Well. 2.9 out of 5 stars. Looks about right. Here's another 1 star review for this unprofessional business.
Looking at the owner's responses to other Yelp reviews, I can already tell there probably won't be an apology or any accountability. It doesn't seem like constructive criticism is something you're open to. But I want to address this review directly to the owner, the man pictured on this business profile.
Your business is built on CUSTOMER SERVICE. That's how you make your money because of your customers. And with ANY customer service business, you are going to have happy customers, frustrated customers, and even irate customers. That's part of the job. It is YOUR responsibility as the owner to know how to handle those situations professionally and, more importantly, DE ESCALATE them, not pour gasoline on the fire.
Here's what happened.
Yes, we were about 5 minutes late. We couldn't answer your five missed calls, but we called back as soon as we could and let your dispatcher know we'd only be about five minutes behind. We were told you had already left and couldn't wait.
That's fine. That's your policy. We accept responsibility for being late. But were we frustrated? Absolutely. This is Los Angeles. Traffic happens. As someone who owns a transportation business, you know that better than anyone.
The irony is, you've been late before too, and we waited for you. One time you were approximately 30 minutes late, and the explanation was... traffic. Exactly. Traffic happens to everyone.
Your dispatcher then asked us to meet you at the next pickup location. We agreed and drove there. Yes, while driving there we called your dispatcher and voiced our frustration. Should we have taken our frustration out on your employee? No, and I acknowledge that. But once again, when you own a customer service business, you WILL deal with frustrated and irate customers. That comes with the territory. Your job is to handle those situations professionally, not escalate them. We arrived at the next stop as instructed.
And that's when everything went downhill. Instead of simply picking us up or speaking to us professionally, it felt like you waited there just to confront us. You, yes, you, the owner, immediately came walking toward us aggressively, holding a lit cigarette in your hand, and started SCREAMING before either of us even had a chance to speak.
Your words were:
"Why did you yell at my employee??? Huh??? Why??"
Then you pointed at me, the driver, and said,
"I'm not talking to you!"
Then pointed at my mother and yelled,
"You! Get in the car!"
You weren't speaking firmly. You were SCREAMING. Your lips were shaking. Your entire body was shaking from anger. Your behavior was so aggressive and hostile that it was genuinely intimidating. My mother has a medical condition, and your behavior scared her to the point where she became dizzy.
As an adult man, and especially as the owner of a customer service business, you need to treat your customers with respect, including your female customers. Whether you like hearing this or not, I truly do not believe you would have approached this situation the same way had a 6 foot tall man stepped out of that car. That's how your behavior came across to us.
Instead of allowing us to explain anything, you continued SCREAMING over us, refused to let either of us speak, then disrespectfully said, "You're not going to..." before stomping back onto your shuttle and driving away, leaving two women standing in the Target parking lot. Every bit of this happened. This occurred in a public Target parking lot with surveillance cameras around and dashcams everywhere. There is nothing for me to exaggerate or make up.
After that I called your dispatcher. She handled the situation exactly the way a customer service representative should. She worked with us, got us on the next shuttle, resolved it professionally. I appreciate her for that, I thanked her. Your employee de escalated the situation. You escalated it.
A customer service business survives because of its customers. You are going to have happy customers. You are going to have frustrated customers. You are going to have irate customers.
That is the reality of owning a business. You can absolutely enforce your policies while still remaining respectful and professional. You could have simply said:
"this is our company policy. You have to adhere to it. Also, please do not take your frustration out on my employee. We don't appreciate it, and it's not acceptable. This time we'll let it go, but next time it will be on you." See how easy that is? Direct. Firm.Professional. Instead, you chose hostility, aggression, and intimidation.
It's unfortunate because my mother enjoyed using your shuttle service before this incident, had nothing but positive experiences with several of your drivers. Ironically, the only person we've ever had a problem with was the owner himself.
Safe to say this was our last time supporting this business. read more