We arrived in Tauranga desperate for work, and when we called into this Backpackers place, the owner, Sarah, promisingly told us that if we stayed there for a week, she would fix us up with fruit-picking work. A tad hesitant because we had been happy living out of our van and Backpackers was going to work out to be more expensive, we took her up on the offer because we were desperately in need of income and it seemed like a sure thing. We explained our doubts to her, but she promised there was tons of work due to be starting in the next few days, and once it had begun, we'd be away.
The work never happened. Every day we were told the same thing--maybe tomorrow. At first the weather was bad, so we put it down to that. Then the weather picked up; there was still no work. I got a good waitress job, as I couldn't hang on any longer for work. That night I enquired about the fruit picking and was told the same as before--definitely in the next few days. Naively, I quit the waitress job because the fruit picking, had it happened, would have suited our situation far better; we didn't want to be there any longer than we had to.
Our week was up at Harbourside, and we were desperate to get out. The atmosphere was unwelcoming and un-homely due to the large clique of people that all appeared to have been staying there for months and months. We spoke to a member of staff about the "deal," explaining we had kept our side of the bargain so far. He promised to text us when the work started.
A few days later we visited Harbourside to find out what was going on. Sarah was behind the desk and didn't recognise us when we turned up asking if the fruit-picking work was going on at all. She said the same thing as when we had first turned up: "There's loads of work! All you have to do is check in for a week and I get you work!" We explained our situation so far. "Yep, well, you need to check in!" We explained how the "deal" had been outlined to us and suggested that perhaps she had mislead us when we checked in the first time. She did not see it like that and, even though we had explained our severe lack of money on checking in, told us that realistically that no one can expect to get the work for a couple of weeks because there is a list of people waiting for it, a point she conveniently did not tell us in the first place. Others we had met at the Backpackers expressed similar concerns about feeling misled and uncomfortable staying at the place.