USPS abroad - forget it!

(if you're not interested in a long rant about USPS international parcel delivery, skip this post)
On October 23rd I bought a used Herman Miller Aeron chair on eBay, and ordered international shipping with USPS (USD 250). USPS offers a tracking service, but this is misleading, really, as the only information relayed is a: when sender registers a shipment ("click & ship") and b: a notice when it has been delivered. The USPS "tracking" system has one giant flaw: it does not tell you when your item is en route to destination, and thus gives you no chance to make sure you're there.
Tuesday morning 6 o'clock I received an update that stated:
"Attempted Delivery Abroad, October 06, 2008, 11:50 pm, FRANCE".
Not where in France, by whom, or anything else. 11.50 pm? WTF? Everyone here - mailman as well as me - were sleeping by 11.50pm. No sign of delivery attempts. When I called, a very rude lady told me I should contact Chronopost in France; the delivery was no longer their responsibility. Aha. Chronopost knew nothing of either tracking number, and had no clue why USPS would point me their way. So, I line up at the local post office and later at the main post office. Nothing there.

I called USPS and issisted: WHO is delivering in France, HOW do I find it? This time, the lady said she did not know why I would call Chronopost because most of their deliveries are made by Coliposte - but in fact, foreign deliveries were not their problem - I basically had to figure it out myself. When I asked for her superior or someone who knew ANYTHING, she hung up.

Then, I received a second email notice - again, delivery attempt, 11:50 PM. And again, no sign of delivery attempts. So, I head to the main post office in Marseille to ask about Coliposte. They have nothing in the entire La Poste system. So I go thru DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT with no luck. My tracking number - all I have - yeilds no information, and I start fearing the chair will be sent back after third delivery attempt. I find this completely unacceptable.


UPDATE: I have been in touch with several rude and -semi-automatic USPS employees, and a couple of friendly ones. The superviser at the local post office in Le Panier, a very helpful and thorough man - went through the whole thing with me, and found the tracking information "trés étrange". After 5 calls (!) to USPS - several being very short and extremely rude on the other side (Listen to this!) I was told my package was at "Roissy Courrier International" (the international hub, in Paris). This was completely new and in contrast to the information given to me via USPS tracking - the package has probably not yet left french customs (after a week). Once it left, they explained, it will have a new tracking number which then works only in France. This will NOT be available via USPS tracking, so the whole idea of "tracking" is lost - you basically have to just sit it out.

UPDATE II: There was a slip in my mailbox saturday oct 10th, and today I picked up the chair from the local post office. The director singled me out in the +30min queue and found the huge box for me. There is still no update in the tracking info, and I hereby swear to never use USPS services again, or at least before they enter the 21st century.