One of Courtlin’s Gifts Not Here Due To Shipping Delays

I ordered on of Courtlin's Christmas gifts during the second week of November. I'm not going to reveal what it is because as I write this, we still haven't exchanged our gifts yet. I even chose the higher priced shipping option which stated I'd have the package in five to seven business days. Yeah, right. Here we are on December 18th and still no gift. I have received notice that it has at least shipped, but its not here yet. Courtlin won't be the only person who doesn't get a gift on time due to shipping delays this year.

The Gazette reports that record online shopping due to the ongoing pandemic has folks at the postal service a little backed up, you could say. As a matter of fact, merchants everywhere are issuing warnings and apologies as consumers complain on social media outlets. Major retailers are already suggesting that people order items for instore pickup instead of risking delivery before Christmas.

The Gazette reports that the U.S. Postal Service has acknowledged the delays due to a "historic record of holiday volume", and capacity challenges. Add to that the issue of employees missing work due to COVID-19 and you've got some serious issues just in time for the holidays. In early December, the postal service delivered over 92% of packages on time. However, the weekend of December 3rd that dropped to 79% and the weekend that ended December 10th, it dropped again to only around 60%.

U.S. holiday online sales are expected to hit $184 billion, up 30% from last year.