Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is calling for UPS to give refunds to customers who have not received their Christmas packages yet. The company said late Tuesday that it was not able to deliver all packages by Christmas Day because of a system overload.
UPS spokeswoman Natalie Godwin said Tuesday that the number of packages “exceeded the capacity of our network, as demand was much greater than the forecast.” Godwin added, “As a result a small percentage of shipments are delayed and will not be delivered today.”
FedEx also said that packages sent using their service will be delayed as well.
Both companies said they would try to get the packages to their destinations by today, but USA Today reports that UPS is still lagging behind. “We have our drivers out delivering today. We're making every effort to get all the packages delivered,” Godwin said on Thursday.
Still, this is not good enough for Blumenthal, who issued a statement calling for UPS to give customers their money back if they were told the packages should arrive by Christmas.
“The men and women of UPS – as well as the United States Postal Service and FedEx – do tremendous work this time of year, putting in grueling, long hours delivering gifts, and we are all grateful for their efforts,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “It is incumbent upon these companies, however, that when a customer is quoted a delivery date ahead of Christmas, gifts arrive on time. In a very real sense, Christmas is on the line.”
He concluded, “I call on UPS to do the right thing and provide refunds to people whose Christmases were a little less cheery as a result of their late deliveries.”
image: Wikimedia Commons
