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Interislander acknowledges the Commerce Commission’s findings regarding potential breaches of the Fair Trading Act and has been working hard to put things right.
“We have fully cooperated with the Commission and acknowledge that we could have done better by our customers in the early part of 2023 and need to do better by our customers going forward,” says Chief customer and growth officer Adele Wilson.
“Since the mechanical disruption events in 2023, as well as revamping our maintenance regime for the Interislander ferries to minimise disruptions, we’ve been focused on making things right with customers impacted. We’ve also made changes to our refunds and compensation policies and procedures and have improved both the tools our staff have to guide decisions and the quality of our staff training.”
In early 2023, Interislander ferries suffered mechanical issues which unfortunately took our ferries out of service for a period of time.
“These events took some time to investigate and whilst we investigated the cause we treated them as if they were outside of Interislander’s control. We also made inconsistent statements to customers, and some were led to believe compensation was not available to them.
“Our investigation subsequently showed that there were things that Interislander could have done that may have avoided these mechanical issues. After this finding, we have proactively worked with the Commission and contacted customers to compensate them for the disruption they experienced, and this process is ongoing.
“We have changed our process. When we have mechanical issues, unless the cause is clear at the time, we treat those incidents as if they are within our control – and consider claims for compensation immediately.
“We recognise that it’s not fair to make passengers wait for the outcome of lengthy investigations to receive compensation. We apologise unreservedly to all our customers who had to wait to receive compensation for the 2023 events or who were led to believe that compensation was not available.
“The other change we’re making is that there will be no set timeframe for a delay for compensation to apply. Every incident will be looked at individually and decisions on compensation will take into account all of the circumstances at the time.
“We will look at the time of the sailing that was delayed or cancelled, how soon we could accommodate the passenger on another sailing, and the consequences of the delay or cancellation for our passengers and do what’s right in the circumstances.”
These changes do not apply to events that are outside of Interislander’s control, such as weather.
“We are investing in new technology to be able to text customers earlier, giving them earlier warning of possible delays or cancellations so that they can make decisions that are best for them. These changes will benefit customers in all delays and disruptions.
“The Interislander ferries are New Zealanders’ ferries. Our passengers are the heart of our service and we should have done better in 2023.
“We apologise again for the disruptions that caused the cancellations, and for the delay in putting it right.”
Interislander is relentlessly focused on improving its customer experience. The reliability of its ferries has been 98 per cent this year (FY25) and Interislander hopes that this improvement, as well as the changes to its policies and procedures, will give customers the confidence they deserve when booking their Cook Strait journey with Interislander.
