Delivery Companies Say They're Looking To Handle Next Christmas Better
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For a lot of people, a return means a trip to the post office.
Amazon.com says its Prime customers ordered enough stuff this holiday season to ship at least one gift to every house in America.
That, along with the weather, overwhelmed companies like UPS and FedEx. The companies had trouble delivering packages promised by Christmas Day.
Neither would say how many people were affected, but the trucks were back out on the roads Thursday, making up for lost time.
The companies plan to prevent another week like this one, in which thousands of upset customers will get a refund.
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As someone who is still shipping out Christmas gifts to friends around the world, Anna Barry feels the pain of the last-minute shopper.
"Pretty annoying if it's guaranteed to get there, it should get there," she said. "And if it won't get there, shouldn't make that guarantee."
She ordered most of her gifts about a week ago with Amazon Prime and was lucky enough to have them delivered in time for Christmas.
But UPS says that guarantee goes out the window during the month of December - or peak season - unless you ship internationally or by air.
That's why thousands of people across the country didn't get gifts delivered in time, and won't get a refund.
UPS promised all the late packages would arrive by the end of the day Friday.
Customers like Brad Johnson reached out to defend those making deliveries.
"It's probably not driver issue," he said. "They can only do what they can do given the conditions."
UPS also responded, saying drivers worked tirelessly this December.
However, that response has left customers wondering what will keep something like this from happening next Christmas.
"Things like this you learn from example, so I would think figure things out for next year a little better," Johnson said.
A UPS spokesperson said Thursday that planning for peak season is a year-round process.
They will look into how to make things better for next year, including hiring more drivers. For now, the focus is getting the delayed packages to customers.
