Pack & Send and DHL: A case study in incompetence, indifference, and disrespect

There comes a point in a man’s life when patience isn’t a virtue — it’s just a slow form of self-harm. At 66 years old, in a foreign country, with no boss to silence me and no career ladder left to worry about, I have reached that point.

For weeks I have been bounced between Pack & Send Australia and DHL Vietnam. Every email sent, every document resubmitted, every polite request ignored. Each reply — the same cut-and-paste corporate slurry, as if they believe customers have infinite time and infinite tolerance.

Here’s the truth: I don’t.

Pack & Send’s Afifah (Online Customer Service Representative) assures me things are being “forwarded” and “handled.” They’re not. Pack & Send’s CEO Michael Paul presides over a company that shrugs off responsibility while cashing fees. DHL Vietnam’s Le Tran Thu Hien (Clearance Support Agent) repeats the same broken record about “documents required” — documents I’ve already provided six times. Above her sit John Pearson (CEO, DHL Express) and Tobias Meyer (CEO, DHL Group), comfortably distant from the customers crushed under their company’s dead weight.

This isn’t just a shipment delay. This is a demonstration of how giant corporations treat ordinary people — as obstacles to be processed, not human beings to be served.

Refusal to compensate—in their own words

On 18 August 2025, I received an email from Sharina, Online Customer Service Manager at Pack & Send Online Self Service. It should have been an apology, an acknowledgement of responsibility, and a commitment to fix things. Instead, it became a masterclass in corporate buck-passing.

Here’s what matters:

1. They admitted the error. “Documentation from a different shipment was mistakenly attached to your waybill. This error has been recognised, and DHL Vietnam has been notified accordingly.”
   That is a clear acknowledgement that Pack & Send and DHL created the mess in the first place.
2. They bent their own rules when it suited them. In the same breath, Sharina claimed they couldn’t amend the declared value because it would “contravene customs compliance.” Yet she also admitted the shipment contained items Pack & Send lists as “prohibited” — and still allowed it to move forward. So which is it? If rules can be bent to push a shipment out the door, why not to correct a clerical error? This is selective enforcement at its most cynical.
3. They flat-out refused compensation. “Regarding compensation, no warranty cover was purchased for this shipment, and the goods are neither lost nor damaged. Under these circumstances, Pack & Send cannot provide compensation, and consequential losses are expressly excluded under our terms and conditions.”
   This is the real kicker. By their logic, as long as the box isn’t technically “lost” or “damaged,” they owe nothing — even though their own admitted errors stranded my shipment in Customs for weeks, caused enormous stress, and put me at risk of losing thousands of dollars in goods. Under Australian Consumer Law, this kind of “we owe you nothing” boilerplate doesn’t hold water. Companies cannot contract out of their obligations when their own mistakes cause loss. The ACCC has taken action against businesses who thought hiding behind T&Cs would save them.

Why this matters

This single email is a smoking gun.

• It shows admission of error.
• It shows contradiction and hypocrisy.
• It shows refusal of accountability.

And because it comes in their own words, signed by their own manager, Pack & Send cannot wriggle out of it.

“We made the mistake. We bent our own rules. But we won’t pay a cent.” — Pack & Send, 18 August 2025.

Timeline of incompetence

• 19 July 2025 — Pack & Send: Luke in Adelaide packs a 30kg box, 57×34×38 cm. Quote run, all simple .
• 26 July 2025 — Instructions given: Send slow and cheap, declare value AUD 3,000 .
• 2 August 2025 — DHL handover: Box picked up. Handover point where competence dies .
• 12 August 2025 — Wrong paperwork: DHL attaches documents from someone else’s shipment — wrong consignee, wrong goods .
• 14–22 August 2025 — Boilerplate chorus: Le Tran Thu Hien demands documents already sent six times HCN THÔNG BÁO HÀNG ĐẾN DHL EXPRESS Awb# 9666215495.pdf.
• 15 August 2025 — Pack & Send shrugs: Afifah refuses to adjust value, claiming it’s impossible, under CEO Michael Paul’s watch .
• 18 August 2025 — Pack & Send doubles down: Sharina (Online Customer Service Manager) admits DHL attached the wrong paperwork, admits the goods fall under Pack & Send’s own Prohibited Online Goods List (and should never have been shipped through their system)—then refuses any compensation, hiding behind boilerplate T&Cs.
• 22 August 2025 — Sixth submission: I send everything again, demand acknowledgement HCN THÔNG BÁO HÀNG ĐẾN DHL EXPRESS Awb# 9666215495.pdf.
• 26 August 2025 — eCase black hole: DHL creates case CS4704236, an auto-reply that admits nothing and helps no one .

Impact

• Weeks of unnecessary delay.
• Emotional stress from stonewalling and incompetence.
• Financial risk of destruction or return.
• Trust obliterated in two global brands.

Demand

1. Immediate clearance of shipment AWB# 9666215495.
2. Written acknowledgement of mistakes by Afifah (Pack & Send) and Le Tran Thu Hien (DHL).
3. Accountability from Michael Paul (Pack & Send CEO), John Pearson (CEO DHL Express), and Tobias Meyer (CEO DHL Group).
4. Compensation for fees, losses, and stress.
5. Systemic change in how these corporations handle personal effects shipments.

This is not a polite request.
This is a bill—overdue.