Complaint Review: Ludwig's Limousine Service - Peabody Massachusetts

Hi I'm the GROOM'S sister who was IN THE LIMO. Sorry, James. Don't know who you are but you weren't there, I was. Here's the breakdown: Steve should have KNOWN that there is ALWAYS high traffic heading into Gloucester and Rockport on every summer weekend. ANY professional company operating in the area would have planned ahead. I have planned around this traffic for years. It's always bad on a sunny summer weekend day. We were outside the house in hopes that the limo was lost. In fact we saw other limos on the street that we thought may have been looking for our address or were lost. We were certainly not "pretending to thumb a ride." The bride and her mother were vey upset; the rest of us tried to make light of the situation in efforts not to have the bride burst into tears on her wedding day. I made multiple calls to bridal party members at the church. No one had the number of Luldwigs. Ludwigs never called our location (or any other contact numbers they had) to let us know if a delay. Steve at no time apologized for being 20 minutes late; he merely blammed 20 minute late arrival on traffic. We hustled to get into the car (including 80 year old Nana) and urged him to stop making excuses and small talk and to just get in the car and drive. We at no time suggested that he take turns on the narrow roads at 50 mph, cross double yellow lines to pass illegally or to skid to a stop to avoid stopped traffic. Again, any driver worth a fig would have apologized and done his best to make up for lost time. The bride at no time told Steve that he went by the street to the church. I was the one who pointed out to him that he had taken a wrong turn and was taking us in the complete opposite direction. He continued on in that direction, insisting that he knew the way to the church. It took us ten minutes to convince him that he had the wrong church in mind (St Anne's vs St Anthony's). After he dangerously reversed directions in the middle of a main street in Gloucester, he completely disregarded our directions to take a right turn at the next TRAFFIC light. Instead, he abruptly turned right into a random restaurant along Gloucester harbor, again flinging the entire bridal party around the limo (which was what happened when the sister of the bride spilled champagne earlier- it's pretty hard to keep your balance, let alone your inchful of champagne when the car is scattering and skidding all over the road). We arrived at the church at 1:17. We were instructed to be at the church at 12:45. The ceremony was supposed to start at 1 PM. It actually started at 1:30 PM. There is no such person as a Deacon at the church. We (the bridal party) were greeted by the music and wedding coordinator. This gentleman confirmed to us that Steve never approached him nor had any discussion with him. The priest also confrims that the driver never approached him nor had any discussion with him after the ceremony. ALL of the guests had already arrived and had been seated by the time the limo arrived. I witnessed Steve kiss the bride on the cheek and the look of horror on her face when he did so. This occured as the bride and groom stood under an archway outside the church after we exited the church. At no time did the bride kiss the driver as claimed. Ew. Your time line is way off: if Steve only arrived at the house in Rockport ten minutes late, and it added 5 minutes when he took the multiple wrong turns, how could he only be ten minutes late to the church? Could he be lying to save his job? Could he (as the only Ludwig representative present for the events described) be lying about everything? I think so! As the bride and groom were away on their honeymoon (trying to forget the hellacious limo experience) during the weeks following the wedding, my brother (the groom) asked my mother and I to contact Jeff Ludwig to dicuss the disaster and the late fee requested by the church. A woman by the name of Karen (not Mr. Ludwig) answered the call every time we called. She also described that the 20% gratuity was contractually obligated. No one told Steve he did a wonderful job. They gave him his contractually obligated tip and made sure he left quickly so he wouldn't spend any more time mingling with the guests. We have a copy of the contract with the church that we sent to Ludwig. This was in my brothers files and unavailable to us when he was away on his honeymoon. It describes the $200 fee for late arrival. During discussions with the Better Business Bureau and the Mass Attorney General's Office, Mr. Ludwig stated that he would NEVER give us any refund or send a dime for the church penalty. God help the 50-60 weddings that Ludwigs alledgedly serves every Saturday. We certainly hope that they get there on time. We did not and had a miserable experience getting there. Think twice about believing these liars who can't even accept the blame for their own mistakes.

This letter is in response to the complaint filed by a woman named only as Patty from Cambridge with regard to a recent wedding transport. Kevin Cardone did arrange transportation for his wedding July 10, 2004 with a pick up time of 12:30 p.m. with an arrival time at St. Anthony's Church at 1:00 p.m. (not 12:45 p.m.). We will happily provide a copy of the contract. Steve, who was the driver, encountered extremely high traffic in the Rockport/Gloucester area trying to get to the address. He attempted to contact the clients that he would be several minutes behind due to the unpredictable traffic. All three (3) telephone numbers on the contract were contacted, but there was no answer at any of the lines. When Steve arrived at the home approximately ten minutes late, the bridal party was standing outside pretending to be thumbing for a ride, with no one appearing to be upset including the bride. Steve immediately apologized and explained about the traffic problem which was supposedly understood by the clients as they are from the area and understand the unpredictable nature of traffic in the local area during the summer. The clients instructed Steve to do whatever he had to do to get to the church to avoid a two hundred dollar fine imposed by the church if ceremonies start late. Steve did as instructed, attempting to get his clients to the church the quickest way, sometimes taking side streets, while moving through flowing traffic as safely as possible. The clients were encouraging Steve as he drove along this circuitous route. During the drive, Steve did have to stop abruptly due to a quick stop in traffic flow. At this time, the maid of honor spilled her self-supplied champagne on the bride's gown, making the bride furious with the maid of honor. The bride even exclaimed to her maid of honor, You HAD to bring the champagne!! On the way to the church, the bride stated to Steve, You just went by the street to go to St. Anthony's. Steve acknowledged he though he was going to St. Anne's Church and turned down several more side streets to reverse direction to get the party to the correct church. This delayed the final arrival at the church by approximately five minutes. When Steve arrived at St. Anthony's approximately ten minutes lat he spoke to the Deacon who handles all arrangements a the church and stated that it was his fault they were late and not the bride's. The Deacon fully understood and stated there was no problem and that the guests were just arriving due to the delay in traffic caused by a bridge being up in Gloucester. Steve brought the party to the reception where the bride, Kaitlin, exited the vehicle and told Steve what a wonderful job he had done and proceeded to kiss him on the cheek. The groom then tipped Steve $60.00 and everyone thanked him for his service. Sometime during the following week, Jeff Ludwig received a telephone call, not from Kevin who booked the transport, not from Kaitlin, the bride, or the bride's family, who were actually in the vehicle but from the groom's mother who was not a party to this transaction at all. The complaint in this case is again not from any of the party who contracted the limousine but from a family member. After hearing her complaints and explaining my side, Jeff Ludwig asked her, multiple times, if the church was charging the two hundred dollar fine, but no response was uttered. IJeff Ludwig stated that Ludwig's Limousine would pay the two hundred dollar fine if it were being assessed. The church would have informed the bridal party that day if they were going to be liable for an additional two hundred dollars. No one has ever provided us with a charge of two hundred dollars from the church leading us to believe that no such charge occurred. In response to the ten (10) points indicated on your form: #1 The driver was instructed to drive quickly. #2 Jeff Ludwig agreed the driver was approximately ten minutes late. #3 Not discussed. #4 Not discussed. #5 Jeff Ludwig is the only person in the office on Saturdays and wonders why no one from the bridal party contacted the office to investigate why the vehicle was late? If the vehicle was seventeen minutes late as claimed, a full two minutes past when they were to have been at the church as claimed, why did no one contact the office to inquire where the limousine was? #6 Jeff Ludwig told Ms. Cardone the driver had spoken to the Deacon, not the Priest, and the Deacon stated everything was fine. No person was convinced to waive the charge. #7 Jeff Ludwig admitted the driver was on his way to the wrong church when corrected. #8 Jeff Ludwig admitted Steve was doing as instructed. #9 The driver stated the bride gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for doing a great job. #10 Jeff Ludwig questioned Ms. Cardone why a $60.00 tip was paid to the driver at the reception if all these events had happened. The contract suggests a tip of 20% however the tip is not contractually obligated. Again, we will be happy to provide a copy of the contract. In closing, the customer paid $285.00 to Ludwig's not $300.00 as stated in their claim. As Jeff Ludwig explained to Ms. Cardone, Ludwig's has been in business for 17 years and average 50-60 weddings every Saturday during the wedding months without any other type of similar complaint.