Poor poor POOR customer service. I arranged for an ambulette service for my elderly father from JFK airport to the Upper East Side. I called for a quote 4 days before the travel date, and got one number, and then when I called to confirm it the next day, I was told it was $75 higher, because the high-back wheelchair was NOT supposed to be included in the base price. Huh? I was already tempted to use someone else, but the girl on the other end was very nice and got me to stay. Took my credit card info and my flight info and my email address for confirmation. We landed at JFK at the JetBlue terminal, and I call Ahava from the gate for where we should meet the driver. They said he's not there yet, stuck in traffic. How much longer? 10-15 minutes. So we waited. Clearly I did not pay for the Meet-and-Greet service.
My father is 85 years old, sick, frail, and just experienced a long transfer and plane flight. He's exhausted. The van doesn't arrive, and I start calling the service, which kept telling me he's coming, he's there, he's trying to get through security. I asked what security? We're at the arrivals gate, JetBlue, under Pick Up Spot #3. He's stuck trying to get through security. I said (actually I think I was screaming by that time) there is no security at the curb. I'm standing at the curb. The street is open to all people. The guy asked me what terminal I'm at. I don't know, I gave you my flight info, aren't you supposed to find out where I am? And be here waiting while we're transferring through the airport? Why did I just pay $350 again? He argued with me that I'm at a different terminal, must be terminal 5, and I replied that I don't know what terminal I'm at, but there is JetBlue behind me. After many such phone exchanges, I finally asked a passing skycap what terminal I'm at, and he said terminal 5. The guy on the phone said "So I'm right." I replied that there is no "right" here, you should have know ahead of time what terminal my flight was to arrive at.
The driver finally showed up, 1.75 hours later. The van was smelly with stale cigarette smoke, despite the prominent No Smoking sign. The driver had a lead foot on both the gas and the brake and I told him that if he didn't calm down on the driving, my father would throw up in the van. Needless to say, I did not tip the driver. He would have gotten one if he had been told what he should have known, and had been dispatched in time for the flight. It wasn't my job to tell them to plan for traffic, it wasn't my job to tell them what terminal we landed in. I will never ever use this service again, and you shouldn't either. read more