The overseas embassy staff are there to deal government to government. You can understand that in certain places they are going to get hacked off with drunken idiots getting arrested. Local consuls are like the country village police versus the flying squad, they do have more time for this stuff. It's like calling the Fire Brigade because you've run out of  to expect the Beijing embassy to get your stuff out of customs. What they should do IMHO is put a page in every passport they issue saying exactly how to contact them and what they will and won't do. People may then decide they cost too much, but that's another matter.
Andy
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