Car service recommendations

[bdgarcia]

Hello,

 

After reading too many reviews, I have narrowed my choices to being between:

 

Simply Airports https://www.simplyairports.co.uk/ and

Woodford Chauffeur Cars http://www.woodfordchauffeurcars.co.uk/

 

The itinerary is 4 trips as outlined below:

 

1) from Heathrow to our hotel in London

2) from our hotel in London to Southampton to our cruise ship

3) from our cruise ship back to our hotel in London

4) from our hotel in London to Heathrow

 

plus a stop at Stonehenge on our trip from London to Southampton.

 

We need to use a car service, since I have recently had back surgery and I can't lift any luggage over 10 pounds, and we have my 90 year old father traveling with us.

 

I have been corresponding with Mike at Simply Airports and he has been very responsive and has provided great information, and the Simply Airports price is about £150 cheaper. Recently it seems they have been getting good reviews, but for a while they were getting pretty bad reviews.

 

I have also been corresponding with Cheryl at Woodford Chauffeur Cars and she too has been fairly responsive and has provided good information. Woodford is about £150 higher. Woodford has very few reviews, but the reviews I have found have all been positive. I have not found a review for their service in 2014.

 

If anyone has recent (2014) experience with either of these companies I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thank you

Bryan

[John Bull]

Hi Bryan,

 

No personal experience, but some background.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Woodford is quite a lot more expensive, I'll guess at around 30% more expensive.They do have an excellent reputation, and I strongly suspect you'll get a much more personal service.

 

Simply Airports is a big operation, dealing mainly in bread-and-butter jobs. They're possibly the largest operator out of Heathrow, so they're bound to get a number of dissatisfied customers. With them you're more likely to be "just another job" - and much more likely to get a different car & driver for each journey.

 

Grieves me to point to the more expensive option, and they're not great value-for-money, but of the two Woodford is more likely to provide the service you want.

 

I'm guessing you're keen to use the same operator for all four journeys.

 

JB :)

[Globaliser]

Simply Airports is a big operation ... They're possibly the largest operator out of Heathrow ...

That's interesting - I didn't know that. I have to say that I've never had any problems with them, other than the fact that my main email provider doesn't like the emails they send, which are never delivered to me. But that's easily worked around by using a Hotmail alternative.

[FritzG]

Hi Bryan,

 

No personal experience, but some background.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Woodford is quite a lot more expensive, I'll guess at around 30% more expensive.They do have an excellent reputation, and I strongly suspect you'll get a much more personal service.

 

Simply Airports is a big operation, dealing mainly in bread-and-butter jobs. They're possibly the largest operator out of Heathrow, so they're bound to get a number of dissatisfied customers. With them you're more likely to be "just another job" - and much more likely to get a different car & driver for each journey.

 

Grieves me to point to the more expensive option, and they're not great value-for-money, but of the two Woodford is more likely to provide the service you want.

 

I'm guessing you're keen to use the same operator for all four journeys.

 

JB :)

 

My quote from Woodford was more than twice the cost of the Simply Airports quote for a trip from LHR to the Hyde Park area.

[Redtravel]

I used them a few years ago. On time and good driver. I have friends who also used them...and liked them. I am using them on Sunday to get from Heathrow ito the City of London.

[John Bull]

I am using them on Sunday to get from Heathrow ito the City of London.

 

I still can't get my head round that one. :confused:

 

Yes, Smiths are highly recommended.

But they're based in Portsmouth, near Southampton.

So using them for a journey that starts or ends in that part of the country makes sense.

 

But they're 60 miles from Heathrow, & 75 from central London.

And driving empty about 135 miles for a 15 mile fare doesn't make sense.

 

So either they have drivers based in the London area, or they tie such jobs in with other Southampton to Heathrow jobs, or they sub-contract a Heathrow operator.

Any chance you could bring that up in conversation with your driver?

 

I'm nosey. :p

No, better make that "I'm intrigued" ;)

 

JB :)

[Ray66]

John, the clue is in Redtravel's sub heading which reads "Simply Airports". :)

[John Bull]

John, the clue is in Redtravel's sub heading which reads "Simply Airports". :)

 

Doh. :rolleyes:

Wot a wally. :o

Thanks Ray.

 

JB :)

[Redtravel]

I used to think that SimplyAirports just did airport transfers. Not so. I contacted them today regarding a ride from London to Southampton cruise pier. Price was good.