INDIANAPOLIS A busy holiday shipping season has left some Indianapolis residents frustrated with postal service delays, while others report smooth deliveries during what the United States Postal Service calls its busiest week o f the year."This is actually the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week of the entire year. So we are incredibly busy," said Susan Wright, USPS spokesperson.WATCH FULL STORY BELOW Indianapolis residents face mixed experiences with USPS during holiday seasonFor Indianapolis resident Steve Burnstein, the holiday rush has meant nearly two weeks of waiting for gifts that should have arrived days ago."I'm just frustrated to the top, you know, there's no reason for it," Burnstein said.After dropping off his gifts, Steve was told delivery would take just a matter of days. Nearly two weeks later, the packages remain stuck at a distribution center just miles from his home."They're sitting at a distribution center at English at or Brookville Road near 465," Burnstein added.WRTV followed Steve to the post office to track down his missing packages, and employees spent more than 15 minutes searching for answers."Nothing. Absolutely nothing it's moving through the distribution center but not to California," Steve said after the lengthy wait. Wright offered advice for avoiding shipping delays during the busy season."One thing that I want to encourage customers to do is to be sure you have an accurate address, and the one thing you do not want to guess about is the zip code, because the zip code is our first line of sortation. And so if that is incorrect, it will misdirect your package," Wright said.Other Indianapolis residents have had better experiences with the postal service during the holiday rush."They're very good about getting your mail out and getting it on time," Delores Parker from Indianapolis said.Delores recommends additional precautions."I usually make sure it's where I get a return receipt if it's something that's very important," she added.Steve suggests considering alternatives for critical shipments."Ship them FedEx, ship them UPS. Check and make sure that they're gonna go," Steve said.According to the USPS Website, the deadline for a package to arrive by Christmas through Priority Mail Express is Saturday, December 20.Griffin Gonzalez is the In Your Community multimedia journalist for Hamilton County.Hejoined WRTV in January of 2024. Griffin loves to tell stories about people overcoming their biggest obstacles and share the good news that his community has to offer. Share your story ideas and important issues with Griffin by emailing him at [email protected]. ...read more read less