Hello Best Way Limo,
Two weekends ago I travelled to San Fransisco to attend the beautiful wedding ceremony of very dear friend. After the ceremony and reception the couple had booked a bus through your company to transport some of the wedding guests to the afterparty down town. The following is a review of the experience we had in the hopes it will help your company provide fun & memorable experiences for your clients in the future.
When everyone got on the bus one of the wedding guests--who had been working on a playlist for 2 months specifically to be played on the bus--plugged her phone into the music apparatus at the back of the bus. Initially it didn't work but after some fiddling around it started to play the first song. About half way through the song it stopped playing. Multiple people on the bus then spent the next 10 or so minutes trying to get it to work. At that point I walked to the front of the bus to ask the driver to help us or play the radio in the meantime. After another person suggested the same several minutes later, the driver did pull over at the next opportunity and come back to assist. He was not immediately successful but with some time fiddling eventually it started to play. Everyone was SO happy and cheered as he walked to the front of the bus. However, the song didn't even finish before it stopped playing for the second time. We were never able to get it to work from there on out and the driver did not make any further attempts to remedy the situation.
To be frank, the lack of music was extremely disappointing. I've never been on a "party bus" before but I'm pretty sure that having music is pretty central/important to the entire experience.
The bride in particular was SO looking forward to this particular moment--the one made possible by your companies promise- and while she tried to stay positive and not let it affect the happiest and most important night of her life it was impossible for everyone to not get a little down about the whole experience.
I understand that sometimes stuff happens and there's nothing that can be done about it. Believe me, I rarely ever complain or write emails like this.
One of the most disappointing parts of the experience other than the lack of music was the driver's response (or lack of) response to the situation. I would have been much more sympathetic to the situation-and I wouldn't be writing this email- had I felt like the driver had done all in his power to correct the problem. First off, he saw us trying to get the music working before he even took off and he didn't say anything or address the situation at all. I'd think maybe something that a driver of a "party bus" should do is make sure everything is in working order BEFORE leaving as I know it is difficult to pull over in a rig that size. It took two people asking him for assistance in order for him to reluctantly try to help. Then--when the music stopped again less than 2 minutes later--he didn't take it upon himself to find another spot to pull over and try again.
I can only imagine how draining it must be to drive a "party bus" for a living...day in and day out deal with the people who are probably in rare form... However, if I were in that line of work I hope I would find a way to feed off other's joy and happiness in the moment. I know that's easier said than done but these two people are some of the most selfless, generous, joy-seeking individuals I know and I only wish that your company had worked harder to enhance that experience for them instead of detract from it.
Additionally, the driver did not drive us around for 45 minutes as per the agreement but since there was no music that wasn't an issue at that moment. The lack of music really made it so that the entire experience was a really large, really expensive taxi...nothing more.
I'm also not convinced that there wasn't a way we could have made the music work (connected via bluetooth, etc.) if we'd been more familiar with the system. That's where the driver comes in and in my opinion is a MAJOR part of the job. Everything we tried to do didn't work and the driver made ZERO attempt to help other than the one time when he had to be specifically asked to do so. I'm also confused why there's no way to play the radio in a party bus situation....? Or a backup bluetooth speaker. That could have gone a LONG way in saving the situation. If it was my business, I would make sure every bus has multiple ways to play music as a backup. It was also apparent the cord was SO old, frayed, and only worked every so often when held in the exact right position. I've had many auxiliary cords in my personal truck do the same thing and I think if you want to successfully run a business like you are you should have regular equipment checks and replace those cords regularly. It is a small expense compared to providing your clientele with the experience you advertise. read more