Missing/stolen parcel of tobacco.

[jasongee]

Hey all,I didn't think New Zealand post could stoop to such low levels but they have.I've been waiting on a parcel of baccy from the states and it had to go through customs and get heat treatment so I' waited 7 weeks all up, and I got clearance last on the 7th of Jan.Nz post then picked up the parcel from customs and delivered it to someone in Waikato,on Waingaro rd and I'm in Christchurch 600 miles away from that location.The parcel was signed off by customs and had my name and address on the digital receipt and parcel and I have proof of purchase and tracking number.I rang nz post straight away and told them they have sent it to the wrong address and they basically said I'm wrong and they rang the delivery driver and he told them he delivered to the right address and case closed.After sending them my proof and countless calls to them to check with the receiver if the parcel address was correct, they flatly refuse to do anything about it and keep telling me I'm wrong.I'm absolutely fkn pissed, I asked a woman at the call center to put me through to management and she said no,I asked her 3 times and got the same answer.I'm at my wits end as they won't do anything and I can't even claim for it as the parcel says delivered on their site.They are absolute mongrels and don't give a dam about it.Ive spoken to the sender about it and he has agreed to send another pack which he has done,5kg worth which i am greatful. He told me to do a chargeback on my debit card as well, we agreed i will pay him back if the item does turn up but it hasnt yet and i havent heard back from the seller concerning that..I finally got nz post management emails and sent them an email and have yet to hear back from them.I have also talked to customs and they are dumbfounded as well.I spoke to usps and they said they will investigate but i dont know if they will because it says delivered to nz on their tracking site.Customs said they spoke to postal management but yet to hear back.The recipient of the parcel has probably stolen it as they did not get hold of me, or its probably a nz post worker that have stolen it.This parcel is about 3000 nz dollars worth of tobacco and ive been so strung out about it.Ive now been without leaf tobacco for several weeks and its costing me a fortune to buy shop stuff.Anybody had this experience before?What did you do if you did?Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.I refuse to let nz post get away with this as they have been such a-holes about it.It has costed me a lot of money, time and stress.

 

[Orson Carte]

If your parcel has already been delivered (as you are thinking to a wrong address) in just seven weeks from you ordering it, then this is a hell of lot quicker than normal. At least eight weeks has long been the average and recently even longer.
My guess is that your parcel is still there, somewhere, in Auckland - either at the Mail Centre or with 'Flick' (one of the two the quarantine providers). Flick is renowned for stuffing things up and it's entirely possible they haven't even picked it up yet from the Mail Centre. Give 'Flick' a ring, quote your MPI Number (2019/etc) and ask them to confirm whether or not they have treated that parcel.
Trust me, anything can happen and it usually happens with Flick's bungling. I recent waited recently for around five months until the treatment provider finally acknowledged that I'd paid and they 'found' the parcel that had just been sitting for months at the Mail Centre. I also know others who have been told that their parcel has been lost and then after several months it appearing on the doorstep.
The new provider 'Rentokil' is only a slightly better option than the one you used. From what I've seen they, at least, are not doing quite a good job of treatment. It's just their efficiency that's frustrating - they're only picking up 25 parcels a week (on a Monday) because that's all they can fit in their heat treatment 'oven'. With at least 100 parcels arriving in NZ every week it is easy to understand that they, together with Flick have a considerable backlog and are falling further and further behind.
By the way - Customs don't hold or have any interest in the parcel once the GST has been paid It is handled by MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) and held at the Auckland Mail Centre, until it picked up by Flick or Rentokil, treated and then returned back to the Mail Centre, theoretically for delivery.

 

[Orson Carte]

Above it should read (in reference to 'Rentokil') - 'at least they are doing quite a good job with the treatment process'.

 

[jasongee]

If your parcel has already been delivered (as you are thinking to a wrong address) in just seven weeks from you ordering it, then this is a hell of lot quicker than normal. At least eight weeks has long been the average and recently even longer.
My guess is that your parcel is still there, somewhere, in Auckland - either at the Mail Centre or with 'Flick' (one of the two the quarantine providers). Flick is renowned for stuffing things up and it's entirely possible they haven't even picked it up yet from the Mail Centre. Give 'Flick' a ring, quote your MPI Number (2019/etc) and ask them to confirm whether or not they have treated that parcel.
Trust me, anything can happen and it usually happens with Flick's bungling. I recent waited recently for around five months until the treatment provider finally acknowledged that I'd paid and they 'found' the parcel that had just been sitting for months at the Mail Centre. I also know others who have been told that their parcel has been lost and then after several months it appearing on the doorstep.
The new provider 'Rentokil' is only a slightly better option than the one you used. From what I've seen they, at least, are not doing quite a good job of treatment. It's just their efficiency that's frustrating - they're only picking up 25 parcels a week (on a Monday) because that's all they can fit in their heat treatment 'oven'. With at least 100 parcels arriving in NZ every week it is easy to understand that they, together with Flick have a considerable backlog and are falling further and further behind.
By the way - Customs don't hold or have any interest in the parcel once the GST has been paid It is handled by MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) and held at the Auckland Mail Centre, until it picked up by Flick or Rentokil, treated and then returned back to the Mail Centre, theoretically for delivery.

Ok thanks for the reply.I did actually ring flick and told them that my parcel went missing from mpi/mail center and told them the mpi parcel number, but I'm pretty sure they said it got treated and went back to the mail center.I'll try them again tomorrow to be totally sure.Mpi didnt charge any gst just like all my other parcels that have been through there.Flick may have stuffed up the parcel after treatment but mpi did sign the parcel off with my name and address on the box when it came back from flick apparently.
The shipping number I got from the sender and the usps recept was mine and nz post tried to say it wasn't my shipping number or parcel,seems really strange but hopefully will get to the bottom of it.

 

[jasongee]

Ok thanks for the reply.I did actually ring flick and told them that my parcel went missing from mpi/mail center and told them the mpi parcel number, but I'm pretty sure they said it got treated and went back to the mail center.I'll try them again tomorrow to be totally sure.Mpi didnt charge any gst just like all my other parcels that have been through there.Flick may have stuffed up the parcel after treatment but mpi did sign the parcel off with my name and address on the box when it came back from flick apparently.
The shipping number I got from the sender and the usps recept was mine and nz post tried to say it wasn't my shipping number or parcel,seems really strange but hopefully will get to the bottom of it.

Sorry was meant to say customs have never charged gst,have you been charged before?

 

[Orson Carte]

I think that you can be pretty sure that, because it is your name and address on the carton, if it was actually delivered it wouldn't go to a completely different address 600 miles away. NZ Post isn't the best courier service in the world but they aren't hopeless either.
As far as the delivery goes, I don't think the 'shipping number' (by which I presume you mean the 'Tracking Number') has any bearing on where the parcel ends up. So, I really don't think that that parcel delivered in the Waikato is your parcel. The NZ Post courier would be completely dependent on the address written on the label. I would still pick that there is some cock-up involving the MPI Reference number. You could check with Flick both the reference number and the actual address (yours) that they have associated with that number.
If that's no help, ring MPI again and get them to check your parcel's not there. You indicate that they haven't been very helpful but they should be concerned if a parcel correctly addressed to you in Christchurch has been wrongly delivered at the other end of the country. And the address on your parcel must be correct otherwise they couldn't have sent you the letter stipulating treatment - that's the only reference to you that they have.

Regarding GST. I've never been charged 'Duty', as such, but have been charged GST many times. You wouldn't want to be charged Excise Duty (which is charged on all tobacco products except 'unmanufactured whole-leaf) because that would cost you $1200/kg.
In the past (up to 1 Dec 2019) they generally didn't charge GST if the total value, including freight, was under $400. Theoretically, GST is now payable on shipments of any value.

 

[jasongee]

I rang mpi, flick and nz post today and finally got the full street address from nz post as i told them the nz shipping number.It has gone to the Hamilton address that they sent it to and they confirmed with the gps location.Flick definitely sent it to mpi mail center, and mpi did send me a letter for the said parcel and confirmed the address and name after treatment, and ready for delivery.
Mpi spoke to nz post management and told them the situation, also the sender even contacted mpi and confirmed it was mine.Mpi then talked to nz post but they still remain defiant and wont pick it up.Heres a little coincidence.The parcel was sent to number 16 the exact same number as me.then the other one is Hamilton and i live in Hillmorton,i definitely think they have really ballsed it up.It wouldnt be the first time nz post sent something destined to Dunedin for example and it it ended up in Auckland or Palmy or somewhere else.It happens all the time.
I did manage to contact a woman on a fb page on the same street as the parcel and she is going to put a note in the recipients letter box so fingers crossed ill get a reply.
Im so pissed at nz post and they do this to people all the time and get away with it.Because usps only have limited access to address information in nz after the parcel has been delivered or wrongly delivered they dont know how bad nz post is ripping them and customers off,and making fraudulent claims and shitty service.I dont know if Usps would do much about it though,were to far away.

 

[deluxestogie]

This thread is looking like a legal brief. Do let us know how it turns out.

...number 16 the exact same number as me.then...Hamilton and i live in Hillmorton...

Looks like an easy explanation for the error. Only the remedy is unresolved.

Bob

 

[Charly]

Sad story, I hope it will have a happy ending

 

[jasongee]

Yeah thats the only explanation i can think of at this stage.The driver has got the house number right and similar sounding name address but fudged the rest by 600 miles.I just hope it hasn't been stolen by him or the recipient as its a nice score, 3000 dollars worth here.Ill keep you guys posted when i here something.

 

[stic]

What eventually happened with this...did you get it back?