Some UPS, FedEx Shipments Miss Christmas Deadlines

(RTTNews) - Santa Claus might be taking the blame for Christmas presents that failed to make it under the tree on Christmas morning.

Its easier than explaining to kids why package delivery giants United Parcel Service and FedEx were caught off-guard by lousy weather and a massive increase in holiday season e-commerce.

UPS, which chose not to deliver packages on Christmas Day, is scrambling on Thursday to rush as many packages as possible to their final destinations.

According to CBS, FedEx and UPS are "calling in extra drivers and even renting U-Haul trucks to hit the road Thursday to deliver packages."

In a statement posted to its website yesterday, UPS offered its apologies.

"UPS understands the importance of your holiday shipments," the company said in a Christmas Day statement on its website. "However, the volume of air packages in our system exceeded the capacity of our network immediately preceding Christmas so some shipments were delayed."

UPS spokeswoman Natalie Goodwin told USA Today on Christmas Eve that "a small percentage of shipments are delayed and will not be delivered today."

That small percentage of customers are making a big stink on social media, filling the UPS Facebook page with complaints.

"They did not deliver our 'overnight shipping' package on time, even though it was shipped by the vendor three days prior and showed UPS progress on all three intervening days. They just FAILED," wrote Kip Ingram.

Another customer, Craig Bradford, writes, "UPS - not only have you ruined my Christmas, you have completely destroyed my faith in your company, tracking technology and have shown that your internal process is completely dysfunctional."

FedEx, whose spokesman also acknowledged delivery delays to a national media outlet, did not address the issue on its website.

Amazon.com Inc. offered $20 gift cards and refunds on shipping charges for packages that did not make it by Christmas.