Amazon says some packages are delayed after deadly tornado strikes one of its distribution centers

Getty/Mark Makela

Amazon customers are experiencing delivery delays.

• Amazon customers are complaining about package delivery delays.
• Many of the delays could be due to a tornado that ripped through an Amazon sortation center in Baltimore last week. The storm caused a 50-foot wall to collapse, killing two workers.
• The company has also been clarifying that its two-day shipping promise ensures that customers will get their package two days from the time it's handed over to the carrier, not two days from the time of ordering.

Amazon is facing a surge of customer complaints over delayed deliveries.

"Why is @amazonprimenow all of a sudden taking 10 days?" Michelle Hennessy tweeted on Friday. "I pay for the subscription for guaranteed 2 days. This sucks..."

Another person tweeted Friday: "Is it me or is @amazon Prime starting to slip in this whole 2 day delivery guarantee?"

Amazon tweeted that the delays could be tied to severe weather that hit one of its sortation centers in Baltimore a week ago. A tornado in the area caused a 50-foot wall in the four-year-old building to collapse, killing two workers.  

"Severe weather caused damage to a sortation center on Friday evening," the company tweeted in response to several customer complaints. "Deliveries associated with this facility are experiencing delays. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to quickly resolve this issue!"

The company has also been clarifying its two-day shipping promise in response to unhappy customers.

Many customers believe Prime's two-day shipping promise means they will get their delivery in two days from the time of ordering.

But the two-day window doesn't begin until the package is handed to the shipping carrier, Amazon says.

This is a commonly misunderstood tenet of Amazon Prime's two-day shipping offer. 

"Prime Two-Day Shipping refers to the transit time, in business days, once the item has shipped," the company tweeted Friday to several customers.