4 customer service agents, each gave a different information, were dishonest to protect their and Air NZ's mistakes. One was a supervisor.
Very disappointing. The lack of care and accountability by the staff and the management team is shocking. They made mistakes in quoting prices, and lied about their mistakes, and all they did was to say 'I apologize' for each of their mistakes. Maybe more training is necessary, and hold your team accountable, not your customers.
One agent told me that 'Total Cost' means cost of each leg of the flight, and my understanding of 'total cost' is incorrect. I guess it all depends on what the definition of 'is' is.
I will now look at any other option before selecting Air NZ.
I'm saddened as I used to be very proud of Air NZ and used to recommend them to everyone. Something's happened since 10-15 years ago or so, and it's been downhill since.
Quality of plane food is terrible as well. (Apologies for the honest and direct feedback, but maybe someone will care to make a difference and bring quality and service back.)

- From a long time and very loyal customer.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EV EVER
Flight to Chicago via Houston cancelled early morning before flight and allocated flight via Houston following day which I accepted as I could juggle accomodation and tours before flying on to Chicago. A few hours łater received SMS that I was on another flight on original date via San Francisco to Chicago bypassing Houston. TWO minutes later received another SMS saying that I was on the flight via Houston next day????
My travel agent advised me to go to the airport as he no longer could see my reservation as Air New Zealand were handling it. I arrived at the desk at Tullamarine to confirm next days flight and was told that there were no Business Class seats available- I informed them that I had just received sms a few hours ago stating I was on that flight and they told me that I should IGNORE MESSAGES AS THEY ARE AUTOMATEFD - REALLY???? How then do we communicate.
They were quite rude and put me on a flight via LA and dumped me in Chicago after midnight with no accommodation . It was becoming quite stressful and confusing for me but THEY JUST DIDNʼT CARE.
It was disappointing given that I had flown them to Vancouver the previous year with no issues.
I wrote to them and they agreed to refund $NZ250 towards accommodation in Chicago and also ʼgenerouslyʼ gave me 200 points towards another flight- absolute insult - is that how they treat their customers.

They ruined the start of my holiday as I will never be able to get to Houston to visit the Space Centre. Flying via Houston is more expensive than flying via East Coast USA They would not compensate me for the difference.

The service was great as Air NZ services are.

I am not one to write bad reviews as I know the impact on the business being in business myself. However my review I feel is needed for the service which we received being far from fair and reasonable.
Review is for the baggage claim. Terrible service and damaged baggage. Our car seat was broken beyond repair. No responsibility taken. Replacement was over $600 and only $100 airnz dollars offered. Only after pushing quite hard an extra $100 was offered but would not do anymore. Most insurance companies offer replacement now but air nz claimed their insurance only covers on depreciation cost of items.. hmm.

Very disappointing service bringing the air nz name down in its reputation.
Beware if travelling with anything of value and make sure is well wrapped or boxed as there is no care from handlers and no care when your items are damaged.

Wife was injured. She notified airnz for assistance online. Got back from Cairns, long day, finally got to terminal put her on bus Ok. l pushed luggage about a km to domestic not pleased with that crook of.... Go to get nz flight to chch, got to gate 31 to let staff know of issue. Went to give name and told "where not checking in yet and ignored after that. Come to border flight and had to stand for ages to get wife on at end of que. Hard words with snotty female person at gate. Not impressed will never recommend. Aussies couldn't do enough and offered an unbelievable service, you need to learn some lessons here scooter your service and Auckland staff are crap.

We were booked all the way through to Vancouver via Ackland on Air New Zealand and the flight was cancelled. Fair enough stuff happen. We were told to wait and we would receive an email with alternative flight arrangements. We check back with the flight desk every 30min or so and were told to continue wait. We had been waiting for approx. 4 hours by now and when we went back to the booking desk they were gone. We could not find any air new zealand staff anywhere. We called air new zealand and they said they had booked us on an earlier qantas flight but know one informed us. To cut a long story short they finally got us to Vancouver 1 day late, we missed our tour etc etc etc. Thanks to air new Zealand's incompetence it totally ruined our long planned holiday!!!