Books backlog almost cleared

Customers waiting for delayed orders from online retailer Schoolbooks.ie will receive their books by Tuesday, the company said today.

The retailer said it had reduced its backlog of school book orders from 5,000 to 1,300.

These orders would be sent to its delivery partners today and tomorrow to arrive at homes on Monday and Tuesday, it said.

With schools due to return next week the company was under pressure to get orders out to parents and students.

Details of the delays emerged last Saturday after parents expressed concerns at the delays on social networking sites as the start of the school term approached.

Schoolbooks.ie managing director John Cunningham today said that all delayed orders would be dispatched by tomorrow “ensuring that no child will be returning to school without their books”.

“We are continuing to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to clear the backlog and we continue to have 30 extra staff working alongside our regular 50 strong team,” Mr Cunningham said.

He again apologised to any customers experiencing a delay.

“This delay was caused by a technical issue at our warehouse, which resulted in a significant backlog of orders,” he said.