‘Ethical’ travel firm folds with no money back
Self-styled as an ‘‘ethical’’ travel company offering trips to developing countries, We Are Bamboo earned rave reviews and repeat travellers.
Customers could have their exotic holiday in destinations like Vietnam, Bhutan, Thailand, India, Costa Rica and Bali, while also helping their host communities by building libraries, caring for elephants or teaching English to children.
But now the Kiwi company’s ethics are being questioned after it folded, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers thousands of dollars out of pocket and the directors refusing to front up to questions about where the money has gone.
More than 200 complaints have been laid with the Commerce Commission and ‘‘ Bamboo Rip Off’’ forum on social media has 1000-plus members – most irate clients saying they cannot get refunds on expensive travel packages.
Suspicions were raised when people who had booked and paid for trips in advance repeatedly had their scheduled tour dates pushed back. It then all started to unravel.
American Erin Floyd’s Vietnam trip was postponed indefinitely. She has lost about $3000 for that package and part payment of another package.
She described the behaviour of We Are Bamboo when it collapsed as ‘‘completely unethical’’. It is also alleged payments were taken for third-party travel insurance We Are Bamboo never purchased.
Australian Scott Dousha started the ‘‘Bamboo rip off’’ Facebook page in late September after multiple requests for refunds and multiple postponements for a trip to Uganda he booked and paid for in 2019.
We Are Bamboo refused refunds for both Dousha and his partner, Jane Papas, who each paid $3800 for their Uganda holiday.
He estimates ‘‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’’ of travellers’ money has disappeared.
In late October, We Are Bamboo founders Colin Salisbury and Mark Foster-Murray sent a letter to customers saying the ‘‘ dream had come to an end’’, blaming the pandemic and also the negative publicity from the online social media page.
‘‘With travel being shut down for two-plus years, our industry has been decimated beyond
recognition. We had to keep the lights on during this time, and our global teams looked after,’’ the letter says. ‘‘Without government support, we stepped in to financially support those who needed it most – in some cases simply to feed their families and survive.’’
Ministry of Social Development records show the company received about $32,000 in Covid-19 wage subsidies from the Government during the pandemic.
Disgruntled customers posted social media pictures showing FosterMurray’s lavish wedding in a Cardiff Castle in 2020 and Salisbury’s posts about building a yacht to sail around the world.
Salisbury and Foster-Murray’s letter placed much of the blame for the closure on social media ‘‘attacks’’.
‘‘There is a small group of individuals who were not prepared to wait, and their actions and online influence have broken us, which impacts us all.’’
However, Dousha said the negative feedback gained momentum because We Are Bamboo was not honouring refunds or providing travel packages in a timely way.
‘‘What was once a reputable, ecofriendly company has now disappeared and we now have this devastating situation. The people on Bamboo Rip Off are financially suffering due to these individuals.’’
Foster-Murray and Salisbury ‘‘both need to be accountable for their actions’’, Dousha said.
‘‘We ask that the appropriate authorities in New Zealand investigate the company and any parent company to the fullest.’’
Commerce Commission fair trading general manager Vanessa Horne said they had not opened an investigation, but ‘‘continue to assess these complaints and consider the information provided’’.
Stuff contacted Lower Hutt-based Salisbury via email, cellphone and text message, but he has not responded. A reporter also visited his upmarket house in Lowry Bay, which has a rateable value of $1.43 million, and was told by a woman at the address that he did not want to talk to media.
It is believed Mark Foster-Murray lives in Thailand and the UK, but could not be contacted. He has taken down his social media profiles, which previously showed a new house built in Thailand, expensive holidays and a luxury wedding in Wales in 2021.
Salisbury has been the director and shareholder of 11 companies that have been removed from the Companies Office registry.
The Bamboo Foundation, registered by Salisbury, was deregistered as a charity in December 2018 because it