Super Shuttle is Evil! |
6 Comments |
Sometimes customer experience is everything. Actually it almost always is. There are very few successful companies that treat their customers badly. It saddens me to think that Super Shuttle might be one of those few.
Energi Gal had to leave on business just after the Super Bowl. She had scheduled the Super Shuttle for between 7:18 and 7:30. We were at the gate of our gated community at 7:10 waiting. As 7:40 rolled around we decided it was best to give them a reminder phone call.
After 10 minutes on hold, they finally took our call. The gentleman explained that the shuttle came at 7:00 and left when we weren’t there. The Super Shuttle website says that they’ll call you if they are early. That’s the whole reason they take the phone number. The gentleman said that wasn’t their policy and they don’t call people. He also made it a point to tell us that he wouldn’t be refunding our money.
So let me get this straight… we were supposed to be waiting outside 20 minutes before they said… they can show up whenever they want and leave without calling… and we are supposed to pay for this service? It’s a great business where you can collect money without doing anything. They’ve got the passive income thing down pat.
So I ended up having to make an emergency run to the airport. It’s not how I was looking to spend my Sunday night. Looks like we’ll be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. We’ll have to call our credit card and see if we can stop the charge at the source. Super Shuttle truly is evil.
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February 5th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Oh I so agree. After years of using them and seeing their customer service go WAYYYY down, we no longer use them. They would not show up, they would drive around the airport 6 times before leaving, etc. So now we use Prime Time…you might want to check them out if they operate at your airport.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
A quick chargeback to the credit card is all it should take to clear that up. And Super Shuttle will get to eat the $35 investigative fee!
February 5th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
A couple of suggestions….make sure that you print out the information from their web site that says that they call if they are early. Hopefully, you got the name of the guy you spoke with last night - if not, try to call back and get someone to repeat the same information. Send a letter to their corporate office when you write the BBB. They should, after all that, make right. That said, I would not use their service again, but they should make you whole.
As for airport transport, I don’t know how far you are from the airport, but when I have a hassle pick-up/drop-off, I usually park my car in the short-term lot (or long-term lot, depending), leave the keys in the gas tank or on the wheel (a second set of keys would work, too!), and then have a friend pick up my car. They will also drop my car back off in the airport lot right before I am due home. This costs way less than a cab or shuttle to the airport where I live - as you are, at most, paying two full days in long-term parking.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Super Shuttle has gone way downhill over the last few years. They held the line on salaries and most of the good drivers are gone, seeking better incomes. The last time (and for me the final time) the driver kept chatting to me about women, using the most negative terms. I’m not prissy, but since I was the only one in the shuttle, it was 6 am, and he seemed quite…off…well, I’ll never go there again. What’s weird is that they used to be so good, and it is a business that is all about customer loyalty and perception. Go figure. Get a charge back and move on. You were treated badly.
February 5th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Wow. They used to not suck when I lived in San Francisco, but now that I live really close to an airport, I just take a regular cab. That’s way too bad.
Lately I’ve just been asking friends if they can take me. I get a social trip out of it and then usually a social time later if I take my friend out for a beer and stuff like that. Would that have worked?
February 6th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Thanks for the suggestions all. We have a dispute on the credit card. I’ll see if my fiancee (Energi Gal) has printed out the receipt. Hopefully they are one of those places that e-mail you one when you place the order.
Mapgirl, it wasn’t really a big problem as I could drive her to the airport, which really is close by. I wasn’t looking forward to the idea of driving just after Super Bowl got over (and I wasn’t really keen on the timing of this business to begin with). We also don’t have a lot of friends in the area as we moved out here 6 months ago and haven’t really gotten our social lives in order.
Looks like we’ll be looking into David’s suggestion of Prime Time next time.