In mid January I bought Daisy a watch for her birthday from Probikekit.co.nz so yes a nz web address.
The watch needed to be shipped from offshore and has now been at Auckland airport since Feb 7th waiting for customs clearance.
I phoned Courier Post who said that the airport are understaffed and things can take a while to get processed.
Over a month at the airport seems quite dramatic!
I should have read the fine print on the website but just though as it was a NZ address that delivery wouldn't be an issue.
I guess it is one of those buyer beware of online shopping.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2018 06:40AM by helen.

Helen, I agree that over a month at the airport seems dramatic. It is often hard to know whether to blame Customs, the sending company or the deliverer, such as NZ Post.
The Customs clearance section may be very understaffed, particularly as more and more people place online orders with overseas companies.

I had an experience when a book ordered from The Book Depository didn't arrive in time for Christmas, even though it was ordered well within the expected delivery time frame. At the time I ordered 3 books, two came from Australia and arrived very promptly but the one from UK was the problem. Incidentally, it arrived in February, after I had spoken with both Book Depository and an NZ Post spokeswoman.

This link covers what was apparently a problem for so many people. The woman mentioned in the article could well have been me, although it wasn't.
[www.stuff.co.nz]

It does seem so 'hit and miss' as my grandson from Brisbane had ordered a special watch from China and had asked that it be delivered here, as they were here on holiday. He followed the tracking number very closely and it arrived just about spot on. I heaved a sigh of relief.

That's a ridiculous amount of time! I've been a massive online shopper for twenty-two years and I've never at any stage, including right now, waited more than a couple of days max for something to clear customs. The only circumstances in which I've ever had a delay was when something was over the GST threshold and I didn't receive the letter telling me to get in touch to pay the GST. I don't suppose that could be the issue here?

My father recently had a jacket sent from Australia and it was held at customs for nearly 4 weeks before he received an invoice for GST etc. The couple of times I've gone over the threshold, it seems like there has been about a week's lag before receiving the letter.. 4 weeks or more is insane.

If you do get charged GST/duty on your purchase, Helen, you could possibly kick up a fuss with the website owners as it was in no way clear that you were purchasing from an overseas supplier. I had a look at the website and the only possible hint (unless you go read their contact info, and who does that for every purchase?!) was that the prices were listed as "NZD$123" instead of just "$123". Even so, it would seem that it should be crystal clear that you're buying from an overseas company so you can take customs charges into account with your decision making. Are you a member of Consumer? If so, they might have some advice.

You could always call customs and ask what the hold up is.

I have phoned and emailed postal customs service at Auckland airport and am waiting to hear back.
I do think that the website is misleading as it isn't completely obvious that your purchases are being sent from overseas and also liable for GST costs.

That's terrible. I'm fond of online shopping and often order some staff online, but I have never faced with any delivery issues. Just received a new dress from La Curve. It's our local online store with great collection of clothes for plus size women. Luckily their delivery service works perfectly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/2018 10:24AM by alanz.

Outcome was that I finally received the watch - I had to pay around $200 to get it. Have put it down to experience and won't order online again.

Helen, you have possibly noticed that Probikekit have a review site. Although in this case it may seem that customs may have to take a share of the blame regarding the time they took.
Your experience would deter potential future customers.