Complaint Review:
Prime Time Shuttle
The only reason they get one star is that there us no negative options! What a POS!
I made a reservation through some outfit that uses the web name "GO" for a shuttle from Burbank Airport to Long Beach
Airport. I arrived at Burbank on a Wednesday, stayed overnight in Burbank and wanted to leave from the airport on a Thursday to go to Long Beach. Since the web site had trouble sending me from one airport to another (how can this be a
problem for airport shuttles?), GO had me put in a phony phone number and flight info and then lined me up with a Burbank shuttle company called Prime Time Shuttle GO GUARANTEED that when I showed up at Prime Times desk I would be on a
Shuttle within 15 minutes. Since I knew I would be at Burbank by 2 or before and since it's a 45 min. ride to Long Beach I had my family at Long Beach at 3:pm.
All went well until I arrived at Burbank an hour early. After tracking down Prime Time's rep outside the terminal (no desk) I was told some gobbledygook about them trying to track me down by the phony phone number, Prime time told me I wouldn't be leaving on a shuttle until some other travelers arrived on a 3;30 flight (I was supposed to be in Long Beach at 3:00) AND ONE OF THE PASSENGERS WOULD BE GOING TO EAST LA FIRST! Any SOCAL native knows East LA is pretty much in the other direction from Long Beach. For the next hour I spent phoning, waiting, pleading, etc. for some relief from this ridiculous
situation. Finally, about 3:15 GO offered me a refund of my prepaid ticket. By this time I had no option other than to take a $100 cab. So I kept my Prime Time seat and finally got on a shuttle at 3:45 pm. By this time I was getting irate calls from my family at Long Beach wondering where the hell I was. I was on my way to East LA!
When we finally dropped of the East LA customer, I was desperate. I asked how much extra it would be to go to Orange County instead of Long Beach. The final kiss off from Prime Time was when my shuttle driver said he would take me but the dispatcher said "No", the driver had to come back to Burbank for more scheduled pickups. I was given their typical BS of a
driver being home sick. I finally arrived at Long Beach at 4:25 pm. My ride was long gone.
The take away from this whole fiasco is do NOT trust Prime Time to live up to any commitment what so ever is made in advance. I would rather trust the first wino I meet on the streets than this bunch. BTW, the dispatcher that said no to my request for drop off in Orange County is the same one that said East LA is on the way the Long Beach.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Bobby Gibson
Los Angeles,California,
We tried...
#3UPDATE Employee
Tue, March 26, 2013
Dear Mr. Shell,
We do apologize for the inconvenience. We don't have direct control over the information that our affiliates enter into the reservation. But we were not provided an email, phone number or correct flight number which are extremely helpful in coordinating with our customers to ensure things happen efficiently and according to schedule.
Your original pickup time was at 14:00 and you came an hour early at 13:00. We normally track flights to make sure they are on time to get a driver there as close to the pickup time as possible. But without the flight information we could not do so.
If we had sent a driver there directly at 14:00 with no way to contact you and you had not been there... the shuttle would have left without you... and you would have had to pay for that as well as any additional transportation...
So instead we opted to wait until we heard from you and then coordinated on the fly the next shuttle we could get there to pick you up. Which was at 14:30.
You informed the shuttle driver that you wanted to be dropped off at a different location once you were already in the shuttle. Drivers have other stops that get assigned to them ahead of time and it would have caused quite a scheduling issue to re-route multiple shuttles to accommodate your last minute request possibly creating other customer service issues at the same time.
So while I do understand your frustrations we do ask for the above mentioned information for a reason and that is to ensure things run smoothly.
Our Customer Service manger has reached out to you multiple times unsuccessfully.
Please feel free to email me directly:
Bobby Gibson
Prime Time Shuttle
Bobbyg@primetimeshuttle.com
Robert
Irvine,California,
Confused
#3Consumer Comment
Mon, March 18, 2013
First off why did you even continue with the transaction if you "had" to put in a phony phone number? Next, why in the world if you were trying to go to Orange County would you book a Shuttle to Long Beach? There is no real discount going to an airport or a hotel or residence. And even if that was the case..why didn't you book a shuttle to John Wayne(SNA)? Or better yet take Public Transportation, a short bus ride from Burbank to the Metro Rail into Union Station would get you to the Metrolink Train right into several Orange County stations..all for under $20.
how can this be a problem for airport shuttles?
- Because airport shuttles don't generally go between airports.
GO GUARANTEED that when I showed up at Prime Times desk I would be on a Shuttle within 15 minutes.
- Then go after GO for their guarantee...oh wait they were going to honor their guarantee by allowing you a FULL refund.
But where in the booking did they GUARANTEE that you would be the only one on the shuttle and that you would be in Long Beach by 3PM? You booked a SHARED shuttle, and yes every shuttle company operates the same way. If you wanted an exclusive ride it would have cost you more. Of course this ignores the entire fact that even with the detour to East LA that you complained about..you still got to Long Beach in 40 minutes.
I was told some gobbledygook about them trying to track me down by the phony phone number,
I arrived at Burbank on a Wednesday, stayed overnight in Burbank and wanted to leave from the airport on a Thursday to go to Long Beach.- Since you put in a phony phone number how do you know that they didn't?
- Umm...you weren't even flying in that day. Perhaps the flight you "took" was scheduled to arrive later than 2PM. Perhaps it was actually late. Or perhaps the "fake" flight you put in was truly fake and doesn't exist.
By this time I was getting irate calls from my family at Long Beach wondering where the hell I was.
- Wow what caring family. You probably could have offered them to pay for a tank of gas and have them come and get you.
BTW, the dispatcher that said no to my request for drop off in Orange County is the same one that said East LA is on the way the Long Beach.
- And this statement was the some one who wanted to go to Orange County and booked a Shuttle to Long Beach.