Instructions for receiving parcels

Dear customers!

Since summer 2024 we have been sending 2 (or 3) additional emails in connection with your order:

• Directly after your order we send an "order confirmation". This became necessary because customers often enquired as early as the next day when their parcel would be dispatched, even if a delivery period of 5 days was stated in the offer. And even though they can view the tracking in their customer account at any time.
• A few weeks after completion of the order we check whether the parcel has actually arrived by requesting the receipt data from DHL. If this is the case, the order is given the status "Received" and the customer is sent an email informing them of this.
• For customers who have a customer account: You can view the current status of your order at any time on our website under "My Account" - "My Orders". Customers without a customer account do not have this option, but can ask us for their DHL tracking code in order to check the status themselves.

This may initially be perceived as an annoying flood of emails, but it has concrete advantages:

• Customers know the status of their order at all times from the moment of ordering until after receipt. Issues such as a neighbour accepting a parcel and not informing the recipient are also resolved quickly in this way.
• It is no longer possible for customers to claim after a year that they did not receive their parcel and demand compensation!
  In such a case we would then have to compensate the "damage", because DHL deletes all shipment evidence after 3 months: https://www.it-recht-kanzlei.de/nichtzustellung-spaete-reklamation-beweislast.html
  From now on we ensure that every customer has the complete DHL shipping data a few weeks after purchase completion. Complaints that only arrive weeks to months later will therefore no longer be accepted by us.

For customers who have refused the storage of your customer data or the creation of a customer account:
If you have not received your parcel, please contact us immediately upon receipt of this email; we are in possession of the tracking data.
If you do not contact us at the latest within one week of receiving this email, we reject any further liability or reimbursement for lost parcels.

Please note that by doing so we have fully fulfilled our delivery obligation.

DHL's tracking unfortunately only works up to 3 months after dispatch; after that DHL deletes this data.
After that no proof of delivery is possible. According to current case law, however, we would have to refund parcels up to 2 years after receipt!
We have already had cases in which customers demanded compensation 6–12 months after ordering for allegedly undelivered parcels!
We ourselves can no longer lodge complaints with DHL after 3 weeks and thereafter receive no compensation from DHL if the fault lay with DHL, which is usually the case.
A complaint for non-receipt, after you have received this email, is therefore accepted by us at most up to 1 week after the delivery of this email. After this time we reject any further liability!

You have not yet received the parcel because it is at the post office, but still received this email?
That is correct. It unfortunately often happens that the DHL courier forgets to leave a notification card; after 7 days we then receive the parcel back.
This is also why we introduced this special notification / the shipping status "Received" from 2024!
Even if you did not have a notification card in your letterbox, with this email you know that the parcel is in your post office or in a Packstation and you now have the opportunity to ensure that the parcel comes into your possession before the storage period expires.
Parcels we receive back marked "not collected" will be cancelled by us; additional costs, including any outbound shipping costs, will be invoiced to you, because we also have to pay for every returned parcel.
Even if no notification card was left, with this email stating the shipping status "Received" the parcel location is considered known.
Therefore, storage in a post office or Packstation already counts as "Received" for us.
By the way, refusing to accept a parcel, which would also result in its return, does not count as a proper withdrawal.

One more important note for all customers who give authorisation to leave parcels, e.g. on the terrace, in the garage, etc.:
Please be aware that in this case you voluntarily waive any liability by DHL or by us!
If a parcel disappears in this way, we are not liable. Please do not file a refund claim with us or DHL if you are missing your shipment, as that would be pointless.
For the future we strongly recommend refraining from authorisations to leave parcels!

A copy of this email with confirmation that it was sent to you will be stored by us for at least 2 years.

Example page for DHL shipment tracking: