We are down to the final week to get those gifts delivered in time for Christmas.
But with a record number of holiday orders this pandemic year, we are seeing more and more complaints of shipping delays.
Post office lines have been out the door this week, as people not traveling this pandemic holiday are instead shipping their love.
At the Mason, Ohio post office on Tuesday, COVID-19 restrictions meant only a dozen people could wait inside. Everyone else had to stand outside in the 35-degree cold.
Joe Hally of Mason was among them. He thought he would be an early bird this year to avoid any problems.
"So this year we brought our packages in on the first of December, and thought we would be a little early," Hally said.
But it didn't help.
His two packages mailed on Dec. 1 have been in transit for two weeks, according to the US Postal Service tracking site.
"It shows that what they did was put it on a truck, and it was never received by the regional place in Cincinnati until a week later," he said,
And things are not better a week later.
"One of them is somewhere between Iowa and Wyoming," he said. "The other is somewhere east of Pittsburgh."
Another postal customer, Jack Grady of West Chester, emailed to say his package"went down during the course of two days to the Cincinnati post office, then for another day and a half went back to West Chester, then off to the Southern Regional Sorting Office where ever (sic) that is."
Reasons for mail delays
So what is going on?
A USPS spokeswoman, Naddia Dhalai, blames a combination of COVID-related staffing shortages and a surge in online shopping and mail orders this year.
"The Postal Service is experiencing significant volume increases, while at the same time employee availability has been reduced due to the impacts of COVID-19. We are flexing our resources to process and deliver the mail as quickly as possible," Dhalai told WCPO.
What that means is that you should give your mail carrier a break, as they are working harder than ever.
But also give your package extra time, and at this point make sure you pay extra for expedited shipping.
That way you don't waste your money.
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