title: How do I correctly call the endpoint below?
body: <p>When searchItem parameter has special characters like "+", the special character is omitted out upon hitting the endpoint.
  I tried URL encoding the parameter but that causes a 404 error too.
  Please help     </p>
  
  <pre><code>    [HttpGet]
      [Route("search/{searchItem}")]
      public HttpResponseMessage Search(string searchItem)
      {
  
          return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
      }
  </code></pre>