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Amazon giving gift cards for late holiday deliveries

Amazon.com is refunding shipping charges and giving shoppers $20 gift cards if their holiday packages didn’t arrive by Christmas as promised.

An Amazon spokeswoman declined to say how many customers had been impacted or offered such a rebate.

The rebate news comes as United Parcel Service determined late Tuesday that it wouldn’t deliver some goods in time for Christmas, as a spike in last-minute shopping overwhelmed its system.

“The volume of air packages in the UPS system did exceed capacity as demand was much greater than our forecast,” a UPS spokeswoman said.

Consumers were reporting missing deliveries from FedEx as well, although a FedEx spokesman said the company wasn’t experiencing significant delays.

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UPS Christmas Delivery
A UPS deliveryman distributes packages along his route in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. Overloaded by the holiday season, the major delivery companies are now scrambling to catch up.Paul Martinka
UPS Christmas Delivery
A UPS team unloads a cart of packages on West 17th Street between 10th & 11th Avenues. Robert Miller
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UPS Christmas Delivery
Another UPS courier delivers packages on Broadway at Astor Place. The backlog was so severe, Amazon is refunding shipping charges and giving shoppers $20 gift cards.Helayne Seidman
UPS Christmas Delivery
Here's another trying to deliver in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Stephen Yang
UPS Christmas Delivery
Another UPS employee loads a card on Broadway at Astor Place.Helayne Seidman
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UPS Christmas Delivery
Helayne Seidman
UPS Christmas Delivery
Robert Miller
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This article originally appeared on Marketwatch.com.