Customisation delivered less tour but cost $114 more
I wanted to book a tour for 2 people to Waiheke Island out of Auckland, New Zealand.
We needed to get back to our cruise ship, Celebrity Eclipse, prior to departure by 4pm on 26 April 2023.
The usual tour offered by Ananda is for a minimum of 2 people. It is 7 hours long includes tastings at 2 wineries + olive oil mill, lunch, transport and guide. It does not include ferry tickets. Current price (19 March 2023) on website is NZ $236pp.
I was offered a 5 hour tour, with no lunch, at NZ $350pp.
The justification given for the additional NZ $114pp cost while delivering less, was "customisation". I don't know what "customisation" consists of or how it justifies extra cost for less.
Ananda did mention that a car and driver would have to be booked for a full day even where a tour wasn't for a full day. However, as vehicle / driver costs would be the same in either length of tour it cannot be a factor in charging more, it just means this is a tour element where Ananda won't charge less.
If Ananda had offered the shorter tour including lunch at the same price, I would have questioned it. But I may have accepted it and thanked them for getting me to the ferry at the earlier time.
At best this is poor communication - a failure to adequately or properly explain why the price is so much higher or suggest alternatives to lower the price - but it also looks like unreasonable pricing.