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UPS quits on guaranteed Christmas Day delivery

UPS has suspended delivery guarantees until the day after Christmas, right in the middle of the shipping company's 'peak week.' This could affect online orders that were already placed and will be shipped with UPS ground.

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John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press/AP
Heather Perry prepares to ship wrapped Christmas presents for a customer at the UPS Store in Hixson, Tenn., Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.
  • By Emily Dovi Contributor

December 20 marks UPS's "Peak Week," wherein the shipping giant expects to handle more than 28 million packages worldwide. However, UPS might not be able to fully "deliver the holidays" this year.

While attempting to track a package this morning we were met with a message that says UPS Ground delivery guarantees are "suspended until December 26, 2012." That's the day after Christmas, obviously, and thus useless for anyone who needs their packages for the holiday proper.

Update: A short while ago, our Media Editor grilled his UPS delivery guy about the delay. He said that they had "caught up" with the ground orders, but that UPS is leaving the message there as a precaution.

Since the deadline for guaranteed Christmas delivery via UPS Ground has already passed, this mostly affects online orders that were already placed, as recently as December 18. However, "all other guaranteed UPS Services will be delivered within 90 minutes of normal commit time." To check the status of your UPS order, head to UPS.com.

Despite the message's specificity for ground deliveries, it remains to be seen if UPS-reliant merchants will be forced to adjust their Christmas delivery guarantees for last-minute orders or offer upgraded shipping options free of charge in the coming days.

Although disconcerting, it stands to reason that UPS really wants to get your gifts to you anyway. It doesn't want the PR disaster that comes from crying, present-less children and disgruntled adults. That said, are your holiday orders affected by this UPS announcement?

Emily Dovi is a copy editor for dealnews.com, a website devoted to finding the best deals on consumer goods. The site pledges to list the best deal, whether or not it's from an advertiser, although it does work with advertisers to craft deals for readers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. This feature first appeared in dealnews.com. 

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