Cocoa Beach Shuttle negative experience

[jmpurdy]

Had a pretty negative experience with this company and want to report back as a service to the Diser's who helped us throughout our trip planning. P/U at airport ok. Picked up at Terminal A, then a stop at Terminal B for more passengers, then to Cocoa Beach Hilton. Requested car seats were in vehicle. No problems. P/U at port back to airport is where it all goes wrong. We call to say we are leaving the ship. Told to look for their rep. outside. Ask how long the wait will be. Told 15-30 mins. Meet up with rep who directs us to p/u area. We requested and were told when we originally booked that 2 carseats were no problem. Reminded rep. we need 2 car seats. He says 'you really need 2 carseats'? I looked at him alittle perplexed. 'Yes, we need 2 carseats'. Go to p/u area that is already crowded and hot. Not pleasant with a 3 & 1 year old, but we managed and the wait was about 10-15 minutes. Our shuttle arrives, no car seats. Driver no real help loading luggage and DH does most of the work. We then go to the Carnival pier and wait at least 1/2 hour longer. It has now been close to an hour to leave both ports back to MCO. Finally we ask how much longer. Driver wants to leave, but rep. on sidewalk won't let him go. Several more minutes and finally we leave. Upon arrival at MCO, driver informs us he can only drop off in one spot. We don't understand exactly what he is saying until he leaves and we realize we are in Terminal B! Southwest is in A!! We flag down a porter to help us with our 8/9 bags in addition to herding the kids. When he realizes we need to be at Terminal A, he is angry too. He says that he will 'take care of this' with Cocoa Beach Shuttle. We want to give CBS a chance to give their point of view so we call them. This is what we are told: 'Yes maam, the wait time is 15-30 minutes'. She didn't get that we waited at our pier and then again a very long time at the other pier. 'We don't know what vehicle is coming to get you' in answer to the no car seats. 'We have to move 400 people'. 'If you use one of our bigger busses, we can only stop in one place or we get a $1,000 charge and we have no idea which vehicle you will be getting into. It is the airport policy, not ours'. Huh? I nicely said that I didn't think they were getting that we had no idea any of these rules and that we had requested 2 carseats, didn't get them and were dropped off far away and not told this was a possibility in advance. And we certainly have no idea what size busses they use and that these vehicles have different restrictions at the airport. She said 'yes I am getting what you are saying', and if you use our private transportation, we'll take you wherever you want to go'. Oh man, I was mad now. I said that we have used many transportation companies in Orlando and were always asked what airline we are on and dropped off with no issues EVER. If we were told ahead of time that we may be dropped off so far away depending on the vehicle we boarded and that car seats may or may not be available, we would have chosen another company. But to be told 'we have to move 400 people' was just the wrong thing to say. They are worried about a fine and won't work on better management. They did not mind taking money, making false statements and dumping you off at the other end of the airport without telling you. So the moral of this story is this: If you take get on a 'smaller' vehicle, it supposedly will take you to Terminal A. You may or may not get your requested car seat. We were assured these would be available. If you get a 'larger' vehicle, you will only be taken to Terminal B. We are not complainers and we go with the flow with the best of them. This was just unacceptable and we tipped the airport porter handsomely for his assistance as he went way out of his way for us. We used CBS based on great reviews and maybe this is isolated, but unfortunately, all we received was poor service and not one 'I'm sorry this did not go well for you', but instead received every defensive comeback known to man and poor them for having to move 400 people. We'll do better next time too. No more shuttles. If our experience helps folks to know what could happen, consider this a pay-it-forward. In all fairness, the first leg went fine. Unfortunately, it went pretty downhill after that. Thanks everyone for your help. Our cruise was wonderful. We have memories to last a lifetime.

[snelsonbrown]

I decided to remove my post about the above service. I have my reasons, but I do completely understand the fusteration that the OP reported.
Whatever transportation service you use while here, just make sure you have a confirmation of promises made and then you have something as proof.
Just my own thoughts and feelings
As always
Shirley

[CRSNDSNY]

Yikes! SO sorry you went through that! What ever happened to the car seat absence? Please tell me they went and got some for you and you didn't have to travel without them!!!!

[jmpurdy]

Nope, no car seats. Period. We felt we had no choice because it was an absolute madhouse at the small pickup area. We had 2 small kids trying to stay put, keeping them out of the road, and away from the very tight walkway of people/luggage that was ever growing due to disembarking passengers, etc. It wasn't pretty. It was hot, we had a 3 & 1 year old. We got on, and decided the driver was leaving with or without us and we'd take it up with the company after we got to airport, which we did. The validation that this has happened before, while sad, is appreciated and while we may get bashed for posting this experience, we feel it is the only way to push back alittle for a very poor experience. That is, maybe a slight dip in revenue will wake them up. Probably not, but their staff leaves alot to be desired in response and attitude. Agree completely, everyone else's problem but theirs. We were not combative, we were not demanding a refund. We just wanted an explanation and maybe even an apology. What we did get was inexcusable. We may report to BBB. Aren't car seats required in FL?

[ddz0247]

Thanks for sharing. We booked ccs for 9/26 sailing but I am going to switch to rental car.

Daniel

[CRSNDSNY]

No, no bashing here. I just feel badly that you had to even deal with this! I do appreciate you sharing your experience with us.

[aidtrismommy]

I am the mother of the two children in the OPs post. I just wanted to chime in and add that once we were aboard the mini bus we were never told anything about going to another pier to pick up passengers. I realize that they are a shuttle, but they could have informed us. When we got to the Carnival pier, there were other families now boarding including another infant. After the people got on, we waited at least another half hour. The driver and rep were out front talking and chatting with other people and told us nothing of why we were waiting or for how much longer. The wait was pointless because nobody else came on the bus. We are all paying customers who got off the ship to leave for the airport, for all we know, the passengers we were waiting on could have been eating breakfast and nowhere near ready to disembark. I was very frustrated that we were waiting for so long with no answers. It wasn't run realistically. They should have certain times that the shuttle would be leaving, if you are not there, you will get the next one. If we had any idea that this was run like it was, we would have NEVER booked it. They just tell you what you want to hear and then don't deliver.

[jsolar]

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. We just got back on Saturday. We used FL Tours. They picked us up and brought us back from the ship. They were wonderful. I would use them again. They were easy to talk to and called back promptly. For the future, you may want to give them a try.

[jsolar]

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. We just got back on Saturday. We used FL Tours. They picked us up and brought us back from the ship. They were wonderful. They had booster seats that I requested. Also, they wanted to know if we wanted to stop at the supermarket. I would use them again. They were easy to talk to and called back promptly. For the future, you may want to give them a try.

[I Love Thumper]

Next time maybe book Disney transportation, eh? Yes, it may cost more, but it's worth not having the travel nightmare you experienced.

[HooKooDooKu]

Originally Posted by jmpurdy

... Aren't car seats required in FL?

While I can't speak to the legalities regarding the vehical in question here, generally speaking, car seat laws are for ... well... cars. The rules are different when you start talking about larger vehicals. Again, while I can't say for sure regarding this particular transportation company (especially given the negative information coming out about them), I would doubt they would allow themselves to be put at the risk of liability of transporting children without car seats if car seats were required for the vehicals they are using.

[wcw57]

While I am doubtful that it will actually have an impact, I would be tempted to print this thread and mail it, along with info regarding how many gazillion posts per day are here on DIS, to the company chief.

A poorly run company (as this seems to be) will probably ignore the info but it would make me feel better.

also, printed matter always carries more weight than emails, it seems (literally and figuratively)

[dancingdisneygirl]

Originally Posted by jsolar

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience. We just got back on Saturday. We used FL Tours. They picked us up and brought us back from the ship. They were wonderful. They had booster seats that I requested. Also, they wanted to know if we wanted to stop at the supermarket. I would use them again. They were easy to talk to and called back promptly. For the future, you may want to give them a try.

I'm the other daughter of jmpurdy. We used FL Tours when we needed transportation from the airport to Disney World. I agree they were great and hopefully will use them next time

[HooKooDooKu]

Originally Posted by wcw57

While I am doubtful that it will actually have an impact, I would be tempted to print this thread and mail it, along with info regarding how many gazillion posts per day are here on DIS, to the company chief.

A poorly run company (as this seems to be) will probably ignore the info but it would make me feel better.

also, printed matter always carries more weight than emails, it seems (literally and figuratively)

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with this suggestion.

First of all, to do so would basically be a case of going back to the company and saying "Nana-nana boo-boo... look at what I did to you..."... basically just trying to "get even", and that's not going to help anyone.

Second of all, regardless of how truthful the OP is being, going back to a company and pointing out that you've publicly ridiculed you can subject you with (the threat) of lawsuits. More than once, I've seen people wrongfully hurt by baseless lawsuits... basically because before a lawsuit can be judged "baseless", you still have to get lawyers involved, and the money you start having to pay for a lawyer just to defend your rightful actions, you've already been punished.

So IMHO, if once you've finished attempting to resolve a situation with a company, your best way of getting revenge is to publicly publish a truthful account of what happened, DON'T point it out to the the company in question, and just know that you WILL effect the company's bottom line... at least a little... because there is going to be at least one person that is NOT going to use that company because of what gets posted to such a popular forum such as this.

[DeeRest]

Hi, We just booked (for our Sept 5th cruise) with Cocoa Beach Taxi/Beach Bound Shuttle. Is this the same company????