Complaints about Deutsche Post reach record high

Consumer complaints about Deutsche Post and DHL, Germany’s premier letter and parcel delivery services, have reached a record high in the first half of 2025. Never before have so many people reported delayed, damaged or incorrectly delivered post in Germany. 

Record number of complaints about Deutsche Post in first half of 2025

The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) reported last week that complaints about Deutsche Post and its competitors reached a new high in the first months of 2025, ARD reports. Complaints are typically about delayed, damaged or incorrectly delivered shipments, including both letters and parcels. 

Between January and June, the agency received 22.981 complaints about postal services, 13 percent more than in the same period last year, when the previous record was set. 89 percent of all complaints were regarding the market leader, Deutsche Post/DHL. If this rate of complaints continues for the rest of the year, we could see a new annual record, surpassing the previous record of 44.406 complaints, which was set in 2024. 

Note that these are only the people who complained to the Federal Network Agency. Consumers can also submit complaints directly to Deutsche Post; last year, it received just shy of half a million. 

Deutsche Post says it is facing operational challenges

The new figures are the culmination of a growing trend. Historically, the number of complaints submitted against postal services in Germany remained relatively low and steady, but around 2022, numbers began to snowball. 

Deutsche Post, which has long downplayed the significance of the number of complaints, pointed out that the total number - some 45.000 - is minimal in comparison to the 12,2 billion letters and 1,8 billion parcels it successfully delivers each year. 

Responding to the 2025 figures, a Deutsche Post spokesperson told ARD that the company had faced some operational challenges in the first half of the year, including warning strikes at the beginning of the year, and heatwaves in June, leading to backlogs and delays at some locations. 

They also pointed out that changes to the law since the beginning of the year provided for longer delivery periods, which might take some getting used to for consumers. Whereas previously the vast majority of letters had to arrive within two business days, many now only have to be delivered on the third business day. This will increase the average waiting time for letters and decrease the frequency of post deliveries.