6th April 2010 As usual some details are ommitted to make for a good story.
Group - and all riders - briefed that final bus is at 2.30pm and that after that additional pick up charges may apply. Our bus waited until 2.50 pm but had other passengers already aboard and other commitments. Please note that 12 other riders on the 42 Traverse and 88 people on the Tonagriro Crossing all arrived on time that day.
Group also made no attempt at contact to inform us of how late they would be or why which they are asked to do in the briefing. As it was, waiting until 2.50 made us late for other people who were on time.
Due to heavy passenger load we were not able to pick them up again until 5.30pm prior to which I informed them over the phone that extra charges would apply and this was not objected to at the time - only after the ride had been taken. Upon return it transpired that the delay was due to frequent crashes and breakdowns on 2 of thier poorly maintained bikes - wheels falling off, chains breaking etc.
I am truly sorry they ended with a bad impression of me and Howards Lodge but they need to accept responsibility for thier own predicament.
6th April 2010 As usual some details are ommitted to make for a good story.
Group - and all riders - briefed that final bus is at 2.30pm and that after that additional pick up charges may apply. Our bus waited until 2.50 pm but had other passengers already aboard and other commitments. Please note that 12 other riders on the 42 Traverse and 88 people on the Tonagriro Crossing all arrived on time that day.
Group also made no attempt at contact to inform us of how late they would be or why which they are asked to do in the briefing. As it was, waiting until 2.50 made us late for other people who were on time.
Due to heavy passenger load we were not able to pick them up again until 5.30pm prior to which I informed them over the phone that extra charges would apply and this was not objected to at the time - only after the ride had been taken. Upon return it transpired that the delay was due to frequent crashes and breakdowns on 2 of thier poorly maintained bikes - wheels falling off, chains breaking etc.
I am truly sorry they ended with a bad impression of me and Howards Lodge but they need to accept responsibility for thier own predicament.
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oprime
5th April 2010 We had a really bad experience with this establishment and would absolutely advise against staying here. We paid $30 each for 5 people to get dropped off and picked up from the 42 traverse. The Manager was extremely casual about how long it would take to complete the track and didnt mention anything about what might happen if we missed the pickup or any extra costs and gave us 6 hours to get to the pick up point. We had not done the track before and trusted that the manager knew what was an acceptable amount of time to complete the track. On the ride we had some technical problems with the bikes and a few minor crashes and ended up reaching the pick up point just half an hour later than the allotted time. We arrived to find that the bus had not waited for us and then had to wait 3 hours to get picked up again. While waiting we talked to some of the locals and found that this place had a terrible reputation within the tongariro community. When we arrived back to the lodge we found that the manager had already charged us all for another bus ride to my credit card without any permission or without any discussion.
His attitude was extremely rude and arrogant. We later read on the howards lodge website that the track usually takes 6 to 8 hours to complete, so the manager had only given us the minimum amount of time to do it. This manager will rip you off, find alternate accommodation in National Park.
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As usual some details are ommitted to make for a good story.
Group - and all riders - briefed that final bus is at 2.30pm and that after that additional pick up charges may apply. Our bus waited until 2.50 pm but had other passengers already aboard and other commitments. Please note that 12 other riders on the 42 Traverse and 88 people on the Tonagriro Crossing all arrived on time that day.
Group also made no attempt at contact to inform us of how late they would be or why which they are asked to do in the briefing. As it was, waiting until 2.50 made us late for other people who were on time.
Due to heavy passenger load we were not able to pick them up again until 5.30pm prior to which I informed them over the phone that extra charges would apply and this was not objected to at the time - only after the ride had been taken. Upon return it transpired that the delay was due to frequent crashes and breakdowns on 2 of thier poorly maintained bikes - wheels falling off, chains breaking etc.
I am truly sorry they ended with a bad impression of me and Howards Lodge but they need to accept responsibility for thier own predicament.