Hi future friends. As the owner & founder of the Magic Bus we have had an incredible 20 year run showcasing the beauty of Alaska Year-Round for locals and visitors alike. Not once, in 20 years have we ever looked at Yelp or Trip Advisor until a few weeks ago because myself and my vehicles and employees are rated daily May 1 to Sept 30 by daily rate forms that are filled out each day by the riders who meet me in person, have spoken to me on the phone or emailed and who ride to the www.26glaciers.com cruise ship. That Phillips cruise owner says to me, Tim, your ratings are so perfect for 15 years that people say things like "I was dreading a motorcoach ride but I got my money's worth on that scenic tour before we even stepped onto the glacier cruise that we also loved. You & your Magic Bus drivers are great"! That is awesome. We have been nominated 15 years,at least, and won once, our prestigious Visit Anchorage Member of the Year Award. Call the vendors, call the hotels, call my competitors to ask about me and my company. We all work together as an amazing family of products. About Phone manners-it is too bad that a few calls went poorly in the callers eyes. I would hope that reasonable folks can observe all around us all, the abuse of smart phones which no longer make us smart about their use. 6 people called on Christmas day this year asking about summer 2016. Why did I answer, I always have to answer because my clients and vendors and employees need to always reach me if a plane connection gets missed, vehicle headlights get left on and at 5am my driver needs to take another vehicle, etc. And most crucially, there is one road South to the Cruise ships in Whittier and Seward and only one road North to Talkeetna & Denali. Amazingly, with 1 million visitors to South Central Alaska, Anchorage area, an accident causes complete highway shut downs for hours & I have to respond & react. I have your Trip of A Lifetime in my hands, making sure it all goes smoothly. We take that very, very seriously to amazing 20 years of success which is why all of our clients return year after year after year, locals and visitors. I remember that wedding call, the person was really mad when I said "I am sorry, Magic Bus no longer drives weddings since they are simply too difficult in general". My catering friends rarely say yes to wedding also these days. Weekends in Alaska Summers are so sold out busy that we use our equipment for full day services that are tourism related. Sorry that frustrated her. An agent from the South called a few weeks ago & I solved her very tricky party of two transfer needs from Whittier to Girdwood to Seward & back to Anchorage. She kind of hung up in a Huff because she did not want to self drive, which was her only practical solution. And there was the guy who said he would blow me up on web reviews for not being willing pick up at REI propane and bring it to him in Whittier with our other passengers. I am not even sure Port Rules allow that? My favorite, likely a negative commenter, was when I picked up 2 people special at their hotel, connected them to our pickup spot and after the cruise she reversed our charge telling the bank she never rode with Magic Bus. I never really have signatures to go with the credit card charges since everyone to Alaska is so darn honest. People simply never are that dishonest. She probably thought I was very rude on that phone call but without her signature, the bank gave her money back. I hope to hear from you soon, to help with your wonderful trip to Alaska. All the best!
Almost forgot-People also mentioned not liking my comment in an email "kindly tip my driver at end"...we always include that comment since so many people say "is tip included". I was surprised some feel that is pushy? All corporate clients want tips added in advance and many other cultures don't know when to tip. We don't have tip gars or tip signage or other tacky things. I was surprised some people don't like "kindly tip your awesome driver when happy at end". Can't win sometimes. Cheers! read more
