Info & Track — Local services in South Island

The outbound leg to the start of the track was without issue.

I have given a low rating as my return shuttle left without me before the scheduled departure. The confirmation email states that road works can cause delays so if there's no sign of the bus to wait because they will always show up; I did wait but after about 20 minutes I decided to start walking out in the hopes that I could make contact as there was no one else around so I was suspicious that it had gone already. There was enough intermittent coverage to get a message to a friend who managed to make contact with the company - nearly an hour after the scheduled departure they apologised to her and said that they could come back and get me but it would be another 45 minutes. At this point I was about 10 minutes in the car of a couple I'd met in the carpark when I first arrived who had offered to bring me to Queenstown after their day walk if the shuttle didn't arrive so I stuck with this option. Once in Queenstown I called the company to confirm that I was back safely and that a refund would be processed but I was told that the shuttle had in fact waited for me and that I was a "no show" so I would not be getting a refund. I recounted the events and the conversation that my friend had recounted to me and was told that that was not the case and that I could write an email with details and proof if I so wished and that my application would be considered. I still had a drive to Geraldine to complete so upon arriving at my accommodation several hours later than anticipated I had the task of writing said email in order to get my money back for a service not provided. I received a short but apologetic email the next day and refund for the return leg of the journey.

I was very disappointed in several regards: I am a female who was travelling solo and the walk ends in a remote area with no coverage; I booked a shuttle as I did not want the risk or uncertainty of hitchhiking by myself. As I'd planned my arrival for the time of the shuttle I'd also missed most of the traffic to the area and was very lucky that someone picked me up and that I also felt comfortable with them; however this did not feel like a safe situation for me to have been in. The driver took the word of someone I would have spoken to in passing who hadn't seen me in two days and who provided (presumably unintentional) false information. Whatever about leaving exactly on time I am baffled as to how it could be appropriate to leave early under any circumstance. This was irresponsible and makes the service unreliable. The miscommunication between staff meant that after an already stressful and long afternoon I had an exceedingly unpleasant customer service interaction where I was essentially told I was lying, and then had to waste more of my time trying to resolve the matter. Frankly I thought I'd have an email apologising and confirming a refund in my without even having to call.

Unfortunately for these reasons I would not recommend this service and would not...

Disappointed… My friend and I had booked a bus trip to and from Glenorchy. The evening before, I quite seriously sprained my ankle. I was simply not up for bussing and walking anywhere. I tried calling the company that evening, but naturally it was outside business hours. Called again first thing in the morning, the second they opened, and explained the situation with my apologies. First woman I spoke to seemed helpful… she said she understood, would cancel my ticket, and would pass my number on to a colleague to see about processing a refund. She said she could make no promises but would do her best given this was a situation outside my control.

A couple hours later, I got a call back from the same number. I picked it up, but it seemed the employee on the phone couldn’t hear me, and he hung up on me. I called him back immediately. and this time he seemed able to hear me. He asked if I’d arrived yet for my bus… I was quite confused. I explained the situation again—that I’d sprained my ankle quite badly, and had already spoken to his colleague who I’d have thought would have reached out to him (as I’d assumed this was why they were calling me back). He said that was unfortunate but he wouldn’t be able to refund me, because there was a 48-24 hour cancellation policy. I said I understood this, but was hoping for some compassion from the company given the circumstances. I’d only injured myself the evening before. I couldn’t walk. I could barely stand. I’d called the first moment I was able to. If I wasn’t injured I’d be on that bus, and if I’d been injured sooner I’d have reached out then. I was doing all I could on my end.

The employee made some comment about how his boss would give him grief if he refunded me. I explained again the circumstances, and was also honest that my friend and I are university students and that the 60 dollars each for the bus was quite a bit of money for us. The employee again refused to do anything, nor did he even offer to reach out to his manager for me to see about an exception—“I get it, stuff happens, but that is the company policy.”

Just disappointed, honestly. I know companies have refund policies and I know they’re there to make money, but you’d think when primarily transporting hikers and trampers they’d be more understanding that injuries happen. If I come back to Queenstown, I’ll definitely not be booking any more buses through...

In Febraury we backpacked the Greenstone-Caples track. On our final day, we had a booking with Info & Track for a 10:30am shuttle from the remote Greenstone carpark to take us back to Glenorchy. We arrived at 10am and waited, and waited and waited. We waited for more than 3 hours before hitching a ride. The shuttle never showed. And neither did the one after it – another hiker from our hut was also abandoned and had to hitch.

There is no cell service at the carpark, which Info & Track acknowledges: there’s a posting at the carpark shelter saying that the only way to contact them is via the Garmin GPS app (if you have it already downloaded and with a subscription - we didn’t). When we finally got back to Glenorchy and called, the guy said that they had a problem with a shuttle and, well, sorry. He claimed they’d sent another shuttle which arrived at 12:30pm but that was a lie because we were still at the carpark then. We think it was just less expensive for them to refund us than to send a shuttle for 2 people.

They also promised us a refund which didn’t happen until a month later when we followed up. This...