Not so happy, Happy Limo experience

[MickeyMickey]

Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 488

Not so Happy, Happy Limo experience

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I thought I would share my happy Limo experience. I had Happy Limo quote a navigator limo for my family of 7 from MCO to Part Canaveral last Friday afternoon. I had them quote the limo with a grocery stop and 2 car seats for my 1 and 3 year old. The quote included a $10 charge specifially for the two car seats. When I went online and booked the reservation I specifically again put in the notes I needed two car seats in addition to referencing the original quote. Additionally I followed up by email the day before to verify we were all set and again wanted to verify that the car seats would be coming. I received an email back confirming.

When we got to the baggage claim area, our driver was there waiting, but he had no car seats. He called the office and told us it was up to us but if we wanted the car seats it would be an hour or more wait. If we wanted to wait we could it was up to us, but Florida law did not require them to have them. I have a hard time believing that.

After a full day of traveling and tired kids we went without the car seats, but I will never use Happy Limo again. I feel when I comfirm multiple times they should be there. This is unacceptable.

 

[bumbershoot]

...but Florida law did not require them to have them. I have a hard time believing that.

You would not believe how lax FL carseat laws are...

"For children under 3, Florida law requires that they be in a separate car seat or a car seat that is integrated into the vehicle. For children ages 4 and 5, a separate car seat, integrated car seat or seat belt may be used."

Ayep, once the kid turns 4, they can just be in a seatbelt.


Of course only if they fit properly...yeah...I'm 5'3" and a seatbelt would probably cut my neck pretty badly if I'm ever in an accident...therefore I really don't fit a seatbelt properly...but a 4 year old possibly could? Hmmm.....




I'm not taking away from the nonsense they did especially when you had a prepaid carseat rental charge...but I bet your kids did fit the laws for FL without a carseat.

 

[seashoreCM]

Could you have used the airplane booster seats you had? At least for the 1yo? They might not be suitable for car use but they're better than nothing.

Have you written for a refund of the car seat add ons yet?

The driver and not you will get the citation for transporting an infant without a car seat even if the driver gave you a choice of accepting the ride.

 

[crashbb]

The driver and not you will get the citation for transporting an infant without a car seat even if the driver gave you a choice of accepting the ride.

I suspect (and hope) that the OP was more worried about the safety of the children than a possible citation.

OP that does sound like a bad situation. Given that the kids were 1 and 3, it sounds like the law does say that they need car seats (though, the law seems to skip kids who are actually 3!). Perhaps the law states that limo companies don't legally need to be the ones that provide them (i.e. it is up to the parents). Not that that excuses the company since you did everything you could to make sure that they brought the seats, just trying to work out a way that "Florida law did not require them to have them".

 

[kaytieeldr]

Could you have used the airplane booster seats you had? At least for the 1yo? They might not be suitable for car use but they're better than nothing.

I don't see anywhere that the OP claims to have airline booster seats - especially since there is no such thing. Automobile booster seats are not permitted to be use on an airplane, as they're useless and unsafe in such a situation.

 

[Alesia]

This is why I always recommend that people bring their own car seats. Even if they had the seats, there's no guarantee that they would have been clean or safe.