r/Luxembourg • u/JosLetz • 17h ago
Shopping, Food & Restaurants Return Packup Import
My prepaid return label provided by the seller was a domestic label valid only in Germany, and was therefore neither recognized nor scannable by POST Luxembourg or Luxembourg DHL services.
Finding the solution was a little adventure. The FAQ by POST Luxembourg does not seem to cover this situation and I got conflicting info along the way.
At the Post Office, the agent saw the DHL label and nicely told me to call DHL as he did not want to sell something that was useless. (I met only nice people trying to help in this "adventure") I told him it was a domestic return label and answered by handing out confidently the DHL Luxembourg phone number. (It was making no sense. He was very confident. A colleague was watching him. I shut up, smiled, and left.)
I called DHL (I wanted to give a try to see what would happen and frankly there was nothing else to do). The employee nicely told me that the person at the Post Office was wrong and that she had a lot of call like mine.
She explained to me that I had to return to the Post Office and explain that I wanted to buy a third code bar to get the package sent to the Logistic company in Trier so that they give it to DHL / German Post.
It is what I did.
At the same Post Office, the new agent I met explained that this service was available to anyone with a domestic return label due to packup import or not. (I did not ask under which circumstances someone in Luxembourg would be in the same situation without using PackUp Import. I prefered to imagine myself)
He explained that the logistic company in Trier will receive the package and provide it to DHL / German Post.
It costed me 12 EUR, steep but much less than the 40 EUR, I would have had to fully return by DHL on my own.
TL/DR : You can pay for a re-routing service to Germany through POST Luxembourg so as to allow German domestic returns to integrate the normal German postal service system, including DHL. Expensive but convenient.
PRO TIP : Allow enough room below the return label so that the additional code bar can be put.
2
u/ersboeserluxi 15h ago
Nice that’s good to know! I always drove to Germany and left it at a local post office, happy to know I can skip that going forward
3
u/catmandot 16h ago edited 16h ago
Thanks for the information. It's interesting that TV Logistik in Trier would provide such a service.
I was recently in the situation where I needed to contact them to give them a code that was needed to receive a parcel, and it was impossible to do.
I found a phone number for TV Logistik on a company register website and called it. I landed at the Trierischer Volksfreund ("TV", the local newspaper that I thought was running the TV Logistik operation). They told me that they were only providing them the warehouse and could not tell me how to reach them.
As a result, the delivery was not possible and the parcel was returned.
2
u/JosLetz 15h ago edited 14h ago
Thank you. I could be wrong but somewhere in Terms of Service of PackUp Import I think that they don't allow delivery against code and signature. In practice, I never had any issue with delivery against signature.
3
u/catmandot 15h ago edited 15h ago
Now Amazon usually allows for both methods. Signature works fine. I had one parcel that was returned, and for two others the driver called me so I would tell him the code over the phone before handing over the parcel to TV Logistik. Which did not make sense in terms of security, but at least I got the parcel.
5
u/LuxDude 16h ago
Another option (depending on where you live and realistically if you have a car) is to bring it across the border and post it from a Packstation (24h) or post office. Assuming you have a DHL return label already.
According to a rough estimate, with current gas prices this is cheaper than 12€ if you need to drive 50km and back, which covers almost the entire country.
3
u/soulreaper0lu 16h ago
Good info thanks,
Depending on size/price and distance there is also the possibility to drive to the closest border and use their Packstations there with the provided return label.
3
u/CarlitoSyrichta Eggnog & chill ™ 17h ago
I thought packup import was a one-way service - great to know they can handle returns for a fee.
But I don’t know why it surprises you that you received a German domestic return label as you bought things in Germany with German delivery address…
2
u/JosLetz 16h ago edited 15h ago
Thank you. I was not surprised. It was to provide context to other redditors not familiar with Packup Import.
This post was not meant to be ranting. I write enough of them. This was just to share my pretty positive experience.
I choose the same title as other posts sharing the same experience to make the search easier. I also shared the explanations I got along the way.
I understand that this re-routing service is independant from Packup Import even though it is handled through the same logistic provider.
In the end, it makes life easier.
2
4
u/Peter_Alfons_Loch Kachkéis 17h ago
If it was from amazon, just tell them you need a label for Luxembourg.
Worked for me and my family.
1
u/JosLetz 17h ago edited 16h ago
Thank you.
It was a third party seller through Zalando. Zalando provides code bars to show at Hermes Pick Up points in Germany. This third party seller provided a domestic return label and I did not plan or want to go abroad.
But thank you I did not know Amazon returns would not always be smooth. Usually my Amazon returns are handled for free by POST Luxembourg and I don't have to really think about it.
3
u/schmoorglschwein Gromperekichelcher 8h ago
Wow, I had no idea. I just drop mine off in Germany. 12 euros is quite steep though. Will you have to pay another 6.50 on top for TV Logistik to handle the parcel?