23 Feb 2023
I went on the Queenstown Wine Trail website and was delighted to see that, according to the site, they had availability for their "Bannockburn's Finest Full Day Tour" on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 10:00 AM. I booked the tour and received an email confirming that "the booking was pending". Soon after, I received notice that Queenstown Wine Trail had processed the payment for the tour.
I think it’s reasonable to say that when someone accepts payment for a service, they’re going to provide you with a service. Perhaps this is old fashioned.
On Monday, February 13, 2023 we were notified that despite the payment having been made, we were not on the tour.
It was too late for us to book an alternative.
I wrote to Queenstown Wine Trail making the following observations, amongst others:
• I sought the service you offered and placed an order.
• Payment for the service was accepted and payment processed.
• Offering a service you won’t deliver, and taking payment for it, is in my view misleading.
• It is my view that this was to done to maximize your opportunity for profit – if someone else dropped out then you had a ‘standby’, fully paid up
• While it was convenient for you to do so, ensuring you maximised your profit, cancelling the day before left us high and dry.
It may be an amazing tour if you go on it.
We'll never know.
But I'm fussy about who I drink with and based on my experience I wouldn't go on the tour if they paid me.