ROCHESTER, N.Y. – This Consumer Alert takes a look at the case of the missing intercontinental Christmas gift. One of our viewers mailed her present a month early to make sure it got to Guatemala on time. Instead, her gift ended up on the wrong continent.

Deb Antoniades and her hubby Mike live in a quiet townhouse community in Pittsford. In warmer weather, they love sitting outside.

“We would often be out on our deck when this mowing crew would come through,” said Antoniades. “And this fellow would stop the mowing if he thought we were doing something that needed quiet, and so we started saying hello and I learned a little bit about his family.”

She learned his name was Jose and he was from Guatemala. He comes to the States annually for half the year and does lawn care to earn money for his wife and two daughters.

“He’s away from them from April through almost November,” said Antoniades. “And he was showing me some photos of them and indicated they Facetime when they can. And his eyes teared up. I can’t imagine how difficult that must be for the whole family.”

And so Antoniades and her family decided to send the girls a Christmas gift.

“I got a puzzle that they could share,” said Antoniades. “I was looking for something not too heavy because I know what air mail postage can run. So, I mailed it a month ahead of time on the 25th of November.”

She mailed the package at her local post office in Pittsford. Tracking records show from there it went to a distribution center in Rochester and then on to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The next stop was New York City where it was loaded onto a plane headed to the wrong continent, Asia. There it landed in Doha, Qatar. From there, her gift traveled northwest to Yerevan, Armenia, 7,621 miles from its intended target, Guatemala. So, she called the USPS customer service line at 1-900-ASK-USPS (275-8777).

“This was the reasoning I was given, the justification, if you will, after spending $33 postage for this puzzle, the woman said sometimes things get thrown into the wrong receptacle,” Antoniades.

She said USPs offered neither an apology, nor a refund, nor a promise to finally get the package to Guatemala. Instead, USPS sent it back to the states. Tracking shows it was indeed sent through customs and as of Monday evening was a USPS facility in Queens. But Antoniades is most disappointed for those two little girls she’s never met.

“Isn’t it nice for all of us to know that somebody cares, especially if is a stranger? And isn’t it the season for that?” Antoniades asked.

I contacted USPS leaders who told me they were investigating the case but didn’t answer any of my questions. They referred me instead to a USPS website which indicates that Antoniades may be able to get a refund if she submits a form that she has to pick up at the post office. The same is true for domestic mail.