i used to have the issue with couriers quite a lot that they would suspect oil is leaking out and stop the delivery and return it to my yard even if it was stopped at the local depot to the end address, so it does happen, and if a new consignment number was assinged to the package then yes they would only have a record of the new consignment number not the old one, doesnt sound suss to me at all,

how comes the sale and delivery date were 2 weeks apart?, as to getting no information on a saturday iam not that suprised really,

as to surface corrison it isnt a sign of anything other then being exposed to the weather as said above, i have engines from 2008 cars that have rust on the block,

and in regards to the damage, are you sure it wasnt delivery damage, seeing as it was sat in the couriers depot they are animals there, (i personally never send out panels on a friday as they will be sat in depot all weekend and more likey then not they get damaged), and did you sign for it without checking it?

not having a dig just a few points, nor am i defending anyone as i do not know them just know what it is like selling car parts long distance