Update: After two weeks and a lot of left messages, I finally received an email stating they were going to refund my money. They did, however did not refund the full amount owed, it seems they didn't think it necessary to refund the tip I pre paid for the service I NEVER received. I wrote an email back and it has been over a week and I have heard nothing back. I reiterate, this company has very courteous drivers and is great IF they turn up when scheduled, booked and paid for, but unfortunately this doesn't always happen and trying to get in contact with them is next to impossible.
I originally reviewed Stan's Shuttle service (December 2012) and gave them 4.5 stars because their service was great and prices very competitive, they did sometimes seem a little disorganized but turned up hence the loss of half a star. After my last experience (January 2014) I am changing my rating to one star, because their service is no longer what it was. And trying to get a hold of some one is next to impossible.
I booked a round trip to Sacramento airport and back. I did it over the phone and it did take several tries to get a call back to make the booking, not a big deal, but that is not the reason I now give them one star. I paid for the round trip cost and included a tip up front so one less thing to think about. The trip from home to the airport was perfect, the driver turned up on time, called 30 minutes earlier to confirm pick up. Was courteous and friendly and all was well. This is where the good service ended.
The day before our return I received a text, email and phone message confirming that I would be picked up at Sacramento Airport the next day, all the information was correct so I sent back a reply to the text and email confirming and the phone message stated I didn't need to do anything unless I needed to reschedule.
We land at Sacramento Airport at the scheduled time expecting to see the Stan's Shuttle Van waiting for us, it was not, we figured that maybe they were just running a little behind so waited 20 minutes or so, still no van. I tried calling several times but it went to their message system, I left a message. Waited another 20 minutes, still no van and no response from my message left. I went in to customer service to see if they had another number for them we could try, they didn't and said it isn't the first time they have had people tell them Stan's Shuttle was late. We decide to wait 20 minutes longer, just in case they got held up, after which time we decide we need to find another way home. The cheapest we find is $110 so without any other options and still no Stan's Shuttle Van turning up at last minute we finally get home no thanks to Stan's Shuttle.
To make it worse, I leave another message letting them now how unsatisfied I am and I write an email detailing the problem we have had. After several calls the next day, someone finally gets back to me, they obviously don't listen to their messages or respond to emails because the man I spoke to, has no idea why I have called and when I tell him he doesn't have any information in front of him to see what went wrong. He is apologetic and says he will let the owner know and he will refund my money straight away. UPDATE: has been over a week and after I have left 3 messages have still not heard back from anyone and have not received my money back.
Bottom line is don't use Stan's Shuttle unless them showing up at the scheduled, confirmed and paid for time and location is not important. Their automated system apparently works great, it just isn't working in conjunction with a live person to come pick you up, and forget it if you need to get a hold of someone if they don't turn up, especially after business hours.
I really wanted to love this company and support them because they are a small local business but the number one thing I need in a shuttle service is reliability, add to that the lack of response from them when something goes wrong and their obvious lack of interest in fixing it makes me not recommend them. read more