An inconclusive account is useful if it stops the next person mistaking a story for a controlled comparison.

Do you contact the customs office or the carrier first?

Written confirmation email after every phone call. Cheapest insurance there is.

You are not imagining it and you are not being difficult. Document it and take the document in.

It gets smaller. Not easy, smaller. That distinction kept me going.

Small wins count. Walking to the mailbox is a data point.