This woman's Christmas gift still hasn't been delivered, 2 months after arriving in Corner Brook

A St. Lunaire-Griquet woman who is in St. John's for cancer treatment says she did everything she could to make sure her daughter's Christmas gift arrived in time. Two months after it arrived in western Newfoundland, she still has no gift, and no answers about why.

Louise Reid told CBC News she ordered a gift from Best Buy in early November. She said delivery services, handled by Purolator, show the package landed in Corner Brook on Nov. 12 — three days before Canada Post workers went on strike. But she says it hasn't moved since then.

"I've been in St. John's receiving treatment since July, so I really wanted to make it a nice Christmas for my girls, she said.

"I got home so it was a nice Christmas, but it would have been great if Santa could have brought her the present that she asked for," Reid told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning this week.

"It's very frustrating," she said.

Reid said she's tried to get answers from Purolator, but has had trouble connecting with anyone other than what appears to be a customer support chatbot.

When a friend in Corner Brook asked if she could pick up the package from a Purolator warehouse, Reid says the company shot the idea down.

"In a year, or a half a year, that has been so stressful about, you know, am I going to live or die, it's just one more thing. And in all honesty, I don't need one more thing," she said.

Although Purolator is responsible for delivery, the company said in a statement emailed to CBC News it's Canada Post who handles the"last mile" for a small portion of rural deliveries.

"During the Canada Post labour disruption, Purolator took those shipments to the furthest delivery point available in the Purolator network, where they have been held," the statement said.

"In Newfoundland and Labrador, we have released the majority of these shipments to Canada Post to complete last-mile delivery. We are working as quickly as possible to hand over the remaining packages," the statement said.

However, Reid says her package is still unaccounted for, four weeks after Canada's industrial relations board ordered Canada Post employees back to work.

In an email to CBC News, Canada Post said they're processing and delivering packages as they arrive.

"Our commitment is to deliver within three to five days from when we receive it, depending on the remote areas and weather impact," the statement said.

Reid believes Purolator should be held responsible.

"We still don't have our packages, and it doesn't seem like anything's moving," she said. "People are receiving Purolator packages now from what I understand, or what I've heard around the community, but they're all things that were ordered, you know, since the strike ended. So I don't know why Purolator hasn't cleared this backlog."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.