Wild weather stops holiday parcels in their tracks, leaving N.L. customers frustrated

Some Newfoundland and Labrador residents worry they won't be getting their presents on Christmas day, as weather delays have left many packages stuck in transit.

Petrina Daley lives in St. Joseph’s, a community about an hours drive from St. Johns, and ordered Christmas presents online in November in order to beat the holiday rush. As the weeks went by, Daley says packages were delayed, damaged and lost.

A few days ahead of the holiday, she is still waiting for three more packages containing presents.

“I've been so frustrated. Like, tangled up in this whole package racket,” Daley told CBC News.

She said living in a rural community also makes getting packages more complicated, as some delivery companies don’t deliver there.

Daley says the process has been frustrating.

“We're on an island. We understand weather delays” she said. “But the fact that we're like, one hour outside the city and we can't confidently order a package to be delivered to our door … It's just ludicrous,” she said.

Stuck in Mississauga

Rebecca Gillingham, who lives in central Newfoundland, said delivery company Dragonfly, which delivers Amazon packages, told her it has no idea when they’ll get packages — worth more than $1,000 — to her.

She said she ordered a special present for a loved one online early in November but the last tracking update, from Nov. 25, said the package is in Mississauga, Ont.

After multiple attempts to contact the company, Gillingham said a Dragonfly supervisor was not able to say when the shipment would resume moving.

Gillingham says the experience has left her feeling frustrated and disappointed.

“Newfoundland keeps getting put on the backburner for parcels and deliveries,” she said. “I know we have the ferry to deal with but, like, these companies just seem like they can blame the ferry and forget about it.”

Severe weather delays ferry

According to Marine Atlantic, multiple storms have had an impact on commercial ferry traffic recently.

Marine Atlantic corporate communications officer Darrell Mercer told CBC News some commercial customers have experienced 30 hour plus wait times this month due to weather disruptions.

“If a customer is waiting for a package longer than these timeframes, with the exception of dangerous or restricted goods, we encourage them to contact their carrier as there may be other delays in the supply chain that are not Marine Atlantic related,” wrote Mercer.

Meanwhile, as of Tuesday morning he said their parking lots are clear of commercial traffic.

CBC also reached out to multiple shipping companies on how their services have been impacted.

Dragonfly wrote in an email to CBC that some deliveries have experienced delays recently because of severe weather conditions that have disrupted ferry schedules.

“Our delivery force is working relentlessly to ensure parcels reach their destinations as quickly and safely as possible,” wrote a Dragonfly spokesperson.

Canada Post spokesperson Lisa Liu says since Dec. 1 there have been nine days of red delivery service alerts, which means deliveries have been suspended, in different parts of the province.

She says most delivery alerts across the province have now been lifted but that a yellow alert, issued for delays due to weather, has been in place in Labrador City since Dec. 19.

In the meantime, Liu said Canada Post monitors many factors to ensure employees can deliver mail safely.

“Mail and parcels are moving as expected — items can be inducted, pickups are underway, and we are processing and delivering new items safely and efficiently,” wrote Liu.

Purolator’s corporate communications manager Tom Kennedy said weather conditions have impacted shipments sent by sea and air.

Kennedy said ground shipments have been delayed by approximately three days but ground shipments sent by Dec. 15, and express air shipments sent by Dec. 22, will see delivery by Dec. 24.

FedEx communications advisor James Anderson also said ferry weather delays impacted shipments but the company is implementing contingency plans, including securing additional delivery resources, extending operation hours and “expanding package sorts” to deliver packages quickly.

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