South Florida Limo Service - Read before booking!

South Florida Limos

I’d like to share our experience with this company, as we feel it would be unfair to not warn folks.

We recently flew into Fort Lauderdale for a cruise out of Miami the next day. My husbands birthday fell over the cruise, so we ordered a stretch Excursion to take our group (10) to the port the next morning as a surprise. We contacted this company and set it all up. Communicating was a little difficult due to poor English on their part, and often when I called there were children in the background, but I wrote it off as no big deal and went on happily planning our cruise.

The morning of the 21st of Feb, we assembled our group of ten downstairs to await the arrival of the birthday surprise. About 15 minutes after they were due to pick us up, I called as he hadn’t arrived yet. I was told he was five minutes away, and had gotten stuck in traffic. No big deal, we had no issues waiting. The Limo arrived 40 minutes after our scheduled pick up time. At this point, I was mildly annoyed, because we had VIP boarding and I’d set the time to allow us to be some of the first people on the ship. We had a large group, many who had never cruised before, and we wanted to show them around some before the ship filled. Again, minor things crop up on vacation, and we let it go. The worst part of that was that they hadn’t bothered to contact me to tell me they’d be late, then lied about their arrival time when I contacted them.

After all the luggage was loaded, and people piled in, we went to make Mimosas, as we’d brought the stuff for that to begin our vacation. Unfortunately, the ice bucket was full of trash. Empty, sticky yogurt containers, cigarette packs, etc. We could not find a single champagne glass that was clean, and there were roughly 14. Some were still half full, some had been used as ashtrays. At that point, I called the company on my cell, only to be told ‘You know, we are the cheapest in town’ (The total was $250 from Fort Lauderdale to the Port of Miami). Sadly, I don’t think their pricing reflected the product we would be getting. The pictures showed clean limos. The conversation with the company was extremely difficult, due to language barriers, and I really never could get the gentleman on the phone to understand how completely unacceptable this was. I asked for a manager, he assured me he was one, and then proceeded to tell me he couldn’t help me. After getting the run around on the phone from the company, and actually having to raise my voice because he would not stop talking OVER me, we left the interstate far earlier than we should have. The driver came around to the rear, opened the door, and without a word, began emptying the trash. We waved him off, explaining that at this point, we’d really rather just get to port and get this all done with. He was clearly cranky that we were unhappy, but he went to get back in the drivers seat. Just before he reached he, he returned to the back door, opened it, and said ‘Maybe you guys should just pay me now.’ We were a little flabbergasted. It felt a little like being held hostage in an area none of us were familiar with, and a cruise ship to get to. We refused, he went to the front and drove us to the port. We typically pay for limos in cash, but this time, we chose to pay with a credit card. They’d offered to take $20 off our bill. (which was not reflected in the charge receipt they emailed me.) Fortunately, I took photos of the mess, and will be contacting them today to allow them to make this right. If they choose not to, I will call my credit card company, dispute the charges, and send the documentation in to prove what an awful service they provided.

Please don’t use this company. They truly are awful.

Suggest filing a consumer complaint here:

http://www.broward.org/permittingandlicensing/filingacomplaint.htm

Wow! That is awful!

I am pretty sure it is the responsibilty of the driver to make sure the limo is clean and stocked.

I hope you did not tip.

Thank you, FLAHAM. I was searching out something like that and struggling to find it. You rock!

Hi Jen,

So sorry to hear of this. No one deserves that poor service.

Would like to ask if it was South Florida Transportation? You didn't mention the entire name (or shall I say, it was slightly different) but we used SFT for a stretch limo from FLL to Miami and we had excellent, first-class service. I understand things can be it and miss sometimes; one person enjoys a stay at a hotel, the next does not, absolutely understand. Just wondered if it was, in fact, these folks:

http://www.southfloridatransportation.com/

It wasn't.

http://www.southfllimos.com

That's the company we used.

We actually had a car service back to the airport after the cruise as well, I have the card somewhere and I need to find it, because we got impeccable service with them. I plan to post a review of them as well. Prompt driver, well dressed, polite, professional, and efficient.

:)

It wasn't.

 

http://www.southfllimos.com

 

That's the company we used.

OK, good. Thanks for replying! Phew! ;):D

Langley Cruisers,

How many were in your group, what kind of vehicle did they provide? I am looking for transport from FLL to Marriott Biscayne Bay the day before we sail.

Thanks for the link.

Sandy

How many were in your group, what kind of vehicle did they provide? I am looking for transport from FLL to Marriott Biscayne Bay the day before we sail.

Ooo, that's exactly where we went - FLL to the Marriott Biscayne Bay. This was in the summer of 2008 and we were received at the Airport by a white stretch limo; there were 4 of us, plenty of room for our luggage. The rate at that time was $105.00, everything included (fees, service charges, tolls, gas, tip). On the way back after the cruise, the cost was $110.00.

The driver met us in the baggage claim area at FLL; on the way back, we were to call his cell phone as limos are not permitted to enter the Port of Miami until they have a fare. In other words, they cannot "circle" (I don't think any vehicle can; that's why it sometimes takes a while for a shuttle to find you).

It's not something we do regularly, and may never do it again; it was just a nice treat, gotta say. :) If driver Mike is still with them, he was courteous and professional.

Thanks for the reply!

There are 10 for now in our group, They are quoting a price for a van, but was hoping for something nicer. They all tell me that will cost more $$ and I reply "Yes I understand that". Would like to find something comparable to Carnival's transfer price of $30 pp.

The potential luggage is the catch...

Justjen, I hope you got a refund and an apology on your South Florida Limo issues! I am presently going through the same thing with them. We were promised an Escalade for our party of 7. We received an old rundown Lincoln with beer spilled all over the seats and soaking the floor, torn seats, dirty glasses, plus a defective drive train which moaned so loudly, it made talking difficult. All of this for $420. To add insult to injury, they charged an additional $112.80 to our credit card for another limo we neither ordered, nor received. We're still in the midst of disputing that charge with American Express.

This company is shoddily managed and their customer service is sorely lacking if even existent. BEWARE to anyone who is considering car service to/from their cruise. However, the cruise on the Norwegian Epic was wonderful :)

Hi,

I'm so sorry you had a problem on your vacation.

I suspect South Florida Limo is a contracting company that does not own its own assets. Why do I feel that way? Well look at the website for starters; the pictures of the limos are obvious stock photos. Also the contact address listed is a residential townhouse neighborhood.

They can't control quality because they are probably selling some other company's services with a slim markup or individuals that happen to own a limo. There are quite a few of these companies down here, unfortunately they pop up at the top of google searches.

I'm really sorry this happened and marred your vacation. I do hope they make good and offer some kind of compensation.

Companies I have personally used for metro Miami include Padrino Limo and Meilan Limousine. Meilan's website is geared for weddings, but they do have professional town car service available. Padrino I have used extensively for travel to/from MIA, very professional outfit.

Yogi

P.S. the above in on South Florida Limo are best guesses on my part doing some basic searches based on information garnered from their website. Please don't sue me, I can't even make rent.

We too used this company for a hummer stretch limo, my contract clearly said the price of $ 199 and included luggage, he showed up late at the airport with no capability of transporting the luggage,…. 16 of us barely fit into the supposed 22 passenger hummer, it was slightly run down, they sent an escalade to transport the luggage, He drove us to the hotel and about 10 mins from our destination, he pulled over and demanded $ 75 for the transportation of the luggage or he was going to make us get out… talk about extortion….

For this years cruise we are using SAS…. LOL

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: