GREENWOOD, Indiana (DESIRE) – Many people are still waiting for gifts to arrive the day after Christmas. It is a problem that families are facing, as the United States Post Office is having a large volume of packages this year due to the pandemic.
The postal service released a statement that says the pandemic has slowed deliveries and many workers are out due to COVID-19.
Rebecca Bennett told News 8 that she ordered a personalized coffee mug as a gift from her son to his father on December 1.
“He was in transit and at the Greenwood post office, which has literally been less than 5 miles from my home since December 8,” said Bennett.
Bennett mentioned that other gifts arrived the day after Christmas, and she thought of stopping at the post office to pick up the personalized coffee mug.
“I’m not going to try to make their lives difficult by going there and having an attack, but at the same time it’s a little disheartening that everything didn’t get here in time,” she added.
Other families are also waiting for the presents to arrive.
“There were some problems with my bath and body works that I ordered in early December,” said Amy Henderson. One of these packages was lost and I finally received it a week ago and I still have another package that I haven’t received yet. So, there are a lot of things lost and then a package arrived for my son today and it was damaged. “
The Post Office encouraged people to make purchases earlier this year due to the large volume of packages and employees with COVID-19 and encouraged people to send their Christmas gifts and cards earlier, but some families say they have placed orders already on Black Friday .
“As in the week after Thanksgiving, so, having placed the order on December 1, I should probably have it here in time and I wasn’t here yet on December 24,” said Bennett.
The postal service said 644,000 employees have been working tirelessly to ensure the delivery of Christmas gifts and greetings and continue to hire more people, but despite the delayed gifts, most people understand the circumstances.
“We are happy that everyone is healthy and this is the most important thing here. I have friends who work at the post office and I know they are working hard, ”said Henderson.
The Postal Service said its leadership team, unions and management associations are all working closely together to address issues and concerns as they arise.