Letterbox blues: Kiwis still waiting on international mail from Easter

Tuesday, 16 June 2020

NZ Post is dealing with a post-lockdown rush of parcels similar to the Christmas holidays (file photo).

International post delays are continuing to leave Kiwis vexed and their letterboxes empty, as New Zealand Post inches back toward normal services following coronavirus disruptions.

The national postal service claims to have largely cleared a domestic backlog of 150,000 parcels after it was overwhelmed with Christmas-level demand during the alert level 4 lockdown.

But international post is still struggling to deliver on Easter expectation.

Toni Irvin, in Manawatū, is still waiting on a festive package an American pen pal sent her on April 13.

NZ Post is working with customs agencies to minimise delays, with international airfreight still at reduced capacity due to coronavirus disruptions.

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It's the first time in 30 years of correspondence their annual exchange of Easter treats has hit a snag.

Irvin said the mail delay were inevitable during a worldwide pandemic, but the uncertainty was frustrating.

'It's hard to know if something has gone missing or if it's just caught up in the backlog. I joke and tell [pen pal] Michelle when she asks that maybe it'll show up for Christmas.'

Catherine Fairweather, from Feilding, was waiting on a mix of domestic and international packages, including six online purchases from March and one from February.

Tracking information showed they were all sitting at NZ Post depots for weeks and there was no indication she had missed an attempt at delivery.

'I understand NZ Post's difficulties, but at the same time I feel really bad requesting refunds for undelivered items when I can't tell if it's the supplier or NZ Post's fault.'

The last thing she wanted was for an item to arrive the day after she sought a refund.

NZ Post spokesman Bryan Dobson said international airfreight was only just starting to pick up again and the country was getting hit with waves of parcels arriving in large batches.

The service was working with customs agents to try to minimise delays.

Dobson said more than 90 per cent of domestic parcels, however, were now being delivered within three days.

More than 3.5 million parcels were sent over the first two weeks after the country moved to alert level 3 restrictions, creating a huge backlog in deliveries.

NZ Post was receiving 200 parcels a minute, like it does at Christmas, Dobson said.

'We've brought on hundreds of extra people to process and deliver these extra items and delivery timesframes have improved a lot since we first move to alert level 3.'

And with a few exceptions, the domestic backlog has been cleared, he said.

Based on more than 80 comments posted on a Stuff Facebook page, people were mostly waiting on parcels sent in March and April.