Postage black holes

What if an item goes missing?
Lots of people have legitimate concerns when ordering on-line as to whether or not the item in question will ever turn up.
I send things out "international signed for", which means that someone has to sign for it at the other end and one should be able to track it to it's destination. There is a small problem with this though, in that "international" means different countries and the different countries are not always that good at speaking to one another. This is not usually a problem as more than 99% of orders arrive without problems.
When things do go astray however, it can be a headache getting any information.
I recently had a couple of items, which should have been delivered to the UK, mistakenly sent to America; and both the customers and I were left waiting for someone across the pond to notice that the items were not only in the wrong country but the wrong continent. Eventually they did arrive at the intended destination, and although I would much rather they hadn't gone walkies, I am left with a very pleasant feeling of how people in general are "good eggs".
Lots of emails saying "it has been sent", "it may have gone astray", and "it's in America" could leave one thinking that someone was telling porkies: but the two customers in question never gave me that impression, and for that I would like to say a big "thank you".

To date, in five years I have only had one item "missing in action".

If you would like an order sent by courier, then I am happy to oblige at extra cost.