Down under being a banana republic - who would have thought?????

  

Yeah - this is going to be a very frustrating rant!

Let me break down the images - although they speak volumes in their own right!!! 

So I had ordered a product from a firm in Australia - our next nearest country neighbor and with modern planes etc - how long would you think delivery should take???  2-4 business days??? Maybe a few more??? I mean - a flight from Melbourne to Auckland is about 3hours and 25 minutes - or close to it - winds depending!!!

So - lets break this down by days

Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

• Item was sold / wrapped up and issued an order for to be picked up by a courier on Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

Saturday 15 April 2.09am / 2.10am

•  Item is at Melbourne international airport - guess it took  33 hours to pick up / drive across town to deliver to airport in order to fly out

Monday 17 April 8:30am

• Item has shifted warehouse in Melbourne airport - awaiting a flight.  Funny I was sure they had a DAILY if not more then one a day flight from Melbourne to Auckland. Turns out - it was picked up by an airline on the following day

Tuesday 18 April 8.11am

• Did it miss the previous days flight????? Anyway according to the Shippit tracking site - it is airborne!! Wohoooooo 
• So to re-cap - from hitting the sold sign to being Airborne (leaving Melbourne/Australia) - has taken 5 days! We shall make an assumption and guess that the postal agencies do NOT work on weekends (they may well do - who would know?) - so that is then a reasonable timeline - yes?!
  

 Lets switch over to the NZ post site - which ultimately ought to deliver this! It would indicate that the actual flight took place on 17 April.  There is a 2 hour time difference so that is understandable - BUT a whole day?????

Anyhow lets assume that it has indeed left on the 18th (lets give credit here) - it would seem it has arrived in Auckland on 20 April 12:48pm (noon)! That just asks the question - a two or three day flight that usually takes only about 3.25 hours?!?!?!?!  What the hell . . .  OR more likely - it has been sitting in a depot and not been scanned in - probably still sitting on the tarmac.

Thursday 20 April 12.48pm 

• 
  As you can see - it claims to be "unloading" (eg some random dude has to take it out of the cargo hold and put it on a trolley for it to be wheeled to the Customs warehouse/hall/office)  by Customs - and is pending a border clearance! That was nearly a week ago - I know we had an Anzac holiday yesterday - still - they work round the clock so the weekend days are also "working" days - so that is already FIVE working days and still counting for it to be "Pending border clearance"!!   
• To recap - from leaving Melbourne and arriving in an Auckland customs hall it has taken 2 or 3 days - depending on when the actual flight took place!  So how long would it take to UNLOAD the cargo?? More to the point:
  

•  What on earth are they doing there??  Dissecting it??  Drowning it in ant/spider/ snake -- venom for 6 weeks????   Reading it? Are we so short staffed from the Pandemic two years back, that we have just ONE able body-worker trying to process a mountain of parcels??? Has it fallen below a crack onto the back of a book case floor - mysteriously vanishing from earth?  Gobbled up by mail eating aliens???

 Worst thing - NO-one can  be contacted or asked or any communication on this.

        Then it gets worse - the Shippit info when first logged in said delivery to be expected by Thursday 20 April (that would have been a week - a reasonable timeline given it goes over a weekend ?!?!) - it now reads as Saturday 13th May!!! 

1 3th M A Y ! ! 

That is still 18 Days or more then 2.5 Weeks (3 days short of three weeks) away!!   I'd be quicker cycling up to Auckland and claiming it in person!!! 

        So lets do some Maths here, and count the days - from the day the internet confirmed the Sale of the product, to anticipated delivery day is - - - wait for it - - - 

- 31 DAYS or a full MONTH.

You can row on a paddle board quicker across the Tasman Sea . . . . .

        I know we live at the bottom of the earth (from a European perspective) and are technically a Pacific Island nation. This however - is almost worse then being in a banana republic!! At least it will eventually be delivered and does not require some form of bribe . . .

Sighs

Lord - please give me a healthy dose of Patience - I am very much in need of it!!

Have fun!