Senator wants refunds for delayed Christmas shipments
By CNN Political Unit, December 27, 2013
A
U.S. senator from Connecticut is calling on major shipping companies
to refund customers whose packages didn't arrive in time for
Christmas as promised.
"I
am disappointed to learn that so many consumers in Connecticut and
across the country made purchases this holiday season expecting their
gifts to arrive in time for Christmas, but instead were left
empty-handed," Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in a
statement.
Some
UPS customers reported missed
arrival dates,
and FedEx was late with some deliveries as well, but those were
"isolated incidents," the company said in a statement
Thursday.
UPS
said Friday that customers with air or international shipments are
entitled to refunds, per UPS's service guarantee.
But
that guarantee was suspended for shipments via ground transportation
beginning December 10 as part of an industry standard, according to
the company.
Blumenthal
acknowledged that workers for UPS, as well as FedEx and the U.S.
Postal Service, work "grueling, long hours" during the
holiday season.
"It
is incumbent upon these companies, however, that when a customer is
quoted a delivery date ahead of Christmas, gifts arrive on time,"
he continued. "In a very real sense, Christmas is on the line. I
call on UPS to do the right thing and provide refunds to people whose
Christmases were a little less cheery as a result of their late
deliveries."
Both
UPS and FedEx noted they were handling hundreds of millions of
shipments in a compressed holiday shopping time frame, because
Thanksgiving was later than usual this year.
A
spokeswoman for UPS also said the company was dealing with a backlog
from previous severe weather in the Dallas area.
...................................................................................................................................................................
No comments:
Post a Comment