A delayed parcel is the most common courier problem, and most delays resolve without anyone doing anything. What matters is knowing when a delay stops being normal and who to press when it does.
ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory. We are not a courier or a retailer and cannot trace or release a parcel. Everything on this page is a routing aid.
Who actually handles this
The courier for a parcel in transit; the retailer if you bought online. The tracking status tells you which. A parcel that is moving is the courier’s to explain; a parcel that never shipped is the retailer’s.
What to do, in order
- Check the tracking status before contacting anyone. It usually reframes the question and sometimes answers it.
- Work out where the parcel actually is. Nothing scanned for several days means it is sitting somewhere, not moving slowly.
- Contact the courier with the waybill number if it has shipped and stalled in transit.
- Contact the retailer if it has not shipped at all, or if tracking has never updated beyond a label being created. A label is not a collection.
- Ask for a reference number and a specific expected date rather than an assurance that it is on its way.
- Escalate in writing if the date passes.
What to have ready
- The waybill or tracking number.
- The order number and the retailer, for an online purchase.
- The delivery address exactly as given, including any complex or unit number.
- The date it was collected or shipped, and the last tracking scan.
Verified courier customer care routes
Every route in this table was taken from the company’s own official contact page and checked on 21 August 2026. Contact details change, so confirm on the official site before relying on one for anything urgent.
| What it is for | Contact |
|---|---|
| The Courier Guy customer support | 086 120 3203 |
| The Courier Guy WhatsApp | 064 848 1531 |
| RAM customer care | 0861 726 726 |
| RAM parcel tracking | 010 494 8223 |
| DHL customer service (shipment queries) | 0860 345 000 |
| DHL customs support | +27 11 923 0398 |
| PostNet call centre | 0860 767 8638 |
| PAXI customer enquiries | 086 000 7294 |
| CourierIT | +27 11 552 1000 |
| DSV national contact centre | +27 31 310 6000 |
Who owns the problem: retailer, courier or you
- If you bought online, the retailer is your contract. It chose the courier and it owes you delivery of what you paid for, in the condition you paid for. Whether its courier failed is a matter between them. Say this plainly and in writing when a retailer tries to hand you to the courier.
- The courier physically holds the parcel and is the only party that can trace it, produce a proof of delivery, or redirect it. It works from the waybill number and generally caps its liability unless extra cover was bought.
- If you shipped it yourself, you are the courier’s customer and the claim is yours to make.
- The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud takes unresolved consumer complaints free of charge, once the supplier’s own process has been used.
The waybill number traces the parcel; the order number traces the purchase. Having both, and knowing which party you are actually dealing with, resolves most courier problems faster than any phone number does.
Common mistakes that cost time
- Contacting the courier when the parcel never shipped. It has nothing to trace.
- Calling without the waybill number.
- Accepting ‘it is on its way’ without a date and a reference.
- Assuming a label scan means collection. Retailers create labels in advance.
The scam to watch for
Delays are when fake delivery messages land, and they work because you are expecting the parcel. A message asking for a fee to release a delayed item, with a link, is phishing. Track on the courier’s own site instead, and never enter card details from a delivery message.
If you bought online, your contract is with the retailer, not the courier. The retailer chose the carrier and owes you delivery of what you paid for. Whether its courier lost, delayed or misdelivered the parcel is a matter between them, not something you have to resolve.
If it is not resolved
The Consumer Goods and Services Ombud takes unresolved consumer complaints against participating suppliers, free of charge to the consumer. It expects the supplier’s own complaints process to have been used first and will ask for its reference number, so get one and keep it.
| What it is for | Contact |
|---|---|
| Consumer Goods and Services Ombud call centre | 0860 000 272 |
| CGSO WhatsApp | 081 335 3005 |
| CGSO general email | [email protected] |
Related contact pages
- Transport and courier contact pages
- Delayed Parcel Contact Details
- Transport
- Sasfin Contact Details
- Uct Contact Details
- Rebrooks Attorney Contact Details
- Legalwise Contact Details
- How to verify a contact number before you use it
- Gogo Maweni Contact Details
- Parcel Delayed Who to Contact
- Courier or Seller Who to Contact for Delayed Parcel
Frequently asked questions
How long is too long?
It depends on the service paid for. Overnight is different from economy. Ask the courier what the service level was and when it was breached, because that is what a claim rests on.
Tracking has not updated in days. What does that mean?
Usually that the parcel is sitting at a depot rather than moving. Ask the courier where it last scanned and where it is now.
Who is responsible, the courier or the shop?
If you bought online, the retailer owes you delivery. Pursue it, and the courier as well where the failure was clearly in transit.
Contact routes on this page were checked against each company’s official source on 21 August 2026.