Refund & cancellation policy

The short version

Refunds go back to the card you paid with, within 5–10 business days. We don't charge a processing fee.

1. If you cancel — more than 24 hours before

Cancel more than 24 hours before your departure time and you get a full refund. No fee and no explanation needed.

• Cancel through the link in your confirmation email, or email us at hello@thisunchartedworld.com.
• If you booked through Viator, GetYourGuide or another platform, cancel through that platform. They process the refund under their own terms.
• The 24 hours is counted back from your departure time in New Zealand time (NZDT/NZST) — not from your own time zone. If you are booking from overseas, check the difference.

2. If you cancel — 24 hours or less before

At 24 hours or less before departure we cannot usually refund the booking. By then the guide is rostered, the venues are briefed and the seat cannot be resold.

But please contact us anyway. If something has genuinely gone wrong — illness, a family emergency, a flight cancelled — we would rather move you to another date than keep your money for a walk you did not take. Email hello@thisunchartedworld.com. We make these decisions case by case and we lean toward being reasonable.

3. If you don't turn up

Tours depart on time out of fairness to everyone who arrived. If you are not at the meeting point at the departure time and we cannot reach you on the number you gave us, the booking is treated as a no-show and no refund is due.

If you are running late, call the number on your confirmation. We will do everything reasonable to help you catch the group up — often you can join us at the next stop. We cannot hold the group or delay the departure.

Please also make sure you are at the right meeting point. For the Ultimate tour, that is the Gloucester Street doors of Tūranga, on the footpath — not inside the library, not in Cathedral Square, and not at the café. Your confirmation has a map link and a photo.

4. If we cancel

If we cancel a tour for any reason, you choose: a full refund, or a transfer to another date. There is never a fee and you are never left out of pocket.

We may cancel because of weather or safety (section 5), because a guide is unwell and we cannot cover the tour, or because of something outside our control — an earthquake, a civil emergency, a Police cordon, a road closure or a public health restriction.

We will tell you as early as we possibly can, by phone and email, using the details on your booking.

We do not run a minimum-numbers rule. If you have booked, the tour runs.

5. Weather

5.1 We walk in the rain

Christchurch weather changes fast, and a bit of rain is not a reason to cancel a walking tour. We run in light rain. The route has covered sections and indoor stops, and your guide will use them.

Please come dressed for the day — a rain jacket, layers, and comfortable shoes with grip. Rain alone is not a reason for a refund, so if the forecast is not to your taste, cancel more than 24 hours out and take the full refund under section 1.

5.2 We cancel when it stops being safe

Your guide decides on the day, against written thresholds in our Health & Safety Policy. We will not run a tour we do not believe is safe, and no commercial consideration changes that.

We will not depart when:

• MetService has a Red Warning in force for Canterbury or Christchurch
• A thunderstorm or lightning is forecast or observed during the tour
• There is a Strong Wind Warning, or gusts forecast at 100 km/h or more — the risk is falling branches and debris, not discomfort
• The forecast is 32 °C or more at the start of the tour
• There is a civil defence emergency, a Police cordon or a major incident in the central city
• There has been a significant earthquake or a felt aftershock before departure
• An air quality alert is in force at a hazardous level

If we cancel on any of these grounds, you get a full refund or a transfer. Your choice.

5.3 We may shorten or change the route

In heavy rain, high wind or heat we may run a shortened or re-routed version — more indoor time, fewer exposed sections, no Botanic Gardens in high wind. We will tell you before you set off, and you can choose to come or to take a full refund instead.

If we shorten a tour after it has started for safety reasons, and you miss a significant part of what you paid for, we will refund the difference or transfer you — in proportion to what you missed, including the value of any inclusion you did not receive.

5.4 The decision is made as early as we can make it

We check the forecast the night before and again on the morning of the tour. If a cancellation is clear-cut, you will hear from us the evening before. Some Christchurch weather cannot be called until the morning, and occasionally not until departure time — we would rather tell you late than cancel a tour that turned out fine.

6. If you leave part-way through

You can leave a tour at any point — please just tell your guide first, so we know you are safe.

If you leave because you have simply had enough, no refund is due. If you leave because you are unwell, because something on our side went wrong, or because we shortened the tour, contact us and we will sort out a fair refund or a transfer.

7. If you booked through Viator, GetYourGuide or an agent

Your booking is held and paid through that platform, so:

• Cancel through the platform, not through us. Use their app, your booking confirmation, or their customer service. We cannot cancel or refund a booking we do not hold the payment for.
• Their cancellation terms apply to that booking. We keep our free-cancellation window at 24 hours on every channel so the answer is the same wherever you booked.
• If their terms are more generous to you than ours, theirs apply.
• If we cancel the tour, we tell the platform and they process your refund. It may take a few days longer to reach you than a direct refund would.

The fastest and simplest refunds are always on direct bookings.

8. Changing your booking

More than 24 hours before: change your date, time or party size free of charge, subject to availability. Just ask.

Within 24 hours: we will do what we can, but we cannot promise it. Reducing your party size inside 24 hours is treated as a cancellation of those places.

Adding people: at any time, subject to availability, at the published rate.

9. How refunds are paid

• Refunds go back to the original payment method. We cannot pay to a different card or account.
• Direct bookings: 5–10 business days, depending on your bank.
• Platform bookings: processed by the platform, usually within their stated timeframe.
• We do not charge an administration or processing fee on any refund.
• Refunds are made in New Zealand dollars. If you paid in another currency, your bank's exchange rate on the day of the refund applies and may differ slightly from the rate on the day you paid. That difference is your bank's, not ours.

10. Your rights under New Zealand law

This policy sits alongside your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, which requires us to provide our services with reasonable care and skill and fit for purpose. Nothing in this policy limits those rights. If a tour is not provided as described, you may be entitled to a remedy under that Act regardless of the cancellation windows above.

If you are not happy with how we have handled a refund, contact us at hello@thisunchartedworld.com. If we cannot resolve it, you can take the matter to the Disputes Tribunal or contact Consumer Protection at consumerprotection.govt.nz.

Contact

This Uncharted World — Living Lettuce Limited hello@thisunchartedworld.com We answer bookings and cancellations between 8:00am and 8:00pm daily, and always before a same-day departure.

Refund & Cancellation Policy v1.0 · Effective 3 September 2026 · Forms part of our Terms & Conditions