Hidden charges: Class action suit against DHL Express

In Canada, a class action lawsuit has now been filed against parcel service DHL Express. The company is said to have enriched itself with hidden fees.

In addition to import duties, which are made up of taxes and customs duties, customers who order goods in this country outside the European Union and are delivered via DHL Express are also required to pay a capital provision commission. Does matter. However, this is not a state fee, but a processing fee that goes directly to DHL. A law firm based in Vancouver, Canada has now filed a class action lawsuit against this charge.

Delivery not visible to customers

In court documents, DHL is accused of convincing customers that the duty they have to pay after the package arrives from abroad is government import and tax duties – although a large portion of them are actually for DHL ” Processing fee “. “I don’t think anyone has a problem paying for taxes and duties that are properly owed and payable,” said Scott Stanley, a Vancouver attorney behind the class action. quoted on cbc. “It is the extra charge that is not clear what is bothering people.”

The lawsuit is primarily about how much fees DHL customers charge. As a rule, the parcel service sends recipients an e-mail with the subject line “import duty / tax payment”, asking them to pay the fee, otherwise they risk losing their parcel . According to court documents, customers are paying fees because they believe they are duty and tax. “In fact,” the statement of claim states that the charges levied include “DHL processing or brokerage charges”. According to the lawyers, this is “a hidden fee.”

DHL “Unjustly Enriched”

The lawyer further explained to the cbc portal that DHL is already being paid by the customer for the delivery of the parcel, “They don’t do it for free. And that seems to be an additional charge that we assume is due to the consumer.” Is not clearly described. “The proposed class action lawsuit alleges that DHL operated an” unlawful system “that is” an unfair trade practice contrary to consumer protection laws. ” Of Canada.

However, the class action has not yet been accepted, so whether it will actually be continued is currently still open.

German law does not allow class action

Unlike the USA or Canada, class actions are not possible in Germany. The first temporary move towards a class action lawsuit was initiated with the introduction of model declaratory action on the occasion of the diesel scandal. Unlike a class action lawsuit, in a model declaratory action, a qualified institution, such as the Consumer Advice Center, sues and a court clarifies whether in principle the claim of consumers affected by a case, e.g. against damages , company. The discovery made by the court then applies to all cases. However, the consumers concerned must personally contest the amount of damages with the company, for example.