Customs issues in Auckland
In the end this is my fault but having some common sense in new Zealand would help.
Here's what happened..
I have a flight arriving from lax to AKL with my 2yrs old and my wife is on a later flight arriving 45mins after. We have a connecting flight to SYD 8 hours later. We arrived I went up the escalators to the lounge. Never been to nz I thought why not hire a car and look around .I jumped online hired a car with hertz using my points grubbed some water two pears into my backpack and went down stairs to wait for them to arrive.
We meet up and proceeded down the way to the customs belt we were in a rush having limited time there I started to throw the bags onto the belt taking off my bumbag etc and my wife had a chat to some man sitting on the seat on the side. All of a sudden the belt stops and they ask "who does this bag belong too"? Me. I said open please he replied I opened it and he pulls out two pears I grubbed from upstairs. Who's in your party he asks and I say wife two kids pointing to them he radios another office who instructs all of us to come with him . We sit down in a customs room and he asked why I didn't declare the pears. I said declare to who nobody asked me anything. Who spoke to the customs agent my wife's states she did and the office asks why didn't you declare the fruit.I didn't know he had them she's says we only just meet . I say i was jn the business loinge came down to meet them i took the pears from there. Hang on he says you said your together now your saying you just meet something doesn't sound right he says. So I reply "listen your brain is not working correctly go put cold water on your face and come back". Now he's just as upset as I am and calls his team leader.
Again I explain the story to them I arrived earlier went up to the lounge took some food/drinks for my wife and child meet them when they landed on a later flight my wife didn't know I had the pears because she wasn't with me when I took them , and nobody spoke to me. Keep them I say.
They go outside and come back in a few mins my wife says to me tell them to look on the video camera to see where you got the pears from so when they come back I tell them and they said its not nesseccary and hit me with a $400NZ fine. They asked for my details which I gave them and we left to explore the country but from that moment no matter what happened the while experience was ruined .
A few weeks later I got a letter from the agricultural department in NZ with a $400NZ reminder . From my understanding I don't have to pay it unless I go back is that correct?
Please share your opinions.