Kolthoff said the suspension came without warning.
“I found out yesterday trying to send parcels to the US via [NZ Post’s] eShip system, but I wasn’t able to,” he explained.
“I sent them a message, expecting some fault with the website, but I haven’t heard back from them. Then later on, I read online an article that shipments to the US had been suspended.”
Kolthoff would now spend his weekend processing refunds, a difficult prospect.
“It’s very painful. I have to contact them and refund their money, because I have no idea how long this will take or what sort of increase in cost there will be,” he said.
“I have to cancel a number of orders and make an announcement on the website that US customers for the time being can’t place orders with me. It’s quite bad for my business.”
Kolthoff said the lack of communication from NZ Post was concerning.
“I look forward to knowing more and being able to inform my customers, and to know where I stand because I can see a worst case scenario of my business coming to an end.”
RNZ has approached NZ Post for comment.
On its website, NZ Post said there were some restrictions on what could be sent to the US and US territories. This included suspending a number of services temporarily “until further notice”, while formal processes around the new US tariffs were being finalised.
The suspended services included sending with economy, economy tracked, economy plus, courier and express. Letters sent via economy letters and documents sent via express were the only services still available.
NZ Post said it expected the suspension would be short-term but could not give customers an exact date.
– RNZ
