Delivery problems threaten Christmas disappointment
Posted on 24 December 2007 by
Complaints about the delivery of items bought online have risen by almost a third in the weeks before Christmas, a government advice service has said.
Consumer Direct (CD) says that it has registered around 3,000 complaints regarding deliveries in the last six weeks, a rise of 29% on the same period last year. Unhappy customers have said that goods have either not shown up, or have been seriously delayed.
However, CD spokesperson Sam Tappenden told the Guardian that the rise in complaints was largely due to a huge rise in internet buying: "We get about 1.7m calls a year so it puts these figures into perspective," she said.
"What we're trying to do is steer consumers away from panic buying - if the goods are delivered after Christmas we don't feel there's necessarily anything to panic about."
Delivery companies and online retailers have defended their performance. Royal Mail, which expects to deliver around 120 million internet-bought items this festive season, told BBC News that it was "on track" with deliveries.
Amazon's UK public relations manager Ben Howes said that the company's delivery success rate this year was higher than 99%.
"It's been a massive Christmas for us, and we've been filling demand for orders for 750,000 a day at peak. If anyone is left disappointed at Christmas it is a very small percentage," he said.
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