Delivering to New Zealand

[dumaric]

TLDR: Successful! Import brokers will hunt you down by any email address. On arrival in NZ, UPS subcontracted to armex couriers, who then subcontracted to MainFreight.

Hello everyone, especially my fellow New Zealanders. I am sharing my ordering/importing story and maybe it will help others. This story is more about the process of importing into NZ than Rosemary Doll, but Rosemary Doll are awesome and very helpful!

Ordered 12th May
Rosemary got me to confirm all the details.

Doll made 22nd May
Supplied with factory video.

Shipped 25th May

Arrived NZ 1st June
I contacted UPS and was told that customs process takes 1-2 weeks.

Once within NZ the UPS notifications did not make a lot of sense. This could be because UPS uses other courier companies here on.

Contacted by Import Broker (fliways) 13th June
At which point things started going slightly wrong, but not Rosemary Doll's fault.
Despite the package having my phone number on it, they found an email address for me (googled my name?), and then sent an email to the catch-all help account at my work place!!!! This email when straight to the company junk folder as a phishing scam. This email did not include my name and used the broker's tracking number rather than the UPS number.
My boss eventually rang the phone number in the email and only then was told who it was for.
I was very lucky that they managed to contact me this way.

The broker wanted proof of value and I asked Rosemary to send an invoice for the correct amount. Rosemary offered to price it at a reduced value, but I declined because I also had to provide a bank statement.

Invoiced for Import Fees 20th June
GST (15%) + Duty ($300)
I paid by VISA and the package was released a few hours later.

Unfortunately despite asking the import broker to use my direct email address, UPS used my company's help email account to send a detailed invoice, i.e. for "Mannequin" and names "Rosemary Doll" My boss forwarded it to me. Will there be awkward conversations ahead for me???

Shipped onward (by aramex couriers) 21st June
Once more, UPS notifications do not make a lot of sense, i.e. UPS tracking and notification now say it is delivered.
Rushed home to panic as there was no parcel!
In discussion with UPS they said it is because it was onforwarded to aramex, and that I should continue tracking it on the aramex website.

Delivered (by MainFreight ) 29th June
With no status updates by aramex and several phone calls later I was getting concerned. However I received a phone call from the truck driver when they arrived at my home and they left it exactly where I requested.
Parcel was safe and undamaged.

[RosemaryDoll]

Dear friend,

Thank you for your sharing and support! We will keep on improving our service.

[Socratus]

UPS notifications never make sense. When I ordered (for the UK) they said it would arrive by Monday, which I just knew could not be possible unless I was getting the Queen's Personal Royal delivery for some reason. Monday came and went, nothing, as I knew it would be. Then it said Wednesday, then Tuesday while telling me it was at customs at one place in the UK, then another several times. Then finally it did come Wednesday and I had to keep my eyes open for it on the day cos the delivery driver was lost!

I literally ran out in the middle of the road to stop the UPS van when I saw it!

Glad it all worked out eventually for you.