Amazon denies 'ruining Christmas'

Amazon has hit back at suggestions that a high number of customers have been left in the lurch by unfulfilled orders which could put a real dampener on their Christmas celebrations.

In previous years Amazon has received some criticism when gifts turned up after the big day and in many cases consumers claim they were forced to dash out to the shops to buy replacement presents.

However, this year media reports have suggested the problem has been worse than ever - though it is far from Amazon alone that is affected.

Although the annual problems with the postal service and deliveries involving multiple items with different availabilities tend to throw a spanner into the Amazon works, the greatest problem this year appears to have been with in-demand items such as the Apple iPod.

According to the e-tailer all information on the site regarding availability of items is as up to date as possible. However, at busy times items can go out of stock faster than the website can be updated. In such cases Amazon says it notified customers via email and informed them specifically if the order could not be fulfilled in time for Christmas.

A statement from Amazon said: "We are confident that we have had the processes in place to deliver customer orders in time for Christmas. In Christmas 2003 we delivered over 99 per cent of orders in time for Christmas.

"If for some reason a customer hasn't received their order on time, we will of course investigate the matter and work with them individually to ensure this is resolved as quickly as possible."

Many websites offer guaranteed delivery for order placed before a certain date. In order to manage expectations some sites have been moving these dates towards early-to-mid December while others have gambled on factors out of their control, such as the postal service, and kept dates within one week of Christmas.