Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) is apologising for a 'poor' customer experience many Kiwis are encountering after filling in their forms.
Rotorua resident Christine Allen filled out her Census form on Census day and posted it in the mail.
But Allen says a couple weeks later, a Census employee knocked on her door telling her they hadn't received her completed form.
"I told her that I had sent it, and when I sent it, and she just smiled and said, 'Oh, don't worry about it too much there's been a delay in the processing, so perhaps yours hasn't been processed yet'."
She told AM a letter arrived in the mail recently saying again that she hadn't completed the Census.
Allen rang Stats NZ's Census helpline, and although that was a difficult task, she said she finally got some help.
"I said, 'well, what do I do if I get another letter about it?' And he said, 'Just throw it in the bin'."
Stats NZ deputy chief executive for Census and collections operations Simon Mason said he was "really sorry to hear of Christine's poor experience".
"I want to thank her for being so diligent and doing her Census. It's really good to hear, but certainly not the desired customer experience that we want to see."
And Allen isn't alone. Mason said the issue arises when Stats NZ receives a dwelling form from a household outlining how many people are living there.
But Mason said it becomes complicated when completed Census forms are sent back, but not everyone in that household has completed them.
"That's why we're going out there to knock on doors just to make sure things are correct. And in some cases, we sent out a form of full forms to a household, and there's actually six people in the household and therefore they haven't had an opportunity or two of them might have had an opportunity to fill in the census."
Mason said there are around 200,000 households "in this predicament".
