Seventh Avenue Car Service - Lame

slopey

So late Sunday evening, it was time for my girlfriend to head home. We called 7th Ave Car Service, as we often did, and the gruff dispatcher said "five minutes." We walked outside and waited.

When no car had showed up in almost twenty minutes, I called him back and asked where the car was. He said sorry, and that he'd be right there. Almost five minutes more, no car.

Finally, after more than twenty, he shows up and I made a somewhat angry remark at the driver for how long he took. He proceeded to very kindly say the dispatcher had only given him the call three minutes earlier (funny, that's roughly about when I'd called the second time - only I never told the driver that) and I should talk to the dispatcher.

So I put her in the cab and decided to call. I explained the situation, told the dispatcher that the driver had indicated he only received the call minutes prior, and because this isn't the first time this has happened, we would appreciate a break on the fare.

He started going off on me. What started as a polite request for a business to make good on horrible customer service turned into a rant. He tried to absolve himself of all responsibility and say he couldn't be expected to know what his drivers were doing at any given time. Now maybe I'm no expert on the job responsibilities of a "taxi dispatcher," but that seems to me to be something they should be responsible for.

The conversation degraded further from there, and turned into an all out screaming match. I rarely ever scream about anything, but this was an incredibly rude response to a fair request for a business to make good on poor service.

Stay away from these assholes. They don't know the streets in their own neighborhood, apparently don't know how to read (one guy sat on the wrong block for fifteen minutes before, saying "oh, I always get these two streets confused"), and have no sense of decency or respect. :evil:

zora space

Call Eastern next time.

brooklynpotter

i have not had good experiences with eastern... last time i needed them the first car left before i could make it down the steps, the second car which was to arrive in "ten minutes" took 25 minutes. the woman driving looked like that little lady from poltergeist, had the car filled with car freshening oils and lacy pillows and baby dolls, and was coughing like she had TB.

brooklynjack

I've used Eastern, Arecibo and Evelyn, I've had good and bad experiences with all of them but stick to Eastern. They seem to be the biggest at least when you call from the airport to get home thye can get there farley quickly.

Has anyone tried Strictly? I see the cars all over with the phone number on the door. I called once to get a ride home from the city but they didn't have anyone in the area. Eastern got to me in , well 5-10 minutes

jennitrixie

Isn't that just typical of outer-borough car service? Some times it's worse than others, but I've mostly been OK with 7th Ave. Though lately it'll often ring busy when you try to get through (and not just 2 a.m. New Year's Day).

For what it's worth, I know a lot of people swear by Arecibo. That's my co-go-to car service.

idlewild

With all due respect why should you get a discount? It's one thing to be involved in a major faux pas such as an accident with the car when you're a passenger but being late, especially when you have tons of other car services and a ton of yellows cruising 4th Ave up to 7th Ave heading back to Manhattan to choose from. Suppose you called a cab, but one minute in you spot a vacant yellow, put your girlfriend in, forget to call the car service, the driver shows up on time and waits. Will you compensate him?

The car service industry is the bottom of the barrel in the job market my friend. You are not going to get Einsteins or Gridlock Sams that know the streets or can keep a schedule 100% of the time. It's just the nature of the business. Any and all car services in NYC, you will eventually have the experience of a late car, a lying and/or incompetent dispatcher and driver.

shishkab

by and large i've had good luck with Seventh Ave, and i've been using them for 10 yrs. there was this one time, though, when i reserved a car for my husband for 4:30 AM (yeah, awful, huh?). car never showed. hubby eventually got where he was going. so later that day, around 4:30 PM, i see a car parked outside the house. i go up to the guy and ask him if he's here for the 4:30 pickup. he says yes, then i tell him he's 12 hours late! what can ya do?

idlewild

shishkab wrote: by and large i've had good luck with Seventh Ave, and i've been using them for 10 yrs. there was this one time, though, when i reserved a car for my husband for 4:30 AM (yeah, awful, huh?). car never showed. hubby eventually got where he was going. so later that day, around 4:30 PM, i see a car parked outside the house. i go up to the guy and ask him if he's here for the 4:30 pickup. he says yes, then i tell him he's 12 hours late! what can ya do?

You hand him a canned chicken and tell him to hide the wishbone under his pillow so the Chicken Fairy can exchange it for a C-note.

brooklynpotter

there does always seem to have a problem reserving cars at a different time than when you're calling... even half an hour. arecibo always sends the car immediately (i mean, when they're on time...) even if you've told them half an hour, 15 minutes, etc. so by the time you get outside they're gone.

but there are days when you have to wait ages, and they tell you this, so i hate waiting till the last minute.

steve

By and large I've had no problem with 7th Avenue. Eastern has been ok too.

seven24

Easterns my go to but when I get the busy signal I call Castle 499-9333

ljnd

I use what used to be Brownstone. I think they're called Prospect Car Service now. Some of those drivers have been with them for years, and I've gotten to know a couple of them. They're fairly reliable - the most I've had to wait has been 10-15 minutes.

rose

None of them are great, but we've had the best luck with Eastern. (though I vaguely recall being driven by the poltergeist-woman). Continental is the absolute worst.

slopehead

I'd echo the sentiment that none of them are 100% reliable. You might think you've found one that you can count on - until one day they screw you over. For whatever reason my favorite right now is Legends - but I'm not under any illusions that they're perfect. I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop. 7th Ave (or Cheers) is perhaps slightly worse than average for reliability. The biggest problem with them is that most of their drivers appear to be one step from the loony bin.

turtle95

I've always had good luck with Court Express. And the drivers put their cigarettes out before you get in the car, too!

nubnu

I LIKE EASTERN

brooklynpotter

anyone use evelyn?

veets

I use Continental most of the time and have fora long time. 499 0909 and very rarely has there been a problem or overly long wait.
I hate when car Service dispatchers just say it will take 7 minutes.. that means they have no idea how long it will take.

rose

Continental has or had the rudest dispatcher ever. The last straw was the time I called for a car to take my sick kid to the doctor. The car never came so I called after 20 minutes and the dispatcher said the car came and went because no one was there. I said, no, I've been looking out my window the whole time and the car never came. The dispatcher then started screaming at me that I was lying and that I had to be outside to wait for a car. I said, it's February, it's raining, I have a sick kid, I can see the street from the window, and your car never came. After more shouting, the dispatcher discovered that he sent the car to the wrong address. :evil: After that, I switched to Eastern. Sometimes their "five minutes" is really 20 minutes, but the car always shows up, and the dispatcher isn't evil.

reader

I've used Continental for years and they are usually prompt with their
cars, possibly because I live on 9th St. I don't find their dispatcher to be
any better or worse than the others.

I have used Eastern too, they are also reliable in terms of showing up
but they are overly optimistic in terms of time.

veets

There is one dispatcher that works days at Continental that recognizes my voice immediately and I think that is why service has been no problem. I know some of the srivers by name as well. Hey Car Services are a rough area if you want real consumer satisfaction.

eggcream

7th ave is ok if you're not in a hurry. If you reserve in advance they're good. If you need a car fast then I would go w/Continental. They usually arrive in 5 minutes and never have a busy signal. I did reserve once with Continental and the guy showed up right away. I called and told the dispatcher he was an hour early and he left and came back. Their cars are better/cleaner than 7th ave. Never use 777-7777. We did from the airport last year and the kid didn't know where he was going.

meganlibrarian

I go with 7th Ave, as they've never done me wrong. They've been prompt, relatively reasonable and reliable. Plus, earlier this month they gave me the best price on a round trip to Newark Airport. I like them.

My caveat with every car service is that I always call (or stop in) well in advance of when I need the car, and then I call back to confirm closer to the pickup time. (Bedtime, if the car will be showing up at the crack of dawn, a few hours in advance, otherwise.)

charlesbklyn

Subject: Car Service is luxury items ...

They are definitely old school, and sometimes o.k., but for the money, I have turned to using Legends ... always nice cars, good and quite drivers, and very professional. Always on time. FOr the money, which is substantial .. its nice to ride in a working Lincoln, and feel like a god on the Belt to the airport.

I believe Slopey's experience occurred and probably was unpleasant, though getting a discount would be unrealistic. As I said, I've stopped using 7th, which I used for 20years previous. (As they were one of two or three car services in the area). In New York, however, complaining gets you know-where but missery. I would write the city gov.

Continental is good. Eastern is also old school, but has been around a long time, as does know the streets they work in. Reliable.

Charlesbklyn
Park Slope

em26

brooklynpotter wrote: i have not had good experiences with eastern... last time i needed them the first car left before i could make it down the steps, the second car which was to arrive in "ten minutes" took 25 minutes. the woman driving looked like that little lady from poltergeist, had the car filled with car freshening oils and lacy pillows and baby dolls, and was coughing like she had TB.

OMG - LOL! That's some scary shit! I was so afraid of the old man in the Poltergeist 2&3 movies. . . I still am , really. It comes on sometimes on TBS , and as soon as I see him , I change the channel. I can't fuckin look at the guy. The little old lady , lol , she was freakin weird , and creepy.She was always roughly rubbing on the charm on that necklace of hers. I hated how she'd say , " Carol Anne, Carol Anne , where are you Carol Anne?" - eeeck! Those two freak-a-zoids give me the heebie geebies. And Carol Anne is a fruit loop too , I tell ya! The whole got-damn Freeling family is wacked. . . "They want her to take them into the light , the light , THE LIGHT!!" :shock:


Okay , back to the car service thing. I like Eastern Car Service. They give you a time and come at about that time if not sooner.Continental is not bad either. I always call Eastern first , and if the line is busy , I then call Continental. If a car service takes too long , I wouldn't wait more than 5 minutes past the time they gave me. You should have more than one car service number stored on your phone. If they take too long , call another one.That's what I would do.

Eastern - (718) 499 - 7177

Continental - (718) 499 - 6227 and (718) 499-0909

veets

I do believe in the EM 26 philosophy about Car services. So you call and they say 7 minutes and you patiently wait 15 minutes. Don't just tsand there in the cold!!

I call them back in 10 minutes... perhaps give them 5 minutes more but simultaneously I call another Car Serice. CS #2 says 5 minutes and they get there in 5 minutes... you better believe I get in that car and screw the first Car Service who has now kept me waiting!!!!

hellodarling

So--just to confirm, Eastern's still good if you're calling far in advance for your car? We need to leave for LGA by 3am on Wednesday morning and I was planning to book the car tonight or tomorrow...

...just wanted to make sure, as I'm seeing on here that it's been used mostly for immediate pick-up. I've only used Carmel in the past but would love to use Eastern if they're cheaper/better!

southslopesuit

Have done a good amount of advance booking with Legends (718-788-1234) and they've never screwed up. I don't know how they compare on price, but they tend to send clean cars, and their drivers seem reasonably sane/healthy.

Started using them because theirs was the only number I could remember, and stuck with them because they never pissed me off. (Like anything, I'm sure they will someday...)

mg

I've had good luck with Castle (718-499-9333) calling in advance for a 4:30am pickup going to LGA. The driver was on time and called us to say he was outside (instead of honking his horn in the middle of the night). He took our suggestion to use Classon to get to the BQE (he was going to go back up Flatbush to Tillary, or something) and was almost delighted that we showed him. Seriously. He was quite earnest and thanked us for telling him about the Classon route.

The guy from Castle who took me to JFK yesterday literally ran up my stoop to carry my suitcases to his trunk. Once we were underway, I asked him to stop if he saw a mailbox, and when he overshot one, he apologized, grabbed my mail, then ran back across the intersection to put it in the mailbox.

They also were the only car service to even answer their phone when I had to take the cats to the vet after a snow, and they were a little late but at least they showed up.

They're good on trips around the neighborhood, too. I really sort of love Castle.

That said, Eastern's generally fine, too. They never did come when I called them to pick me up from the vet, but when I gave them the address, the dispatcher asked how many pets I had with me. On days that aren't snowy, they do come fast.

I used Carmel once and they wanted some rather large amount for two stops in Brooklyn to JFK, plus the driver was early, and then impatient when I wasn't ready until the scheduled time. But at least he was early.

1646412

Subject: I love Prospect

when you call they 'recognize' your phone number and pull up your address, so the call takes HALF the time. and whenever i call, the dispatch is polite.
no problems. and usually i'm asking a friend over my shoulder what their address is.
I LOVE PROSPECT!