Anyone using a town car service? You MUST READ THIS! (long)

[abeyst]

This is for anyone who is using a town car service. I hope these tips will help to ensure a smooth vacation for you!

We were scheduled to fly into MCO on 9/28. We checked town car services a month ago, and we reserved with FL Tours. We received our confirmation email at time of reservation and the confirmation email 2 days before our scheduled pick up. I printed everything out and got on our plane 7am Sunday (9/28) after a bit of a delay because we were waiting for a flight attendant to arrive before they'd start boarding. I think it was about a half hour delay.

We arrive at the airport and go to baggage claim, first thing we see at the bottom of the escalator is our driver holding a sign with our name on it. We say hello (he gave me his name but I couldn't understand him), and we proceed to the carousel to get our luggage. We walk to the town car, stop for groceries, and head to our hotel. I pay the driver, he confirms pickup location and time (10/6 at the Beach Club), and we go in the hotel.

Two days later I check my messages on my cell phone, and Andy from FL Tours had left me a message at 10:30 that morning that they couldn't find me at the airport. I didn't think anything of it because our driver was there so they obviously found us. (You'll read below why I was wrong!)

We had a slight change of plans, and we changed hotels on 10/5 to Coronado Springs. So I called FL Tours and left a message that I needed to change our pickup location. They called back within 10 minutes and said they didn't show us as being picked up on 9/28, I was listed as a no call/no show. I started to panic a little- who picked us up if FL Tours didn't? They were the ones I was scheduled with. Andy checked with his drivers and noone was showing me as picked up on 9/28. I paid the driver who picked us up at the airport the round-trip fare, and now I didn't have a ride back to the airport! Andy was great-he told me not to worry, they'd pick us up at Coronado Springs, he was right on time, and didn't even ask me to pay the fare to take us back to the airport.

We started talking on the ride back, and he said there's been a few occassions where other drivers have copied a families name off of their sign to take the business, especially on delayed flights. And if you don't know the driver is from a different company and you need to change your plans (as we did), you don't know what company to call and may lose the return-trip fare you paid up-front.

I found out when I returned home that it was CARTIER TOWN CAR driver that picked us up. They left 3 messages Monday morning that they were at the Beach Club waiting for us and wanted to know where we were!

So for all town car users, beware! I know I will not be using or recommending CARTIER after what they did to us, I'll be praising FL Tours every chance I get. But please watch yourselves as you approach your driver at the airport (or wherever your first pick up may be). You may get someone who will not show up for your return-trip and you don't know who to call, or if you change you pickup location as we did you'll have the same problem. And it may end up costing you alot of $$ to pay another driver or if you miss your flight waiting for you pick up.

What I've learned from this, and recommend to all town car users:

1. At your first pickup and the driver is holding a sign with your name on it, ask him which company he works for. Or verify his sign has the company name on it.

2. Make sure you get his name! Even if you have to ask him to spell it or write it down-make sure you get it!

3. GET A RECEIPT! (I was in such a rush once at the hotel that it didn't cross my mind to ask for one!) Not that anyone should have to ask, a reputable company will automatically give you one!

4. Call the day before your scheduled return-trip to make sure you're listed to be picked up.

 

[Mermaid02]

Something doesn't sound right here- if Cartier "stole" you from another towncar company.... why would they even bother to identify themselves as being from Cartier when they called to see where you were? For that matter, why would they bother to pick you up? They already had your money right?

 

[helenk]

How did he get your other info? Such as the hotel to drop you off and the date you were returning to MCO?
Do you have a common last name? Hopefully no one with the same last name was stranded at the airport while waiting for Cartier.
I do not know about Orlando, but I do know that the drivers in Philadelphia monitor the flights so they have a general idea if a flight is delayed. That way they are not just standing around waiting for their riders.
.
For any company to "steal" anothers passengers certainly is not right.
.
On that note, I used Cartier for my trip this past September and their service was excellent.

 

[poohbear7]

I have used Cartier Town Car services many times this past year and they have been very professional. They always give us a receipt and we pay each way. How did they get your home phone # and other info?

 

[DisOrBust]

Their have been posts just like this one in the past. Usually it was Tiffany Town Car guest being taken by Tiffany's who had horrible service. I am not sure if they are even around anymore. This may have been a mistake on the drivers part and maybe he was waiting for someone with the same name? I hate when there is a language barrier involved, it just makes it more complicated.

 

[dznyntnh]

OK, maybe I'm an overly suspicious person, but why would anyone get into a car with someone just because they had your name on a sign without verifying who they were and who they represented??

It doesn't make any sense that if Cartier was trying to scam you that they would then attempt to pick you up at your hotel for the return trip. Perhaps you were picked up by a freelancer, there are many of them in the area.

I am using Cartier next week and the communication and service I have received from them have been top-notch.

While I agree that what Andy did was indeed great service. You are slamming Cartier because you think they did something underhanded (if it was indeed a Cartier driver, which you have no real proof of). But whoever picked you up: took you for your grocery stop, got you to the hotel, and was there to pick you up. So you wouldn't have even been stranded.

If you hadn't had to change hotels and the driver had shown up to take you to the airport (and you didn't know there was a switch) would be this upset?

Did you attempt to call Cartier to actually find out what happened? And how did they get your phone number if you did not make a reservation with them??

 

[abeyst]

Let's see... drivers generally verify information when they drop you off at your location? And I can't say why Cartier's office would call and say they had a driver waiting to pick me up and I wasn't there. Maybe the woman who called had no idea the driver intercepted us from another town car company and he simply called in the information after picking us up. All I know is a town car company I never contacted picked us up from the airport, and I found out in a call later that it was Cartier. No, I don't have a common last name. But it's not too hard to copy a name off of another driver's sign either, right? And asking where you're staying is not too difficult when you're in the car. I guess some of you may find it odd a driver would ask you such questions, we were just excited to be there and I didn't think anything of it, or that I didn't get a receipt.

I simply posted my story and offered some tips that would have helped me if I'd known about them before I arrived at the airport. And I hope by listing them I may help others have a smooth transfer.

Agree or disagree with what I said, I don't care. I was only trying to help out future travelers. This thread wasn't meant to turn into an argument over whether Cartier was right or wrong, or whether what I said really happened or not. It's to list some tips that may help out others using a town car service.

 

[HappyMommy2]

Wow, I'm glad everything finally worked out for you!
Thanks for the good tips.

I agree with the previous posters, though; something about this doesn't make sense--I hate to think a company would be so underhanded (though if they did do it, at least it was underhanded toward FL Tours and not really toward you). I'd say you should call Cartier and question them about it. If such a thing happened to me I'd be on the phone getting to the bottom of it right away! Let us know what their response is, if you do talk to them.

Thanks again for posting. Yikes, what a strange experience!

 

[paults]

when you arrive:
1) Driver should ask for comformation number/ give it

2) ask for driver's name and company/ get it

3) ask driver what resort you go to/ if he doesn't know, oops

4) have company phone # in your cell phone and call to verify

OR WHEN YOU GET OFF PLANE CALL CAR COMPANY AND ASK WHO IS PICKING YOU UP

 

[crisi]

It is possible, that even with an uncommon last name, there was someone on your same flight or a flight arriving around the same time with the same last name and that the driver (thinking he was going to one resort, ending up at another resort, thinking he had one set of contact information, and getting a second set) was as confused as you were (and may have even decided that you had scammed someone else's ride!). As neither you nor the driver ever exchanged confirmation information - you went off the sign, he went off you saying he was to pick you up - it could be an honest mistake.

I heard my husband get paged at an out of state airport when I knew he was home with our kids - he doesn't have a common last name either (nor that common of a first name). So I assume it was someone else with the same not terribly common name.

Or it could be what you think it is.

 

[inkkognito]

Yikes! That certainly is scary!
With Happy Limo, they have their name on their signs and also on the front license plate holder of their vehicles and usually on a window decal too. If you want to be overly careful, check not only the sign but also the car itself.
I've never been approached by someone trying to "steal" me, but I have been approached by "gypsy" towncar drivers asking if I needed to hire a car (they are not supposed to solicit business in the terminal). Also, back when Transtar used to run a shuttle business like Mears, and before I knew about towncars, Transtar stole us away from Mears by approaching us as we headed to the Mears booth and offering to put us on a shuttle that was stopping at our hotel first, as well as honoring our Mears coupon. I doubt they were supposed to be soliciting business that way, but it sounded good to me! Of course, now I stick to towncars.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[bridgettesmom]

abeyst...I truly appreciate you taking your time to warn us about this anti-ethical "practice".I will certainly take what happened to you into account when I pick a towncar service for our next trip.

Please, don't let the negavite posts keep you from keeping us informed.This certainly isn't the first thread I've seen that is written with an honest intention and gets flamed




I certainly learned a few things from this thread

 

[msdis]

We got stood up from a TC service . We were stood up because he got a better fare(long story but I am sure of it). VERY VERY poor business practice. I don't care what is said about Mears, at least you KNOW they are at the airport. We only use rental cars or Mears, never that mistake again.

 

[Prince Eric1]

I have seen things on these boards that make me know that all businesses are not ethical. Why all the flameouts at the O.P.? Thanks for sharing your experience and let us know if you find out any more details as to what happened.

 

[DJBounce]

Wow, this is a complete eye opener for me. I know that going on a vacation, especially a Disney one, I sometimes let my "guard" down. My DW and I are heading to WDW in January and already have reservations with a town car company to pick us up. Now I will be doubley sure to verify that the driver is on the up and up. We will be flying into MCO at 9:30pm so I don't know how prime of a time that is for "others" to try and swipe buisness. Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Sara1026]

You know, the last time DH and I went to NYC, there literally was another guy on our flight with the same last name as we have (and it's not terribly common, especially the way we spell it). We ended up with the guy who was supposed to drive the other man, and his plan said to take his passengers to New Jersey. We were going to Times Square.

Luckily, we figured all this out before we left and both drivers worked for the same company, so he just called dispatch and had them let the other driver know that now HE was going to New Jersey instead of the driver who's car we were already in. If there had been a language barrier, we might not have realized this was a problem until we were headed for the totally wrong place.

Obviously, this is a different situation than you're describing, but I just wanted to let everyone know that these things can happen-- it's a very good idea to verify with the driver that you are indeed the correct client, etc.

Incidentally, we used Cartier in June and they were great to us.

 

[cheeringmom]

I would have never imagined something like this could have happened. It could have been a costly mistake. I, too, get excited and let my guard down a little. I leave in a few weeks and will be sure to ask the questions that you have mentioned. I want to make sure I get back to the airport!! This could have caused a migraine!!

 

[LvsTnk]

Thanks for the post! I had a hard time getting people to believe Tiffany stood me up when I tried to post some tips as well. Don't feel bad.

I could accept the fact that maybe something underhanded had happened and that's why Tiffany wasn't there, but then why couldn't I get anyone from their company on the phone? I was stranded with my son who has special needs and trying to take care of our luggage, push him in his chair, and get someone from Tiffany on the phone (which didn't happen).

So, I think you have given everyone some very good tips

 

[2002Disneybride]

Laurie--
I believe you, Tiffany stood us up too!!!

 

[lsyorke]

"I'd say you should call Cartier and question them about it. If such a thing happened to me I'd be on the phone getting to the bottom of it right away! Let us know what their response is, if you do talk to them"

I would love to hear if Cartier was ever contacted for their side of the controversy! Not to flame the OP but is sounds like maybe a reservation was made and cancelled with Cartier. Maybe the cancellation never was recieved by Cartier so they continued with the pick up??
Also isn't there a difference in price between those two towncar companies?
Just curious.