I posted this review 23 days ago and I am still using Charlene's Safe Ride to transport my son to and from school. The service is amazing! Please give them a try and see for yourself! I just had sugery and am unable to drive my son to school. I searched the Internet for transportation services for children and didn't come up with very many. I kept researching and then I found Charlene's Safe Ride. I was a little nervous, but everyone I spoke with there were so friendly and understood my nervousness. They reassured me that they would take good care of my son. So I took a chance. This is my second week using them and I am very pleased. They arrive in the morning and call to let me know they are outside. If my son's pickup time from school changes, I have the cell phone number for the driver and I can call them and make the adjustment. I am notified every night via text of who the drivers will be for the next day. Fortunately, he has had the same drivers for the past week. That has made me feel more comfortable. Charlene's Safe Ride is a great transportation service and I will continue to use them whenever I need a ride. Thank you Charlene's! read more

SO BAD! I wanted a safe service to have my daughter picked up and dropped off at the airport, and this ride was exactly the opposite. My daughter showed up at the car (that we paid $55 for the 20 minute ride) with a friend, the woman driver started yelling at her because she said you couldn't ride with someone else. THEN, as it turns out, there was a random boy that they were including in the ride?! How is it "Charlene's Safe Ride", when they put my daughter in the back with some random guy that she didn't know? Why would I pay $55 to have her ride with someone else? I canceled all future trips and highly recommend that you avoid this service. read more

No show....nothing safe about stranding a student at the airport after a redeye. Take them off your list immediatately!

They did a last minute cancellation at 7pm for a 4 am CONFIRMED ride to the RDU airport!! They even sent me a text with my driver and his phone number! Now I can't find a ride at this SHORT notice. It's is a terrible thing to do to a disabled, wheelchair user! You left me stranded and lost a loyal customer read more

We called them for a ride for one of our customers, and after an hour of waiting, we called another company. No one ever showed up from Charlene's read more

"Excellent taxi/ shuttle service" I've user Charlene's Safe Ride a few times in the past few months to go from Durham to the airport, and I'm impressed. The price is fair, and the drivers are very friendly. I've made round-trip reservations from the website, and it offered a discount both times, as well as free options (e.g., bottled water). I've gotten a text before each pickup with the name and mobile number of the driver, which is nice for connecting, and they're always waiting for me at the airport within a few minutes of when I land. In one instance, the driver didn't arrive when they should have to pick me up, but when I called the office, they had another driver for me within 15 minutes. (The first driver apparently had some emergency.) Overall, happy to continue using their service. read more

Horrible. They canceled the driver without notice to me. Another driver showed up 30-40 minutes later. Called the company several times without response. read more

This place is hit or miss. If you're a drunk college student needing a ride home from some trashy bar, then go for it. But if you've got even a little shred of class or are even a little particular about your rides, then go for a real taxi. I've used this service a couple times to go to the airport while in law school and later when visiting the area. Sometimes the car us on time; sometimes not. Sometimes the car is clean; sometimes not. Sometimes, like during my last ride, you spend the whole trip inhaling stale cigarette smoke and listening to some B-rated rapper drop F- and N-bombs during the whole ride. Blech. Prices are cheap so that's why I use it for those few times when no one can make it to pick me up from the airport. Be warned, though. You get exactly what you pay for. UPDATE 2 FRICKIN YEARS LATER: DOWNGRADE TO ONE STAR After writing me a clearly insincere apology for my experience, Bell B., the so-called manager, posted this: "For competitors: Please note: Our competitors have taken up the unsavory task of posting fraudulent reviews about our company in an attempt to discredit the otherwise high quality and exceptional service we provide to the community. Upon investigating this matter, it was revealed that no such client or ride under the name A. H. exists within our records. It is understood that this claim may not be legitimate. Yelp does a good job in filtering out fraudulent reviews and will shortly be removing the misinformation presented here." What a load of crap. Here's my response: "It has been 2 full years since this experience and you are just now replying. For shame. Also, for privacy reasons I choose to use my initials rather than my full name on Yelp, a publicly accessible website. I refuse to believe you are so ignorant as not to realize that when you, as you claim, "checked" for me in your records. Your public insinuation that my review or my experience may be fraudulent borders on libel. As an attorney, I caution you in how you proceed to publicly address me and my review. If you truly have concern for your customers' experience using your service, I suggest you refrain from taking years to respond to their complaints and posting libelous information about them in a public forum. I still make use of ride services in the Raleigh/Durham area. If I had any intention of using your service again, you have effectively crushed that with your inane and careless response. Good job." So take from that what you will if you decide to use this service. read more

This is a local Taxi company that has served the Duke community well. I got talking my favourite driver and he told me that there are 12 of them in the company and they take calls from all over the triangle. The get messaged in via mobile and computer. They are pretty friendly and usually call you ahead of time to check that you are aware the taxi is on its way. For some reason, the company uses quite a few vans and sometimes a trip to RDU is done by a van and feels a little weird. However, I've always had good experiences with CSR. read more

No fun. The driver arrived 20 minutes late for a ride to the airport and then got totally lost going through Durham. The driver was also fairly young (probably 18-20) and texting on her cell phone the ENTIRE time; she was serving on 147 because she couldn't stop looking at her phone. Additionally, she forgot to put the car in park before getting out to help us with our bags, so we almost took a tumble when jolted by the van's movement. Nope, no thanks. read more

This week I had my first experience with Durham car service & I had expected to be disappointed due to rather negative reviews I had seen. Contracted with CSR & was impressed throughout; prompt & professional at reservation; pickup on-time; very helpful at RDU; return had delayed flights due to airline equipment problem but CSR was on top of changing schedules & wow'ed me with text message showing car for my pickup at RDU along with pickup location. Fair pricing too. I was a heavy user of car services in DC, LA, Dallas, Boston & and Tampa ; in comparison, I'm a fan of CSR! read more

Very late on Easter Sunday I found my vehicle needing a trip to the mechanic before I could drive it safely, and needed to get to an appointment at 7:30 AM. I found this company through Google at 1 AM, and used their SMS service to reserve a cab. My driver's name and phone number were texted to me. This was after calling several others I'd found through this site just to receive no answer. My cab arrived by 7:02, the driver was courteous, and he followed his GPS for the best route. We paid via Square and I was at my appointment early. I've never had to use a taxi service in Durham for something time sensitive and will definitely use this company again if I find myself in need in the future. I especially appreciated getting the name and number of my driver sent to me. read more

Two times in a row they failed to provide the promised wake up call for my son who was coming home from college. After I complained the first time they assured me it would not happen again; they promised he would receive a call on his next pick up (which was 2 weeks later). They dropped the ball again. They were also late in picking up and didn't bother to call and let my son know. I tried to give them a chance to fix it, but they made another excuse and didn't even offer a refund. read more

I needed a ride after my first cab didn't show up, I'm glad I tried safe ride. My driver was there quickly and super professional. I would definitely use them again. read more

DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE. I booked online and got a roundtrip fair. Then got an e-mail that the calculation was wrong, my fair was 1/3 more, which I paid. After returning from my trip, I got a phone call that the fare quoted was actually ONE-WAY and I owed them the entire amount paid all over again. I REFUSED TO PAY IT. read more

Had a nice driver who arrived early both to Duke and back to the airport. I arrived very late for my meeting due to some issues trying to get around construction/his not being too familiar with the particular area we were in. So very nice and timely, but not necessarily efficient. read more

Two drivers were both on the dot for time calls at a crowded event. They were courteous and ratrs were reasonable.

I called 22 hours before I needed a pickup for the airport. When I stepped out of the apartment house, Charlene's was not waiting. When I called, I was told that I did not have a reservation and there were no drivers available. Although we had used Charlene's six times previously, I will never call them again nor can I recommend them because they are not reliable. read more

I called them & the lady who answered sounded at home comfortable, & she stated she did not serve Durham. So why is this listed as serving Durham? read more

Yes, great service. I live in Hillsborough where there are very few taxi services, and no Uber, so it was a pleasure to find Charlene's. They take PayPal, which is nice, as a prepay option and give 15% discount. Receipts were very professional, and they are always available on the phone + responsive on email. Drivers are extremely nice, with comfortable cars and bottles of water. Highly recommend them! read more

Worst cab company I have ever used. They were late picking us up, then they did not even have gps in the car. I had to give them directions where to take us in the same town. Then when we arrived at our destination less than 10 minutes later he asked what the person we had called quoted us. We said we didn't get a quote, even though we could have lied and saved ourselves some money. He charged us $25 to go 3.7 miles on a Saturday morning. What a rip-off! You can take red ride from downtown Chapel Hill to my apartment, which is almost twice as far for $16.The driver was rude on top of that. Lesson learned: Always call red ride! read more

We have used this car service several times now and we have been pleased with all of our experiences. We have used them for getting to and from the airport only. You can make your reservation online and you will get a confirmation via email. Fair rates that are posted upfront and you can pay in advance. If you book a round trip you get 30% off the total bill. The day before pick up the diver will text you, giving you their contact info and car type. They will also text you when they are 5 minutes out from pick-up. I am not hip to the UBER scene but when I'm on a schedule I want a company that is professional and reliable. Some drivers provide you with a bottle of water and all of our drivers have helped with getting my door and our luggage. We will continue to use them for airport travel needs. read more

I'd never been to Durham before, don't drive and was going on a work trip to East Durham, which can be a relatively unsafe area. When I called CSR to arrange a car for the two days I would be in Durham, the manager was super helpful, gave me information on the area, waived the waiting charges and gave me a GREAT quote. When I arrived, the driver was waiting at the airport, made sure I was at the right address when he dropped me off, watched me go in to make sure I was safe and in the right place and gave me lots of useful information on the area. The next day, I had a car scheduled to drop me off to a meeting, pick me up and take me to the airport. Since I knew I would be in the same car, Ieft my bag there. My plans then changed and I needed my bag back - I called the manager and he arranged for the driver to drop it off for me, at no extra charge and refunded me my airport fare. I cannot recommend Charlene's enough. I'll be using them when I'm in Durham next! Thanks so much! read more

Great service for a 4am airport drop-off. Phone call and text message confirmation the night before and driver was bang on time. Price was good too. Will be using these guys again read more

I must admit the ride was smooth and quiet after the not so great start . Driver drove very well thank you.

I used Charlene's to pick up my teenage boys at the airport and take them to Duke for camp. They gave me a roundtrip price including meet and greet at the airport for almost half the cost of the other quotes. Everything went very smoothly. I would definitely use them again. read more

We use Charlene's Safe Ride to transport our six-year old son between schools during the day (he has a morning school and a different aftenroon school). Their rates are good, they let us store a car seat with them, and they have consistently worked with us and our strong-willed little boy to make sure he gets to school safely and on time. Thanks to Charlene's. read more

They've always arrived on time, which is a plus. The cars are clean and pretty well maintained. They can be a little more expensive than some of the other taxi services. Once I printed out one of their Yelp coupons, but my driver wouldn't take it for some reason. When I called about it later, the receptionist was surprised that it was declined. My next driver took it all right. read more

Just wanted to place on record our appreciation for the service provided by Charlene's Safe Ride. The Drivers were courteous and on time. We as parents sending kids from other end of the world- Philippines- worry and are very anxious- because of Organisations like yours, you ease our anxiety. Thank you!!! read more

Requested a prepaid ride to RDU. The driver never showed up. After 30 minutes of waiting simply took an uber. So, in short: look elsewhere (uber has proven to be surprisingly great, btw). At least I still have hopes for a refund. P.S. I used to be a loyal client of Charlene's (this was my 4th ride). I guess I am no longer read more

Great service! I highly recommend this company and I will use them again. The driver was on time and very professional.

They came 20 minutes early. Called to make sure they had the correct apartment. Drove very carefully. Made sure I was positive that I was at the correct drop off site. Charged me exactly what I was quoted (and I was very pleased with that quote). They texted me the drivers number the night before in case I needed to contact him. He was extremely polite. If I am back in the Durham area again I will definitely use them. read more

We used CSR for a trip to RDU from about 70 miles away. There price was very fair. The driver was well ahead of the scheduled time. The ride was comfortable and safe. When we need such services again, we will CSR. Thanks for a great experience! read more

Our driver, Lynda was excellent! Safe driver, very friendly, and prompt. We will use this service again for my disabled mom who is wheelchair bound. read more

I made a reservation online a day in advance and pre-paid for Charlene's Safe Ride (also called Brier Creek Taxi) to pick my son up from school. They did not show up to pick up my son at all. I called and found that they hadn't checked the online reservation and weren't sending anyone to get him. I left work early to pick him up myself. He ended up waiting an hour. When I made the reservation, I received a confirmation email and also an email letting me know they charged me for the ride, so I didn't think I'd need to call to confirm again. I will not use them again as I can no longer trust them to be reliable. read more

Incredibly incompetent. Driver had little experience, was unfamiliar with Durham, and had his wife riding along in the car. He was 45 minutes late because he could not find Guglehupf bakery on a Saturday afternoon, despite having a GPS in the car. Stay away! read more

Safe? I think not. Tailgated me up the I40 off-ramp...passed me on the one lane road...ran the red light I was stopped at. Be warned. Your trip might be life threatening. read more

I had been a happy and loyal customer for a long time. For over two years Charlene provided a reliable, safe, and pleasant way to get to and from the airport on a frequent basis. However, recently, the quality of service and drivers has suffered. Last time I used them the driver did not show up and my wife had to drive me to the airport at 5AM. This time, they messed up the time by 15 minutes which almost caused me to loose my flight. The drivers are now playing music loudly and are not as pleasant. Two strikes and almost missing two flights is enough for me. Going elsewhere. read more

Don't trust them. Over phone they agreed for $35 but they made me pay $52. Complained but no action taken. DONT TRUST THEM!!

I've never been a passenger, so I can't speak to service as a customer, but as someone who drives the same roads you couldn't pay me to get in one of their vehicles. I've seen more than a few near misses with their vehicles, and was one of three cars nearly run off the road by them this morning as they jumped 3 lanes. I'm guessing the guy wasn't in too much of a hurry though, as he slowed down enough to flip off one of the other cars. If you ride with them, you may want to consider wearing a crash helmet as a precaution. read more