Am I blacklisted by some car services?
My experiences with three local car services (Eastern, Park Slope Car Service and Arecibo) has been incredibly inconsistent. Some days they show up in a trice outside my apartment, and other days it's a major pain to have a car show up even after a 20-30 minute wait.
When the going is bad, we either call more than one of these car services and take whichever comes first, or step out and flag down a yellow cab if we see one. Without debating the ethicality of this approach (my quick take: timely service is all that counts), the upshot is that one or more car services occasionally send cars to my address even when I am not there to actually take that car. By and large, it has so happened that most of these misses have happened to a call made from my cellphone.
I've recently started to see that one of these car services occasionally will not pick up the phone when I call, or pick it up only after several rings. When I call from my girlfriend's cellphone right afterwards, the response is often quicker. I don't see a definite pattern--this is merely a vague sense I get. Now, I have heard many car service drivers grumble about the general incompetence of their dispatchers, so this may be well be the reason for this.
But has anyone else encountered this, or inconsistent services in general from area car services? Any other good car services I have missed?
Thanks for your time.
When the going is bad, we either call more than one of these car services and take whichever comes first, or step out and flag down a yellow cab if we see one. Without debating the ethicality of this approach (my quick take: timely service is all that counts), the upshot is that one or more car services occasionally send cars to my address even when I am not there to actually take that car. By and large, it has so happened that most of these misses have happened to a call made from my cellphone.
I've recently started to see that one of these car services occasionally will not pick up the phone when I call, or pick it up only after several rings. When I call from my girlfriend's cellphone right afterwards, the response is often quicker. I don't see a definite pattern--this is merely a vague sense I get. Now, I have heard many car service drivers grumble about the general incompetence of their dispatchers, so this may be well be the reason for this.
But has anyone else encountered this, or inconsistent services in general from area car services? Any other good car services I have missed?
Thanks for your time.
Comments
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I get this all the time, I think it is just par for the course.
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in off-hours the service is good. When the weather turns inclement, or at pick up the kids from school time, they're busy and then don't need your business, which = bad service.
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whenever i call eastern i just put my phone on speaker and let it ring until they finally pick up 5 to 10 minutes later.
and then, if i'm in park slope, they usually come within 5 minutes, but if i'm waiting in crown heights, it can be anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes until they come...
i don't think you're blacklisted. unless i am too! -
I don't think you are blacklisted but yeah it is not ethical to call 3 car services for the same ride and take the first one who shows or hail a yellow cab and leave all three coming and not picking you up.
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veets wrote: I don't think you are blacklisted but yeah it is not ethical to call 3 car services for the same ride and take the first one who shows or hail a yellow cab and leave all three coming and not picking you up.
Agreed.
When you're really hungry, do you call several food delivery places and only buzz in the first to arrive?
BTW, I think Arecibo does have some kind of caller ID or tracking system or something. Either that, or there's a dispatcher out there with an amazing memory, because I've called before and he's said my address before I said anything. And I really don't call cabs that often. -
Yes, I think Arecibo recently got a caller ID system where they can record the address so that it pops up on the screen in subsequent calls.
In theory they could use that to blacklist callers who aren't there when the car arrives, but somehow I doubt it's that sophisticated. -
Subject: Re: Am I blacklisted by some car services?
midtownninja wrote:
Your 'tactic' is nothing new, it's the type of inconsiderate move that a lot of lowlife people I know used to do, and I wouldn't be surprised if the car services finally started taking advantage of current technology in order to curb it. You're basically screwing around with them, screwing drivers out of other calls, and wasting a whole lot of people's time.
I've recently started to see that one of these car services occasionally will not pick up the phone when I call, or pick it up only after several rings. When I call from my girlfriend's cellphone right afterwards, the response is often quicker. I don't see a definite pattern--this is merely a vague sense I get. Now, I have heard many car service drivers grumble about the general incompetence of their dispatchers, so this may be well be the reason for this.
But has anyone else encountered this, or inconsistent services in general from area car services? Any other good car services I have missed?
Thanks for your time.
If you know ahead of time that you've got to be somewhere by a certain time, why wouldn't you just give yourself that extra cushion instead of gambling on car service to come on time? Isn't that part of being a grown-up? I mean the train is bad enough, but car service?? :? -
Carnivore wrote: [quote=veets]I don't think you are blacklisted but yeah it is not ethical to call 3 car services for the same ride and take the first one who shows or hail a yellow cab and leave all three coming and not picking you up.
Agreed.
When you're really hungry, do you call several food delivery places and only buzz in the first to arrive?
"i don't like fighting either. get there first." -
I had one other thought. I have noticed that if you use car service a lot.. the dispatcher gets to know you and you get priority service. I would give my name and the address and after a while the dispatchers would just hear the name and tell me the car would be right over.. For a while there I was taking car service to the same place 2 times a week and I have no doubt that I was given priority.
I am not saying this is some trick that will work for everyone but the more I think about this OP it occurs to me that if you go the extra nine yards to screw them...why wouldn't a Car Service make you wait longer or just not pick up your call if the have the technology to ID a "Rat!" -
There are car services that do this, if you screw with them that way. It's a waste of time and money, not to mention gas. It's a shitty thing to do because you absolutely HAVE to get somewhere ASAP. What you are doing is making other people wait even longer because these cars wasted time going to pick you up. To be honest, they should blackball you. I've used Eastern and Arecibo for 10 years and have rarely had problems with them, obviously on holidays I may have a longer wait. But then I don't call 3 different car services and merrily hop in the 1st one that shows up, giving the finger to the other 2 that (shock and horror!) didn't arrive as quickly.
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a little off topic lately, but I was wondering if anyone could share any sort of contact info for arecibo. I use eastern all the time, but could use a back-up for those rare occasions when I've called and gotten no answer after lots of rings.
BTW, I do think its really wrong to call more than one service...waste of other peoples time and money and a huge waste of gas...bad for your fellow men and bad for the environment. -
Subject: Boy...
Boy, thanks for the warm reception, starting with the post from veets! Gotta love the feistiness of this board.
It's not like I think screwing over car service drivers is a great thing to do either. The responses above seem to assume I do this each time I need a car. I've done this exactly twice, when I urgently needed timely transportation. And both times I called the other services to let them know they can cancel my request.
I know it wasn't a terribly grown up thing for my recently-Brooklynian, Manhattan-addled self to do, and that I screwed over working-class people, unnecessarily increased my carbon footprint and in the process, broke every maxim in the progressive rulebook. But hey, you live and you learn, right?
Thank you, veets, for the great tip about developing a relationship with the dispatcher. I will at least take that away as a sensible piece of advice from this thread. -
Fan of arecibo, though it takes them a while to answer sometimes. But once I get them, they are here before I can get out the door!
They have multiple numbers I think but the only one in my phone is:
718.783.3030 -
Thanks for the info, which has now been added to my contact list. Appreciate it!
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Subject: Re: Boy...
midtownninja wrote: It's not like I think screwing over car service drivers is a great thing to do either. The responses above seem to assume I do this each time I need a car. I've done this exactly twice, when I urgently needed timely transportation. And both times I called the other services to let them know they can cancel my request.
See, this is information that would have changed my reaction immensely! The way you wrote your first post made it seem like this was something you did all the time and that you didn't call the other services to let them know. Now that is a totally different story. I don't think you should get blackballed for that. -
I've always had timely responses from Continental, second Park Slope Car Service. You could always call early in the day to reserve a car.
Continental Car Service
313 9TH St
Brooklyn, NY 11215-4007
Phone: (718) 499-0909 -
Subject: Re: Boy...
caseopele wrote: [quote=midtownninja]It's not like I think screwing over car service drivers is a great thing to do either. The responses above seem to assume I do this each time I need a car. I've done this exactly twice, when I urgently needed timely transportation. And both times I called the other services to let them know they can cancel my request.
See, this is information that would have changed my reaction immensely! The way you wrote your first post made it seem like this was something you did all the time and that you didn't call the other services to let them know. Now that is a totally different story. I don't think you should get blackballed for that.
To the OP... The people that read and respond here read well! Yeah....be concise and be specific!.. You were not in the original posting. When you explained... yes you were clear.
If you participate in this forum you will reaffirm what you have already discovered... You wil get good advice (Thanks for your thank you) but you will get Honest feedback and to me the later is the MOST important.
If you are a true Woosie... you will never post here again. If you are brave of heart and honest and smart and inquisitive,,, betting you will be a regular contributor to this site.
Welcome. -
Subject: Re: Boy...
midtownninja wrote:
You said it, we didn't.
I know it wasn't a terribly grown up thing for my recently-Brooklynian, Manhattan-addled self to do, and that I screwed over working-class people, unnecessarily increased my carbon footprint and in the process, broke every maxim in the progressive rulebook. But hey, you live and you learn, right?
Thank you, veets, for the great tip about developing a relationship with the dispatcher. I will at least take that away as a sensible piece of advice from this thread.
Also veet's "tip" is common sense. Works for any business or relationship you want to foster. I also tip more if it's the holidays or there were exceptional circumstances. then they REALLY remember you. -
leet wrote: in off-hours the service is good. When the weather turns inclement, or at pick up the kids from school time, they're busy and then don't need your business, which = bad service.
When it's raining, Arecibo does not pick up the phone. -
I use Arecibo all the time. They're quick, very nice, and they're always very cool about the many kitties I transport around. That's a big plus for me.
This is the number I use for them: 718-783-6465
It's not the same number that OpossumQueen listed above, so as s/he mentioned, I guess they have more than one working number. -
TheCatsPajamas wrote: I use Arecibo all the time. They're quick, very nice, and they're always very cool about the many kitties I transport around. That's a big plus for me.
Maybe they don't like me. They seem to only pick up on good weather days during non-rush hours.
This is the number I use for them: 718-783-6465
It's not the same number that OpossumQueen listed above, so as s/he mentioned, I guess they have more than one working number.
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