Christmas presents may arrive late because of USPS delays
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting deliveries nationwide
Christmas presents may arrive late because of USPS delays By Ashley Bowerman | December 23, 2020 at 7:46 PM CST - Updated December 23 at 10:12 PM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Christmas is just two days away and with the pandemic driving more people to shop online this year, the United States Postal Service and other carriers are experiencing a historic volume of mail.
Many people left the post office in Montgomery upset because their packages are weeks behind and won’t arrive in time for Christmas Day.
“I’ve been waiting on it since November 28th,” said Birmingham resident Karen Stewart.
Record-breaking year for holiday shipments Record-breaking holiday season for shipping carriers (Source: KOLD News 13) By Jasmine Ramirez | December 22, 2020 at 6:32 PM MST - Updated December 22 at 6:32 PM
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - The surge in holiday shipments this season is record-breaking and causing some southern Arizonans to experience package delays.
Teresia Ploski said her Christmas package has rerouted mulitple times.
âGoing to San Bernardino, then to Kentucky where it sat for a week,â said Teresia Ploski.
She said her package has since traveled to Cincinnati and is currently in Albuquerque. Some people said their holiday packages are lost entirely.
âThey donât know where it is,â said Shawna Backstrom. âTheyâre going to refund my money, but it will take 15 days to get my money back.â
Small businesses in Connecticut are feeling the effects of shipping delays. Mystic Knotwork has been busy fulfilling online orders. They project online sales are up at least 25% this year due to the pandemic. They set a self-imposed shipping deadline for customers, but are still hearing that there are delays.
“We probably get about 10 calls a day of people looking for their stuff, or just saying their package is not updated. Their package is stuck, said Jill Beaudoin with Mystic Knotwork. Fielding all of those calls is very stressful. I want people to get their stuff on time and have a happy Christmas because Christmas is going to be hard this year.
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Cleveland and Akron U.S. Postal Service processing locations have hired more than 500 employees since November to help meet demand.
If you were hoping to mail that last-minute gift in time for Christmas, it’s probably too late unless you plan to overnight it.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is trying to keep up with increased demand caused by the pandemic but it’s been a rough ride, especially through the holiday shopping season.
Local post offices are facing staffing shortages and increased mail volume as residents send out gifts and packages for the holidays, said USPS regional spokesperson Naddia Dhalai.
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