It's been a less-than-merry-Christmas for some people around the world who are still waiting for their presents from their loved ones that were shipped via UPS and/or FedEx. And even though the companies blame the rash of bad weather in the Northeast for their failures to deliver the toys to all the good little girls and boys, they're both offering refunds for those who wish to have them.

According to CNN, FedEx initially released a statement saying that there were no problems. The company "experienced no major service disruptions in the week before Christmas despite heavy volume. Every single package is important to us, and we will continue to work directly with customers to address any isolated incidents," the statement initially said. However, on Wednesday, FedEx spokesman Scott Fiedler told The Associated Press, "We're sorry that there could be delays and we're contacting affected customers who have shipments available for pickup."

UPS, however, is taking responsibility for their gaffes, according to The New York Times. "It is unfortunate for this to happen at this time of year, but we're working around the clock to fix it," said Natalie Black, a spokeswoman for United Parcel Service. "We had our peak projections, and the volume has exceeded our projection. We are sorry."

UPS, the world's largest package delivery company, attributed the late arrivals to a short holiday shopping season, a rise in online shopping and bad weather, including ice storms last weekend that caused power failures from Michigan to Maine. Together, they overwhelmed U.P.S.'s air network. Black said only a small percentage of parcels scheduled to arrive Dec. 24 were delayed, but declined to provide a number.

After Jan. 2, the day the industry processes returns of holiday gifts, the company will examine what happened and gauge its contingency planning and losses. Weather has caused delays in previous years. Technical glitches have as well, but Black said it's been "quite some time" since that happened.