I am flying from Auckland to Tokyo on Monday next week with my father and requested recognition upgrade for myself (Gold, Y to PE) and OneUp request for my father (Y to PE, no uplifting).

Interestingly, my father's ticket was successfully upgraded this morning but still pending for my recognition upgrade request.
According to AirNZ website,

"We review Recognition Upgrades before OneUp offers, so it's unlikely you will miss out"

Is this kind of thing normal?

I spoke to the customer service over the phone but they say they can do nothing as it's being done automatically.

Any advice would be appreciated.