Some Retailers Warn of Delivery Delays and Blame FedEx -- Update
December 23 2015 - 5:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Laura Stevens
A few retailers, including Eddie Bauer and Pacific Sunwear, are
warning customers that their holiday packages are being delayed and
blaming what they say are broader problems at FedEx Corp.
"FedEx is experiencing a backlog that is delaying standard
shipments by several days or even weeks. All online merchants are
affected, and not just PacSun," Pacific Sunwear wrote in an email
Monday to customers. "Destinations in the northeast United States
are being impacted the most."
A message on Eddie Bauer's customer service phone line Wednesday
morning echoed the same concern.
FedEx said Wednesday it is running operations around the clock
to "accommodate additional unforeseen volume from some customers,"
but that its delivery network is "performing as designed for the
forecasted volumes from our major retail and e-tail customers."
"If customers shipped prior to the published deadlines, we plan
to deliver the shipment by Christmas," a FedEx spokeswoman
said.
Officials at Eddie Bauer LLC and Pacific Sunwear of California
Inc. couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Industry consultants who work with retailers said that the
networks of both FedEx and rival United Parcel Service Inc.
appeared to be at capacity this week, and the companies were
enforcing volume limits on some retailers.
A UPS spokesman said Wednesday that the company's network is
running 98% on time, and that it has been able to accommodate about
200 customers' requests for additional volume. "UPS has worked
closely with customers to establish detailed operating plans to
ensure available capacity and cut-off times are understood so there
are no surprises for either party, " he added.
Last week, online retailer Jet.com became one of the first to
tell customers its packages might not arrive before Christmas,
although it didn't name which delivery companies might be
responsible. Since then, a spokeswoman says nearly all of the
packages have arrived in time.
Other retailers said their orders were shipping normally. "We
don't see any indication that we are going to miss a significant
number of Christmas packages this year," said a Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. spokesman. "There is always a small amount of orders that
might not get to customers, but so far looks like things are the
same as last year."
Last week, FedEx executives said on an earnings call it was the
company's busiest holiday season ever, and there was no sign it
would let up. FedEx Chief Executive Fred Smith said some e-commerce
shippers were doing better than others this holiday.
"The people that have the real problem in the e-commerce
business by and large are those that view the transportation
companies as some sort of utility or a vendor and they make some
really, really bad decisions," Mr. Smith said. He didn't
elaborate.
FedEx originally expected to deliver 317 million packages over
the holidays, an increase of 12% over last year. It didn't provide
an update last week. FedEx is delivering the smallest share of
holiday shipments this season when compared with UPS and the U.S.
Postal Service, which have forecast holiday volumes of 630 million
and more than 600 million, respectively, including an additional
week of deliveries.
A UPS spokesman said Wednesday the company "has worked closely
with customers to establish detailed operating plans to ensure
available capacity and cut-off times are understood, so there are
no surprises for either party. UPS is efficiently using all
available capacity in line with our detailed peak plans."
Susan Davis of Le Claire, Iowa, ordered a "Star Wars"-themed
T-shirt from Kohl's Corp. on Nov. 28 that was supposed to have been
delivered by FedEx within three to eight days. But by Dec. 20, the
day Ms. Davis's family gathered to celebrate an early Christmas,
the T-shirt still hadn't arrived. "We joked that The Force had it,"
said Ms. Davis, who owns a restaurant with her husband.
The T-shirt and another order Ms. Davis placed with Kohl's on
Dec. 2 for a Mickey Mouse T-shirt, finally arrived on Wednesday,
too late for the family gathering. Kohl's declined to comment on
shipping issues.
Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer contributed to this
article.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 23, 2015 17:39 ET (22:39 GMT)
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