Off Piste

This guy is a real piece of work. We rented some skis for the week for my son 12. The skis we were given have clearly been rented out a hundred times before and when they broke (snapped on the slope) he thought it clever to charge us $175 for them excluding the rental. When I said I'm not paying for the $#%&@#$ skis he threatened to call the police. What a business model. I will go out of my way going forward to turn potential customers away. He insinuated that I drove over the ski, what a knob.

Yeah the guy’s kinda blunt but he’s the only chain hire place in town so he has to deal with hundreds of people at varying levels of cluelessness with almost no staff.Our experience was great: aside from a long wait (understandable given the circumstances) the whole process was very smooth. We went to hire chains for the full weekend just in case, but he suspected that we‘d only need them for the Saturday and gave us the flexibility of returning them either on Sunday morning or Sunday afternoon, only paying for the second day’s rental if we ended up needing them for both days.

Loved this placethe been coming here for last 2 years never disappointed with serviceJohn from Miaranagi bay is super nice

The owner John Henning made us feel uncomfortable right from the start. Gave me a dirty look and smart comment entering as the shops ranch slider made a bang against its stop when I opened it according to him with too much gusto.No prices displayed for hirage so had to trust the figure he came to was honest and correct. Partners ski did not click in properly up in the mountain so had to hire a new set of skis up there and retained the receipt to show him but he didn’t want to view it and said he’d see us right as it was his mistake. When the visa bill came through no account taken of this. Tried to ring him but he has no phone contact listed or website contact details. Wouldn’t recommend this shop... hire your gear up on the mountain where the staff are friendly and the deal is transparent. I’m told he’s the only dude hiring out car chains in Ohukune. You’ll get on ok with him if you don’t ask any questions and allow him to wax lyrical about all his achievements.

Like what the other reviewers said before me, he's not exactly the nicest person to deal with. I asked for chains and toboggan hire for 24 hours. I was quoted $50 & I paid for it. I was told to return it the next day before the shop closes.I returned it back the next day & was told the charge is now $100 because renting it yesterday afternoon and returning it after 24 hours counts as 2 days.Just be up front and honest with your prices mate. I'm never going there again and so should you. I should have checked the reviews first.

Owner was extremely helpful getting me the correct chains for my vehicle. Will return to hire again. Thankyou

Went here to hire a set of chains for my Ute in the weekend. He was accommodating, going out of his way to find something to fit my odd wheel and tyre combo. Took time to show us how to fit the chains and make sure we would be safe.$40 for the day. Can't complain.

Be warned. He's a bit rude to customers. No customer service at all. As someone who worked in the customer service industry for more than a decade this is totally unacceptable. But he can get away with it since he's the only one hiring snow chains. Not up front with prices. Would not go there again ever. Like what the other guys said on this page, go spend your money in Taupo. You'll have a better experience, you'll spend the same amount of time for a fraction of the cost. You've been warned.

Parked outside his shop while I was trying to sort out hiring a bike at Elemento across the road. I accidently parked next to the last park that was there. This meant I was blocking his little driveway next to his shop, which I did un-initially.He came out and told me to move my car, which I apologized for and said ill move it right away (very politely). He then replied with Yeah you will! Otherwise ill have you towed away" very aggressively