The most overrated and overpriced activity of our three week trip to the South Island. The spinning around the first two times is fun but gets old really fast. They also don’t go into the shotover canyon area: only the other speedboat vendor does that. After a while feels like you’re taking a boat transfer with no destination.
Most disappointing was how they run their business: we arrived on time (15 mins early) for a 4pm booking (pre-purchased tickets), planning our day to make sure we go there promptly. Upon arrival we were informed that because they “only” had 4 people booked for that time slot, they “couldn’t / weren’t allowed to” go out with fewer than 5 people, and bumped us to the 5pm time slot (or offered the next day which is of course useless because we we had other plans already). Shortly after 5 pm the sun dropped below the surrounding mountains, the temperature dropped several degrees (it was uncomfortably cold despite wearing several layers) and the typically beautiful blue-green shotover river became a dull muddy grey-brown color.
Worst of all the manager later rudely insisted that they had the right to reschedule based on the Bookit terms and that they’re not “physically allowed” to go out with fewer than 5 people (again, there are were four of us!). She didn’t seem to grasp that this was a business CHOICE that puts marginal profit of one ride over customer satisfaction and fairness. Not to mention false advertising. They claim to leave “on the hour every hour”. Clearly not the case. Furthermore the booking terms indicate: “Kawarau Jet reserves the right to cancel or amend a trip due to weather or unforeseen circumstances at any stage.” Selling 4 instead of 5 tickets for the time slot in no way qualifies as an unforeseen circumstance to any reasonable person. These types of short-sighted decisions sink a business in the long run (no pun intended) so I hope management recognizes this and change their policies (since clearly other people currently tend to have a better experience than we did based on reviews)
For the record, as “compensation” we did receive the photo booklet and digital photos for free, but even this was unpleasant: we were promised this consolation by a staff member when we were first informed of the forced reschedule, but after the ride the manager curtly told us no, that’s not a policy they have, and only begrudgingly handed it over.