KEY POINTS:
A group of rugby fans are upset after they almost missed the test on Saturday because the advertised free buses they were waiting for did not turn up.
A Maxx advertisement in a local newspaper offering holders of pre-paid match tickets a free bus ride prompted the North Shore friends to leave their cars at home and opt instead for public transport to get to Eden Park.
But after standing at the Akoranga bus station for 45 minutes, they paid to get on a city-bound bus.
"We ended up having to get on another bus, which wasn't a free one, paying the fare to go in to Britomart to catch the train to Eden Park," one of the friends said.
"If we had waited for the next one and we didn't get on, we would have missed the game."
The upset fan said he had called Maxx to confirm that there were free buses.
After being referred to Stagecoach buses, he was told that "around 16 to 20 buses would be running continuously" from 4.30 until 6.30pm.
"It would have been a damn good deal. But only two buses went past us and they didn't stop - they were completely full," the fan said.
"Sixteen to 20 buses - that's a hell of a lot more than two. It was bloody mickey mouse to be honest with you."
The experience has deterred the man and his friends from taking up any "free" bus offers again.
But a Stagecoach spokesman says the firm was contracted to supply nine buses for the free service, but it provided more trips.
"We were chartered to provide nine buses, but of those nine, seven returned to North Shore to take more people to Eden Park. There were 16 trips," he said.
Stagecoach also provided 16 buses after the game.
The spokesman said some of the buses went to the Takapuna station - meaning they took a different route and therefore missed passengers waiting at Akoranga.
"It looks like those people were unfortunate, but as an organisation we did increase the capacity and provided more service."
