Waiting for the internet deliveries

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Delivery companies and Royal Mail have struggled to cope with the biggest online Christmas ever with up to two million packages arriving late, according to consumer groups.

Many customers had to endure scrums at postal depots over the weekend after "failed delivery" notes were put through doors - even when there was someone in. At some sorting offices people were waiting for up to two hours.

Curdell Smith, 71, who had to queue for a package in Wandsworth, said: "The postman came to my house yesterday but rather than knock on my door, he just posted the card through the letter box. They're not doing their job properly, otherwise I should not be waiting here in the cold."

Other parcels were left on doorsteps without any attempt to conceal them.

Complaints on internet message boards highlighted the scale of the problem. One Amazon customer said a £700 laptop computer had been left in full view on his doorstep.

Nerina Bodenhamer, of the consumer body Postwatch, said: "It's dreadful, particularly for disabled or elderly customers who find it difficult to get to the collection office. If a service has been paid for then customers expect it to be delivered."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "Packages are being taken out for delivery and are returned to the sorting office only if nobody answers the door."

The spokesman said Royal Mail would deliver more than two billion items of mail this Christmas and "the lost or delayed items are only a very small proportion".

Christmas shopping online is estimated to have risen by almost 50 per cent this year to £1.8billion, representing about 15 per cent of all purchases. Many retailers pushed their "guaranteed delivery" date much deeper into December.