Multiple sailings on the Connemara ferry were cancelled due to a problem with the winch that controls the stern door. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Bluebridge passengers have been left stranded or out of pocket after several cancelled sailings due to a ramp fault on the Connemara ferry.
A problem with the winch that controls the stern door led to 200 passengers being stuck for 15 hours on Thursday, and subsequent sailings of the Cook Strait ferry have been cancelled, leaving many passengers having to be rebooked or refunded.
Gemma and her family were due to sail on the Connemara Friday morning.
The Christchurch family had driven down to Wellington from Whangamatā before finding out their trip was cancelled.
Gemma said they could not get on another sailing until the end of January and could not take that much time off work.
"It really [left] us with not much option."
She said they instead scrambled to get flights, a task made more difficult by the fact they had to get a crate for their dog.
"It took us in total four days to get home," she said.
"Our van is still in the North Island," she said. "It's got a trailer with our jet ski, we've got our motorbike up there, there's our mountain bikes, all of our gear."
Gemma said while they were able to leave their belongings in the care of family, they were now without a lot of their summer gear and another trip would be needed to get it home.
Gemma estimated that they had spent more than $1000 to get home. She hoped Bluebridge compensated them for the flight cost.
Greg from Northland was also unable to get rebooked for weeks.
He had been travelling the South Island in a RV and was trying to get to Wellington.
Greg said the cancellation had effectively left him "stranded" in the South Island and that came with a lot of knock-on costs, from accommodation to activities he had already paid for.
He said he had raised that with Bluebridge.
"I was told pretty curtly that that's not how their refund process works, and it's reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and we would be remiss to try to get any compensation out of those sorts of knock-on effects.
Greg felt the ferries were getting off light in terms of accountability, compared to some other modes of transport.
"I would expect them to be the ones working out a plan to get us home and in the interim, providing some sort of accommodation or place to stay while they worked this out, very similar to airlines."
In New Zealand, if a flight is cancelled or delayed, and it was the airline's fault, consumers were entitled to reasonable compensation for any additional loss suffered up to 10 times the cost of the flight, along with any refund, rebooking or credit.
Consumer NZ said if a ferry was cancelled due to an event within the operator's control, such as a mechanical issue, consumers have rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
"In addition to getting a refund or being rebooked on a later sailing, consumers are also entitled to claim compensation for reasonably foreseeable costs (such as car hire, accommodation, flights etc). If Bluebridge denies liability, consumers can lodge a claim at the Disputes Tribunal," a spokesperson said.
Consumer NZ said anyone who felt they had been misled could lodge a complaint with the Commerce Commission.
In 2024, the Commerce Commission warned Bluebridge about potentially misrepresenting consumers' rights to compensation when sailings were delayed or cancelled after the Commission found its terms and conditions contradicted what was in the Consumer Guarantees Act.
In a statement, StraitNZ Bluebridge spokesperson Will Dady said the company was working with passengers to reschedule, refund or recompense where appropriate.
"We have added additional capacity where possible - for example an extra sailing last Saturday - and are looking forward to returning to our regular schedule by this evening."
He said the majority of people affected had been allocated to alternative sailings or chosen to travel by other means.
"We'd like to thank everyone for their patience and apologise again for the disruption caused. We're working as quickly as possible to liaise with those impacted but it does take time," Dady said.
"It's the most difficult time of year to experience a mechanical issue such as this with already heavy demand for sailings but we want to reassure our passengers we're doing our best to assist getting them across Cook Strait to their destination as quickly as possible," he said.
Bluebridge did not respond to RNZ's questions around what compensation it was offering passengers.
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