OTTO order tracking: carriers, delivery and problems

OTTO's shop and help pages are in German. This guide gives OTTO's labels in German, with a translation.

Which carrier delivers my OTTO order?

It depends on who sells the item and how big it is. Each item shows the seller's name and the delivery type, parcel ("Paket") or freight ("Spedition"). According to OTTO:

OTTO only says "Hermes". In the Hermes group, two-person delivery is done by Hermes Einrichtungs-Service, which its own site calls the Otto Group company for "2-Mann-Handling" (two-person handling): it delivers furniture and large appliances that are too big and heavy for a normal parcel carrier.

OTTO says other sellers choose their carrier "unabhängig von OTTO" (independently of OTTO). For parcels, OTTO allows them Hermes, DHL, DHL Express, GLS, DPD and UPS, and there must always be tracking. For freight, they use a forwarder of their choice. Order from several sellers and you get several deliveries, each with its own number.

1. OTTO or another sellerEach seller sends its own parcel
2. Hermes, DHL, another carrier or a forwarderFrom "Unterwegs" (on the way), tracking shows more
3. Hermes PaketShopOnly parcels sold by OTTO, kept up to 7 working days
4. YouAt the door, with a neighbour or where the item will stand

Where is the OTTO tracking number (Sendungsverfolgung)?

In three places:

• Mein Konto. Under "Bestellungen", each item has a "Sendungsverfolgung" link. It shows who delivers, for other sellers' items too. If an order comes in several parcels, OTTO shows the status of each.
• Your emails. After you order, OTTO sends a "Bestellbestätigung" (order confirmation), and later a "Versandankündigung" or "Versandbestätigung" (shipping notice). For a freight delivery you usually get an email with the delivery date and the forwarder's phone number.
• The OTTO app. It sends the delivery status as push notifications.

Your "Kundennummer" (customer number), top right on your invoices, is OTTO's own number, not a tracking number: no carrier can find your parcel with it. Other shops: find your tracking number.

The statuses in your account:

The carriers' numbers look like this (the digits here are made up):

Not sure what you have? Type it here:

Why is my OTTO order taking so long, or why isn't tracking moving?

The delivery time is on the item before you order. For items in stock, OTTO gives these times:

A Sunday or public holiday between order and delivery can add a working day. When tracking stands still, it's usually one of these:

• Versand wird vorbereitet. OTTO says this status can show "in seltenen Fällen einige Tage" (in rare cases, for a few days).
• Only announced. Hermes's first status is Die Sendung wurde Hermes elektronisch angekündigt. (the parcel has been announced to Hermes electronically). It only means the sender has booked the shipment. If it doesn't change in 2 to 3 days, Hermes says to ask the sender: OTTO or the seller.
• No daily scans. Hermes doesn't list every step, and delivery can take up to 3 working days after sending. Hermes can open a "Sendungsrecherche" (parcel investigation) after 5 working days at the earliest.
• Several parcels. With Teilweise unterwegs, one parcel can come later than the others.
• Freight. It comes on a set date, which Hermes sends you by email and text message. A forwarder delivering directly from the supplier gets in touch about a week ahead, OTTO says, if you gave your phone number.
• Another seller. Its delivery time applies, not OTTO's, and it may ship from a warehouse in another EU country.

When waiting is still normal: tracking not updating.

OTTO delivery costs and delivery options

From the seller OTTO, you pay per order and delivery address, whatever the order value. OTTO UP is OTTO's membership:

UP Plus isn't a subscription: after 12 months you go back to UP Basic automatically. Free delivery with UP doesn't apply to other sellers' items. Each seller charges its own delivery costs, shown on the item. If you send back every item in an order, OTTO also refunds the standard delivery cost.

Hermes PaketShop. Choose one at checkout under "Anschrift ändern" (change address); you can't save it as a fixed delivery address. OTTO tells you when the parcel arrives, and it's kept for up to 7 working days. You collect it in person with your "Personalausweis" (ID card): Hermes lists Otto among the senders whose parcels nobody can collect for you with an authorisation. Other sellers' items, freight, bulky items such as ladders and perishables such as plants don't go to a PaketShop. OTTO doesn't mention a DHL Packstation as a delivery address. More on pickup points: parcel lockers.

Hermes WunschZustellung (preferred delivery). With the tracking number of a Hermes parcel, you choose a safe place, a neighbour, a PaketShop or another day in Hermes tracking or the Hermes app. The "Zustellung ändern" (change delivery) link in your OTTO account also shows whether the delivery can still be changed.

Freight. For freight items available right away, you pick the delivery date when you order, unless you book a paid assembly or installation service. Hermes confirms the date by email and text message and calls 30 to 60 minutes before arriving. You change the date online in Mein Konto, and on the day, "Auf der Karte anzeigen" (show on the map) gives live tracking. With another forwarder, call the number in its email for a new date. If the item comes directly from the supplier, your street must take lorries of up to 40 tonnes.

OTTO parcel not arrived or marked delivered: what to do

Look first, then report. In this order:

1. 1Check the trackingOpen the item's "Sendungsverfolgung" in Mein Konto. Zugestellt am Abholort means it's waiting at a pickup point, such as a Hermes PaketShop or DHL parcel shop.
2. 2Look around and askOTTO says Zugestellt can also mean a neighbour or a parcel shop has it. Ask around and check your safe place.
3. 3Contact OTTOUnder "Hilfe & Kontakt" (help & contact), choose the order and the topic, or ask the AI assistant. For another seller's item, click "Verkäufer kontaktieren" (contact the seller) first.
4. 4Investigation through the shopThe seller booked the carrier. DHL asks recipients of online orders to contact the sender, and Hermes does the same for a damaged online-shop parcel. Neither opens an investigation before 5 working days.
5. 5Refund or new itemUntil you have the goods, the seller carries the risk (Section 475(2) of the German Civil Code). If the parcel stays lost, you get your money back or order again.

For another seller's item, the OTTO Versprechen (OTTO promise) helps if the seller doesn't give a helpful answer within 48 hours (Monday to Friday). For a missing or incomplete delivery, it applies when all three are true:

• The planned delivery date was no more than 60 days ago.
• You didn't give the carrier a different safe place or preferred location.
• The stated delivery time ended more than 14 days ago, or tracking shows the parcel delivered.

OTTO calls the promise "keine Garantie" (not a guarantee): if OTTO refunds the price, it does so voluntarily. Delays caused by strikes or storms are excluded.

If the parcel arrived damaged, keep the packaging and contents, take photos and contact customer service. More: delivered but not received, lost parcel and damaged parcel.

Ordering from OTTO from abroad

OTTO delivers "ausschließlich innerhalb Deutschlands" (only within Germany), to any address except in Büsingen and on Helgoland. Items from other sellers can't be ordered from abroad at all. So you need a delivery address in Germany, and if you pay by invoice ("Kauf auf Rechnung"), your first order goes only to your billing address.

For buyers outside Germany, OTTO's page on delivery abroad points to Otto Group companies in other countries:

• Austria: Otto GmbH in Graz, with its own shop at ottoversand.at. It delivers within Austria, with its own delivery costs. otto.at is a different business: OTTO Immobilien, a real-estate agency in Vienna.
• United Kingdom: Grattan (grattan.co.uk). Its owner, Freemans Grattan Holdings, describes itself as part of the Otto Group.
• Japan: OTTO Japan.

OTTO names no company in Switzerland. OTTO'S (ottos.ch) is a Swiss chain of shops from Sursee, founded in 1978 by Otto Ineichen and family-owned, so it isn't an offshoot of otto.de.

Returning an OTTO order

You register the return in Mein Konto and get the label as a QR code or PDF. It's free within 30 days of receiving the item, from other sellers too, but their items go back to the seller, not to OTTO. For freight items and parcels over 25 kg, you arrange a collection date. Where the return's tracking number is and when the money comes: returns and refunds.

Can I track an OTTO parcel in Peek?

Yes, with the carrier's tracking number. Copy it from the "Sendungsverfolgung" in Mein Konto and paste it into Peek. Peek recognises Hermes numbers of H and 16 to 19 digits by their shape alone, as well as DHL numbers of JJD and 18 digits and UPS numbers of 1Z and 16 characters. For a shape several carriers share, such as 14 digits at Hermes and DPD or 12 digits at DHL and GLS, Peek asks the likely carriers and shows the one that knows the number. If several know it, it asks you to choose; if it shows the wrong one, press "Change" and pick the carrier OTTO names.

If Hermes brings your freight with two people, use "Change" to pick Hermes Einrichtungs-Service: Peek never recognises its numbers on its own. Each parcel has its own number, so add each one. OTTO's own numbers, such as your customer number, aren't tracking numbers, and Peek can't track them.

Peek shows what the carrier publishes. Refunds, the OTTO Versprechen and returns stay in your OTTO account.