I finally got the cheque from Canada Post, and have sent the balance owing to Houston ($25) so this transaction is all wrapped up and finally can be set aside. PHEW! I sent it as a 'gift' since I wasn't able to do a further refund on the original purchase, and so there would be no fees for him.
Squirmy - I'd love to know what happened too. I did call and ask Canada Post, but they couldn't give me an answer of what happened. She did confirm a few things - whatever happened, happened after the parcel went into USPS hands. It was NOT officially opened/damaged/etc. It was most likely a temporary employee who was only working for the holiday season. But why that person would go to the effort of repackaging the box, who knows. We'll never know. *headshake* Just glad it's over. The postal claim was a surprisingly easy process, I was able to do it all online, and Houston was not contacted, and didn't have to surrender any items/packaging, and they didn't even ask for photos. I just sent them a nice letter, good spelling and grammar, explaining what happened. And the claim came though faster than their original estimate of mid-March.