Our reader ordered some gifts from Amazon in early December, only to have the post office lose them right before Christmas. Amazon saved his Christmas by overnighting a new package at no charge.

So, I order some stuff from Amazon on December 6th for Christmas. I though I was doing the right thing, by shopping early. And since I was shopping sooo early, I decided I didn’t need the package right away, and choose the Super Saver shipping (free!). All seems to go OK. Amazon says that it shipped on the 8th, says I should get it by the 16th, and I receive a tracking number. After a few days, I check USPS and get the following message:

“Your item was processed and left our FEDERAL WAY, WA 98003 facility on December 13, 2008. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.”

I keep checking, and it doesn’t change. Since it’s parcel pool, sometimes it takes a while to get to my place, but I’ve received other parcel pool packages that were shipped after the first one. So today, the 22nd, I email Amazon, wondering if there is anything they can do, since they are gifts. Here is their glorious response:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com with your concern.

I’m sorry—it appears that your shipment was lost in transit. I’ve placed a new order and we’ll ship it to the same address as soon as possible.

Here are the order details:

Order Number: xxx
Estimated Delivery Date: December 24, 2008.

There’s no charge for this replacement order. I’ve also upgraded the shipping method to “One Day Shipping” at no additional charge.

Again, I apologize for this situation. I’ve added some more information below that might help you.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com, and best wishes for the holidays.
(they also have instructions if the original package decides to show up sometime)

Bravo Amazon, my wife will be happy and so am I!

Well done, Amazon. Although we’d expect them to replace a package that was lost in transit, upgrading the shipping to one day delivery so it’s there in time for Christmas is above and beyond. Also, BOOO, post office.

(Photo: Getty)

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