Rival bus firm offers free trip to trio left stranded

Emma and her two friends booked bus tickets from Auckland to Waitomo but ended up in Tauranga instead. Photo / NZME

Three bus passengers who booked to visit Waitomo Caves but ended up in Tauranga by mistake have been offered a free upgraded trip by a rival firm.

Emma, who wants only her first name published, said she and her two friends were excited by the offer from travel firm Stray, worth $565 per person, to take them to the caves, even though they had already visited the tourist attraction yesterday.

"My parents have a car and they took me and my friends," said Emma who, like her friends, is a student from China.

She had not heard back from Nakedbus or ManaBus in response to her complaint about the trip over Queen's Birthday weekend, but Stray's offer had restored her confidence in New Zealand bus services.

A customer service representative for the two bus operators repeated to NZME last night that they had no comment to make yet.

Emma and her friends each paid about $90 for a Naked/Mana Auckland-Waitomo return ticket and they want refunds, believing there was insufficient notification of the need to change buses at Hamilton. Emma said there was no warning of this on the booking website, although the change was referred to in an email attachment sent to the women. They returned to Auckland on the same bus after spending an hour in the city.

She said Waitomo Caves was exciting and she was looking forward to a second trip in August with Stray. She had first learned of the tourist attraction by watching a video on a Chinese social media site and had decided to visit because it was not far from Auckland.

"We had a great day."

Stray's marketing manager, Antonia Elliott, made its offer after reading of the women's trip mix-up in the Weekend Herald.

"Stray, along with its partners at Waitomo Adventures and Raglan Surf School, are about to launch a campaign in Auckland, where up to 80 seats will be made available to international students to join an overnight - two-day, one-night - trip to the Waikato region which will include adventure activities at Waitomo Caves and Raglan as well as sightseeing opportunities.

"We'd be more than happy to offer the three international students who missed out on visiting Waitomo the first three seats on this trip for free."

The guided trip includes bus transport, accommodation, a Waitomo activity, a surfing lesson and a visit to the Bridal Veil Falls.