Hai Yen (from Bac Ninh) said she ordered three sets of clothes for her children to wear during Tet (Lunar New Year) six days ago from a store in Hanoi , but has still not received them. The seller said they have repeatedly sent requests for urgent delivery to the shipping company but have received no response. Currently, the order is still in transit. The customer cannot retrieve it, and the shop cannot issue a refund.
"I'm not sure if the clothes will arrive in time for my child to wear for Tet. There are still about ten days until Tet, and the shipping is already a huge hassle," Yen lamented.
Shipping delays are a crisis for both sellers and buyers in the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year) (Photo: Ngoc Thuan).
Dung Nguyen, the owner of a children's toy store in Hanoi, said she was refused pickup at her home by Viettel Post. The company explained that during the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year), the volume of goods is high, and sellers proactively come to the post office to send their packages directly.
However, on the delivery app, the shipping company automatically filled in the "Pickup unsuccessful" section with the reason "Seller not yet ready" and did not call the seller back.
When Dung Nguyen called the post office to inquire, she received the answer: "Please understand, we need to send the package directly because we are overloaded these days."
Additionally, the consultant added that in the days leading up to Tet, sellers should send goods via express delivery (instead of regular delivery) to ensure that the goods reach customers before the Lunar New Year.
Alternatively, if choosing standard shipping for a lower fee, customer service representatives stated that they cannot guarantee delivery before Tet (Lunar New Year). Neither option provided a precise delivery time; they only used "Tet" as a benchmark.
For a package weighing approximately 10kg and measuring 50cm x 40cm x 40cm, Dung Nguyen would have to pay around 260,000 VND for express shipping from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. The standard shipping fee is 130,000 VND. She considers this price too high. If the seller doesn't offer support, the customer will refuse the delivery.
"If I pay for shipping out of my own pocket, I'll lose all my profit. If I quote customers 260,000 VND for shipping, they won't buy; it's impossible," Dung said.
For orders of similar size, if you choose to ship via Giao Hang Tiet Kiem (Economical Delivery), the fee is 148,000 VND. With this option, the seller needs to bring the goods directly to the post office for shipping, instead of having the delivery staff pick up the goods from their location as before.
The prices offered by Giao Hang Tiet Kiem (Economical Delivery) are comparable to those of Giao Hang Nhanh (Fast Delivery). However, in the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year), many sellers reported that the Giao Hang Nhanh app frequently malfunctioned and became overloaded, so not many sellers chose it.
Information regarding the Lunar New Year holiday schedule has not been updated on the shipping companies' apps. Policies on compensation for lost, misplaced, or delayed deliveries by the shipping company are also not mentioned.
Some people suggest that these days, perhaps it's better to send packages via post to avoid the risk of them getting lost or misplaced.
Besides delivery and shipping issues, customers complain about difficulties contacting the customer service departments of some shipping companies. Most lines are busy or unanswered. Customers sending messages to the hotline through customer service software also find it ineffective.
Currently, there are increasingly more posts on social media complaining about the state of shipping. However, this is not a new problem; it occurs almost every year but has yet to be resolved by shipping companies.
Delayed deliveries, high shipping fees, and unsupportive shippers are putting sellers in a difficult situation, leading to decreased revenue and making it hard to recover capital during the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year).
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