* The Wall Street Journal lists gifts with a real return on investment. These ideas promise to save or make money for the recipient. Not a bad idea at all.

* Kiplinger suggests giving financial well-being. How exactly is this done? According to them, it's achieved through gifts like a paper shredder, home safe, and (of course) a subscription to their magazine. How romantic. Of course, there is some sense to these for those of you who are more practically minded.

* Bankrate offers some recession-proof holiday gifts including both 12 suggestions as well as low cost alternatives for each of these dozen.

Then again, you may be tried of the commercialization (and expense) of the holidays and are looking for alternatives. If so, you may agree with Free Money Finance's call to celebrate simply, not over-spending and leaving a huge debt for yourself in January. They offer four ways to do this: cut back your gift list, limit how much you spend, decide to be charitable, and determine which activities bring you real joy.

Whatever your plans for this holiday season, we wish you a joyful time, full of happiness and good cheer. Oh, and great deals at your favorite store too...

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: strobist)

...it's up to the company to ask the bankruptcy court to allow it to continue accepting gift cards. If they don't ask, you're out of luck. So spend them quickly if you get them, and before you buy them, maybe check the financial pages to see if the company is headed for Chapter 11. Aha, you say, I'll just buy one of those ones backed by VISA or the like. Not so fast. If they're backed by a bank or credit card company, they can have all sorts of hidden fees and various ways for them to quietly depreciate in value.

The Gift Card Comes Wrapped in Growing Risk [NYT] (Photo: paper house)

• homemade truffles
• homemade hand warmer
• gingerbread house
• gift of time or skill
• personalized calendars
• gourmet salt assortment
• love coupons

He also lists additional sites that offer "thousands of other great Christmas crafts." Among all of these ideas, there's bound to be something to appeal to almost everyone, giving us the option of giving less expensive yet oftentimes more heartfelt holiday gifts.

But these ideas come with a warning as well — that in order to complete many of them, you need to get started soon. So, what are you waiting for?

A Do-It-Yourself Christmas: 34 Great Gifts You Can Make Yourself [Get Rich Slowly]

— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: saramarie)

"I'm not sure if this counts as Christmas creep, but it's definitely pre-Thanksgiving."

Scandalous.

Santa bookings have dropped so steeply that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, which represents 700 jolly souls in red velvet, held a series of meetings to discuss their economic survival. Among the tips: If clients can't afford an extended Santa visit at $125 an hour, offer them a quickie drop-in. "Have him read a story to the group instead of having everyone come sit on Santa's lap," suggests Nicholas Trolli, who says bookings are down 50% for the 20 Santas he represents along the East Coast.

This trend of skimping on civic cheer comes as a blow to many families. Their holidays at home will be more modest this year. Office parties will also be subdued. Now they can't even count on cherished holiday traditions in the town square.

This is tragic, because as everyone knows, if Santa is broke he'll have to cut back on health care for the elves and that's just going to place an undue burden on the taxpayer. Or worse yet, he'll have to outsource his toy making contracts to gnomes.

Glum Tidings: Santa Gets Sacked as Cities, Companies Look to Save [WSJ via Buzzfeed]
(Photo: silent (e) )

Reader Matt says:

I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the Christmas holiday on the planet but the spirit isn't typically shown after Thanksgiving. I've gotten a few laughs on how many stores started with the Christmas Creep extremely early this year. Well it extends beyond the stores. After dropping my fiancee off at Logan Airport this morning, which is in Boston for those not familiar with the area, I started scanning the radio to find some decent tunes. And what did I find on Oldies 103.3? You guessed it Christmas music. When I got home and took a look at their website, http://www.oldies1033.com/ , it really put the icing on the cake. The "holiday season" has gotten out of control this year and I just wanted to share my experience with you guys.

2008 Holiday Ordering Deadlines for On-Time Delivery [Dealhack] (Photo: m_sabal)

My manager began playing Christmas music the week before Halloween. I've had numerous customers come up to me and complain.. saying we're pushing to much into the season. The music continues to play, nonstop. We only stopped for a short hour or two on Halloween to play Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a couple of times. Christmas is here, at Borders Books and Music in Massachusetts.

Start shopping now!

Reader Kyle says these photos were taken yesterday, 10/29 at a CVS in Arlington, VA.

(Thanks, Kyle!)

Wikipedia says The Halloween Tree is a novel by Ray Bradbury, but somehow I don't think this is what he had in mind. Maybe the Halloween decorations are mating with the Christmas trees?

(Thanks, Darrell!)

Meg says:

It really disturbs me. Pumpkins should NOT wear Santa hats, and little candy corns should NOT mingle with Christmas trees! Seemingly we can't even have Halloween anymore without the mention of Christmas!

Yeah! This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...

Reader Aaron says:

Today I was in Rite Aid in Bellport, NY with my wife getting her prescription filled. When we walked down an aisle, I was greeted by a nice, long display of Christmas decorations and items to purchase! I groaned and told my wife how it is just obscene and obnoxious to have this stuff out when it's September and I'm still wearing shorts. I mean, Halloween is still a month away!

Anyhow, I share in your anger of how a single day out of 365 is exploited beyond belief.

Aaron, you're just lazy. By today's standards, you should have been buying your Halloween decorations two months ago. Get with the program!

Get this emailed to your inbox weekly by signing up here. (Photo: Getty)

From Reuters:

"This a staggeringly bad number," said pollster John Zogby, referring to the number of people who said they would spend the same amount on gifts this year. He noted that with inflation, even flat sales means retailers won't be making as much.

"You're still going to have people standing in line at three in the morning at Wal-Mart, but the lines may be thinner this year" on Black Friday, he said, referring to the day after Thanksgiving in late November that kicks off the holiday sales season with a barrage of promotions.

Oh well. You'd have shot your eye out anyway.

Shoppers to cut back holiday gifts [Reuters]

Was walking through my local Gaithersburg, MD Costco shopping for my 55 gal drum of mayo when I spotted the creep. Now America's cries for 100 yard bolts of wrapping paper and 50 yard rolls of ribbon have been answered. Forgive the somewhat craptastic photo, was taken with my cell.

You are forgiven, of course. It's the Christmas Spirit in us, we guess.

Spotted some Christmas Creep? Send us your photos at tips@consumerist.com.

Most agree that AFTER Thanksgiving should be the start of the CHRISTMAS season, but this idea has been lost on retail for a long, long time.

I spotted this wrapping paper at Walgreens, and although its on the unreachable top shelf and probably just overflow from the stock room, I definitely think it qualifies.

Christmas Creep at Walgreens [FutureGringo]

Tipster Rex spotted the summer yuletide display in Oklahoma City.

About 10 days ago we were buying some crap at Garden Ridge. Seasonally correct crap, stuff for summer use. The place is being set up for full on Christmas sales. Notice the Christmas trees, yard inflatables and a whole collection of ornaments and toys.

You should have seen the staff they had decorating trees and stocking shelves.

This image was taken August 13, 2008.

It's completely stupid right?!

It's not completely stupid. That yard inflatable is the perfect place to escape the 94 degree scorcher expected to grace Oklahoma today.

A disarmingly unseasonal saleswoman explained that all Hobby Lobby locations now sell Christmas trees. They're not real, because real trees die after one month, nature's way of telling you to slow down and appreciate Thanksgiving. The saleswoman found nothing wrong with the new arrivals, and thought it was "great" that the trees were finally available in August. Reader Justin disagrees:

From a store I've never heard of called "Hobby Lobby" in the small town of Hutchinson, Kansas. This picture was taken on August 12th. Seeing the Christmas trees this early literally made me sick to my stomach.

Christmas is over four months away—126 days and counting—something we're going to remember and appreciate tomorrow as we relax on a hot sunny beach.

Check out the full set here (caption has a bad word).
Have you seen some Christmas Creep? Tell us about it at tips@consumerist.com.

Last night during a leisurely stroll through the mall, I happened to snap a shot of the Christmas Creep in a storefront window. And it's only July! The picture is pretty crappy — I took it with my Blackberry, but I thought I would share it anyway. You know, there's only 148 days until Christmas!

Nooooooooo. Christmas Creep in July? We realize they're probably trying to be funny, but for some reason we still find it depressing.

Dear Sur La Table Customer Service Management,

Hello, my name is Rachel. I am a student in my mid twenties from Cleveland, Ohio, and I would very much like to give feedback on my Sur La Table online shopping experience.

First of all, I want to say that I am not a regular shopper at your store. Quite frankly, as a lower-class college student who works part time as an accountant and office manager at a non-profit and lives on a very low-budget- nearly fixed income, it would be rare for me to be able to afford the gorgeous items that your store offers. I usually walk into your store and spend nearly an hour gazing at (and drooling over) the luscious array of cookware and bake ware, consciously taking note of items I can ask my parents for on the occasion that I receive Christmas or birthday gifts.

Keeping this in mind, you can imagine how excited I was to receive a $100 Sur La Table gift certificate for Christmas. In fact, I came home Christmas night and spent at least two hours picking out exactly what I wanted, and even allowing myself to spend almost all of the money I received for Christmas on the remainder of my order. I felt guilty for doing so, but was entranced by the variety of fabulous options I had. I was sooo excited to receive my order.

I was extra excited when one of the ten items I had ordered arrived just two days later! I figured since your company boasts to have such immaculate customer service, that you may have sent items as soon as they became available so your customers would receive them faster. Excellent! However, the next day (12/29), I go to buy groceries with my bank card, only to find that I would be overdrawn if I did so. How could this be? The math just didn't add up.

Lo and behold, your company with immaculate customer service charged $165.15 to my bank account. Funny, as I had placed my order using a $100 gift certificate, and knew that I should only be charged around $65 for my order. I called your call center the next day, and was told that it was an error on your behalf, and a check would be issued to me shortly. I asked why the money couldn't just be placed back onto my credit card. I was told that the accounting for gift cards was different, so this was not a possibility. As an accountant myself, I understood and sympathized with your situation, said that I'd hope the check would be sent out within a few days. I was assured it would be. I was also told that my order had been sent days ago, and should arrive the next day, if it didn't come later that same day.

A week later, when zero out of my nine other items arrived, as well as no refund check in sight, I started to worry. I sent a query electronically through your website, and two days later, there was still no reply. I decided I would call your phone center, yet again. This time, I was told that it was, in deed, an accident on your behalf once again, and somehow, only one of my items got shipped. I was told that you were indeed, very, very sorry, and that my items would be sent expeditiously. I suggested that overnight shipping would be a good idea, and the customer service rep said that she would "rush" my order. I again inquired about the refund check and was told that it was "in processing" and would get to me in a few days.

Well guess what I did get a few days later (1/15/08)? My check? NO. My 9 MIA items? NO. I got another charge to my bank account for $31.89. What the hell was this charge for? I still hadn't received my items, nor did I order any more items, so basically I knew I was paying for a third customer service blunder. Now I was in the hole to the tune of $200 for an order that was supposed to cost me $65.

Now maybe this kind of shit isn't a big deal to your regulars- people who have disposable income to blow on $800 espresso machines and tea that costs $25 per box, but it's a big deal to me, a woman who can't even afford a daily coffee from Starbucks and keeps a box of Celestial Seasonings bags in her desk that she purchased from Dollar General. $135 is three weeks worth of groceries for me, or my electric, heat, and car insurance bill. You get my drift.

So, of course, I call your customer service line again. This time, I spoke with a manager named Judy, and was told that the $31.89 charge on my account was a mistake that occurred when my order was reprocessed, and would promptly be returned (which it was: a not-so-prompt FIVE days later) and PROMISED that my check, that was still "in processing," would be written out that SAME WEEK and OVERNIGHTED to me, just as my nine-item replacement order that I still hadn't received supposedly was. I said I was okay with this, but really upset that the situation wasn't handled more expeditiously. I felt lucky when the rest of my nine items from my original order placed on Christmas finally arrived the next day- an unacceptable 21 days after I had initially ordered them.

That brings us to the present. Today is February 4th, and it is has been 42 days since your company STOLE $100 out of my bank account. I thought that emailing the details of the situation to you would be a better idea than having to yet again, drone on and on to a customer service representative about this situation one more time, only to receive useless and untrue information in return. I am absolutely DEMANDING my money back immediately, or will be more than happy to proceed to contact my bank, credit card company that represents my bank account, Washington state's Better Business Bureau, as well as BBBonline about this situation.

I look forward to your prompt response as well as an appropriate resolution for this completely ludicrous situation. I also look forward to taking my future petty business, which your company obviously does not value, to my local Williams and Sonoma.

Dismayed, disappointed, and shaking my pointer finger at you,

Rachel

My grandfather ordered an engraved Tiffany silver bracelet as a surprise Christmas gift for my grandmother. He had custom engraving put on the bracelet, and had arranged for the bracelet to be delivered to my house about 2 weeks before Christmas. Two weeks after the order (when we should've received the bracelet), there was no bracelet. We gave it another week, and the my grandfather emailed Tiffany customer support. He received an automated response stating that because of the overwhelming Christmas rush, he needed to contact customer support via their 800 number. Of course, the 800 number was impossible to get through to also.

My grandfather, being the laid back man that he is, wasn't really angry, but he wanted to know what was going on with the bracelet. Tiffany customer service ended up calling him on the Friday before Christmas. As luck would have it, he was out fishing, and my grandmother talked to them, thus ruining the surprise. When he returned home, he was able to actually get through to the rep who called him earlier. She informed him that because of a Christmas rush they were not expecting, the bracelet would not be arriving before Christmas. To make up for the fact that they had ruined the surprise and would not be getting the bracelet to my grandfather before Christmas, they would be giving him the order FREE. He asked to clarify, asking if they just meant the shipping or the engraving free, but no, the ENTIRE COST of the order was FREE. Of course, he was blown away (after all, this is a $255 bracelet, plus the cost of engraving and shipping).

Tiffany ended up shipping the bracelet on Saturday, overnighting it to my house where I received it on Monday. There was no invoice or such in the box, so we were still wondering IF the bracelet was actually going to be free (with the final call coming from the credit card bill). Sure enough, when the credit card bill came that would've contained the charge, there was absolutely no charges from Tiffany.

So, it's nice to know that there are indeed some companies who want to keep their reputation that treat their customers well.

Reginald writes:

For Christmas, my wife bought me a lawyer bar hutch (Order XXXXXXXXXXXXXX). She also paid extra for delivery and setup.

The delivery company scheduled the delivery for between noon and 2 p.m. on 2007-12-26. I planned my day (including re-scheduling a family event) so that I could wait for the deliverers.

When I arrived home at noon on 2007-12-26, I learned that the deliverers had dropped off the piece 45 minutes earlier (and it was just pure luck that someone happened to be there to open the door for them). Furthermore, the setup was incomplete.

Needless to say, I was fuming. I called the Pottery Barn number that I had. The call service representative was nice, but apparently this particular call center did not handle this type of issue. She gave me a phone number in case I was disconnected, and of course, I was disconnected.

Unsurprisingly, I was livid and at that moment frankly not someone from whom you'd want to get a service call. Fortunately, I reached Jim. He was polite, sympathetic, and seemed generally concerned about my situation. More importantly, though, he solved my problem: He quickly reached the delivery company and had them return to complete the setup later that day.

What Jim did was great service. Then he provided stellar service. He followed up. He called me to make sure the deliverers had properly set up the bar. He also sent a gift card to compensate me for the inconvenience.

Too many companies view call centers as just cost centers and neither empower nor adequately pay their customer service representatives. But that kind of thinking is counterproductive in the long term: Every company makes mistakes, but great companies fix their mistakes and turn potentially disgruntled customers into their ambassadors.

And Pottery Barn, through Jim, showed me that it was a great company. Before this incident, I was ambivalent about Pottery Barn. The millions the company spent on advertising were mostly lost on me. Before speaking with Jim (and after the deliverers' mistake), I despised Pottery Barn. I planned on telling everyone in the world about how Pottery Barn ruined my Christmas. Then Jim intervened. I hate to sound so fawning, but not only did he defuse the situation, he solved it. I now will tell everyone how great Pottery Barn is.

I would like to thank Jim for his help. I also hope Pottery Barn shows Jim its thanks.

Reginald

Hey guys,

I know customer service snafus around Christmas time are to be expected and I always do what I can to avoid them. I order as insanely early as I can, try to stick to merchants that have a good track record and, whenever possible, avoid using Fedex. But things still can, and will, go wrong.

On the Thursday evening before Christmas my mother called me to say that she wanted to get a digital camera for my sister as a last minute gift. Since I am an Amazon Prime member and can get free second day shipping, she thought I'd be her best bet.

I logged on to the site, found the model she wanted and noticed that it said if I ordered within the next two hours I could have the shipping upgraded to overnight for $1.99. I finished up the order and called my mother back to say the camera would be here Friday, the 21st and then went to bed.

In the morning I checked the order status. UPS said that it was on time for delivery that day (in Washington, DC) but the tracking info said nothing beyond the fact that it had been picked up from Amazon in Kentucky at 3:46 that morning. It didn't seem like an issue so I just went on about my day. Every so often I would check the tracking info but it never updated beyond the 3:46am pickup. Late in the afternoon I called UPS where, surprisingly for it being so close to Christmas, hold times were pretty short. UPS tells me that, due to volume, their system is slow to update. It still shows on time for delivery today so I will receive it today. I ask what the deadline for "today" is and I'm told 7:00pm.

7:00pm comes and goes. Around 9:00pm I check back on the tracking info. Not only has it still not updated from the original pickup time, it still shows as being on time for delivery that day.

I call UPS again.

Again, reasonable hold times and apologies all around. I'm told again about slow updates to the system and am assured that it will be delivered Monday, Christmas Eve. Whatever. Off to bed.

Saturday morning I check in again. The tracking info is still exactly the same. I call UPS and try, once again to convince them that this shipment has gone missing. It was supposed to have been delivered the day before and the tracking info has not changed since the package was picked up eighteen hours ago and still shows it as being on time for delivery *the previous day*. This finally begins to make sense to them. I'm told that I'll have to call Amazon and have them start a trace.

This makes no sense to me. Once UPS has taken possession of the shipment I don't see this as being Amazon's problem anymore. But since I'm getting nowhere with UPS I decide to give it a shot.

I log into Amazon's support section and instead of a phone number to call I'm presented with a box that I'm to click to have them call *me*. Although skeptical I click away and almost immediately my phone rings. Kind of spooky, actually.

I explain the situation to the rep, expecting to get nowhere. He puts me on hold for about ten minutes. When he comes back he tells me that Amazon to going to ship me a replacement camera. It will be delivered, by private courier, Christmas Eve, free of charge.

It takes me a minute to process this. I repeat it back to him to make sure I haven't misheard him. He confirms. I thank him and hang up. E-mail confirmation arrives within half an hour.

Thinking my problems are over I head off to the movies with friends. When I arrive home I have a notice on my apartment mailbox that I have a package waiting in the management office, which is now closed until the day after Christmas. With a sinking feeling I go upstairs and check the UPS site. Yes, the tracking info on that first shipment has been updated. After the pickup time in Kentucky two days before is now a single line, "Delivered." Nothing else. No interim steps at all.

I now have no idea if Amazon is going to ship the second camera or not since now, as far as they're concerned, I've received the first one. And at this point I don't care much either. I decide I'm just going to let this play itself out and see what happens.

About 6:30pm Christmas Eve a courier delivers the second camera directly to my door.

Amazon even paid for the return shipping on the first camera since it didn't arrive on time. I just had to print out the label and drop it off at UPS.

These days you're lucky if you can get any resolution at all from customer service when things get mucked up. I am completely floored at how far Amazon went above and beyond to fix a problem that, in my opinion, they weren't even responsible for.

I buy a lot of books, DVD's and the like. From now on, whenever I can, Amazon's getting my money. They've earned it.

-William

P.S. My sister loved her camera.

(Photo:zyphbear)

RECLAIM YOUR MIND FROM THE MEDIA SHACKLES. READ A BOOK AND RESURRECT YOURSELF.

TO CLAIM YOUR CAPITALISTIC GARBAGE GO TO YOUR NEAREST APPLE STORE.

The little girl who expected a Christmas iPod was undoubtedly confused. Her father returned the iPod to the Germantown Walmart, where he learned that "another customer returned an iPod with a similar issue." MyFoxKC doesn't mention whether Walmart exchanged the political rant for a real iPod. You know those pesky capitalists, always so distrustful.

Girl Gets Bizarre Surprise Instead of iPod [MyFoxKC]
PREVIOUSLY: Shopdropping: The Anti-Shoplifting

Reuters helpfully explains, "Christmas crackers usually contain colored hats, small toys and jokes."

"A far from cracking surprise - a dead mouse" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

From WSMV:

There were video clips of XXX rated sex scenes, and the pornography was so graphic that Channel 4 could not broadcast it.

"I wish I could take the thoughts and images out of her head," said Hill.

The Hills had bought three MP3 players for their children that came from a Wal-Mart store in Sparta, Tenn. It turns out one of the MP3 players had been returned to the store from a previous owner who loaded sex clips, graphic war scenes and lyrics about using drugs.

The Hills want to know why Wal-Mart would sell used merchandise as new in the first place, which is in violation of its own policies.

"If they want to be a major retailer, they need to act like it," said Hill.

Walmart offered to replace the MP3 player, and confirmed that used merchandise is not supposed to be placed back on the floor. The family declined Walmart's offer because, "They've already bought their daughter a new one and are hanging onto the controversial one until they talk to a lawyer."

Good luck with that one. The great inappropriateness lawsuit of 2008. Is William Jennings Bryan still alive?

Check technology items before you hand them over to your kids, people!

Child's 'New' Player Loaded With Porn [WSMV](Thanks, Michael!)

The television station NBC5i in Fort Worth, Texas, got some first-person accounts of the screw-up.

Shopper Mary Garcia said she eventually got her card to work.

"The first time she scanned it, it didn't beep, and I thought, 'Hopefully, whoever gave this to me did really put money in there,'" she said.

Misty Kiesendahl, another Wal-Mart customer, said no one at the store told shoppers there was a problem with the cards."They weren't saying anything," she said. "There was no one there to help us. We went through the self-checkout line, and no one came to help us."Kiesendahl said her card worked after four or five tries.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said once it discovered the problem, it investigated and found that a "third-party verifier's systems had an inadvertent processing error." The retailer said the error caused delays in gift card verifications."We are working with the supplier to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and we apologize for the inconvenience to our customers."

RELATED
"Computer Glitch Affects Use Of Wal-Mart Gift Cards" [NBC5i]
"Wal-Mart finds gift card error" [BusinessWeek]

The International Council of Shopping Centers said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year during the November-December period, appear to be coming in just below meager projections, though it said post-Christmas buying could help restore the shortfall.

Target indicated Tuesday that its sales may have fallen in December. The nation's No. 2 retailer scaled back projections, saying same-store sales for the five weeks through Jan. 5 would range from a 1% increase to a 1% decrease vs. earlier expectations for a gain of 3% to 5%.

MasterCard said holiday spending — including credit, cash and checks — climbed a modest 2.4%, weighed by a slowdown in sales of women's apparel.

So stores are once again trying to extend the holiday season. ShopperTrak RCT says the week after Christmas accounts for about 16% of total holiday sales.

Retailers hope post-Christmas sales can save the season [USAToday]
(Photo:ikibalam)

Woman Stays At Gwinnett Wal-Mart For Three Days [WSBTV2 via BoingBoing]

According to a survey last week for Discover Financial Services, 42 percent of those questioned said they had either not started their holiday shopping, or had completed some—but not much—gift buying.

Getting shoppers into stores for the final days of the season is crucial for retailers. According to ShopperTrak, December 21-24 last year accounted for 13.6 percent of holiday sales.

Needham studied the cat flea, or Ctenocephalides felis, the most common type of flea found in households.

"No matter what vacuum a flea gets sucked into, it's probably a one-way trip," Needham said in a statement.

Writing in the journal Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, Needham suggested that the vacuum brushes wear away a waxy outer layer on insects called the cuticle. Without it, the fleas, larvae and pupae probably dry up and die, he said.

"Got fleas? Get the vacuum" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

Okay, seriously: is there some sort of Adbusters-financed shadow organization that's sneaking intentionally bad sign makers into our discount superstore workforce? Or do we need to start searching for an emoticon that represents "Idiocracy"? Huh huh?

(Thanks to Josh!)

The Ottawa Citizen said at least 10 nasty letters had been delivered to little girls and boys in Ottawa who wrote to Santa this year care of the North Pole, which has a special H0H 0H0 Canadian postal code. Return letters from Santa are in fact written by an 11,000-strong army of Canada Post employees and volunteers.

"We firmly believe there is just one rogue elf out there," a Canada Post spokeswoman told the paper.