NEW YORK (AP) — Santa’s sleigh didn’t make it in time forChristmas for some this year due to
shipping problems at UPS and FedEx.Thedelays were blamed on poor weather earlier this week in parts of
thecountry as well as overloaded systems. The holiday shopping period thisyear was shorter than usual,
more buying was done online and Americans’tendency to wait until the last possible second to shop
probably didn’thelp either.Neither company said how many packages were delayedbut noted it was a small
share of overall holiday shipments. While thebulk of consumers’ holiday spending remains at physical
stores, shoppingonline is increasingly popular and outstripping spending growth instores at the mall.The
problems appear to have affected manyparts of the country. The Associated Press spoke to people in
Alabama,California, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, SouthCarolina, Texas and
Virginia who didn’t receive presents in time forChristmas.Many were left with little or no time to make
alternative plans.Jeff Cormier and his Dallas family were among those who ordered gifts that didn’t
arrive.He had three separate UPS packages — including two for which he paid extra for expedited shipping
— delayed."I’vehad to apologize to three different people when I thought I hadeverything wrapped up
and good to go way before," Cormier said.Heand his wife are celebrating their baby daughter’s first
Christmas andflew in his grandmother from Ohio to join them. Her gift, a customizediPhone cover with a
photo of her new great-granddaughter, didn’t come intime for Christmas."My wife and I had our
presents to open. Ourdaughter had her presents to open. And my grandma, she didn’t haveanything to
open," Cormier said."We apologize that our customersdid not receive their packages on
Christmas," said Natalie Godwin, aspokeswoman for United Parcel Service Inc.Godwin said snow andice
in the Midwest last week and an ice storm that hit Dallastwo-and-a-half weeks ago were partially to
blame. She also said thevolume of packages shipped exceeded the capacity of UPS but would notshare the
number of packages shipped or what the company’s maximumcapacity is.UPS did not make pickups or
deliveries Wednesday.Extra workers were being brought in Wednesday night to the company’s hubin
Louisville, Ky., to sort packages for Thursday and Friday delivery,according to Godwin.Godwin said
"UPS will honor its peakshipments commitments" to customers who used its air delivery
service.Those shipping by ground have no guarantee past Dec. 11. Godwin said shedidn’t know if customers
would receive refunds.However, some FedEx customers are able to pick up packages Christmas Day at their
local FedEx Express centers."We’resorry that there could be delays and we’re contacting
affectedcustomers who have shipments available for pickup," said Scott Fiedler, aspokesman for
FedEx Corp.Between Thanksgiving and Christmas,FedEx handled 275 million shipments, according to Fiedler.
Those thatwere not delivered in time, he said, "would be very few."Threepeople told The
Associated Press that when they tracked their packagesonline, FedEx said deliveries to their homes were
attempted but failedbecause "the business was closed." During follow-up calls with
customerservice, they said they learned that the local depot was overwhelmed anddidn’t attempt
delivery.On Sunday, Eric Swanson ordered a dollfor his daughter and a sweater for his wife through
Amazon.com and oneof its affiliated sites. As an Amazon Prime customer, there was apromise of two-day
delivery, getting the gifts to his Carmichael, Calif.home just in time for Christmas. One was shipped
via UPS, the otherFedEx."I thought it would happen," Swanson said. Online tracking tools said
the packages would arrive by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Neither did.Amazon.comhas been notifying some customers
affected by the UPS delays that itwill refund any shipping charges and is giving them a $20 credit
toward afuture purchase.Amazon spokeswoman Mary Osako said the companyprocessed orders and got them to
its shippers "on time for holidaydelivery" and is now "reviewing the performance of the
deliverycarriers."While some customers may get money back, they might think twice about ordering
online next year."Mywife understands but my 5-year-old daughter … I think we’re going tolet it be
a surprise when it comes," Swanson said. "Next time, if I needto get a gift and cut it that
close, I will just have to enter the frayand go to the mall."__Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at
http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.