Miami Limo Service

[emen822]

(I also posted this in East Coast Departures but haven't received any responses.) Here is my question:

 

I have searched the boards and noticed that a few people wrote that they were looking for a limo to pick them up at the airport but didn't notice any recent posts from people who actually USED a service. I have a few quotes that I received from www.limos.com but was hoping someone had a positive experience that they could report. I'm looking for a pick up next Friday (YEAH! :D) from FLL, taking us (2 adults, 2 children) to the Intercontinental in Miami. Anyone?? :confused:

[DivineDivia]

www.floridalimo.com

[mozfoz]

We used larrys limos twice, and were very happy with the service. Both times was from FLL to the port in Miami. The cost was about $100 each way for our private stretch limo for the 5 of us. We were met at FLL with a driver holding a name sign for us at the arrival terminal. Cost effective for 4 or more.:D

[emen822]

We used larrys limos twice, and were very happy with the service. Both times was from FLL to the port in Miami. The cost was about $100 each way for our private stretch limo for the 5 of us. We were met at FLL with a driver holding a name sign for us at the arrival terminal. Cost effective for 4 or more.:D

 

I will call them today. I would like to surprise my girls with a limo at the airport. They got excited last time when we had a towncar pick us up and the guy was just holding a sign with our name on it.

[EMc]

I will call them today. I would like to surprise my girls with a limo at the airport. They got excited last time when we had a towncar pick us up and the guy was just holding a sign with our name on it.

 

You and your girls just might be in for a bigger surprise if you use Larry's Limo.

The limo/car service we used to take for our annual cruise from FLL to Miami no longer is in business. So, I came to these boards looking for an alternative. Larry's Limo seemed to get a thums up. We made a reservation for them to pick us up at the Hyatt Pier 66 in FLL and take us to the port in Miami, and to pick us up at the port in Miami at the end of the cruise to take us back to FLL. The reservation was for a sedan/town car type of car. We were told that it was 150.00 including tip for the service..and that it costs more for the return trip back to FLL from Miami than it did for thee FLL trip TO Miami.

Anyway, we had no problems getting to Miami from the hotel in FLL. The morning we got off the Brilliance of the Seas, DH cell phone started ringing... it was our driver from LL's telling us he was at the port and waiting for us....he called a couple of times while we were still waiting to retrieve our luggage and told us to call him when we were outside. We did, he said he'd be with us in a few minutes. He was waiting a bit further up from us. As we were walking toward him, a Port of Miami law officer approached the driver and asked him where he was dropping off....we were now closer to the officer and the driver... the driver told the officer he would be dropping off his pax (us) at Boca Raton...the officer then saw us approaching and asked us our destination. We told him FLL. The officer turned to the driver and wanted an explanation for the discrepancies. The driver said that we were the wrong pax and that he had to call his office so he could get the cell number of the Boca raton pax. The officer was livid.. he turned to us and said, "let me guess? Larry's Limo, right?' He told us that LL's does not have a permit for pick ups to FLL.. they are only allowed to take port of Miami paxs to Boca and West Palm. The officer then wrote up the driveer for as many violations as he could. In the mean time, the driver tells us that our driver would be there, shortly, to pick us up. We get on the phone with the dispatcher (owner?) at LL"s and he tell us everything is just a foul up and that the driver here with us really is not our driver. We say then, how come we talked to him on the phone this morning, just minutes ago and that the driver called us first and addressed us by name? We can get another driver in about 45 minutes! That he is already on his way. BS! The dispatcher (owner? reason we think he is owner is because he is the one we had to deal with when we tried to get our money refunded for the return trip to FLL.. oh yeah, the trip has to be paid for, in full when they drop you off for the first leg)

You can imaginee how upset we were. The whole reason we hire a car service is to avoid the throngs of thousands of debarking pax all looking for a taxi at the same time! The dispatcher told us he would pay for the taxi, refund the money for the return portion of the trip and give us a free ride to somewhere when we got to FLL. We were staying in FLL 5 days before returning, home, to Boston after Christmas.

We had the officer get us a taxi after telling LL's that would take a taxi on their dime and that we would get a receipt.

It was not a pleasant trip to FLL. My dh was fuming and so was I. I make all the travel arrangements for our cruisee and pre and post cruise stays.. I triple check every aspect to avoid problems.

When we returned home from our trip we called LL's...again the jerk tried to say that it really was just a mix up and the cop was wrong! Then he tells us he has already credited our credit card with the portion of the return trip fare.. says he never promised us he would also pay for the taxi. And then he hangs up on me. Well, cc statement comes in.. no creedit.. we call LL's back and again talk to this dispatcher (owner?) jerk . He tells us the bank must have screwed up and he will call us back that night. No call till the next day and he now says, apparently, thee book keeping dept was mistaken and that they didn't properly handle our creedit. He says he will do so, personally, today.

Did we get our credit? Yes, after much arguing and aggravation and time. We got off the Brilliance on the 22nd of December, 06. We left FLL on the 27th, we got our credit late February, 07.

Do we believe the port law officer or Larry? We're goiing with the port officer.

We would never, ever use LL's again and we want to advise others not to. Ohm btw, while the port officer was talking to us he told us that he must grab LL's drivers at leeast 3 times a week! He said he understood that this was upsetting to us but he said we got off, relatively, easy because we were not depending on LL to get us to the airport on the day of disembark... he said he has seen many, many paxs miss their flights home. You had to see this cop.. he was livid.. he said it's jerks like LL that give the port a bad name. Oh, you should have seen his face when I told him the returm portion of the fare was higher priced than the trip to the port.. we were told by LL that the higher price was beacause they (LL) pay a special port tax for trips leaving the port! Talk about balls! I know it costs LL some money that day, the cop wrote up the driver for numerous violations. Apparently Larry's Limo seems to think that those pesky fines are just a normal cost of doing business. Ya right! Business as usual.

Larry did call back to check that we had, finally, gotten our credit. Money safely credited, I told him that the same wideely read cruise message board where we first heard of LL was also going to hear, loud and clear, that LL is no good!

Sorry it has taken me so long to do so.

EMc

[emen822]

This is exactly what I DON'T want to happen. Like you, I am the planner of the vacations and try to have things go as smooth as possible. We are staying at the Intercontinental. Maybe I will give them a call and see who they recommend. I really appreciate you telling me your story. I would've been fuming as well. :mad:

[crusinmama06]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Oh yeah, sorry Larry but no Larry for us either. And I JUST filled out a form online to get more info from them.

 

I have had such great service from Florida Town Car Service BUT they only work in Orlando. I would hate to receive bad service in Miami.

 

Thanks for the tip, they just lost THIs sale.

[shayelle]

They aren't able to do this? We used another one last August that we really liked and I can't for the life of me remember which one it was!

[Suzanne74]

I got a quote from A1 Limos for $63 for a towncar from FLL to our Miami hotel. Has anyone heard of them??

[mozfoz]

While I did have positive experiences with the company as I have previously stated, I am not surprised that there are issues that can arise. I believe that all the drivers may be independent and that they contract their services through Larry's. I do not believe Larry's ownes or operates all the limo's, so anything is possible. That being said, I have never read on these boards anything negative about their services. Is it possible and probable that problems occur? Certainly! Just as you read the good and bad of a cruise experiences. Explore all your options and go with what you feel most comfortable. I do not get comission for my reference as to what worked for me. As with all services "your milage may vary"!:D

[mozfoz]

Most company will not recommend a Town Car for 4 passengers PLUS luggage for the 4 passengers!

Make sure that the company knows the number of passengers AND amount of luggage. It would not be fun to have your ride show up and not be able to fit you luggage!:D

[pmanchuk]

Well as someone who lives in Miami, I'd personally recommend Aventura Limousine... 1-800-944-9886. I normally use them for my airport transfers (as opposed to leaving my car at the airport) and I've always received excellent service. Oh, I know some people like the whole stretch limo thing (which they do have, along with town cars, stretch hummer, mercedes, etc.) but I personally prefer a large SUV (usually they send either a navigator or cadillac... something like that).

 

At least this way you know you're dealing with a local company and someone with a very good reputation... they are the preferred limo vendor at many of the high end hotels here in the Miami area.

[sailor moon]

We used Larry's limo 3/07 from Fll to Miami and back with no problems. Just my experience...

[sailor moon]

meant to say 3/06!

[EMc]

While I did have positive experiences with the company as I have previously stated, I am not surprised that there are issues that can arise. I believe that all the drivers may be independent and that they contract their services through Larry's. I do not believe Larry's ownes or operates all the limo's, so anything is possible. That being said, I have never read on these boards anything negative about their services. Is it possible and probable that problems occur? Certainly! Just as you read the good and bad of a cruise experiences. Explore all your options and go with what you feel most comfortable. I do not get comission for my reference as to what worked for me. As with all services "your milage may vary"!:D

 

Ya well, shame on me...but I DID see a post on a LL thread where somebody did report bad service...she said the same thing happened to her.. she had to make it to the airport to catch a flight.LL knew her time schedule was tight. They never showed up.. she took a cab and then LL had the balls to tell her because she did take a cab that they didn't owe her a credit.

Unfortunately, for us... I didn't see her post until a day or 2 before our departure...I thought we would just cross our fingers that this was an isolated issue. As the cop later told us... HARDLY an isolated issue!

You may be right that LL does not own the cars they use..but, nowhere on the LL site do they state this, nor do they post a disclaimer that doesn't hold them responsible, should things go wrong. At least, not that I can see, now. I never checked for this when we booked.

And, if this is the case then how come Larry the sleaze ball didn't use that as an excuse? Huh? No, instead he insisted that the port cop was lying and it was just a big misunderstanding on the drivers part and LL office.

Btw, I just went to LL website and it amazes me to see that he now tells everyone that he is highly recommended at Cruise Critic. Maybe not for long, we hope.

Look, the guy is full of ****.. plain and simple. I choose to believe the cop, that's what they are there for.. to represent the port and uphold the laws and policy of the port.

Do I think that people could use LL and not have a problem? Sure.. it could happen...but does anyone really want to take a chance that if the driver/car is questioned by a port cop/officer (who were, btw, pretty visible throughout the port area) they will then be, pretty much, **** out of luck? Not me... I'm pretty sure that this could be verified by contacting the port authority...as far as we are concerned, the cop told us that LL has no cars with the proper license/permit to pick up pax and bring them to anywhere other than Boca and WP. Maybe LL does have some sub contracted drivers/cars that may be allowed... but do want to play cruise roulette and pray that the driver/car that you get is one of the ones that are, properly, permitted and licensed to take you where you need to go? Not me. Maybe LL does subcontract with drivers that do happen to have the right to pick up FLL bound pax... either way, it sounds to me that you are left to cross your fingers hoping that one of his many, many subcontract, gypsy drivers/cars have all the required permits.

Btw, we can back up this claim and we will do so, publicly, on these boards.

Larry can't deny this. Altough, I'm starting to think that he will try... It's true and we have documents to prove this... and we would have no problem, at all, contacting the Port Authority to verify this and even find the cop that was on duty that day. As far as we are concerned the guys a sleaze ball.. a very fast talking sleaze ball.

[wieslaw]

Hi, I just made a reservation for a ride / transportation from Fll airport to Port of Miami for our EOS cruise in end of April and a return ride from Port of Miami back to the Fll airport a week later. The company (Quality Limo Service) has a web site with description of their operation in the Fll /Miami area.....the price seem OK ( $75 each way for 5 of us plus tip)....but how can I find out if we will not have the same problems as some of the posters above had with LL service ?

BTW - they will use a 10 pass. van to transport us and the luggage ....which is fine with us...no limo needed.....just convienient transportation.

Did anyone else had any experience with this company?

 

Wes

[emen822]

Well as someone who lives in Miami, I'd personally recommend Aventura Limousine... 1-800-944-9886. I normally use them for my airport transfers (as opposed to leaving my car at the airport) and I've always received excellent service. Oh, I know some people like the whole stretch limo thing (which they do have, along with town cars, stretch hummer, mercedes, etc.) but I personally prefer a large SUV (usually they send either a navigator or cadillac... something like that).

 

At least this way you know you're dealing with a local company and someone with a very good reputation... they are the preferred limo vendor at many of the high end hotels here in the Miami area.

 

I just emailed Aventura to get a quote. Whatever company I use, I will be sure to post it in my review.