A friend just sent me a link to a story in the Daily Mail (a "popular" British newspaper):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279440/Jigsaw-fan-Jack-Harris-finishes-5-000-piece-puzzle-SEVEN-years.html
As far as I can tell the Japanese manufacturers have always operated a "missing piece" service, and we do handle lots of requests -- sometimes with accompanying stories about pieces getting chewed up by various domestic pets.
