Generally your summary looks ‘on point’ in terms of FT reportage.

My sister (Elite) had a situation where R was available and the RU needed to be loaded manually, but took a few days to sort. After lodging eventually, it then didn’t clear after a few days. Follow-up calls over the period (to get it lodged, and then waiting) noted R class availability I decreasing (2, then 1), and then gone. Calls and emails resulted in AirNZ making consoling noises, but no rectification. The RU eventually cleared in the lounge 1 hours prior to flight.

Of course, no way to ‘prove’ there was R class available when you call unless you record the calls, although AirNZ can (and have done for me) reviewed a recordings of a phone conversation between myself and the call centre. Good luck.