Wow. I have noticed in the past when I have had to ship a package FROM the US to an international destination (usually Canada) by FedEx either 2nd Day or Overnight, the result was always a delay by at least one day, if not several days.

Once, when I called FedEx to complain about it, I was told by the customer service person that the reason for this had to do with customs. It's been a few years since that conversation, so you'll have to forgive me for not recalling the details. But whatever the specific reason was, it was something that could be avoided when shipping by one of their more economic means, resulting often times in the slower shipping method actually reaching the customer in less time!

Needless to say, I never used FedEx's express services to ship internationally after that.

On the other hand, I do receive a lot of packages shipped from Scotland to the US via UPS's priority 2-3 day delivery service. It costs more than Royal Mail, and of course (like FedEx) UPS acts as its own broker and so I am guaranteed to pay certain fees. But those packages always arrive at my door 2 to 3 day later, as promised. (Usually 2 days). And on those rare occasions (twice over the past year) where a customs officer has some question about the package, a UPS representative calls me, generally before 10am the day they receive the package, to get the information. And it has never taken more than one phone call to sort out the details, and has never resulted in a delay of delivery.

This is only based on my personal experience, but so far I have been very pleased with UPS's services in this regard. I'm sorry FedEx has not treated you the same.