Hanmer Springs Jet Boat — Local services in South Island

There might be lots of good ratings for this jet boat company but I was not happy with my experience. We were booked for the 3pm session on the 31st January. Checked in 10 mins prior as requested and were told a guide would be with us in approx. 15 minutes. At this time, a van load of people arrived and hopped on to the boat at 3pm. Everyone who was booked for the 3pm session waited in the hot dry heat for half an hour till we were called by the guide. At approximately 3:20pm we were given life jackets and waited for the jet boat to arrive. By the time we were on the boat and ready to go it was 3:30pm. Once we were out on the river the experience was amazing. The radio goes off and staff from the front desk have asked the driver if there is time for a 4pm bungy. He responds by saying “we are heading back now”. Got back around 4:05pm. On the website it states “allow 60 minutes including safety briefing”. Well I can tell you now that it didn’t take 30 minutes for the safety briefing. It only took 10 minutes so where was the rest of our time that everyone paid for during the 3pm session???? I understand NZ tourism has taken a hit since covid but we paid for a service and should be given exactly what we paid for - whether it’s full price or a deal via bookme. Really disappointed and I hope I hear back from you regarding this issue because you are ripping us kiwis off and I won’t waste my money on your half-time jet boat rides. Even Queenstown jet boats are one whole hour in duration! I would have expected something like this from Queenstown but not little Hanmer Springs....

Maddie who was driving the jetboat was amazing and the ride was fun for all. Unfortunately our whole experience was totally ruined by an extremely rude girl behind the counter. When we were getting our life jackets on a very friendly man asked if I would like him to put my bag behind the counter in the office behind the counter where it would be safe which was really nice. Most of our family of 10 all put their phones in my bag too. Arriving back into the facilty with two boat loads of people walking through plus all the other customers waiting I was horrified to see my bag just sitting on the counter where anyone could have picked it up ,I walked up to the counter picked up the bag and tried to get the staff members attention to say I was picking up my bag. No acknowledgement whatsoever. I then went to try to speak with someone about this and the girl shrugged her shoulders and gave us a “death stare” and proceeded to say we put it up on counter when first boat came in and we watched it ,I said no you didn’t watch it as I picked it up and couldn’t get your attention therefore anyone could have picked it up. She actually didn’t care and just glared and shrugged. Myself and my whole family could not believe her attitude. Appalling and disgusting to say the least. Sorry but the one star is because of her...

We had a BLAST!!! I've been on all the jet boats in NZ and Hamner was my last one to do. I very much enjoyed myself and this time my husband and 7 year old came on this one. We were going to the hot pools but decided to try our luck with the jet boats first our daughter was a bit upset by this at first but changed her mind once she felt (her words) rumble of the engines! She said she was glad we did the jet boats her only issue was she wished they would go faster and closer to the cliffs haha. She liked our driver Daniel same as us and thought he was awesome! We finished and she asked to go again 😂 Love the fact we could leave out keys and phones in a locked box behind the counter. Thanks so much for the choice experience team and Miss 7 said don't hold back next time she...