Tiburon Taxi Sucks!

[archerships]

Do NOT order a taxi from Tiburon Taxi:

Tiburon Taxi
Belvedere / Tiburon, CA
Phone: (415) 789-5356

I placed a reservation for 6:00 p.m. pickup at about noon. When I called at 6:10 p.m to ask where the driver was, the dispatcher had no record of the reservation, and made no apology for the error. He did give me the number of another taxi service, but the number was out of service. Since I did not record the name of the person who took my reservation, I could not dispute his claim. However, since I suspect that I have more google-juice than Tiburon Taxi, I at least will hopefully contribute to putting the company out of business and make room for a company with better customer service.

EDIT:

BTW, I had a good experience with Marin Cab Company, the company I hired instead of Tiburon Taxi:

Marin Cab Company
1 415 455 4555

Ask for John S. Murray, my driver.

And if Tiburon Taxi wants me to take this down, I will do so if they do the following:

1. Send me a written apology.
2. Donate $50.00 to the Electronic Frontiers Foundation. The $50.00 is the difference in price between the cost I would've paid had Tiburon Taxi done their job, and the price I actually paid (I missed the shuttle at Larkspur Landing for the airport, and had to take a taxi all the way).

Comments

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up.

FYI, some of the smaller taxi companies are a cell phone that swaps between drivers. The unscrupulous ones do exactly what you describe -- pretend to take reservations, but only take calls, and refer to dead numbers.

One argument for going with larger taxi companies, although I have had enough bad experiences that I use taxis for crisis management and not for any actual *PLAN* that requires them to have their ducks in a row.

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Huh, you're probably right. I doubt the demand for taxis is that high in Tiburon.

[gladstone.livejournal.com]

I like your posts. They always make me think.

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Though,gGiven that you commented on me ranting about taxi service in Tiburon, I can't help but wonder if you intended sarcasm.

[gladstone.livejournal.com]

I actually didn't. I thought you were making a point about the futility of complaining about bad service online. Given that the intersection of people who read your journal and people who might potentially use Tiburon Taxi is likely to be pretty darned small, and the subset of people who would boycott that business based on a not-very-detailed report of a single bad experience is certain to be smaller still (possibly even nonexistant). That and your lofty goal of contributing the the company being put out of business convinced me that you were not at all serious (though I did spend a good half-hour debating with myself about that) and would be having a good laugh at commenters who thought you were.

Now that it seems you actually were complaining about bad service, I have still more to think about, so thanks again!

[crasch.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't know how much of an affect I will have on Tiburon Taxi. Mostly, it was just me complaining.

However, I don't think that my rant will just be read by regular readers of my journal. Tiburon is a small, wealthy community with lots of rich tourists. I wager most of them are net savvy, and many will look online first to get a list of available taxis.

Tiburon Taxi has a very small web presence, even smaller than mine. And, as you can see, my rant is already the third result for "Tiburon Taxi".

Of course, I'm not sure that the added exposure will help or hurt their business. But I like to think that it will hurt them somewhat.

[(Anonymous)]

Good post. I was going to get a cab from them to the airport but your experience convinces me otherwise. I hate when cab companies pull this stunt. it happened all the time in NYC (if you're ever in Manhattan, don't take Carmel Car Service 212-666-6666)

Tiburon Taxi Unmasked

[iamapatsy.livejournal.com]

Tiburon & Sausalito Taxi, are front names for the irritable smoker that drives the 50ish yellow art deco taxi that waits daily for commuters at the Larkspur & Sausalito Ferries debarkation points as well as the Sausalito taxi stand. You can not miss the cigarette & body excretory fragrances when you enter his cab. His trademark signature, is his profile reading of newspapers, in his cab, at least he keeps up with current events. I understand he is next in line, to become manager for the Bel Air/Move on Kids/Radio Cab conglomerate, taking Bob Dewalts position, as such, he also is currently dispatched by Bel Aire &/or Radio Cab. He currently is an independent taxi cab owner, that possesses the domain names & information phone no.s under Tiburon, Sausalito & et al. If you are an independent cab driver, take heed, he wields a camera, takes pics of the competitions cars & licenses, for informing on their lack of adherence to MC TRP Licensing Protocol. Readers & commuters, do not confuse tiburontaxi.com w tiburontaxis.com, a new startup independent taxi service, Cell 415 497-6656.