Last year, I tried to buy a very-difficult-to-find bluetooth adapter for my car stereo. I found one on eBay in the US, won the auction for slightly more than I

Last year, I tried to buy a very-difficult-to-find bluetooth adapter for my car stereo. I found one on eBay in the US, won the auction for slightly more than I wanted and then paid to have it shipped to the UK. After a week, the tracking information stopped being updated, right after USPS took over the package. After a month, I tried to get in contact with the couriers. This was difficult, because the package was shipped with the eBay Global Shipping Program, which does a fair job of obfuscating which carrier is actually taking it. USPS didn't want to know, the tracking number wasn't valid as far as they were concerned. Eventually I contacted eBay asking where the package was. Overnight, I was refunded, saying the package had obiviously been lost. I did my best to contact them and ask for the package to be found, but nobody wanted to know. I eventually spoke to a woman in eBay's customer services, but nothing ever came of it. In my situation, at least I got my money back, and I know it's not quite the same as this poor guy's, but I can understand the frustration of dealing with tracked shipments. Especially for rare items that are difficult or impossible to replace - all you want is the package itself. Shipment tracking is supposed to prevent this happening - after all, if the package gets lost, it's likely in the same place as the last scan! You'd think the money the couriers have invested in the tracking system would incentivise them to use it to find lost packages.