Another left high and dry from Cartier!

[skiwee1]

I too just returned yesterday from a 10 day trip. I booked Cartier to do our driving. They were at the airport when we arrived and the person was very nice. He did offer to get us a skycap which we did and tipped for but I thought that odd. Every other time with TTC the driver himself handled our luggage. He didn't offer to help at all. We booked a limo for the arrival trip to the Poly and a towncar for the return to the airport. After getting to the Poly we spoke with the driver about getting to US later in the week. He insisted we pay him then and there for the day trip 5 days away. We did and he was to be there at 10am sharp. Didn't happen. On that day we waited and waited and called Cartier at 10:20. Someone answered the phone and said they had my reservation but didn't know where the driver was. She said she would send someone else out in 15 minutes. She also tells me that she is sending a limo and I will not have to pay extra. Like I'm going to pay for it anyway!!! She also tells me that the driver she is sending is very angry! Now I'm wondering who he is going to take this anger out on! Twenty minutes later I call back and am told that the driver is coming into the resort and will be there any minute. Ten minutes later he shows in another limo. It is 11am. No apology, just attitude. He was the same driver who picked us up at the airport earlier in the week but had a totally different attitude. He barely looked at us and didn't speak. He took us to US and we told him to pick us up at 5pm sharp. We wanted to beat the rush of IoA closing and we had a dinner reservation for 6:30. Later we wait for his arrival and he never shows! We wait and call and only get an answering machine. We leave quite a few messages. Finally at 5:50 we catch a cab. This non existent round trip to US has cost us $50 and now another $37 for the cab. I am thoroughly ticked now. I call Cartier the next day and someone apologizes over and over. She tells me that the driver that didn't show was new. I tell her I want a refund of my cab costs and tip. She says fine and will pay me back upon pick up to the airport the following week. I call to confirm and can only leave messages. Needless to say I was worried that they wouldn't show. We get outside a little early and there is another stretch limo waiting for us. He had been waiting there for an hour as to not be late! LOL! This time it is a kind and very sweet older gentleman with a wonderful attitude who apologizes over and over to me and gives me $40 for the cab. He then tells me that the driver who never showed up the other time was one of their best long term drivers that gets many requests. He says he doesn't know why he pulled the stunt he did. So one person tells me the guy was new and the other tells me he was a long time company favorite. Unfortunately I won't be using Cartier again in the future. It was too much of a hassle and the only bad time of our entire vacation.

 

[danny1649]

I hope they understand that reviews like this and word of mouth bad exposure and sink a company.I have seen good reviews of this service but lately they're getting hammered.

 

[Julma]

We had a similiar problem with them. The first part of the trip was fine - nice driver - we even got a limo because they had no town cars. They got us to the hotel - we paid for the roundtrip in full - we called the day before our return trip to confirm our pick-up - and still no car. We called several times and they said the car is on its way. Well, the car never showed up and we ended up in a hair raising ride to the airport in a cab. Always pay with a credit card - this is how we got our pre-paid fare back!!

 

[jacksonsmom]

That is not good.
I don't know why companies think they can get away with things like this

I guess I won't be using Cartier on our next trip!!!

 

[kylara]

I hope that all the of the people who have been stranded remember to report them to the BBB. This will help others who are looking into car services in the future.

 

[ducklite]

This might sound crazy--but I'd like for people to start taking photo's of their drivers so we can compare notes and see who is using what name and which companies they are driving for.

I'm beginning to get the idea that some drivers are using different names.

I know we were able to clear up the "Jimmy" controvery as I luckily had that photo of him.

Anne

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by ducklite
This might sound crazy--but I'd like for people to start taking photo's of their drivers so we can compare notes and see who is using what name and which companies they are driving for.

I'm beginning to get the idea that some drivers are using different names.

I know we were able to clear up the "Jimmy" controvery as I luckily had that photo of him.

Anne

We always make sure we are getting the correct car service by looking at the vehicle we are about to get in. They all have tags on the front that state if they are TTC, Cartier, Mears. ect. We first ask the driver what company they are with and what the name of the party they are there for. If they can't give us that info on their own then I wouldn't go. I can't imagine how anyone could get into a car by accident that they didn't hire.

 

[bnelvr]

Oh no, now you have me worried. I had read alot of good things about them and booked all our ground transfers with them. Seems that I have done alot of leg work for nothing. I felt that they were going to be a great company but then I got an email confirmation and who ever typed it out, couldn't spell or use proper english. Anyway, please help me as I do not want to have any probs. with our trip.

 

[waughzee]

I used them last weekend and had nothing but good luck. In fact, my friends used them too without any trouble. I would chalk your experience up as a disgruntled driver and not hold it against the company-after all, they did make good on the drivers error.

 

[dznyntnh]

Originally posted by waughzee
I used them last weekend and had nothing but good luck. In fact, my friends used them too without any trouble. I would chalk your experience up as a disgruntled driver and not hold it against the company-after all, they did make good on the drivers error.

It's not the drivers, it's the company.

If you didn't read my original 'High & Dry' post. I was left stranded at the Wilderness Lodge and luckily found a driver from another company willing to take me to the airport (and not charge me full one way fare).

My Mother called to cancel her December rez after what happened to me and they could not even FIND the reservation she made over three months ago!!!

This compnay is complete mess, the first driver I had was the only positive contact I had with them in Florida and he was a free-lancer.

I'll be sticking with the independant cab drivers, they will pick you up when you ask, because they appreciate the business, unlike some of the Town Car Companies, who take you for granted, because you paid for the whole trip up front.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by waughzee
I used them last weekend and had nothing but good luck. In fact, my friends used them too without any trouble. I would chalk your experience up as a disgruntled driver and not hold it against the company-after all, they did make good on the drivers error.

I don't see how they made good on the drivers error. I had to call a cab to get back to the hotel. I threatened to dispute charges for the entire trip if they did not reimburse my cab fare. Sorry but I value my vacations a little too much to entrust something like this happening again.

 

[summerrluvv]

We just got back and used Cartier and had a great experience. The older gentleman with the glasses was our driver (not sure his name), but he was very very nice. He picked up my sister and her family too and was very nice they said. On the trip back we had a younger guy and he too was nice and even stopped at Eckerd so my brother in law could get some ear drops on the way back to the airport.

I booked a one way for me and just caught a ride back in my sisters van on the way back since our flights were about 40 minutes apart. Everything worked out great! I'm sorry you had such an awful experience

 

[tigger&tigerlover]

Another vote here for excellent Cartier service.

We just got back yesterday (Oct 26), and the service was wonderful! We had no problems whatsoever with them, and would highly recommend them.

I'm sorry to hear that someone had a bad experience with them, because everything we experienced was flawless.

 

[crisi]

Well, that's kind of the trick isn't it.

Most people should have good service from a towncar company. With every towncar company there will (unfortunately, but realistically) be a certain number of clients where something happened - Hopefully there will only be a single report or less of poor service on these boards in a month. In Cartier's case, there have been three of us in the past week that have come back with problems with their service - and one person a week or so before who claims to have been "stolen" from her towncar provider by Cartier. This seems to be very different than the service they were providing when I choose them three months ago - when I had watched the board for a few months and they were the only service that time to get consistantly good reports.

Someone did post that they'd recently been bought out, so they may be going through a rough patch right now. But regardless, they seem to have a greater proportion of unhappy customers right now than they did a few months ago. In fact, its possible that they are the victim of their own success - they'd had such glowing reports here that perhaps they haven't been able to keep up with the increased business - scheduling pickups tighter to fit more people in, hiring people (employees and/or freelancers) that aren't as good as the people who have been there a while.

 

[lsyorke]

"and one person a week or so before who claims to have been "stolen" from her towncar provider by Cartier. "

This one really disturbed me! It was later explained that she had made a reservation with Cartier and then cancelled. Obviously a error on Cartiers part , but an honest "computer error" with Cartier not cancelling her reservation.

I have used Cartier in the past and will use them again in November. Never had a problem, excellent service!

 

[crisi]

I suspect as well that that one was an honest error as well. But I know that the error they made for me a week ago was simply poor logistics and badly kept cars. Not that it was "dishonest" or "shady." Just that it was unacceptable service. We'd scheduled a pickup at 10:30. Confirmed our pickup for 10:30. Were in front of the hotel at 10:20. No van at 10:30 - but he'd apparently been there at 10:00 and left at 10:20. So he finally got there at 10:50 - and we didn't get to the airport until 11:40 or so.

I'd be willing to chalk it up to "honest mistake" (I give a lot of leeway for honest mistakes) if:

1) I hadn't confirmed the night before
2) She hadn't said "oh he was there but you weren't, so he left."
3) Given that they are claiming he was there, they had two cell phone numbers for us and should have called. (Don't know if he was there or not - this is the only part of the story that smells "dishonest" to me - I don't think he was there at all and they were just trying to cover for a late driver.)
4) The boosters requested would have been in the van (also confirmed the night before). (There was one booster in the van and one carseat too small for my child that we used anyway).
5) The seat belt wouldn't have been broken (not great upkeep on the van we had).
6) The driver would have had a clue on the quickest way to get to the airport when you are already running 20 minutes late.

I really wanted to like these people, but unfortantely, they screwed up a little too thoughouly for me to be able to recommend them or use them again. I do really hope that everyone who has had great personal service from them in the past and rebooks from them continues to receive great service and that we will stop hearing these poor reports. Hopefully, they are simply a victim of their own great service.

 

[Curly Q]

Oh no

 

[JazMom]

Well, I believe that everyone makes mistakes and the same way that you see bad things written about all the transportation companies, you will also see great and wonderful things written about them. As far as Cartier goes, I will stick with them in my February trip...they have very kind, sweet and professional drivers that have gone the extra mile with me. And if it is true that they are under "new management", you have to remember that "change is always good" and while it always takes time to adjust, im sure that they will make their planning better and hold on to their customers... In your case, I think they did the right thing by refunding your cab money, and apologizing to you. It just seems very hard to believe that they would intentionally mess your plans up, and take your money, since my entire family used them in the past and never had any problems... they are excellent in my book.

 

[dznyntnh]

If tehy had 'forgot' to pick me up at the airport on my first day, I would have taken a cab to the hotel had a great time and scheduled a cab back to the hotel. No harm, no foul, just never use Cartier again.

But the trend you see is that they pick us up at the airport and get our money and then 'forget' to pick you up.

This leads to several problems, you've already paid for a trip you didn't get (and after a week I still have not received my refund), and really screws up your plans, because you can potentially MISS YOUR FLIGHT!!!

I believe every company is capable of making mistakes, but my experience with Cartier combined with what I'm hearing since I came back home, make me NEVER want to deal with this company again.

I'm often willing to make allowances for companies and lapses in service depending on how they acknowledge and remedy the situation, but when you mess with my vacation, you get NO second chances.