HIGH STREETS are preparing for two days of panic-buying after internet retailers failed to meet an unprecedented surge in online shopping.

Manufacturing delays, website errors and delivery problems have left thousands of families desperately scrabbling to replace goods ordered on the internet.

Amazon.com, Britain’s biggest online shop, admitted that it had wrongly claimed that certain items, including the must-have iPod personal music systems, could be delivered before Christmas.

Now it is telling customers that iPods ordered in November will not arrive until February. Amazon customer services also told The Times that hundreds of other goods could not be delivered before Christmas. A spokesman would not give a more exact figure.

The delay can have disastrous effects for customers who ordered several presents at once. If one item in a consignment is delayed the rest of the order will be delayed as well.

Amazon does not always notify customers when this happens. In order to get round this problem, customers must check back on the website and opt to pay a higher delivery charge to split the order.

Emma Weiss of Brockley, London, said: “I’ve had to rush off for the late night shopping because we’re worried that Amazon won’t deliver our DVDs and books in time for Christmas.

“We’ve just had an e-mail from Amazon saying that our goods have only just been dispatched but won’t get to us until New Year’s Eve at the earliest. We made our order a week ago and then they quoted us 3-5 working days.”

Amazon said: “We encourage customers to check their accounts after they have ordered. We are really happy with the way that Christmas is going. Like any retailer, stuff does go out of stock and we do our best to minimise problems when this happens.” For those customers experiencing problems with Amazon, its customer services number — which it fails to advertise on its website — is 020-8636 9200, followed by option 1 and then option 4.

Another Amazon customer, who declined to be named, said that he was unhappy that while the online group had promised next day delivery, it estimated that the actual dispatch date would be eight days later.

Delivery companies, who have benefited from the online boom, have also experienced problems. Earlier this week Amtrak, the parcel carrier, suffered huge difficulties when its computer systems failed and customers were left on hold for up to an hour. A spokesman denied that the problems were widespread.

The problems with internet shopping have been worsened by fears of a shortage of diesel earlier this week, which has put pressure on delivery companies in some areas.

Internet shopping has taken off this year, with online purchases increasing by a third to an estimated £6.4 billion. The most popular items include electrical goods, clothes, music and DVDs.

The Royal Mail estimates that it will have delivered 55 million items ordered online this Christmas, compared with 40 million last year and 20 million in 2002. This still represents only about 2 per cent of the total retail market and is driven mainly by people living in London and the South East.

A leading retail industry figure said that the problems would lead to a rush of panic-buying over the next two days, particularly in London and the South East.

He said: “This is when the internet hype runs out of steam. The problem is that people went online to place their orders last weekend and expected instant delivery but delivery is an issue at peak periods.”Alan Jones, marketing manager at the Bluewater centre in Kent, said that he anticipated a last-minute rush.

The Office of Fair Trading said that complaints connected to buying online and through catalogues had doubled in a year, from 200 to 453.

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