Shocking Customer Service!!!

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A1 Stretch www.a1stretch.co.uk
★★★★☆
4.2
78.0% of users recommend this

SROG's review of A1 Stretch www.a1stretch.co.uk

“Shocking Customer Service!!!”

★☆☆☆☆

written by SROG on 20/07/2015

I booked a stretch limo as a surprise for my partners 40th Birthday, as the transport home after a night in London. I did this as a surprise as he had never had his 'own' limo before, and it was all booked and arranged 3 months in advance (plus I emailed to confirm 2 days before) to be waiting for us when we left the Theatre at 10pm.

To my disappointment there was no car there. While trying to find a number to call, at 10.10pm the driver called me to tell me he is still at least 30 minutes away as he had only been told about this job in London, at 8pm when he finished a job in Leicester!!! It got to 10.40pm and he then called me to tell me he is now stuck in traffic at a closed Hammersmith Flyover!!

Eventually the car got to us at 11.10pm, 1 hour and 10 minutes late, by which time the surprise is totally ruined, and I was extremely angry!

It also appeared that the 'Champagne' I had requested was in fact Sparkling Perry, which is Pear Cider?! Just about sums them up really!

The driver had spoke to the office and they agreed to knock £75 off the money I was yet to pay. To be honest they are lucky I handed that much over, and it was only because it was a special birthday and by then we had no other way of getting home, that I handed over the remaining money.

I chose A1 Stretch as I was happy paying a bit more money, to get what I thought was a decent company as I didn't want anything to go wrong with the day. I couldn't have been more wrong.

It took them 7 days to reply to my email of complaint, which was a waste of time even sending as they told me that the driver was late due to traffic at the Hammersmith Flyover....nothing to do with the fact they gave him just 2 hours to get from Leicester to the Central London...I tried to explain to them that he was already 40 minutes late before he even got to that stage! I'm still waiting for a reply from them!!

I was offered a £100 voucher for a future booking, which I have politely declined as I will never be booking through this company again, and will never recommend them to friends or family.

They have not even had the courtesy to apologies for any of this.

I haven't experienced such bad customer service in a long time, and would not wish this on any one else. I see there are many good reviews, but I see this isn't the first bad one, and the bad reviews all seem to have the same pattern!

Please look elsewhere before booking with A1. I understand things go wrong, but it's all about the customer service and 'after sales', which this company clearly need to have some lessons in.

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A1Stretch's Response to SROG's Review

Written on: 24/07/2015

Dear Sir,
We are sorry that you were not happy with the service you received and for the lateness of the vehicle.
We do not deny at all that the vehicle was late (for various reasons) on the day which was very regrettable and I can assure we do not take this lightly and the driver did apologise for this many times on the night and keep you updated with phone calls with regards to his whereabouts.
With regards to the drink provided it is a complimentary gesture and is sparkling wine and is the same as all the other limousine companies offer, we never at any stage offer Champagne, most people like it but of course not everyone has the same taste.
As you have said we did give you a £75 discount for the lateness of the vehicle and afterwards we offered a £100 voucher, the reason we did this is because we would like the opportunity to prove that this is not our normal level of service as you will see from all the good reviews we have received from other customers which greatly outweigh the few bad ones.
kind regards
A1 Stretch Limos

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Srog's reply to A1Stretch's Comment

Written on: 24/07/2015

Dear A1 Stretch

I would have totally understood if the only reason there was a delay was because of road works and bad traffic, but we both know that this was not the case!! As I stated, at 10.10pm (already 10 minutes late) I had my first call from the driver saying he was at least 30 minutes away (in Isleworth) as was on his way from Leicester. You tried to tell me that the only reason he was 1 hour and 10 minutes late was because of a road closure at Hammersmith. This is simply NOT the case! Please do not use the 'bad traffic' excuse, when you know that's not the complete story.

Yes the driver apologised on the night and kept me updated (That's the least I would expect!), but after my email of complaint I received no apology from the company in respect to you ruining my planned evening.

Did you or did you not tell the driver at just 8pm when he was in Leicester that he had another job in Central London at 10pm? The reason I ask this - because that is what the driver told me!

On the best of nights on the roads that is cutting it very fine, add to that there was a London Underground Strike that day, meaning the London roads would be much more busier than normal [Unavoidable I know, but something you as a Company should have known about, and should have been able to plan for, as it was announced at the start of the week!].

What annoys me is when Companies do not take responsibility for their own mistakes, and think it is ok to treat paying customers like this. You have my email address, please contact me if you wish to discuss this further. The reason I did not accept your £100 voucher was because, as I said, I will never book a limo through your company again.

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Srog's reply to A1Stretch's Comment

Written on: 28/07/2015

Update on this Review: I have since been contacted by Customer Services at A1, and am pleased to say that this time, I did receive great Customer Service and we have now resolved the issue. It's just such a shame that it had to come to all this in the first place.

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