is there still a postal backlog from Christmas?

You hear such contradictory reviews, but the absence of any personal post is no guarantee that there's still a backlog at the sorting office.

However, when you start getting deliveries as late as 5.30pm (by a local 'postie' on his way home), then you do begin to wonder if there isn't some truth in the stories of delayed post.

In our house, we were lucky in that those Christmas orders were delivered (the last few coming on Christmas Eve - Phew!) but of course by then we'd already had to go out and re-purchase some replacements.

However, an order placed with a well known online dvd retailer, on the 29th December has still failed to arrive (as of 14th January) despite claims that the order was posted on the 30th December.

The BBC reported (14th January) of 130,000 undelivered items in a backlog affecting parts of Warwickshire. The Royal Mail have blamed the weather and a change to the way deliveries are being made, whilst in Dundee, there are reports of a backlog of items running to six figures in numbers.

Even the Daily Mail (14th January) ran a story regarding Christmas cards only just being delivered.

The problem could be the result of delivery targets, even though these may be frozen during the busy Christmas postal period, in that once the targets resume, there's simply not enough capacity to deliver the back log and the regular mail.

If you're still waiting for goods to arrive, check with your retailer postal dates and if there is any tracking on your shipment. If you've had to buy something else in the meantime or you simply no longer want the items you're waiting for, then check individual website cancellation and refund policies carefully. There may be cancellation fees or re-stocking fees. If the items you ordered were personalised, then these are usually exempt from any returns policy due to their personalised nature.