Horrible company rude and dont care about the customers safety in there vehicles. They had a trip from cornell to Syracuse Airport and did not care that the van was on its last legs and should never been on the road. Tire blew out at 70 mph on 81 with 5 students and 2 adults. The rear of the van was dragging on the road. Needless to say the safety is not a problem when all they want Is money. read more

Totally negligent. I was scheduled for a heart procedure and medicaid confirmed the trip to rochester with the owner Ron and they never showed up. I called him the confirmation number was in his system and yet wanted to blame me for not calling him to fucking remind him of my trip An idiot and if I die because of his negligence my estate already has the letter of notice of claim on file. read more

My driver, absolutely amazing. My second experience with this company, just as pitiful as the first. Despicable for my appointment to take less than 45 min and I am left stranded in the middle of the day in August with a one month old. Try to think of this (which practically happened two times) as the customer: First time mom, no support or help, crying Newborn, heat of the summer, abandoned for an hour when I was told it won't be long. Thanks for your business and showing me what company not to use. read more

I booked a cab, he was on time and nice. However, Here's where it goes downhill. The car doesn't have air conditioning and it's HOT AF! Also the windows don't roll down in the back! So I'm sweating hard now! I said how much is the ride from Ithaca to Elmira... $145!! I called the dispatch and this woman Debbie, who has ZERO customer service basically said it happens. I said, can I get a discount and she basically told me tough S*#T! I'm like the driver and me are sweating! This is ridiculous! She goes he can take you back to the airport then. Pay or go back! Seriously NEVER, EVER BOOK with these THIEVES! The cars are garbage, the prices are ludicrous and the dispatch is trash! I feel bad for the drivers!! I'm giving him a good tip because he has to deal with this terrible company! read more

Clean cab, good driver, great date! I tipped so she could see I have the means to make her life happy.

this is not a glamorous service nor do they have amazing technology. yes, cars are kinda old and sometimes it takes a while to get a ride. however, they've always brought me home from the hospital when needed. if ur a cornell student, save ithaca dispatch's number for ur ride home, they can bill it directly to cornell with ur student ID. drivers are always so kind and empathetic. u might be in the car with other people but u will get home safe. read more

Ithaca Dispatch is an excellent cab company. I had to walk to Walmart from the commons in Ithaca and when I was done shopping, there was snow everywhere. I called Ithaca Dispatch and they were there to meet me in under fifteen minutes. They arrived in an almost brand new mini-van. Mike the driver was friendly and efficient and I was home in ten minutes. read more

They deserve zero stars. This is worst service ever. I called to book a cab for my cousin, to pick her up, take her to the Cornell campus-to-campus bus service stop to pick up her husband, and bring them both back to my house. The lady on the phone assured me the driver would wait with her and we said we would pay for all the wait time. The driver left her at the stop, refused to wait, and totally overcharged her. When I called, the driver claimed the lady in their office was wrong, they never wait, and she gave me the wrong rate! Frauds. I will always use Uber and never use this crappy service again. read more

Got an early morning cab to Syracuse airport. The driver pulled over on Interstate 81 twice on an engine light going off, switched the ignition off, let the car rest for a couple of minutes, and then cranked the engine again. He seemed well aware that this was an issue. When I reached out to dispatch they confirmed that they were waiting on a replacement part but that it was okay. Dispatching a car with a known malfunction on a trip to the airport that forces you to pull over twice on the interstate is not acceptable in any scenario. The car was also badly unkempt inside. Mind-boggling, really. read more

I take medical rides I'm never using these assholes again they talk to you nasty because they know you are at their mercy if you call them they talk to you like shit and this is the whole Ithaca talking about the the office lady needs something up her ass and the guy is the worst they treat people like they have the power but guess what there is Gadabought and a other cab company that will take you to your medical appointments my insurance has been notified how many appointments I've missed because of the they have a contract and are not fulfilling it the owner does not care at all it's sad how we have to be disrespectEd just to make it to medical appointments the insurance also said that they will be reading all the reviews hope something changes and I was just forded to give them a star just to post read more

They were a lifesaver for us. We had a reservation (paid in advance) with JH transportation who never showed up for a 4:20am pickup for a flight out of Ithaca. Called desperately around - Ithaca dispatch had a taxi in the area so swung by to get my daughter so she could make her flight. read more

This is the worst taxi cab service I've ever known. This cab service is completely unreliable. It takes them an hour sometimes over an hour just to get to your area. You better off waiting for the bus or at least walking to the bus stop to get where you need to go.. Why are they still in business? We need to boycott this cab company. They need to be shut down permanently or get a completely new owner who is not from Ithaca. Because Ithaca's transportation SUCKS!!!!! I kept calling every 20 minutes after the first 45 minutes of waiting for this cab. No one picks up and when they did nobody said anything they just hung the phone up. If you can afford to get a car please do. This service is a waste of time. Don't call them please, trust me, I know plenty of people that can vouch for their unthoughtfulness. They are so unethical we need to shut them down. read more

They literally do not deserve this 1 star. Folks said to be careful with your belongings and getting ripped off, and it's true! Accidentally left my bag with important stuff in it and instead of turning the corner and get it back within 5 mins, they took 2 hours to return the backpack and only because the hotel I stayed at had to get involved. When I finally got back to the hotel, I immediately checked my purse and $100 was missing. When I called dispatch, she was so rude telling me that they don't authorize the drivers to go through belongings and said, "Tough luck girl, looks like you just lost $100." Also, she proceeded to blame the hotel, who had my bag in view of a security camera since the driver handed it over and didn't find anything on there. Shady drivers and shady management. read more

know your rights! If you do, Ithaca Dispatch will be forced to charge you lower fares or give you better service. Yes the city of Ithaca has laws (2-4) and Ithaca Dispatch has an internal rule (1) that regulates taxi fares. Ithaca Dispatch will not follow these rules unless you inform them that you are in the know. 1. Ithaca Dispatch has a "fare share" rule that means you get $1 off for each person they pick up along the way that is not in your party, $2 off outside of Ithaca (although I have yet to get a straight answer on whether these rules apply to airport trips). Keep this link bookmarked on your phone incase you need to dispute this rule with your driver http://www.ithacataxi.biz/fareshare.html 2. If you schedule a cab ride you can say "I do not want to share a cab, take me to my destination alone." They will comply, because it is the law. Technically they must ask your consent for a shared cab ride, but they don't do this. So don't wait for them to ask, let your non consent be known if you prefer a solo cab ride to the discount above. 3. They cannot charge you extra for any luggage that is "carry-on" compliant. If it is 2ft x 2ft x 6in, and less than 25 pounds they shouldn't charge you extra (now that said some of your so called carry-ons aren't exactly carry-on size so if you carry on a large piece of luggage the driver does have the right not to count it as such). 4. They are only allowed to charge $0.50 extra for each additional passenger of same party and same destination. They will try to charge you a higher group fare, but don't pay more than this if they do, because anything extra is illegal. (note that late at night they can charge an additional $.50 per person) 5. If your driver tries to dispute 2-4 with you, keep this link bookmarked on your phone, http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/departments/clerk/taxi.cfm. It outlines the Ithaca taxi laws Ithaca dispatch will never tell you any of the above facts, because they don't want you to know about them. read more

Horrible. I've had several experiences with this joke of a transportation service over the years, and each one has been worse and worse. It was OK about eight years ago when a ride to the airport was only seven bucks, but the last time I got a cab from Ithaca Dispatch, I was told the fee would be $14, and when I was dropped off at my destination, the driver asked me for $28, saying that it was $14 per bag. (I had a suitcase and a small camera/laptop bag that constituted my airline carry-on.) Now it's impossible to get anyone on the phone. It either rings until you're disconnected, or goes straight to a busy signal. These people just send their drivers to the airport after an airplane arrives to collect the most possible fares in a single trip, then they ignore individual passengers. Terrible customer service. Outrageous costs. read more

Terrible experience twice! Called Saigon Kitchen and asked to be picked up, estimation provided was 15 minutes. Cab driver arrived after half an hour, and we have already left to wait for a bus stop. Lady called asking me if I was coming or not and midsentence while giving a curt explanation she simply said okay, bye. Absolutely rude service. Next up I called to be picked up at Walmart. Drive to there was fine but I waited more than an hour to get a cab. Sympathetic operator told me he didnt understand why no one came to pick me up. Longer than an hour is just unacceptable. On a similar trip a taxi driver was obviously high on weed. I could smell the marijuana in the cab. He was too talkative and went beyond professional boundaries. At one point he let go of the steering wheel for more than a ten seconds while driving to gesture in his conversation. Another asian cab driver inquiried whether I was christian or not. Me saying no he seemed to change his friendly demeanor of me and did not talk to me while driving to my destination. I can only conclude out of my experience of frequently unprofessional taxi drivers, rude operators and ridiculously late arrival that to ask for a cab with this service is a gamble when you need it the most. Save yourself the pain and use the TCAT, bike, shuttle, walk or use a car. I will admit that I have had average experiences, but the fact that in all my years in Ithaca I always get the same rate of terrible service shows a lack of accountability and respect for the time of their customers. My review would have been one star but I added an additional one to be fair to the nice locals I've met. read more

I had a very unpleasant experience with this taxi service. The taxi was 20 minutes late, & that's in Ithaca on a weekday, middle of the day.When I called to check where the car was, i was told to wait patiently. No apologies, or at least explanations. After I was picked up, we stopped to pick up someone else. I do not believe that this service should be called taxi, if they are not coming on time, & picking up multiple passengers. Unfortunately the company is a monopolist, so they don't feel they need to compete with anyone. If I have a choice next time, I'd rather ask someone to give me a ride! read more

Called an over an hour before our flight (Ithaca has a super small airport). Was told a taxi would be there in 20 min. Waited outside in the cold. 25 min later we called and were told 10 more min. 10 Min later same. 10 min later we were told to stop calling. Eventually we got into the cab an hour after we called. Barely made the flight running. ill never be calling them again!!!!! read more

I've been riding Ithaca Dispatch since I was a freshman in college and I've never had a good experience with them. First, they charge arbirtrary prices. Sometimes a drive to the airport will be $14, sometimes $16, sometimes $18. Then after the terrible drive (they're rude, they ignore you, the cars are so crappy you think it'll collapse), they have the nerve to ask you how much tip you want to leave. I used to leave them a $2 tip after every one of my trips, but now I'm just at a point where I say "I'd like all my change back, please." In Ithaca, there aren't many options. Businesses can easily run a monopoly around here, so the only alternative to this taxi service is using Collegetown Cab (they're generally nicer and cheaper), or to have a friend pick you up. read more

If you are not familiar with Ithaca taxis, please read additional reviews and bookmark this site in order to get a fair fare: http://www.cityofithaca.org/196/Taxicab-Rates-Regulations Ithaca Dispatch WILL try to scam you into paying more money if you are not in the know. Matt H's review below does an excellent job of outlining all the things they do that are unethical. It is disappointing that a taxi company will so far out of their way to take advantage of customers. We flew into Ithaca airport late Friday night and were greeted by a rude taxi driver smoking outside his van. There was already a passenger in the front seat, but he put the 3 of us in the back. There were not 3 seat belts in the back seat. He then picked up 2 more passengers and put them in the middle seat. After dropping off the 2 middle passengers, he dropped us off downtown and told us the fair for all 3 of us was $35. We thought this sounded shockingly high (we were right), but paid because it was late at night and we were tired. Despite having other passengers in the car, we also did not receive any sort of "Fair Share" rate. http://www.ithacataxi.biz/fareshare.html After setting our things down, we called the dispatch office and talked to a lady who said their rates were: For groups (not families): $18 + $9 for each additional passenger For families: $18 + $4 for each additional passenger Bottom line: choose a different company and hope that Ithaca Dispatch goes out of business sometime soon. read more

Well looks like "Ithaca dispatch/university taxi/IDI courier/Cayuga tax/ithaca taxi are all the same company since they all have the same website and business address" I just found out about that, Anyways, the driver was on time, but they have to pick up some one else, and when I pay, she told me it's $6, so I paid $20 and she only had $12 dollars of change! What the heck! Basally she took 30% of tip from me without even asking... Will never ride with them again (if my car didnt break)! read more

Called an over an hour before our flight (Ithaca has a super small airport). Was told a taxi would be there in 20 min. Waited outside in the cold. 25 min later we called and were told 10 more min. 10 Min later same. 10 min later we were told to stop calling. Eventually we got into the cab an hour after we called. Barely made the flight running. I understand that taxi service in Ithaca is a joke and you shouldn't expect anything resembling the service or quality of a real city, but at 6am I can't imagine they have much else to do. It would have been nice to have a realistic time frame for when we could expect it to save us waiting in the cold and worrying. If you have any other options you should take it. read more

Needed an early morning ride to the airport & my hotel booked this cab. The driver was on time, but the cab REEKED of cigarette smoke. Like, I could smell it before I got in. Absolutely disgusting & I smelled like smoke the rest of the day. Never again. Also, they treat airport service like a shuttle, not a cab. When I hire a cab, I want to go directly from my point of origin to the destination. Instead, you get driven all over town & end up waiting for people who are late. The worst. read more

I was at Target. I called these guys three times and all three times they told me that the taxi will be there in few minutes. I waited for an HOUR and no one came. So I had to use bus carrying tons of bags. They have THE WORST service in the ENTIRE WORLD. I came from a third world country and even there we had better cab services than this sh***. read more

Called Saturday night (9/29) around 10:30pm (yes, prime cab time I know.) -- Give the woman my address, she says "10-20 mins" -- 25 minutes pass, I call again -- She says "Yeah, yeah about another 20 mins" -- 20 minutes goes by, I call back again...no answer. -- THEY NEVER CAME. read more

Would leave a Zero review if possible. One would think that calling a cab company at 4 am would make getting to the airport easy and painless. Not for this company. They managed to make my experience the rudest, least comfortable possible. I called at 4 am and they told me someone would be there at 5 am earliest. When I gently pushed back, they said "someone just clocked back in and will be there in 20 minutes". We waited outside in the rain with our luggage at 4 in the morning for an hour. No cab. At that point, I called again and was rudely told to wait for "20 more minutes". Since doing that would make me miss my plane, I chose to wake my relatives up and had them take me to the airport. I do not understand why such a rude company exists! read more

Worst customer service ever! If I could review this dispatch service negative five stars I would. The dispatch staff on the phone hung up on me twice and spoke in an extremely disrespectful tone multiple times when asked a simple question. Ithaca dispatch really needs to train their staff on practicing proper manner and basic human decency. Extremely disappointed by this service!!! :(( read more

The customer service is absolutely horrendous. They said they would be there in 5 minutes and we waited for legitimately 55 minutes. It is not even about the wait time, it is the way we were treated on the phone. The man was yelling and raising his voice and claimed we were "harassing" him when we were calmly asking about the wait time. I am honestly disgusted. He yelled "I am cancelling your ride. Never call back again." Wow. read more

Save yourself the lies and BS... CALL an UBER! No one at Ithaca Dispatch care even a little about a cash-paying customer. They make millions on NYS paid rides. read more

They are not a reliable taxi service. When they arrive to pick you up they never call or bother to contact you or the dispatcher that they arrived and the dispatcher's are rude. read more

To all those out there that says that Ithica Disptach Number's balance and parolees that is a lie because you go through a federal background check requiring fingerprints also people whining about people not being able to pull up to drop people off at the curb at the airport there are regulations we have to follow up there sat by the airport if we don't follow them you won't get a cab ride up there they will kick us out of there seems like y'all have a lot of complaining to do without knowing all of the details also trips can be requested and are not guaranteed thereOur other trips that come up we do not drive trips for anybody if someone called a cab before you they're going to get service perks I no longer work for the company but I have nothing bad to say about him and I'm not a parolee or felon never been arrested just seems like a lot of other cab companies want to make false claims on yelp to try and get more business because they're dying read more

This cab company that I had called to book was very rude. We had called them 40 minutes prior to to our cab ride and they had made us wait outside for that time period. The man on the phone was extremely disrespectful. Very disappointed with how they handle their survives. Overall poor experience and very shook. read more

I'd give 0 stars if I could. Taxi was 30 min late for a trip to airport so cllose to missing our flight. Our hotel has a negotiated rate with them and driver wanted to charge $18 per person. Shady, grumpy drivers read more

I am EXTREMELY rattled and disappointed by the customer service of this company. My friend called and asked if they could possibly send a car that accommodates six people to save money. We called a few times over the course of fifty minutes when our location was only two minutes away. When we called, a disarranged man picked up and yelled at us for calling, hung up and canceled our ride without consent. We called again to clarify our message and he said never to call again and hung up. Seriously concerned by how poorly this company is run. If I give it zero stars I would. read more

This is the WORST TAXI COMPANY! Their prices are ridiculous. I paid 20 dollars for 2 miles and they are super rude. NEVER USE THIS COMPANY, they are so many cheaper taxi companies in Ithaca. WATCH OUT PEOPLE! read more

Tips for Peter K., Owner.: 1. Purchase or Require Taxi Drivers to purchase the same types of cars, painted the same color. Maybe one type of sedan and one type of Van. Each taxi should be numbered uniquely. This way - you can have cabs drive in populated areas - like C-town or route 13, or campus, or the mall, or hang at the Statler or Hilton, and people can flag them down, as opposed to always calling. More money for you, more convenient for all of us. Bonus - if you have a light on top that says "for hire"! 2. Establish requirements and procedures to make sure your cabs are clean, free of any major damage, and be sure only light 97.3 or some other unoffensive, radio station music or entertainment, if any, is being played. 3. Educate your drivers on how to be courteous and professional. They should not hit on customers, smoke in the car (while passengers are there), or use foul language. They should help with luggage, say please and thank you, and be concerned about flight times if making an airport or doctor's appointment run. Bonus points if they get of their butts and open the door for passengers. Some won't tip, but you do it for the ones who will tip extra. 4. Post the rates or a rate guide prominently in each car. Or have pamphlets that customers can take or look at with a rate on it. If passengers feel cheated, they will not tip, and not use your service again. A guide in the car would help with that. No guide or meter - we feel we are being deceived - and thus your drivers will get shorted on tips (their liveliehood). 5. Ride-Share is fine, but let people know its optional. Give people a $5 discount (or something) per extra passenger to incent them to accept it. Too often your drivers assert that its not optional, breaking the law. Another guide or poster in the vehicles would help people understand their rights, and make them feel more like they are in control. People will still rideshare - perhaps not as many - they just want to know their rights & options and why they should do it. 6. Dispatch person. Needs to quote an accurate time. They always say "10 minutes."... "Under ten minutes" or "under 15 minutes" would be much more descriptive. What's the point of dispatch if they don't know where the cars are located and how long it will take to get somewhere? Nevermind, its a rhetorical question. If you have similar cars and taxi cabs with unique numbers on them - when they are going to location where several people are requesting cabs (like the commons or college town) after bar-dump - they can identify the cab# so passengers get the right cab. ** Your phone(s) should not ring and ring and ring; Or be busy busy busy for extended periods. Have a phone system that picks up the call, has a recorded message and places the caller on HOLD. Hold Times should not be longer than 1 minute if there are no other callers -meaning I should not have to be placed on hold for over a minute at a slow period of the day. However, if it is a busy time, HOLD is understandable and a voice should come and remind me that I am on hold every so often. Otherwise I get frustrated with your stupid busy signal or constant ring ring ring and call a friend, walk, or give up on you - like most people already have. Finally - If I am calling for a trip to the airport or a doctors office - Your dispatch should be asking 1)What time is the flight? or 2)What time is your appointment? and make sure that whatever cab will get there on-time. Also If that means that you don't do a "ride-share" your dispatcher should figure that out in advance. Your dispatcher MUST inform the pick-up before the driver arrives if it is going to already be a ride-share. 7. Finally - your cab drivers are supposed to ask if passengers mind if they pick up another passengers - and stating whatever discount we are entitled to. $1 is the minimum per passenger. I think more like $5 is better. Then we can say yes or no. IT'S OBVIOUS YOU CURRENTLY DO NONE OF THE ABOVE. Perhaps you are having trouble finding and retaining good staff. If you actually manage your drivers, and implement some standards - you will get rid of the bad ones and keep the good ones - who will be glad about your new requirements, where the bad ones will complain and not understand why these things are necessary. Standardization and guidelines enforced is beneficial for your employees and your customers (us). You may say "do not tell me how to run my business" - but the customer speaks, and I am doing better than complaining - giving you some suggestions that are mostly low cost (except for the standardized cars, but that will be well worth it, even if you just paint them) If you do all this - choose one name, suggested "Best Cab Company", not 3. I CHARGE A LOT FOR CORPORATE BUSINESS CONSULTING AND COME TO ITHACA QUITE OFTEN BECAUSE OF CORNELL. PLEASE TAKE IT TO HEART, MOST OF IT COSTS YOU NOTHING TO IMPLEMENT, JUST TO CARE. read more

Prior to calling for a taxi for where I needed to go from my home I mapquested the points A to B which I was informed by mapquest that one way was a little above 2 miles in total. ANYWAY, the driver took the absolute possible longest way to get to my place to pick me up and likewise he took the longest way possible to where I needed to go (naturally so he could jack up the price of the one way trip I was taking) 34 dollars for one way, please, what a rip off! read more

Overall overpriced and dishonest. We used this taxi service to go to a wedding outside of Ithaca. The trip takes 30 minutes and the driver asked us for $160 each way (FOUR TIMES the agreed upon price). When we refused to pay his price, he abandoned us. Avoid this taxi service if at all possible! In response to the owner's comments: The truth is as I told it last Sept. And the bottom line is that good reviews will come when you provide a service worthy of them, which by your angry, dismissive and inaccurate comments suggest won't be any time soon. read more

I've used this cab service quite a lot and they've been late before, but never this bad. They arrived almost an hour late to take me home from the movies, which was bad. But what was worse was I called three times to ask about the status of the late cab. First I was lied to, saying it was 20 minutes away (it wasn't), then they did not pick up the phone the next 3 times we called from multiple phones. Why can't they just tell me a cab is going to take a while? If they would have let me book my return trip when I called the first time to take me to the movies, I could have avoided this whole thing. Oh yeah, and our first driver used his phone while driving to google the conspiracy theory he was telling us about. I've had some good experiences with this company when they work, and the drivers are almost always friendly. That's the only reason this isn't getting one star. TL;DR: Unreliable, dishonest, and unsafe. read more

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY. No light on the cab to identify it ("broken"). Not "allowed" to pull around to the airport driveway so we had to walk through pouring rain to get to the vehicle (contrary to what the dispatcher said on the phone - which was "he'll pull around soon." Van was dirty and smelled stale. Part way to my destination we had to TURN AROUND AND GO BACK TO THE AIRPORT TO PICK UP SOMEONE ELSE, and a lot more expensive than Uber. read more