My girlfriend and I had flown to the Midwest from New York for one of her best friend's weddings.
We took city buses, subways, airlines, 'L' trains, intercity bus, and Amtrak to get around on this trip. I never thought calling a cab, typically the most splurgey and convenient mode of transport, is where things would fall apart.
We took the bus up from Chicago to Benton Harbor, calling a cab when we arrived for a ride to St. Joseph. We didn't expect this to be a problematic task; you can normally get a cab to come pick you up in most any city in the country, in our experiece, in about 15 minutes or so. Especially in a tourist region like this, we figured this was a non-issue.
Indeed, when we called from the bus station, they said to expect a cab in about 15-20 minutes. After a half hour, we called and they said they were "on their way... they only have one driver." Hmm.
Around 45 minutes, we asked folks at the bus station if there was another cab company. Apparently, no, there was only one cab company in the entire metro region. With only one cab.
I'm about ready to stand by the road and try hitchiking. We needed to check into our hotel, shower, and change for the wedding.
My girlfriend calls once more, they swear they are 3-5 minutes away. And yes, around 7 minutes later, the cab finally arrived.
The ride to our hotel in the next town was uneventful and reasonably priced.
The wedding itself was being held in a venue in the rural woods about a half-hour drive east of the City. We had a ride from our hotel to the wedding venue lined-up with a friend, but that fell through due to circumstances beyond our control. We had been scrambling all-day for a back-up plan with other friends.
However, we asked the driver before we got out at the hotel if he wasn't too busy to do a prearranged pickup at 3:45 to get us to the 4:30 wedding. He assured us that would work, and even knew the venue. It sounded like we were in sure hands, and that they'd been through this routine many times. The flat rate of $37 quoted was surprisingly reasonable. We were in the car when he made the pickup appointment with the dispatcher. Feeling relieved, we texted the other friends we'd been trying to make arrangements with and told them we had a ride.
We checked in, ran upstairs, and hurriedly showered and dressed for the 3:45 pickup, rushing downstairs; my girlfriend didn't have time to do her hair how she wanted.
After 15 minutes, she called the company. They remembered our pickup appointment, but "there was a shift change," and "other people had scheduled pickups around the same time."
At a half hour late, she called again. The ceremony was beginning in 15 minutes, and we were a half-hour drive away. There was no other cab company to call, no bus system, and anyone else heading to the wedding from our hotel had long left. Breaking into tears at this point, she pleaded with this woman, explaining that we flew here all the way from New York for this, and if she couldn't have picked us up she should have told us instead of making an appointment and assuring us of a ride, so we could have figured something else out, and that the ceremony started at 4:30. The dispatcher said we wouldn't make it in time now. No shit.
We learned via text messages that others attending the wedding were still waiting for the same cab. The only cab. At a hotel in Stevensville, the next town to the south.
Everything you've ever read about monopolies is true.
I flagged down a tow truck and offered to pay him $100 to drive us to the wedding outside of Watervliet. He had a tow job and couldn't.
I put out my thumb and yelled at passing cars. In our suit and dress, we either looked like we were joking around or truly desperate. Someone pulled over rather quickly, even though they really thought the former. We paid this couple $100 to drive us to the wedding.
As we walked up, the ceremony crowd was dispersing.
About an hour and 15 minutes after Advance Cab had been scheduled to pick us up at our hotel, they called my girlfriend, asking where we were.
I'm not one to be hysterical or use hyperbole or go on irrational rants.
But let me go on record to say FUCK YOU, Advance Cab.
I don't expect much. If you were 15 minutes late, we'd understand. If you had told us, when we asked if you could get us to this wedding in the first place, that you were too busy and we couldn't count on you. If you didn't knowingly quadruple-book riders and lie to them about the real timetable.
And to the local region for putting up with this? You really want to attract return visitors to "Michigan's Great Southwest"? Shut this company down and convince someone to open a competent and professional taxi service, like you can find in every other city in the country. Usually more than one. With more than one cab. That shows up in a reasonable time when called. And certainly shows up for prearranged pickups. Or at least tells you they can't. Especially for a wedding. read more