Slow progress.
DHL phoned today to say that the seller should now start the claims process.
The depot were very reluctant to check the CCTV (seems suspicious to me), but when they eventually did they said that they couldn't see a parcel of that description going out.
There's no exit scan from the depot, so all we have is the depot manager's word that there's no sign of it. He maintains that it went out on the trunk lorry to the distribution hub, but has no evidence to back this up.
To be fair to them the CCTV has nothing to do with you. It’s for them and potentially the police as evidence.
Not seeing “a parcel of that description” going out is not conclusive. Thousands of parcels go in and out of depots daily. Is it really that distinguishable amongst many boxes?
It will take time, but your point of call is the sender. But they can do nothing but agree on how long to wait and when to refund you
The sender has a claim against DHL. They have lost the package
If they have sent it properly then they have the insurance cover to get a refund of postage costs and compensation for the lost item.
Ive been through it with lost & very late packages as both sender and recipient. It all takes time
You may be eligible to claim via a 3rd party payment process, if so get the process initiated ASAP. That does not go against the sender (other than the money being taken back off them) and doing so means they get back payment processing fees etc, it’s better to give a refund according to the proper processes, and it also documents correspondence
DHL are right to refer back for the sender to initiate the claims process, you can refer back to the time in the interim period that you ‘know’ that it is missing and that DHL have not been able to trace it, but it’s up to the sender if they refund you now or they wait until they get their compensation. Your only method of forcing that any quicker if they want to wait is via your payment processing .... which will also take time if you have not already initiated it