Frustrated customers are chasing parcels stuck at the Royal Mail depot in Leeds - with reports some packages have been stuck at the sorting office for weeks.
People have been posting on Twitter about delays in receiving Christmas presents and struggles getting through to the Royal Mail helpline.
Royal Mail has warned that coronavirus restrictions and a huge increase in people shopping online this year have led to 'exceptionally high volumes' for all delivery companies, and say customers may be waiting longer for things to be delivered.
Twitter user Laura (@itwasbaeliens) sent a tweet to Royal Mail's Twitter helpline: "I completely understand the current situation but my package has been sat at your Leeds depot for over 2 weeks. It's Christmas presents, And I can't seem to speak to any humans to find out if you've lost it or not! It's high value items and it was a 48 hour tracked."
Another customer tweeted: "@RoyalMailHelp hi, my parcel has been sat in the Leeds sorting office since 4am on the 12th, when it had tracked 48 hour delivery service, I appreciate it's difficult at the moment but I need it before Christmas, can you help?"
The @RoyalMailHelp account has been replying to customers asking for them to privately message their details so the delays can be looked into.
One customer said his package had been sitting at the Leeds depot for over a week - but was confused about why it was there.
"I'm pretty sure that's not even the right sorting office, since I live just outside Sheffield. Please help!" they said.
Another was allegedly told Royal Mail wouldn't be able to look into his parcel - which has been at the Leeds sorting office since Monday - until the 23rd December, saying "that's really a really poor response!"
A tweet to Royal Mail also said it was 'impossible to get through on helpline'.
Twitter user Rob asked for help this morning, tweeting 'Day 7 in Leeds for my package'.
Royal Mail said on Twitter they were receiving an 'exceptional volume' of messages about deliveries.
A statement on the Royal Mail website for Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December said the usual collection services will be made on Saturday, with deliveries expected to take place on Saturday and in most areas, Sunday, as the service tries to get all Christmas mail delivered.
It said: "Royal Mail is working hard to deliver the most comprehensive and high quality service we can to all our customers, large and small. The combination of greatly increased uptake of online Christmas shopping, in no small part driven by the recent lockdown, and the ongoing COVID restrictions mean that all delivery companies are experiencing exceptionally high volumes this year.
"Every single parcel, letter and card is important to us. Despite our best efforts and significant investment in extra resource, some customers may experience slightly longer delivery timescales than our usual service standards. This is due to the exceptionally high volumes we are seeing, exacerbated by the coronavirus-related measures we have put in place in local mail centres and delivery offices. In such cases, we always work hard to get back to providing our usual level of service as quickly as we can.
"Thank you for your patience and understanding."
