DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! THEY WILL NOT LIVE UP TO THEIR END OF THE BOOKING CONTRACT.
We booked Alpha Limo for our wedding in St. Pete. We booked three limos and one shuttle bus to transport the wedding party and guests from St. Pete Beach (hotel) to St. Petersburg (church for the ceremony) and back.
I booked the service via telephone, speaking mainly with Terry (the owner). Terry is clearly a good salesman as he earned my confidence over several phone calls when I was looking around for a limo company. I am from out of state so I phoned several limo companies. Terry is a smooth talker when it comes to selling his company's services and goes so far as to say that he does not take a deposit or charge your credit card until the services are provided.
Wedding day arrives. Instead of 3 limos at the pickup site as planned, there are only 2. Our wedding coordinator tells the wedding party (bridal party and groom's party) to take each of the cars and depart to the church so we are not late to the ceremony. She says that she will stay behind and wait for the third limo to take the rest of the wedding party and also hold the guests' shuttle back until the third limo leaves. We needed the third limo (which had greeters and such) to be at the church before the guests' shuttle, obviously. So the 3rd limo arrives late (about 15 min. according to the wedding planner, more on this later) and so that party and thus the shuttle bus are late to the wedding ceremony.
Fine. Wedding ceremony happens, and we, as newlyweds, walk out of the church and see one of the limos with steam emanating from under the hood. I go up to the drivers who are all just standing around and ask how this can be fixed. One driver says "sorry, this happens." Okay, breakdowns happen. He then says that he does not know how long it will be to get another car. By this point we needed to be back at the hotel to take pictures and get ready in time for our reception. We couldn't afford to sit around waiting indefinitely for another car, so we tell him that we'll just take the remaining vehicles back.
Our initial plan was for bride/groom in one limo, bridesmaids and groomsmen mixed into the other two limos. Since we were down one car, some bridesmaids sat in the back of our photographer's tiny rental car! And the groomsmen took the shuttle bus. This precluded any celebration in the limos with champagne, etc, as we had planned. Completely upset both the bride and groom.
A few days after the wedding I call Terry to ask about any compensation for the missed service. He states that he provided all contracted service since all guests were able to return back to the hotel. WTH?! Yeah, our wedding party members got back to the hotel, sure, in the back of a rental car and in the shuttle bus. My contract with Alpha Limo was for 3 LIMOS. The whole point of renting limos is so we can USE them. Terry then proceeds to tell me that I should re-read the contract, which apparently states that he is not liable for any mechanical breakdowns. I find that to be a convenient way to excuse himself from any responsibility. He said his drivers offered to find another car. Sure, they did, but they explicitly said they don't know how long it would take to find another car. Has Terry ever planned an event where scheduling is super important (i.e., a wedding)?! We couldn't just sit around at the church (which needed us to vacate the premises for another event following ours) and wait for a third car to show up. Terry then proceeds to accuse me of damaging his limo during my ride back. He says the limo driver told him that she heard an argument and that we damaged the vehicle. WTH?! Now the driver is listening in to the passengers' conversations and spying on the passenger cabin? Terry also says that he will need to check his GPS to see if one of the limos was actually late in arriving at the event and that his drivers are never late. He then proceeded to lecture me that his company is the best in the Tampa area. Guess what, Terry? It does not matter if you think your company is the best. I run a business as well, and if your company is that great, then you should know how to compensate a customer when your company makes mistakes. Terry says he will not be able to compensate me for the fact that one of the limos broke down. That by definition to me would mean that he did not fulfill his end of the contract since we only got to use two of the three limos! But Terry hid steadfastly behind his clause that he is not responsible for mechanical breakdowns. Terry ultimately agrees to refund one hour ($85) from our $1340 bill.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. THEY WILL CON YOU INTO BOOKING WITH THEM AS THEY ARE GREAT SALESMEN. BUT IF THEY MESS UP DURING THE DAY OF THE EVENT THEY WILL DENY, DENY DENY.
USE ANY OTHER LIMO COMPANY IN THE AREA! My reception hotel recommended another company and I should have gone with them instea read more
