DHL Express Bulgaria - Customer Service Team of the Year

Company: DHL Express, Sofia, Bulgaria
Company Division/Group: DHL Express Bulgaria LTD
Company Description: DHL Express transports urgent documents and goods reliably and on time from door-to-door in more than 220 countries and territories, and operates the most comprehensive global express network. With a fleet of more than 250 aircraft, DHL Express is also one of the largest air carriers worldwide.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Team of the Year - Recovery Situation - All Other Industries

Nomination Title: Service Recovery Situation in DHL Express Bulgaria

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July 2017 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

When it comes to critical situations and things do not happen as expected, DHL, as the world's largest logistic company, has the responsibility to bring its service back to normal and meet the customer’s expectations. It is incredible how with these actions we have the power to influence our customer`s businesses, their partnerships and most importantly their lives. Now I am going to share a story with you that is an example of how often we play a significant role in people's lives.

A customer of ours ordered a shipment from Ukraine to Bulgaria containing medicines. The medicines were extremely urgent to be received by the consignee in order to continue and finalize a life saving procedure of detoxification after a therapy conducted in Ukraine for decomposition of cancer cells. He had a specialized treatment with Ascorbic acid and Amygdaline to treat cancer in lymphatic system.

Unfortunately the situation became critical when the shipment did not arrive in the expected time. During the transportation trough our network it was stopped and held for an inspection by the Customs Authorities in Germany with no further information available when and if the same will be ever released for delivery. For the patient this was devastating because in order to survive it was crucial to start the detoxification in the next two days.

Given all these circumstances the recipient's wife called and begged us to make everything possible for the shipment to arrive within the next 48 hours because any additional delay would be fatal. As you can imagine, this was definitely a life and death situation. At this time the only thing that mattered to us was to help. We took actions together with our colleagues from Germany to begin negotiations with Customs Authorities and to explain the urgency of the matter, to explain that this is not just a shipment but the last hope for a person to get a chance to live. You can assume how difficult it was for us to deal with a state authority we have no any influence and control of. The shipment was in total custody of Customs and they claimed that while the inspection was not completed there was no way for the shipment to be forwarded to Bulgaria.

This was the hardest thing to explain to a wife while her husband was fighting for his life. In Customer Service we all know that when the customer is upset and not satisfied it is very important to find a way to calm and make him trust you. But in this case there was no customer, there was a person who needed empathy, humanity, understanding and help.

And so it happened, after a lot of phone conversations with consignee`s wife two days in a row, hour after hour, we succeeded to calm her and make her trust in our efforts in resolving this complex situation.

After several hours of negotiations with Customs Authorities in Germany and additional explanations provided including descriptions of the medical substances and the actual condition of the patient, on the next day the shipment was released and forwarded with high priority to Bulgaria.

The delivery was made in the earliest possible hour and on time for initiating the treatment.

A few hours later, we received a call from Mrs. Maria Vasileva (consignee`s wife), informing us that she wrote an article in a local website describing what we have done for her family and giving her positive feedback about our company. Please find her article attached, it speaks for itself.

At the end I would say that the happiness and satisfaction of helping someone has no price and no name. You can feel it only in these special moments being a real human.

It is incredible how strong and powerful anyone can be when they believe and keep faith.

This was a story for hope. We succeed to deliver hope.