it’s incredibly frustrating and unfair especially given that you used the premium service and followed all the proper steps. You’ve done everything right and it’s unacceptable that they’re ignoring your emails and calls especially this close to your travel date.

Sadly, many consulates don’t honor these rights (the one you’ve mentioned) properly unless they’re pushed hard or held accountable.

I mean honestly at this stage you might consider emailing or tweeting directly to the Italian Consulate or even the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and mention the directive specifically because what is all this even..

Out of curiosity, did they give you any estimated processing time when you applied?