult. That person or company hates you. That’s the only reason someone would willingly use DHL for delivery. You will not get your package. Their delivery drivers are useless. Their website is useless. They’ll claim you’re not there, they’ll claim that they didn’t see your instructions, doesn’t matter what, they will lie. Don’t use DHL. If you do, a puppy cries.

Two days running have received email notifications of delivery dates and both times followed up with a phone message to say they could not deliver because there was nobody there, which is simply not true. First time I received confirmation that it would be delivered the following day between 12 -16 hrsVery poor service and their helpline is so complicated it takes ages to get anywhere.

They held my package for four days straight without any explanation,i contacted them lots of times,they said that “they will do everything they can to help me that as soon as possible my parcel will get to me and dont worry”, and as soon as the parcel arrived and been delivered i went home and opened the package it was empty…
i have never ever had any issue before when i got packages delivered to me but this was something that hit and got know about DHL,i always thought very highly about DHL,i was wrong and disappointed.
they are the worst.

bye have a good one.

One of the worst experiences with DHL customs in Lyon.
My package has been held for more than a week without any valid explanation, despite repeated phone calls and emails. I provided the requested information several times and tried to reach the customs contact in charge, Dominique Remy. She never replied to my emails, and it was impossible to speak with her by phone.

I received no transparency, no follow-up, and no assistance, even though DHL has all of my contact information. This lack of communication has delayed the delivery of a simple package, creating unnecessary stress and wasting my time.

For a company that charges significant fees for international shipping, this level of service is unacceptable. DHL should urgently review their customer support and internal communication, especially in their Lyon customs department. I will think twice before using their services again.

I’m very disappointed with this delivery service. My package was not delivered to the correct pickup point, and instead was sent to a location 10 minutes away by car. Since I didn’t have access to a car at that moment, I had to take public transport just to pick it up. This is really unacceptable and shows a lack of professionalism. I will definitely think twice before using this service again.