Goods undelivered

Three weeks ago I had ropes sent from Capetown to Knysna overnight. I got a call from the courier guy that they had been put on a metal reel and that the postage was now 4 times as much. That was not the fault of the courier guy. It has been almost a month and the ropes are still not delivered. Emails don't often get answered other than an occasional they are"investigating". Anybody else with similar issues?