Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Three strikes and East Bay Connection is out

Customers are cattle as far as this company is concerned.

If you live in the San Francisco East Bay, your options for a shared-ride shuttle to either Oakland International or San Francisco International is East Bay Connection. I’d rather walk. Hell, I’d rather not go. Three terrible experiences are all I need to make sure I always have another way to get to the airport.

Strike 1: I had a reservation on an East Bay Connection shuttle to get home from Oakland Int’l. I got to the shuttle to find one other passenger slumped in the back seat looking glum. I settled into the van and waited...for nearly two hours. Other passengers with reservations were on delayed flights and the driver was not allowed by his dispatcher to take us home. They could easily have sent another driver to wait for the delayed passengers, but that evidently would have cost them too much, so the decision was made that it was better to make their customers suffer.

Strike 2: I had a reservation on a shuttle to get me to SFO. The reservation agent gave me my pickup time and the shuttle driver was waiting, right on time. I got into an empty shuttle. “Just me?” I asked? “No,” he said, “I have to pick up five more passengers.” He told me where they all lived. I did some calculations, then asked, “Will you get me to the airport by 6 a.m.?” That would give me an hour to go through security and get to my flight. The driver shook his head. “Not a chance.” I had to have him turn around and take me back home so I could drive myself to the airport. On the way I called East Bay Connection and asked, “What the hell?” “Sir,” I was told, “this is a shared ride service.” “I know that,” I replied, “but I should have been picked up early enough to ensure I wouldn’t miss my flight. What good is a shared ride service if it can’t get me to the airport in time to make my flight? Why do you even ask what time my flight is leaving when I make my reservation if you’re not going to schedule my pickup in time to get me there??” I just got belligerence from the shuttle representative.

Strike 3: On my way home from Chicago last week, I ran into a friend on the same flight. He had an East Bay Connection reservation to get home, but I offered him a ride. It would be faster (he wouldn’t have to wait while the shuttle dropped off four other people) and it would be fun to catch up. We got down to baggage claim at SFO and he called East Bay Connection to let them know he wouldn’t be riding with them. “We’ll charge your credit card anyway,” he was told. He was flabbergasted. “What if my trip got extended? What if my flight was cancelled and I had to spend the night in Chicago?” “We’d charge your card for the missed reservation,” he was told. He wound up taking the shuttle.

Some companies just don’t understand the advantage of making your customers happy instead of miserable. With all the flights I take each year, East Bay Connection is out probably $1,000 in revenue this year alone, and I’ll bet I’m not the only one who has decided it’s better to pay exorbidant airport parking that suffer another experience with these losers.

Posted by Shel in • Shuttles
(14) Comments • Permalink

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  1. Shel, I’m with you on Strike 1 and 2.  There’s no excuse for either of those.  I do have some sympathy for the company on Strike 3. Last minute cancellations can be unfair to the company.  If it was a delayed return and they would still get the revenue, that’s one thing.  But a straight-up cancellation after they had allocated routes for the day can be problematic.  And I imagine the fare for one-way and round trip service may be different as well.  It would still be better if they didn’t charge his card, but I don’t see it as “wrong” either.

    Of course, I’m fortunate in that I have been able to find a reasonably priced airport car service in my area so I can avoid the tyranny of the shared shuttle—and the danger of me driving home late at night after a long week on the road.

    Chip Griffin  on  08/21  at  06:34 AM

  2. Wow, after hearing that I have no idea how that company continues to operate.

    Evra  on  09/01  at  05:30 AM

  3. Worst experience of my life.  Not worth the service even if it is free!!! East Bay Connections called me the night before to confirm my appointment, and couldn’t get my basic information correct. That was a red flag. The next morning, I waited 45 minutes and East Bay Connections never contacted me.  I was forced to call a cab, who was able to get me to the airport in 20 minutes at a cost of $10.00 less than East Bay Connections priviate limo service.  They billed me anyway and when I spoke to Alefi, the owner he yelled at me over the phone and said that I wasn’t outside of the hotel at the time of the pick put (3:30 AM). DONT WASTE YOU TIME WITH THIS COMPANY.

     on  10/25  at  11:10 AM

  4. A lot of company still have the losers spirit like this..

    Just good warning for us ...

    Stay away from this company…

    Moch Masrur  on  02/05  at  06:51 PM

  5. this is good article..thanks for sharing

    fear of flying  on  02/29  at  02:44 AM

  6. nice information, thanks for sharing

    elearning  on  03/19  at  03:01 AM

  7. In the inland valleys, the housing stock tends to be more suburban, the population density less and the cities smaller. The only cities exceeding 100,000 residents in the inland valleys are Antioch and Concord.

    luxury home plans  on  03/25  at  02:07 AM

  8. Yup, excellent article indeed.

    I got you bookmarked and I’ll be returning here often.

    Keep up the good work. wink

    John

    John  on  03/26  at  02:18 AM

  9. Good info for us, we can learn something from your exp.

    Thanks for share with us

    Oppi  on  03/28  at  04:26 AM

  10. Good work buddy..

    Hope we can learn something from this too..

    Swisscash  on  03/28  at  04:28 AM

  11. Wow...it’s funny experience i think..

    But, thanks for share brother..

    Posh  on  03/28  at  04:33 AM

  12. I dunno why the company like this still can live till now..

    Not pro…

    Urban  on  03/28  at  04:35 AM

  13. I have to say that if I had been in your situation, I too would have reacted the same way. Talk about paying through the nose and for what, so that we can do it ourselves??

    karthik cmouli  on  04/12  at  02:27 PM

  14. great post! thanks for sharing!

    toronto printing  on  04/22  at  11:34 AM

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