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Will Deutsche Post customers soon receive better service?

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Will Deutsche Post customers soon receive better service?
A mail box in Dresden with "Only love letters" written on it. Photo: DPA

On Saturday, Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics announced that it wants to strengthen the rights of Deutsche Post customers in light of a spike of service complaints.

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A ministry spokesman said on Saturday that the federal government had "announced a comprehensive revision of the postal law framework".

He continued that the speed and effectiveness of delivery would be optimized, with possible penalties to the Deutsche Post when these conditions aren’t met.

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about sending mail in Germany

The number of customer complaints in the postal sector more than doubled in 2018 to 12,500 compared with the previous year, according to the ministry.

However, the number of complaints was low compared to the number of daily letters sent, according to Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) head Joachim Homann.

According to its own figures, Deutsche Post delivers about 57 million letters in Germany every working day.

"Our goal is to maintain a high-quality and nationwide supply of postal services even in times of declining mail volumes and increasing digital competition,” said the ministry spokesperson.

The ministry, however, has not yet stated which specific changes it would like to make to the speed and delivery of post.

Increase in prices 

As of July 1st, the Deutsche Post plans a significant increase in postage. The exact prices are not expected to be announced before the end of May.

According to industry circles, an increase in the postage for a standard letter from currently 70 cents to up to 90 cents is possible. The postage for the other types of letters is only expected to increase slightly.

SEE ALSO: Deutsche Post: Postage costs to increase by 'up to 400 percent'

An average household in Germany spends €2.34 a month on postage for letters, according to Deutsche Post.

However, the costs could increase fourfold for packages containing goods such as CDs or DVDs, which now need to be sent as a package with Deutsche Post subsidy DHL. That could result in a cost increase of up to 400 percent, reported Die Welt.

There are also significant increases depending on the country in question. Costs to send packages to the US have increased considerably, with small packages now four times more expensive than they previously were, or €15.89.

Vocab

Complaints - (die) Beschwerden

Doubled - verdoppelt

Increase - (die) Anhebung

Letter rate - (das) Briefporto

What do you think that Deutsche Post can do to improve its service? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

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[email protected] 2019/05/28 12:38
I think the Deutsche Post in my village of Enkenbach-Alsenborn is Fantastic! No complaints!

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