Why isn't my relocation smooth sailing?

I wonder....

Today as I drove to pick the kids from school, tears start streaming down my face...yes, again...I'm a cry baby alright..

This year has been tough so far, and the focal point is of course, the relocation to Shanghai !
Somehow, everything that can go wrong, goes wrong for us !

Relocation agent, shipping company, office support, home logistics, home support, etc...I just don't seem to have the luck these few months!

Relocation agent in Shanghai : When I first heard of this, I thought 'oh great!', someone to help us from 'top to toes' ! Fat hope !

Who researched on the housing - Me;
Who researched on the schools - Me;
Who keep repeating our requirements because the agent keep 'misplacing our requirements' - Me !

I still remember those endless nights where I have to stare at my monitor until 3am prior to the Shanghai pre-move trip.

The agent is a nice guy. But somehow, it's the way people work in China.
You give clear, written information via email, it do not seem to sink well.
Everytime you have to call to confirm that they understand.

Shipping company : Nice people, cheapest (like all tenders, lowest of 3 quotes?)

1st surprise - hinting that they might charge me for the boxes when they found out there are many items that I wish to store locally;
2nd surprise - almost forgotten about our packing date (for sea shipment)!
3rd surprise - our belongings arrived in Shanghai already, but do not have Bruce's passport, hence cannot send goods for custom clearance. And Bruce is in America now, hence earliest that we can start the custom clearing process would be when we arrive next Friday.....then why on earth did I ask for early packing for sea shipment ?!)*$)%*#)#;
4th surprise ? Am still counting.....

Office support : Does it ever exist? Hm...everytime you have a question, yes it exists. And many a times, it's redirection to the relocation agent :) It's always communication between us & the relocation agent; or us and the shipping company; the office support is more than happy that it stays this way !

But hey, who is having a BIG PICTURE then? Take for example the sea shipment incident. Nobody advised on what is required for the custom clearing. Nobody advised on timing the shipment such that Bruce will be in Shanghai to provide & sign the necessary documents. He was there last week! If the office support do not know, who'll on earth should know?

And we are now exactly 1 week from departing Singapore. Nobody from office (be it from Singapore or Shanghai) touch base with us on the nitty gritty details on settling down ! What do we need -
Transport from Airport;
Hotel to tide over the period;
Collection of documents for application of residence passes;
Rental of car;
The list of details just goes on...whoops! Not forgetting, as I am typing this, the Contract for our Rented House is Not signed yet !

Home Logistics : Spent whole of last month sending letters and emails to update our home address to a PO Box. But just found out last week, due to operational limitations at the Post Office, we are not allowed to redirect mails from a PO Box ! Oh man....no time to update addresses anymore ! Quickly SOS Bruce's colleague to help redirect our mails to our Shanghai address.

A friend from the office told me that I should have just updated all our correspondence to the office and get office's support to redirect our mails to Shanghai accordingly. Oh can it be done? Nobody from the office support group told me that before? WHY? I've wasted so much effort simply because I am ill-informed? Blame it on my luck again !

Home Support : Because of the new posting, Bruce is practically out of town more than 50% of the time in a month! And even if he is in town, he is soooo swamped with the new responsibilities. So, at the end of the day, the support I get from him has decreased drastically compared to before the new posting ! Have I been 'shortchanged'? A definite YES ! I feel like I am asked to fight a war, but I am not given any ammunition ! Is it fair?

Sigh...Blame it on my luck !