Not bonsai related, but one time I sent a letter to my father, which he never received. We figured it was lost forever. Then about 2 months later we received the letter. Or rather, he received the half with his address and I received the half with the return address. It was sheared diagonally down the middle. No accompanying comments or explanation. It's like they hoped we wouldn't notice.
There must be some beastly sorting machines somewhere. To the post office's credit they did eventually send each piece on its way.