Monster Truck & FMX Special Event in Mt Maunganui's Bay Park.
Video supplied / Christopher Graham
A company behind a much-maligned Monster Truck show on tour in New Zealand appears to have taken an aggressive approach to complaining customers - describing the Tauranga venue as a “s***hole” and criticising New Zealanders’ attitudes, saying “no wonder virtually nothing comes to your country”.
Dozens of spectators were leftdisappointed - and some children bored - by what they described as a lacklustre show in Tauranga on Saturday night. The show moves to Auckland for two nights this weekend and to Palmerston North next week.
Multiple messages sent to the Herald purport to show the company repeatedly using obscene language to disparage the Tauranga venue and the entire country, vowing to return to Australia. One message seen by the Herald blamed the “Kiwi f***wits that ran the stadium”.
Another screed took up multiple phone screens to deliver a blistering response to a complainant.
After again blaming Trustpower Baypark for the issues on Saturday night, the message told a disgruntled punter: “Don’t worry about us f***ing up at Huntley (sic) or any other f***ing Kiwi f***ing s***hole stadium as after we honour this weekend’s shows in Auckland you and all the other venues who have bought tickets can wait at the gate all you like...
“We will take our supposed s*** show home to our sell-out shows that run month after month there to thousands of very happy kids. No wonder virtually nothing comes to your country.”
The company was earlier issuing a measured response through official channels to its critics. The organisers revealed they had received more than 260 complaints but say no refunds will be given and they have not “scammed anyone of their money”.
With vibrant advertisements plastered across social media for weeks, the sold-out Monster Trucks Extreme performance in Tauranga on Saturday night was expected to be a huge not-to-be-missed event.
Instead, people reported an underwhelming event that resulted in some families leaving the stadium early. Members of the public took to social media in droves to share how upset and disappointed they were by the event and the lack of an X-factor.
The promoters have now revealed the show fielded 264 complaints, some calling for a full refund.
Monster Truck show at the Bay Park Arena in Tauranga. Photo / Christopher Graham
But the promoter has hit back at claims the issues were their fault.
In an official statement sent to attendees, obtained by the Herald, the promoter for Monster Truck & FMX Spectacular, Monster Truck Promotions Australia, first blamed the “unorganised” and “chaotic” feel of the show on the PA system, which collapsed early in the evening.
“The organisers were in no way responsible for the break in the PA that lead [sic] to people not knowing what attractions were going on,” the statement read.
“Our event did need to have a sound system to add to the performance but this was in no way the organiser’s fault, this was the venue.”
The promoter said the event started at 6.07pm, only just after the intended start of 6pm, refuting claims that it started much later, and blamed the small delay on traffic.
The show has been dubbed “disappointing” and “false advertising” by the attendees after it didn’t live up to the hype of the videos promoting it. Photo / Christopher Graham
They also responded to complaints about how high the monster cars jumped, questioning critics’ “qualifications to know the height of a monster truck and how it should be driven”.
The promoters said the ground at Trustpower Baypark Arena, where the event was held, was “very wet” and impacted the monster trucks’ ability to perform.
“The arena was very wet and, like a football game when it rains on the field, it does impede the players not being able to run fast/perform, but it still goes ahead, like that this event went ahead,” the promoter said.
After pushing back at nearly all the complaints made against the show, the promoters confirmed there would be no refund as “we have not scammed anyone of their money”.
They claimed the tickets were inexpensive at $180 for a family pass (which included two adults and three kids) “considering that Nito and Crustys are $70 per person”.
The statement said any inadequacies are not “any of our doing” and “if you do have a problem with these please take this up at the venue Baypark Venue itself directly”.
On Sunday, Trustpower Baypark chief executive Chad Hooker said except for an equipment failure with the PA system, the venue largely operated as expected.
“An amplifier powering the stadium PA system failed about an hour into the event and our team worked hard to get the system working again,” Hooker said.
“We acknowledge that this had an impact on the quality of the experience for patrons and apologise for this. We will be working to ensure this issue doesn’t occur again in future.”
While the company was issuing a measured response through official channels to its critics, screenshots of messages from the Monster Truck Promotions Facebook account appear to show the company taking a much more aggressive approach to those complaining about its shows.
Multiple messages sent to the Herald purport to show the company repeatedly using obscene language to disparage the venue and the entire country, vowing to return to Australia without completing its scheduled run.
One message seen by the Herald blamed the “Kiwi f***wits that ran the stadium”.
Another screed took up multiple phone screens to deliver a blistering response to a complainant.
After again blaming Trustpower Baypark for the issues on Saturday night, the message told a disgruntled punter, breathlessly: “Don’t worry about us f***ing up at Huntley (sic) or any other f***ing Kiwi f***ing s***hole stadium as after we honour this weekend’s shows in Auckland you and all the other venues who have bought tickets can wait at the gate all you like cause you are getting your money back we will take our supposed s*** show home to our sell-out shows that run month after month there to thousands of very happy kids. No wonder virtually nothing comes to your country.”
