UPS Delivery Delays Cause Christmas Headaches
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - Thousands of packages that were expected to arrive on Christmas Eve didn't make it to their destinations.
UPS, the world's largest package delivery service, told CNN that they made a miscalculation, underestimating the number of packages they needed to ship.
UPS officials say demand for packages was much higher than they expected, and their system was overwhelmed.They wouldn't give an exact number on how many packages have been delayed, but say the delays are nationwide.
Karen Dziuk heard that message when she called UPS on Christmas Eve.
She says she paid $40 for two-day shipping to get a Junior's cheesecake from New York.
"It was a perishable item," Dziuk said. "There was an ice pack in it, in case there's an issue. The ice pack is no good anymore, it's rotten."
UPS says its drivers won't make deliveries Wednesday, but they've called in people to work overnight in order to sort packages so they can be delivered on Thursday.
Last week, UPS reported delays in areas of Texas because of the severe weather that moved through places like the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
While in-store sales are down this year, online sales are up. That, perhaps, has contributed to the problem.
Not getting deliveries in time for Christmas isn't the end of the world, Dziuk says. But it can be embarrassing.
She had gotten the cheesecake for a group of friends who rallied around her after she suffered a brain injury in 1999.
"They had gone way beyond and above to help me," she said.
Dziuk wants her money back, and she wants UPS to replace the cheesecake. She says the company should have made a public announcement about the delays.
"They could have at least put the word out in the media," she said. "So, at least, I could have been given the chance to go pick it up at a UPS warehouse."
