Complaints at the post office have increased: in the summer of 2022 there were apparently many problems with the delivery of letters.
The whole industry is affected.
Bonn – Sometimes it's like a bewitchment: An important package or a letter just won't come.
Sometimes the problem is not with the sender, but with the messenger.
And apparently it will be particularly bad in 2022, as kreiszeitung.de writes: In July and August alone there were almost 6,500 complaints against the post office - because of late or lost letters, many more citizens have turned to the authorities than before.
Deutsche Post itself has recognized the problems: Postmen are canceled due to the corona virus or have used the summer for longer vacations.
Complaints at the post office: the Federal Network Agency reports numerous problems in the summer of 2022
According to the Bonn-based group, the operational situation with regard to mail delivery is now “stable again”.
But apparently that's only half the truth: The Federal Network Agency pointed out that the number of complaints was still high in September.
Also, the problem seems to have existed before that.
In the first half of 2022, there were already around 8,900 complaints.
In the entire previous year there were 15,100.
Not all complaints are explicitly directed against the Post, but also against other parcel services - so the entire industry is under criticism.
But Swiss Post is by far the market leader in Germany and is currently collecting the most complaints.
In the past few years, problems with parcel delivery have been the main concern, but letters seem to be particularly affected this summer.
In addition to delays or losses in delivery, errors were particularly frequently complained about this year.
Letters initially end up in the wrong letter box and then have to be forwarded to the correct recipient.
Now it remains to be seen whether the situation for the Lower Saxony elections in 2022 will calm down.
Because reliable delivery is not only required for postal voting, but also for the delivery of election notifications.
Numerous cities affected: complaints at the post office about missing letters and packages
The problem is not local: The German Press Agency reports that large cities such as Berlin, Nuremberg and Munich, but also smaller cities such as Freudenstadt (Baden-Württemberg), Pfaffenhofen (Bavaria), Ingelheim (Rhineland-Palatinate), Steinfurt (NRW) and Northeim (Lower Saxony) are affected.
While the Federal Network Agency initiated 14 ad hoc investigations against Swiss Post, there was also criticism from politicians: other companies in Germany also had corona-related personnel problems, without their service quality deteriorating as much as was apparently the case with Swiss Post. said the FDP member of the Bundestag Reinhard Houben.
"Should the quality of the letter services be permanently poor, the legislature should consider granting the Federal Network Agency sanction options and thus handing over a sharper sword," he continued.
Criticism of the current situation regarding the delivery of letters and parcels has also come from other parties.
In view of the nearly one billion letters sent each month in Germany, however, the proportion of complaints is very small.
However, it must be taken into account that a large proportion of dissatisfied postal customers will file complaints with the Federal Network Agency.
(with dpa material)