My friend and I used Atomic to travel from Queenstown to Clyde to begin our cycle trip on the Otago Rail Trail last year.

They were very reasonable and prompt with pickup. The shuttle was fairly old and our driver didn't talk much. This year, we are doing another bike trip, this time from Mt Cook to Oamaru also known as the Alps to Ocean Trail. We have to hire bikes in Christchurch and travel with them to Mount Cook. We had two options - Atomic or Intercity. Atomic take two bikes per run only. Perfect. I call in May to book and the woman tells me that they take bookings 6 months out, so to call back early July. I did so only to be told that they don't take bookings till 3 months out. So I call back in September. No, she won't take our booking for November. Ring back in 6 weeks time she says. I explain that we need to book and confirm us with our bikes otherwise we can't do any of our trip. She couldn't have cared less! In fact she was so obstructive in her manner, that I booked refundable more expensive Intercity tickets. This company were extremely helpful, and booked us and tentatively, our bikes as long as the front wheel could be taken off so as to slide it in the hold. As of two weeks ago, Atomic who had booked us on their shuttle, still refused to confirm our bikes until closer to the time! So what was she waiting on that she couldn't give me the only two bike spaces they had? Who knows, but I am so glad we cancelled our booking. I thought maybe she just didn't like me , but it turns out this woman at Atomic has a reputation for being downright unhelpful and rude. As I write this, we are in a lovely comfortable Intercity Great Sights coach with our bikes safely stowed and with a friendly and professional driver. Atomic need to realise that there will be a large demand for passengers and bikes on this leg and they should offer a service that covers this, or at the very least, hire someone in their office who is helpful and friendly.

Reviewed almost 13 years ago