Delays in Shipment from Vanuatu

[Global Kava Exports]

Hey all
We've had some delays in receiving our latest shipment from Vanuatu. First there were some weather issues, which set things back at least a week, but now there are reports of some violence breaking out in areas we are supplied from. The last news we received was:

"A civil war broke out in the area in Pentecost we source our kava and 1 man was killed dead. Our agents are mourning the death of our family now. Its in the headlines. Police is there now.
Franck King agent is in hospital he was cutt with knife."

Then we found it had indeed made the news: http://www.loopvanuatu.com/vanuatu-news/vanuatu-man-killed-during-land-dispute-53564

We're told things are back on track now, but obviously our original date for supply of all pre-orders has to be changed. We await a definite date of uplift from Vanuatu, but as many of you will understand, communications with the islands can take some time.

So our apologies to those of you waiting to order or have ordered, it is unfortunately out of our hands at the moment. As with the previous newsletter we sent to customers, if you'd rather a refund of your pre-order, please do email us and we'll sort you out ASAP. In the meantime, our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and our thanks for your patience, and those of you who have emailed us with queries are definitely being very understanding and patient. We appreciate it.

In the meantime, we've decided to run a forum only competition. We'll be giving five bottle of the liquid kava away on another thread, starting tomorrow. Good luck and our thanks!

 

[erron]

Curious if the April 1 shipment was on point? Any news?

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Good evening all

Our apologies for being so quiet of late. We neither wanted to bombard you guys with newsletters nor leave you short on info, so we waited until we had some decent, concrete information from the islands.

Vanuatu came back to us last night and confirmed they are currently processing the first half of our order and waiting for the rest of the root to arrive at Port Villa from the islands.

We're currently in negotiations to get the processed quantities here ASAP.

However, as with our other communications to customers, if any of our customers would rather a refund at this point in time, email us and we will refund you your money within 24 hours (maybe a little longer at weekends).

Our apologies to all of you and our heartfelt thanks for your patience up to this point in a situation you guys, we're sure, feel a greater frustration than we do.

Kind regards

The Kava Europe Guys

 

[erron]

So the original estimated time of arrival was in february. And then, there was a 2 week delay due to weather conditions. And then, there were some kind of skirmishes on the island and the new ETA was 1 of april. And now there are new negotiations and no known ETA? Kind of disheartening for us who made preorders.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

So the original estimated time of arrival was in february. And then, there was a 2 week delay due to weather conditions. And then, there were some kind of skirmishes on the island and the new ETA was 1 of april. And now there are new negotiations and no known ETA? Kind of disheartening for us who made preorders.

Which is understandable and why we're offering customers complete refunds if they wish them. Please bear in mind that we are 9,700 miles away from Vanuatu and rely on locals living in a third world country, recently ravaged by a hurricane, who have constant issues with the simplest of things that we take for granted in the West. They're doing the best they can by us, and we always appreciate their work. We understand if you are dissatisfied with the service, which is why we are offering the discount, but we also need customers to understand that the process is complex and mostly beyond our control.

Again, cancel your order for a refund if you're unhappy, we totally understand dissatisfaction with the service. The above is only an explanation as to why it's not as straightforward as it seems to some.

 

[Edward]

@Global Kava Exports your service and commitment to your customers up to now has been exemplary and I think I can safely speak for the vast majority of people from the UK and the rest of Europe when I say that we are behind you 100% and understand completely the situation you are in. I for one will continue to support you by buying root from you, hopefully for years to come. Please let me know as soon as any Malekula Magic lands and I will be needing a substantial order. Thanks again for everything you do.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

We do appreciate everyone's support and understanding with these issues. We really do, but we also don't want to detract from the validity of Erron's complaint. It's always been relatively difficult to arrange large shipments to the UK from Vanuatu, but it's become a little tougher of late and the massive time difference doesn't help. However, that's our problem and it shouldn't be a customer issue. Unfortunately, this time around, we've not been able to cover the customer's interests as well as before, and we do apologise for that.

However, we do need people to understand that Vanuatu is a great place, but not always stable. The "skirmishes" were more than that. Someone died and others were seriously injured, including one of the main kava agents on the islands. While we were trying to sort movement of kava in Vanuatu, this happened: http://www.loopvanuatu.com/vanuatu-news/strike-vanuatu-grounds-planes-55866 and we're still trying to find out if it affects us or not.

Again, please do contact us if you would like a refund.

 

[erron]

My intention wasn't to bash you guys, rather i was expressing frustration at the process itself. I hope we'll get some good news soon.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Hey erron, we honestly didn't take it as a bashing, which is why we wanted to make sure you and others understood that we accepted the validity of your frustrations and wanted to speak and act as positively as we could to all our customers, who have, for the most part, been extremely patient and have cut us a lot of slack.

We repeat the refund mantra, simply so people know that their pre-order monies have not disappeared down some dark hole in our coffers.

 

[pooley]

will be looking to order from you guys as soon as stock allows..

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Again, we apologise.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/internatio...uatu-still-assessing-damage-from-cyclone-cook

Even though Vanuatu seems to come out of Cook pretty much unscathed (New Zealand seems to be getting the brunt of it?), our guys still had to shut down and be bunker down for awhile til it passed. They should be sorting everything for us next week.

 

[Pummeluff]

Are there any news?

 

[Global Kava Exports]

At the moment everything is moving along nicely, at last... We should be restocked in a week or two. We'll be sending out a newsletter when we have a definite and reliable update. Then we'll have a crazy few days of getting everything shipped.

When we do sort a newsletter mailed out, I'll post it here as well, just in case.

Thanks again guys for your patience. We're nearly there and are working on a procedure whereby we won't run into these difficulties again.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Guys, a quick update, The first part of our order is ready to be shipped from the islands. There's another cyclone on the way, so they're rushing to get it uplifted ASAP.

https://www.windy.com/?2017-05-07-18,-16.810,170.002,7

 

[ObiWan]

So there is still no shipment on its way??
I thought you were already expecting delivery these days.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

We were. I should have confirmable info by Monday/Tuesday, then i can make a proper timeline announcement. We're nearly there. Sorry, guys.

 

[sɥɐʞɐs]

We were. I should have confirmable info by Monday/Tuesday, then i can make a proper timeline announcement. We're nearly there. Sorry, guys.

Are you getting Tanna kavas back in stock ? If not, have they given you any indication if/when they will be back ?

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Hey, we have Marang Marang on the way, but we've been told that Kaolik stocks are all but wiped out and we'll only be carrying Malekula and Marang for the foreseeable future. Sorry about that.

 

[ObiWan]

And Malekula? Is it also on way?
When do you expect delivery?

 

[Global Kava Exports]

Yes, we'll only have Malekula and Marang for the foreseeable future. Once we finally manage to get this stock landed here and sent out to customers, we'll have to immediately reorder and look for more strains.

Uplift was to occur yesterday, I'm trying to get through to the guys now to confirm this happened.

I really appreciate everyone's patience with this.