ComplaintsforGroome Transportation

• Initial Complaint

  07/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made a reservation with Groome months ago and needed to cancel. I didn't today, 7/24 for a trip on 7/30. That is well within any businesses window to receive a refund. Now they tell me they don't give refunds, only credit, which is absurd. I don't have any other plans to travel or use Groome within the next year. Certainly not now after finding out about this ridiculous policy. I want my money back.

  Business response

  08/08/2024

  Good Afternoon,

  ********************* booked round trip reservations with us and agreed to our terms of service and cancellation policy.  ***** cancelled his reservations online and they were automatically converted to ride credits.  ***** reached out to us to complain and demand a refund.  After having a conversation with me discussing the cancellation policy he agreed to when booking, ***** put through a charge back with his bank. 

  Attached is the dispute response sent in to the bank.  Groome Transportation has operated ethically and within our clearly outlined public policies which were disclosed to the customer prior to them purchasing their tickets.

  Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions regarding this case.

  ******************* - ************

  ****************************************

• Initial Complaint

  04/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called this morning 4/9/24 at 10:53am to book at shuttle ride from Orlando to Daytona Beach, the gentleman that answered the call and set up my booking was polite and I informed him I needed the shuttle to drop me off at ***** ****** which was one of three routes. I got picked up my Orlando airport at 4:40 4/9/24, midway through the ride the bus driver asked if we were all going to the Daytona beach location, I informed him no I am going to ***** ****** drop off location, the bus driver prompted me to call the office. I was on hold for 45 min till they answered. I informed the lady that answered the phone they messed up my drop off site, rather than making the situation right the employee ********************** informed me it would be a extra 12 for the shuttle to take me to my destination which I already paid for. I am very disappointed with the customer ********************** I was provided since I was hung up on. I would like a full refund of this ride and I would like the employee ********************** retrained on customer ********************** support.

  Business response

  05/08/2024

  Thanks for bringing this incident to our attention, as we take these matters seriously. After thoroughly looking into ******************** experience, we have found in the system where his reservation was shown for the Groome Office however he was charged for the ***** ****** drop off price. We apologize for this mix up and he should see the refunded amount of $55.00 returned to his card within 3-5 business days.

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  COMPLAINT: GROOME TRANSPORTATION and DRIVER ***** 1. Groome provided transportation service between ************ and Orlando Airport (***), most recently on Feb 12, 2024. Two vans were dispatched. 2. On arrival, Groome drivers were disorganized, failing to clearly indicate their vans' destinations and the number of passengers each could carry.3. As indication of Groome's lack of organization, both small vans had the exact same itineraries. Since both vans had the same route at the same time, a single large bus would have made much more sense. This level of inefficiency and convenience was apparently of no concern to Groome or its drivers. 4. An hour prior to my scheduled van's arrival, Groome sent me a text indicating my driver an van number. Both proved to be incorrect. 3. Worst of all, Driver "*****", Van 1064, (arriving 6:05 PM at airport), was not only unclear, but also rude and impressively arrogant. 4. Driver "*****" apparently demanded a minimal number of passengers so that he could "have an easy night", according to the driver driving the other van. This created difficulty in sorting out which passengers were to go where in which van, especially since the van drivers themselves seemed unsure of their capacities and destinations. 5. After all this, Groome had the additional arrogance of sending me both emails and texts requesting gratuities for their drivers. Conclusion: The rudeness, arrogance, and inefficiency of Groome and its drivers made for a terrible experience, one which I had reserved and actually had to pay for. Groome apparently considers inappropriate and incompetent behavior of their drivers to be completely acceptable. "*****" the driver has no business working in a job where he interacts with people.

  Business response

  02/28/2024

  We apologize that ****** had an unpleasant experience with this trip from the airport to ************. We will handle the complaints against the driver internally and will be providing a refund of $40 to the customer, as that is the fare that was paid.

  Customer response

  03/02/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I Had reservations weeks before my trip, I was using this company to drive me from ********** Airport to *********.My flight was coming in at midnight and the shuttle was due to pick me up at 12:30 AM. ********* is 2 1/2 hours away from ********** was arriving in the middle of the night and didn't have a way to get home other than the shuttle. I get a phone call as I'm on my way to the airport to fly home and they told me that they canceled my trip due to the ice on the roads and they said that they could maybe pick me up at 7:30 in the morning, but that wasn't a guaranteed thing either so I was pretty much stranded at the airport with no way home for over 8 hours. I had to Uber my way home which cost over $450 . I reached out to the company and left them a message stating that they canceled my trip and owe me $56 . I have yet to hear from them. I was not requesting credit since they cancelled on me, I want my money back! By the way, on the way home in the Uber the roads were perfectly fine. Once you got into *********, that's when the roads were a little icy but nothing that the shuttle couldn't handle. My Uber had a ******* with no 4 wheel drive and had no difficulty whatsoever getting me from ******* to *********.If you need definite transportation, use this company, but always have a back up plan because you're taking a great big risk of getting stranded like I did!This was a very hard and expensive ****** learned!

• Initial Complaint

  12/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I made a reservation for shuttle service on 12/20 from *** to ************. My travel plans changed and I cancelled the reservation on 12/20 well in advance of travel and the company will not refund me the $50 only a credit for a future service. I need my refund.

  Business response

  01/03/2024

  The Groome Transportation cancellation policy, which must be agreed on while booking, indicates that refunds are not provided for cancellations. We instead provide travel credits that *** be used within the next year. Nevertheless, we have removed the travel credit and instead issued a refund in this case, and the customer should expect the funds to be returned to their card within **** business days, depending on the financial institution.

• Initial Complaint

  05/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The date of transaction is 5/16/2023 Amount paid is $196 There is no link for a refund. I am requesting a cancelation 72 hours in advance. The area for drop off is desolate and it is in the night. There is no taxi service from the Texaco station dropoff to my destination. The person who was picking me up has back pain and cannot drive. So I need to make other arrangements. I could not resolve with the business since they want to issue credit only. I only knew of the back pain after the reservation was made. I have no additional travel plans for this during the next year so a credit is not relevant to.me. The tracking info is: Reservation Details Confirmation #: ********* Name: ****** ****** Contact Phone* ***** ******** Flight Date: Friday, May 19, 2023 at 06:30 PM Airline: ***** Flight Number: ** **** ****** Date: Friday, May 19, 2023 at 07:30 PM Pickup Information: Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport (ATL) Arrival Time: 06:30 PM Type: Domestic Airline: *****

  Business response

  05/31/2023

  My apologies for your experience. A refund has been issued for the full amount.

  Thank you!

• Initial Complaint

  04/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I accidentally made a reservation. I tried to cancel within 15min and they would not issue a refund. I'm beyond livid. I would like a refund.

  Business response

  04/24/2023

  Good morning. 

  I am willing to issue an travel credit that is good for 1 year from date of issue, our policy is no refunds after you have booked. 

  Cancellation Policy
  
  How do I cancel my reservation?
  You must cancel or change your reservation by 11:59pm the day before your travel date. No refunds will be issued. If you need to cancel, you will be issued a credit for use on future travel within the next year. The travel credit is valid for one year from its issue date (the date of the original cancellation). Travel must be rebooked by the expiration date (one year from its issue date). The travel does not need to occur by the expiration date.
  Credit will not be issued if cancelling after 11:59pm the day before your travel date. Same-day reservations are not eligible for credit if cancelled.

  Thank you

  Business response

  04/24/2023

  As a one-time courtsey we will refund this reservation. This will be the only exception to our policy. Thank you

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** **********

• Initial Complaint

  03/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Driver on way to airport was an hour late to airport The only reason my son made his flight was because it was delayed and on the way back he was picked up at 12:20 instead of 11:45 as stated in your schedule

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  Hello,  I do not have a record of this woman or her son with the information given.  I have reached out to her to ask her to provide her sons name, reservation number, date of travel.  I need something to be able to identify what happened so I can proceed.  I have no record of her or her son ever reaching out to us first to even tell us there was a problem, so I do not understand why she would go this route when she has not even reached out to us for a complaint or resolution.

  Thank You,

  **** ******

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I booked a shuttle with Groome Transportation to bring me from the Orlando Airport to Ormond Beach Florida. It was the last shuttle of the night, a 12:40AM pickup on the B side terminal. My flight landed late at 12:37AM. Flight attendants asked other passengers to allow me to deplane first (they did) and I called Groome dispatch to let them know that I was there and I asked whether I should proceed to B side or A side. Dispatch said they would have the shuttle driver call me, but he didn't. Since I had notified them that I was there, and they didn't provide any additional info, I proceeded to B side. I called dispatch back and was on hold the entire time while walking to the pickup location and when I got there, there was no shuttle. Eventually the dispatch person picked up and said that "the shuttle left because he had passengers on A side to pick up." Had I simply been informed, I would have had plenty of time to get to A side and meet the shuttle (I subsequently found out that there is 20 minutes in between pickup times on B side vs. A side, and I arrived at the B side pickup location at 12:55). So I was stranded, 2 hours from home, in Orlando after midnight. Thankfully, National rented me a car but with the stipulation that I return it to Orlando the following day (they do not have extra cars and could not let me return to their Daytona location). This car rental cost me $73.63 plus $26.66 to fill up the gas tank for a total of $100.29. The following day I called Groome; it took multiple calls to get through to the manager Sarah (she did not return messages). She offered a shuttle ride back from Orlando, but in her words this was "as a courtesy," and I agree - I do not consider the original matter to be closed. On that day I was scheduled on the 6:45 shuttle so I left Ormond Beach at 4pm to return the rental but the 6:45 was cancelled. I was picked up at 8:10 and did not get home until 11pm. So in addition to $100, it cost me 6 hours of my life. Unacceptable.

  Business response

  05/03/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/01) */ Our passenger was booked on our shuttle which picks up at 1240am on the B side of the airport. She called and indicated her flight had been delayed and had just landed at 1237am. She was informed our driver would be on the A side of the airport until 1250am but would have to leave on time due to other passengers being on the shuttle as well. Passenger proceeded to go to the B side even when told we would meet her on the A side. Our driver had other passengers and had to leave. She was told she could be picked up on the next shuttle which was at 510am. I understand she did not want to wait that long and instead rented a car. We are not responsible for late flights and did offer her the next shuttle. When our passenger called me to complain, she told me she needed to take the rental car back to the airport. She requested that we give her a ride back from the airport and to her home. I told her I would be happy to do that for her as a customer service courtesy even though we were not responsible for her flight delay. Unfortunately our van broke down on the way to the airport. We called our passengers immediately and assured them we had another vehicle coming. The shuttle was not cancelled, our van had broken down. Our passenger was picked up at 8pm and our driver took her to her home. I have attached a screenshot of our website, which is how our passenger made the reservation, that shows our policy clearly states we are not responsible for expenses arising from delayed arrivals. I also included a copy of a travel itinerary that is emailed to all passengers that also states this policy. As a customer service courtesy I gave our passenger a free ride from the airport to her home. I feel we provided great customer service and gone above policy to make her happy. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/04/11) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is completely untrue. Please review the telephone records, as we are told that "all calls are recorded." When I called at 12:37 AM to indicate that my flight was delayed, I asked the dispatcher to have the driver call me (and provided my phone # even though it had already been provided) to tell me whether to proceed to B side or A side. The driver never called me. I did not know what to do when I got off the MCO tram and since I thought he/she might be waiting, I did what a considerate person would do and continued to B side, calling back to dispatch at the same time. The phone records I provided show that I was on hold for over 10 minutes and did not get back through to dispatch until after 1:00 AM. It was only during that call, when it was too late to do anything about it, that I was informed by the dispatcher that there had been a passenger pickup at the A side that took place later than my scheduled B side pickup. I would have had plenty of time to get to that pickup (as I learned the next day there are 20 minutes in between B side and A side pickup, but I did not know that at the time). It was suggested that I "just sleep in the airport" until the 5:10AM shuttle - outside of the TSA secured area, that's not a very safe thing to do. Furthermore, during the following day's "ride home," I observed the drivers taking care to try to locate passengers and even driving all the way to Sanford for a passenger who wasn't there, and calling dispatch to confirm that they were approved to leave that passenger behind. I was shown no such consideration. The office manager has never returned a single one of my calls. The only reason I was able to speak to her was because one employee finally put me through to her rather than taking a (/another) message to be unreturned. During that conversation she was unapologetic and unsympathetic, and it's laughable to me that the response states that she gave me a "free" ride from the airport to my home after I spent around $ 100 on a rental car and an extra 6 hours of my time to return it - and the shuttle ride was paid for in full. That's not my definition of free. The only reason I would have ever considered patronizing this business again is because every one of the drivers I've interacted with has been very nice. However, I am not satisfied with this response as it's completely based on an untrue statement, and when I go ahead and write local reviews on ************, etc. I will be pointing that out. I had hoped for a resolution since it is convenient to have a local shuttle to the airport but based on the lack of service and subsequent twisting of the facts to fit the office manager's narrative, I'd rather have no shuttle than one that would leave me stranded in the middle of the night and then lie about it. I was fortunate that someone was still at the National Car Rental desk and was able to help me. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/04/11) */ While we are very sorry the passenger's flight was delayed and she missed our shuttle, we did offer to pick her up on the next shuttle. She chose not to wait for the next shuttle and rented a car. When I spoke with her personally, she requested that we give her a ride back from the airport and to her home. Even though we were under no obligation to do this, I agreed to give her the ride back to show our great customer service. We successfully transport over a thousand passengers a month and it is because of our excellent customer service that we have 5 star ratings. Our shuttle was there to pick her up each time, but by her own admission her flight was delayed. That is something that we cannot be responsible for. I will happily offer this customer ANOTHER shuttle to the airport to show our desire to make this right, but our passenger chose to go this route instead of speaking with us. When she has called in the past it is always with threats and ultimatums. Now she is threatening to leave bad reviews where ever possible. Again, I feel we have gone above and beyond to help someone who, in their own words, will not be satisfied. We are sorry to lose her as a customer as all of our passengers are important to us. Consumer Response /* (2000, 12, 2022/04/13) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) WOW. Reading through the response: "When she has called in the past it is always with threats and ultimatums" -- this is completely untrue and borders on slander. Calls are recorded, check the call logs. The only thing that could have been misconstrued as an ultimatum (and was not at all intended to be) was that when I called, I provided time slots when the manager could call me back since I was at work, i.e. - "I need her to call me before noon and if not, I won't be available until after 2pm." Then "Now she is threatening to leave bad reviews where ever possible." What I actually said was that their response was "completely based on an untrue statement, and when I go ahead and write local reviews on ************* etc. I will be pointing that out." So not bad reviews, truthful reviews. Next statement was "it is because of our excellent customer service that we have 5 star ratings," but I could not find any 5-star ratings for Groome Transportation, Holly Hill location. Google is the closest with 4.6 stars, however, the BBB rates them as D+ and their Yelp rating is 2.5 out of 5 stars. If they are going to own their ratings, they should own them all. Finally, the statement "I feel we have gone above and beyond to help someone who, in their own words, will not be satisfied." I never said that I would not be satisfied, but that I had hoped for resolution - it's right there, in my own words, in black and white. So I'll accept the refund and be grateful for it, but I do not accept being slammed on the BBB response, my words twisted and facts misrepresented. Thank you. Consumer Response /* (4200, 17, 2022/04/21) */ Dear Better Business Bureau, Is it possible to reopen this closed case? I accepted the resolution because Groome Transportation indicated that they were going to refund my payment, but they never did. So until they actually process the refund, I don't consider the case closed. That is my fault for trusting them to do what they said they were going to do. Thank you, ****** ******* Business Response /* (4000, 19, 2022/04/21) */ We have refunded the passenger's $57. It takes up to 7 to 10 days to process. She should see it within the next day or two. Consumer Response /* (4200, 21, 2022/04/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I waited the 10 days. Groome said that they processed the refund on April 11th, so yesterday was the 10th day and today is the 11th. I will wait to accept this resolution until the refund posts, because so far it has not. Thank you, BBB.

• Initial Complaint

  01/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  BOOKED RIDE FROM DENVER AIRPORT TO ******* HOTEL FOR ********* AT MIDNIGHT. Confirmation number is ********. DRIVER WAS A NO-SHOW. I WAS NEVER GIVEN ADVANCE NOTICE OR CONTACTED TO ARRANGE A RIDE. SO I WAS STRANDED AT DENVER AIRPORT AT MIDNIGHT AND ONLY WAY HOME WAS UBER WHICH COST ME >$200. GROOME HAS BEEN CONTACTED 3 TIMES AND EACH TIME THE OPERATOR STATED A SUPERVISOR WILL CALL ME. I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A CALL NOR RESOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE.

  Business response

  03/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/02/08) */ Customer was contacted and a refund for the **** ride was initiated with corporate on 1/25/2022. Total reimbursement check is for $189.45.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩