Davis Airporter comments from 2009:
2009-01-02 16:47:36 I agree with all most of these complaints, but what kills me is the pricing. $23 is extremely over priced for a drive from Sacramento to Davis/Davis to Sacramento. I understand the price hike due to gas a few months back, but with gas at around/under $2 a gallon, davis airporter is simply ripping off absolutely everyone that's using their service. Explain to me how it makes sense to charge a passenger 23 bucks for a ride that short of a distance, when it costs the same price to take amtrak to san francisco? Also the drivers are extremely rude and I've had the enjoyment of having one of the drivers smoke a cigarette while driving. I've also had them show up half an hour later than the time they said they'd pick me up, and also still have other people to pick up. Way to go, Davis Airporter. You're real classy. i suggest using yolobus/unitrans or asking a friend to take you to the airport and repaying them with lunch or 5-10 bucks for gas.
avoid this service if you can —film
- Smoking while driving passengers? You've got to be kidding me. Our customers are VERY sensitive to this, and would report it to the manager in a heartbeat, and
the driver would be terminated immediately. Do you work for Super Shuttle or something?
As for the price, when I started here in 1997, the price to Sacramento Airport was $18, and gas around $1.50. We stayed at $18 until 2003, when gas was creeping
up to $3.00 per gallon. That year, we raised the fare to $20. This year, when gas hit $4/gallon, we raised it to $23, rather belatedly I think. So, the price has gone up %20 over 14 years, WELL below the rate
of fuel inflation. If the rate weren't reasonable, we wouldn't have enough customers to keep us in business. I should also add that in 1997, we drivers made 4.75/hour (plus tips). We now make $8.00 to $8.50/hour plus tips,
thanks to the state minimum wage going up over the years. This is also well above the rate of inflation. Combine the wage increases with fuel increases, and you get the picture.
The cabs at Sac Airport all charge $2.80 per mile, so a ride to or from smf would cost you over $50. You might be able to find a local cab that is lower
than $50, but not as low as $23. If you could, we would lower our prices, as would SuperShuttle.
2009-01-11 23:15:05 I have had good service with this airporter. This past Thanksgiving my flight was delayed and the airporter rescheduled to pick me up the next day without any extra cost. The driver was friendly and he was there waiting for me when I exited the airport. I found the cost to be reasonable, definitely better than the cost of parking my car at the airport for a week. —MaryLieth
2009-01-24 06:45:45 I had the opportunity to take the Davis Airporter recently. The shuttle was there waiting for me. I had the pleasure of meeting AirporterDriverPete who was friendly and polite,(something this middle-aged passenger appreciated.) My only complaint is that the verification form and process for the online reservations didn't seem secure, but I just called the 800 number and it was handled promptly. I would certainly use the Airporter again. I've taken the bus from SMF, but it took quite a while (over 1 1/2 hours from pickup until I got home.) With the Airporter, I was home less than 30 minutes after I got off the plane. —sharyn
2009-03-14 22:49:33 I had a very unpleasant experience with Davis Airporter yesterday afternoon. I was driving down County Road 102, and a Davis Airporter van was driving behind me. Even though I was going at a good clip, the driver tailgated me for several miles and flashed his headlights again and again. When the road split into an additional lane, I got into the right lane, and the Davis Airporter driver stayed in the left lane where he tailgated another driver and flashed his headlights at the other driver a number of times as well. I could see in my rear view mirror that there were several customers in the van. I've used Davis Airporter a few times before, but I'll NEVER use the service again as it appears from my own experience and from what others have said on this page that some of the drivers are dangers to the company's customers and to others on the road. —davis.renter
2009-03-19 08:54:38 To "Davis Renter": I assume this happened on 3/13. If you could tell me the approximate time this happened, it would be most helpful. I hope you realize, however, that EVERY large transportation company will have drivers like this from time to time that aren't reflective of the driving staff as a whole. —AirporterDriverPete
2009-05-17 10:43:40 AirporterDriverPete is seems to be that you are the ONLY person with good customer service at the Davis airporter. I am from the Aggie Inn hotel and spoke to you the other day at the same time a guest of mine was getting yelled at over the phone. The lady speaking to my guest spoke with me prior to speaking to her and it was horrific. She was extremely rude and I honestly felt like I was a dog getting yelled at by my owner for peeing on the carpet. That sounds ridiculous but that is how incredibly ridiculous the situation was. After yelling at my guest she called me back and started yelling at me and talking trash about my guest on how you guys screwed up and had to change her reservation a half an hour early (where at the time she will be in a meeting)when she specifically told the operator upon making the initial reservation. The rude person continued to yell at me saying that she tried to leave a message who worked the other day you have to prove that I am not wrong. Honestly, even if you left a voice mail for this guest, that does not guarantee that she got the message or can even make it to that earlier time that she did not request for. You cannot assume that she got the message you should have made sure you spoke to her and not the machine.
Also, being rude does not help the situation. I do not appreciate being yelled at for me for not being able to give out my guest's phone number. You should already know that we are not allowed to give out that kind of information.
I understand that it is a busy weekend. . and my guest was heading to SFO so it is more difficult to find a driver. The situation could have been dealt with a lot more peacefully. The lady could have started with apologizing for the last minute change because she attempted to contact my guest a day before. Instead, my guest and I both had an ear full of loud, rude, and obnoxious yelling. The lady even had the chance to hang up on my guest as well.
This really reflects badly on the hotel because we referred your business. It was incredibly embarrassing! —miss12
2009-05-18 10:31:17 Two good friends of mine have unfourtunately worked for the Davis Airporter. For the ENTIRE duration of their employ, they complained about the owner/manager (I will admit I'm not sure which). She actually began calling one of them in 15 minuets early each day (time he was not reimbursed for) just to yell at him. This is most likely to whom you spoke, miss12. They take advantage of the fact that UCD students roll over every couple years, giving them an entirely new stock of employees to abuse. —MasonMurray
- Hmmm. A few thoughts for you. Having been here now 14 years, I have heard many people yelled at, including myself. But you can rest assured that
I have always been compensated for my time. If your friend was called in early ("each day"?), the logical thing to do would be to clock in. Legally,
I think he would have to.
Also, many have come to me over the years for an open ear, explaining how the manager is mean, singling them out, etc. Some had a legitimate
grievance, some had no idea what they were talking about, some were just used to slacking off. Of these, many move on to
other jobs, but invariably they come back, remarking how compared to where they ended up, the Airporter is a picnic.
2009-05-20 10:02:56 Hey there, Miss12. No, I'm not the only one with good customer service at the Airporter :-) But I can totally picture the conversation that you described with the manager, yourself and your guest.
Update: I just talked with the manager. The guy you talked to first was Whitney, not me, and yes, he is polite. The manager was neither yelling at, nor hung up on, your guest. The initial connection was bad, and the manager was trying to tell her to hold on and she'll call from a different line. That's where it cut off. You are correct about not giving out people's cell numbers, but the manager was also asking what department the guest had gone to, so that we can call the department. You claimed not to know, but the university claims otherwise. Our manager received a call from the university not only verifying that, but that the guest was at lunch, and could have been picked up there if we had been given the info that you had—namely, the university department that the guest was with.
She also asked, since you couldn't give us the phone number, if you could call the passenger yourself, which you declined, citing your belief that she wouldn't pick up her phone, so our manager asked if you would at least leave a message. I don't know if you did or not.
I admit that sometimes the manager can come off as gruff when stressed, but now that I have heard her side, I understand her frustration.
AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete
2009-05-21 14:33:44 Just a few clarifications: -I can only take the word of my guest when she said "Wow I can't believe she hung up on me!" If your manager indeed said she will call my guest back, why did your manager call me after hanging up with my guest about how it was my guest's fault for not receiving the message? This is not the point my point is that she was rude in general.
-It really does not matter if she was yelling or not. Her tone was rude and seemed like yelling because when I spoke to her I had to pull the phone away from my ear. Again she was just generally rude.
-I was unable to give your manager the university department because I did not have that information in my system. Which I have apologized and told your manager that I did not have that information. But she preceded to be generally rude.
-I did indeed leave a message on my guest's voice mail. I also told both Whitney and your manager that I have left a message and that is about all that I can do. It is not my responsibility to do your job of informing your customer about the changes made without her approval. If the message was left with the front desk agent to give to the guest then we can be held accountable but that was not the case.
Although my guest was at lunch, who can assume that it was just lunch? It could have been a lunch meeting. I have to trust my guest when she said she was at a meeting and there was no way of her being able to get out of it early. The fact of the matter is she made a reservation and was guaranteed a specific time at her convenience. She is the customer and should not have to bend backwards for a service that she is in fact paying for. If you were staying at a hotel and was guaranteed of a check out time at 11 and were left a message, that you did not receive for whatever reason, about how you must vacate at 10:30 or you will be charged an extra day (the only situation I can think of, but not equivalent, to leaving you stranded in Davis when you needed to be in San Francisco)and to have a rude person loudly speaking to you on the phone about how they left you a message and you should have gotten it. YOU WOULD BE UPSET TOO.
I've used your services many times and I have always enjoyed working with you folks. Would it be so hard for your manager to just apologize instead of getting on the defensive side. A simple, "I'm sorry there was an overbooking I wish I could have spoken to you earlier but we could not reach you," would have been fine.
You can understand her frustration but not mine? I am a third party who was punished from both my guest and your manager. I am done with this conversation please do not even bother to reply. —miss12
2009-05-21 21:02:53 Miss12, if you're still there, the manager called you because after several tries of your guest's phone, no one answered.
And of course, our schedule is not your responsibility.
However, the manager's tone was a product of the stress and severity of the situation, ie, we need to get in touch with this person asap. As for the checkout time being guaranteed, let's say that I have three pickups going to SFO. One at 11:00, one at 11:15, and one at 11:30. Of course, peoples' plans change, airlines change departure times, etc. We have to allow for this, so when the 11:15 passenger calls us to change their pickup time, that creates a 30-minute hole between 11:00 and 11:30 that didn't exist before. We therefore have to get ahold of the 11:30 passenger to tell them that they now need to go at 11:15. Or we can call the 11:00 passenger and tell them that we'll now be getting them at 11:15. This is the nature of the shuttle business. Not trying to lecture you here, just throwing it out there for the benefit of others who might be reading this.
And no, we surely don't expect customers to bend over backwards for us, but when all avenues of communication have been exhausted, we would make the assumption that a hotel would want to give us a guest's phone number, even if it violates protocol, if only because it's obvious that it's for a very good reason. I certainly respect your dedication to protocol however, and I do understand your frustration as well. We did screw up by not doing what we usually do—having a driver come by personally the night before to make contact with a passenger who hasn't returned our confirmation calls. It's not my place to apologize for the manager's tone of voice, but I can say that if something similar happens in the future, we'll be better able to deal with it because of the lesson learned here. AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete
Read this if you have little ones who need car seats.
I recently took the Davis Airporter to SFO. The drivers were pleasant and timely and polite and patient. I rented car seats for my little ones. But the car seats, which I rented from Davis Airporter, are not good.
1) When going to SFO, one of the car seats was not firmly secured to the van seat belt and was very loose.
Solution: The driver (or whoever installs this car seat in the van) needs to be trained in how car seats are installed.
2) On the way back from SFO, one of the car seat had missing belts! I just could not believe it. I had to use the van seat belt to secure my little one and then place the palm of my hand on her chest all the way back home! Worse, the driver (a different one from the one who drove us to the airport) did not know how the car seats are installed in the van. I had to install both the seats myself.
Solution: The driver (or whoever installs this car seat in the van) needs to be trained to check the condition of the car seats prior to a pickup.
The driver (or whoever installs this in the van) needs to be trained in how car seats are installed.
I am terribly disappointed that the drivers were neither competent in installing the car seats (a maximum of 5 minutes procedure to install it and a maximum of 30 seconds to remove the car seat from the van) nor did they check the car seats to make sure that they were usable.
I spent about 350$ for the round trip and I know that I will never take Davis Airporter again if I am traveling with my kids while they need car seats.
2009-06-19 20:59:09 Response to car seat complaint person: I know exactly what you're talking about. It took me a long time before I figured out the different securing procedures for each different type of carseat. And some training might be in order. However, since carseat requests are rare, I imagine that drivers might forget a few things over time. Frankly, we often rely on the parents to secure the carseat. If the driver doesn't install it to your satisfaction, please tell him/her, or simply inform the driver that you'll do it yourself. There's no reason for you to feel that your child isn't properly secured. And, I should add that we don't "rent the carseats out", we offer them as a free convenience. So when you request one, feel free to put it in yourself, or leave it up to the driver and simply make sure he's doing it right. I understand your concern, but if you do book a reservation with us again when your kids are with you, just tell the reservation agent to make a note that the last driver didn't put the carseats in properly. We will make adjustments accordingly, and we hope that you will closely oversee the driver's installment of the seats! Thanks, AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete
2009-06-20 11:30:11 Car seat complaint - follow up:
Pete - Both during onward and return journey, I took care of securing the car seat and did my best to secure my child. If this is always expected from us, just let us know ahead of time and account for the fact that it takes time to install it properly. This is not a problem. As parents, we do it rather often.
Concern: you did not address the serious problem with the car seat with missing harnesses. I had to secure the entire car seat with the car belt. But this is not safe and I should have really asked the driver to go get better car seats even if it meant that I'd have waited at the airport for 6 more hours for it. Its better to deal with a fussy baby than to have had proceeded with the substantial risk of an improperly secured car seat (a car seat without harnesses). Why ever put your customers in this predicament? Not worth it for your customers or you as the provider.
Cost: When I spend $350 for the trips, I can surely spend more for a proper and functional car seat. I don't care if it is dirty (I can put a receiving blanket) but I definitely care that it is in working order. Charge it to me - no need to offer a free convenience. Really! Rental car companies charge it and take the time to maintain it in working order (or they are liable). So should you. If the airporter is useful otherwise to me, why lose my business just because of carelessness with car seats? And, why have this blemish at all? Something for you to think about.
Bottom line: More attention, care and accountability on part of Davis Airporter is needed with respect to car seats. It is serious responsibility and is best done well or not at all.
— ridesafe
2009-06-20 16:23:43
- Concern: you did not address the serious problem with the car seat with missing harnesses. I had to secure the entire car seat with the car belt.
Sorry, I had missed that part about the missing harness. We have 7 carseats in the office. The ones without harnesses are for ages 4 and up, and they are supposed to have the tight lap belt go over the child's waist, as I understand it anyway. Not sure how old your kids are, but if they are under 4, I have a feeling your driver just grabbed the wrong seat, in which case I apologize and will mention this to the manager. But for the largest carseats, there is no harness—it's just a booster that is held in quite securely with the lap belt. It's also possible that your driver put that carseat on one of the end seats, which has a different type of belt, and which shouldn't be done. Again, I'll mention this when I go in tomorrow.
- Cost: When I spend $350 for the trips, I can surely spend more for a proper and functional car seat. I don't care if it is dirty (I can put a receiving blanket) but I definitely care that it is in working order. Charge it to me - no need to offer a free convenience.
Good point! Our thinking was that parents appreciate the free aspect of it, but if we did charge people extra for carseats, we would surely pay more attention to making sure we were doing it right. But if you do make a reservation with a carseat request, please tell the reservation agent to make a note about the missing harness on the last trip, and the problem will be dealt with.
Update 9/25/09: I should have mentioned another option that we encourage—If you bring your own carseats for the ride to the airport, we will hold them in our office until your return. Your return driver will have it/them in the van. AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete
2009-09-14 09:32:51 Dear Pete, I read your response to my post, and while I understand that the manager felt confused because of talking to two passengers who have different ideas about what the term 'carry-on' means, it is still absolutely and unmistakably true that she told me that I 'lied' (the memory was so frustrating that I still remember it clearly). It is your manager's word against mine, so I won't blame you for wanting to believe someone that you work with. I also say that she yelled. I don't know if your manager simply has a naturally loud and aggressive tone of voice, but sans your explanation about her 'stressful day', if I came across someone on the street who talked like her, I would have to say that she yelled. And I am sure that's what many of other customers on this page meant as well when they said that she yelled. Furthermore, in spite of what you say about Davis Airporter's policy of not refusing service, it is also true that your manager hung up on me. I must say that instead of telling your customers that they are misunderstanding the manager or picking their post apart trying to find what they have done wrong that might serve to excuse the manager's behavior, I think a simple apology would work best to bring back these customers. I understand that you have worked long with Davis Airporter and it is good to be proud of your work and loyal to your co-workers, but there is no need to take the complaints on this page personally. If there are good posts, then there are bad posts. Let the prospective customers read and decide for themselves. When an employee gets personal and decides to attack every negative post, it gives the impression that Davis Airporter is only interested in defending its behavior and not in improving its service. After all, I remember having a good experience with Davis Airporter as well as bad ones, and I might even try its service again one of these days, but not a second before a sincere apology is offered, one that does not try to to put all the blame on the customer's side. —Kyonghwa
- Kyonghwa, a well-put response. I didn't hear the entire conversation, and I did simply take her word for it before I posted my original response to you. Suffice it to say that she truly *believes* that she didn't call anyone a liar. And yes, she is generally loud when stressed out. Whenever I tell her to stop yelling, she tells me that she isn't :-) Anyway, I probably shouldn't have commented given that I only heard a part of the original conversation. I can't apologize for her, but I will show her your entry tomorrow. As for your suggestion that I not take the posts personally, well, that's easier said than done. I thought I had done an OK job of validating peoples' complaints when they have merit, but I may have more work to do in that area. Wish me luck. AirporterDriverPete 09/20/09
2009-12-19 18:48:43 The best thing about the Davis Airporter is that it is *much* cheaper than a taxi (Compare to $50 + tip for Village Cab.) The worst thing about it is the wait. And wait. And wait... —IDoNotExist
2010-01-02 17:18:21 Lately we have switched more and more to SuperShuttle or Yolobus for service to and from SMF. The Davis Airporter is still a good choice for SFO. I've also always wondered why it has no service to Oakland airport.
2010-02-21 17:47:39 Just giving some recent news here, since our customers always ask why we don't have Fast Trak. Well, now we do! As well as credit card readers in the vans, so we no longer verify credit cards, eliminating the perception of the 'double charge'. The driver runs it when you hand it to him/her. AirporterDriverPete —AirporterDriverPete
2010-05-16 00:42:46 I had a great experience last week when I used The Airporter. I think the driver was named Brian he could not have been nicer. I have read some bad reviews but from what I can see the airporter is great and very courteous. I will use again —MrsMcgregor
2010-12-23 09:22:19 Wow, I have never had a problem with Davis Airporter and it surprised me to read all these negative reviews. So far, good experience, even customer service. The five+ times I've used the Airporter in a span of 3 years, I was pleased. Once, I wanted to schedule a pick up for my brother who was staying at our place alone while I was out of town. I called them and they told me I can come in to pay for the fare. Since I lived on Lake, it wasn't a problem. They picked him up ON TIME and took him to the airport. I'm using them again tomorrow. And as long as I get to my flight on time or get home from the airport safely, I'm a happy customer. I always use them when I fly from SMF. I can imagine that it could be a nightmare using a shuttle to get to SFO which is 80 miles away and you have no way of getting home. Always have a plan B in that case i.e. a friend who is willing to drive down to pick up or a rental car —violette
Thanks violette and MrsMcgregor . We appreciate people actually taking the time to talk about positive experiences! AirporterDriverPete
