So you thought you were doing the right thing, staying home, avoiding crowded stores and shopping online. In some cases, you might have waited until the last minute and even went ahead and purchased the upgraded shipping?

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Even though you did, 'the right thing' by ordering early, you have been checking on your tracking numbers and there has been no, I mean zero movement on that item that was supposed to be at its destination, either your place or your gift recipient, before the holiday. Does this have you frustrated? Why is it happening? Do you have any recourse on those extra shipping charges that you paid?

So, why is this happening? Well. In a word that I hate to keep offering up as an answer and sounds more like an excuse, its Covid.

  • There is an increase in people shopping online, because of Covid, which has caused such a huge increase on shippers, including USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL.
  • Those shippers, who normally higher extra people for the holiday, were not able to hire, and get the new employees up and running before the extra heavy shipments started.
  • The same shippers also have employees out with Covid, so less people to do the job.
  • The shippers (and the trucks used to bring the items across the US) are also still trying to catch up on the need for goods since the March, April, May days of empty store shelves.

Now it's not 100% on the shipping companies, that you ordered your products from, yes, they are trying to do their best, but they too are experiencing supply issues and employee shortages, because of COVID. If a worker, gets Covid, then they have to be quarantined, along with any other employees who they might have contaminated. That process, can take up to two weeks.

Here are a few of the places that I have seen items that I have ordered just sitting for more than 4 or 5 days (yes, I check the tracking way too often for my blood pressure and I will the packages to move, but they don't).

  • Heberon, KY
  • Newark, NJ
  • Newburgh, NY

When speaking to a UPS driver, who has worked for the company for more than 20 years, he asked that I not use his name because he didn't want to get any slack for commenting, he said that the last 5 months have been non-stop for deliveries and that this "Christmas level" of increase deliveries has actually been the standard for him and his route for the last three months.

As to whether or not you can get the money back that you paid for the expedited shipping fees? Well, it depends. The major carriers have said for the last few months, that the could not guarantee that packages would arrive by a certain date. The reason they did this, yep, Covid.

Your only recourse is to calmly, and I really want to stress this, calmly contact the customer service department of the place you ordered from. They might not do anything, but you have nothing to lose by being polite and asking. Just a tip, be calm, be polite. The person on the end of the phone, might be able to help you, might not, but you definitely have a better chance of them trying to do something by your being a little nicer than the 40 other people who have probably already screamed at them for something that they have no control over.

That being said, I hope your package and mine are hanging out and at least having a grand time while they are waiting in package purgatory together.

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