FedEx turns Christmas Grinch for delayed holiday shipments

Packages get sorted in a FedEx distribution hub at Los Angeles. The company says bad weather is disrupting service.

Greg Richmond ordered two wool caps from Overland Sheepskin on December 22 to give to his wife for Christmas, and asked for overnight delivery to ensure a pre-holiday arrival. On Friday, at home in Chicago, he was still waiting for FedEx to show up.
Two years ago, United Parcel Service found itself under fire from consumers for failing to deliver some packages in time for Christmas. Now FedEx is being excoriated on social media from customers missing everything from clothes to food.
"I already wrote an e-mail to Overland asking them to find a different shipper next year," Richmond, 51, said. "I'd be reluctant to order something from a company that uses FedEx."
FedEx is "doing everything possible" to move Christmas shipments before the holiday ends, spokesman Jim Masilak said on Friday, a day after the company warned that severe weather was disrupting service. Drivers are making deliveries on Friday in some markets, and counters at FedEx Express stations across the US are open until 1pm for customer pick-ups.
Masilak declined to provide details on how many packages were still held up in the FedEx network, how many employees were on duty on Friday and how many packages might not be delivered until after Christmas. On Twitter, where the hashtag #fedexfail was trending, dozens of customers complained about not getting gifts in time.
Richmond said he was told his package probably wouldn't arrive until Monday, unless he wanted to drive 30 minutes to a FedEx distribution centre to fetch it himself. No thanks, he said.
"I'm not driving around on Christmas morning to the suburbs trying to find a package that was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday," said Richmond.
FedEx's efforts to complete Christmas deliveries reflect the increasing importance of online orders as a source of holiday gifts - and the extreme time sensitivity of those shipments. It said "heavier than planned last-minute shipment volumes" also added to the delays.
In 2013, a late e-commerce surge converged with winter weather to leave UPS unable to meet its on-time promises, triggering an avalanche of social media complaints.
The National Retail Federation has forecast a 3.7 per cent increase in holiday spending this year, and merchants rolled out discounts - including on shipping costs - early to grab their share.