Carmel Car & Limousine Svc

My husband left his iphone in a car from JFK airport after drop off at home, he immediately tried to call Carmel and was told to go online and fill out form for lost and found, meanwhile we logged the iphone on FInd my Device and it was located at the 95 South exit near New Rochelle, we had it ring, device was turned off! We then finally were able to talk to a Customer Service rep. who told us that driver turned off HIS phone at 6:39pm and was not answering !!! So more than 48 hours have passed and we have no word from Carmel about his phone, it is Monday morning and am trying to reach someone at customer service about this and the machine answers at 8:15am!
We are not paying the credit card charge until this company answers to this issue. We find it hard to believe that they do not take action when their driver turns off a customer’s iphone and then turns off his phone. This is intent to steal and the company is unreliable.

Everything bad. I called before boarding the plane, 3 hours prior, they got my information and asked me to call again once we landed. Once we landed I called they said they didn’t have cars and I should have called earlier (!!!) when I told him I did call earlier he said the car woukd pick us up in 5 – 7 minutes. 15 minutes passes, I called, they got my information again and told me 5 – 7 minutes… I ended up calling 4 times and waiting, OUTSIDE IN DECEMBER IN NEW YORK WITH TWO CHILDREN for 50 minutes!
Instruction on where to wait was also poor.
Once the driver arrived he told me, 8 dollars for toll. In my humble opinion flat fee is flat fee, and later on I found this in one of the 2 pages of instrunctions/​fine print. Please, be clear on the price up front on your websites you work with!
Last detail, I could hardly communicate with the driver… The dispatcher wanted to talk to me as the driver could not pronounce the name of the Hotel I was going to.

I was told the car would be outside terminal a door 6 in 5 – 7 minutes. After waiting for 20 minutes I called and provided my info to check the location of the car. I was placed on hold 4 different times to contact «dispatch». Spoke with Lisa and Nick. Ended up taking an über and never received the pick up call from Carmel.

Simply the worst! I wrote a detailed review on their other Unilocal listing but it belongs here too. Same company, same bad service all the way around. Take a close look at all these reviews. They’re 95% negative that should tell you all you need to know! Do yourself a favor and don’t bother with this company, it’s a joke and as you see it’s on the customer because they don’t care!

This was my first time using Carmel. I booked a car on 10÷27÷15 with Lisa for 11÷4÷15, 6 AM, from Manhattan to Newark airport with Lisa. Lisa told me that tolls are $ 16.75. She didn’t say they were ABOUT $ 16.75. She said they were $ 16.75. When I got to Newark airport the driver told me tolls were $ 18. I told her that I was quoted $ 16.75. She said oh no, $ 18. Over the next few days I called Carmel several times and emailed twice. I asked for a credit of $ 1.25 to my credit card. I NEVER got a response to my email. A lady called and left a phone number for which you CANNOT get a person. You can only leave a message. Had I been told upfront that tolls were $ 18, I would have chosen Dial 7. (Dial 7 said up front that tolls were $ 18.30.) I do not feel that Carmel is trustworthy and responsive to issues. You certainly can get a person to make a reservation but NOT when there is a complaint.

What a terrible experience with Carmel, I wish I could Give zero stars, booked a car to take us at 5:30am from Manhattan to JFK. Driver was there on time (other than that it was all bad)
Drove like crazy to the airport (there was no traffic and we weren’t in rush) I mean speeding 60 or 70 with a 40 speed limit.
On the phone the quote I got was $ 52, when we got to the airport the driver tells me $ 72, I said how come he said $ 52 plus toll and tip. Since when does the driver decide how much is the tip? So I asked how much is toll, he said 8 $ so left him $ 5 as tip and I regret even leaving him that for how drove and tried to cheat. Not even gave a receipt.

The worst. On my wedding day, they called 15 minutes after they were supposed to show up to say that we had given them the incorrect cross street. At this point we hopped into an Über as we were late and asked them to cancel the reservation. I got a receipt for the ride a day later with the correct cross street on it. I called 4 times to dispute the charge, each time being transferred to a voicemail without ever a call back. The last time I called and asked to speak to a manager, he told me to take the dispute up with my credit card company, which I believe is fraud…

Our car didn’t even show up. Tried to call to sort it out and they told me to try three different customer service numbers, put me on hold for 10 minutes, and then told me «sorry for dropping the ball.» It’s been 5 days, still no refund from the company. You can’t even talk to someone, just an answering machine. Just use Über.

First and last time using them. Had one pick us up from the airport in NY and the driver showed up and got into a verbal altercation with a man directing traffic. So unprofessional and when we demanded for him to let us out he ignored us for the first few minutes before turning around! WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!

Today is the second time the app «gave me the wrong time estimate.» This service has become completely unreliable– last week my car literally never showed up (causing me to miss my event) and this week the car was going to be 20+ min late. To boot, the best customer service could do for me was refund my ride. No explanation, not effort to make things right by offering any restitution for missing my event, NUTHIN’. Oh, you’re willing to refund me for the car that never showed up?! How gracious of you, thank you. NEXT. In the past I was willing to deal with the relatively old/​worn down cars bc the prices were competitive. But unfortunately for Carmel, there are now plenty of competitors in the market with better cars, stellar customer service and reliable drivers. Sorry, Carmel, this loyal customer just deleted your app and is DONE.

I was very disappointed with Carmel. Our car picked us up at JFK for our ride into Manhattan. At that point, the driver told us that it was his second day on the job. While that was not a big deal, I wish the company had trained him better. First, he got list in Queens. He almost got hit. He stopped short at a few traffic lights. He ran over a curb. He could not find our hotel. He passed it about three times. Then, he did not know the procedure on how to charge us. I don’t blame the driver, but blame the company. They should have trained the workers before they let him loose! Do yourself a favor and just get a cab from the airport next time. It nay cost a few dollars more, but Carmel is not worth the hassle I went through!

The cars always show up, the drivers are usually pretty good (I had one awful driver but he was an exception). The dispatchers are okay and the office staff, accounting and customer service are T H E W O R S T P E O P L E — what is going on with them? They are definitely rotting from the head down.
Before we moved to SF ten years ago, we had an account and used them regularly. We never had a problem. So when we’re visiting NY we’ve used them. It is definitely a new owner/​crew running the place and they only care about one thing: money. In February they did an email blast offering $ 66 in «Carmel Cash» if you downloaded the app — so I did. And used them for a ride from Newark Airport — a $ 100 ride but I figured I’d use my «Carmel Cash.» Nope — no way. They really meant $ 6, not $ 66! Awful — and about two weeks later, another email blast saying, «Don’t forget to use your $ 66 in Carmel Cash!»
Okay so I’m a stupid creature of habit. We booked a stretch limo for my daughter to be brought to her wedding — I was told there is a two hour minimum for the stretch limo — I say fine thinking we’ll have a bottle of champagne and wait in the limo until we get a call saying all the wedding guests have arrived and the bride can make her entrance. The morning of the wedding I called Carmel to confirm that there would be champagne glasses in the limo and was told: we are very busy this weekend with a lot of proms and weddings. You can only have the limo pick you up and drop you off (a 20 minute ride max). I pointed out that we paid for two hours and was told, «no, you paid for a pick up and drop off and that’s all you’re getting.» I was speechless and when I regained my ability to speak I tried to reason with this woman, reminding her I paid a two hour minimum rate and that we would probably only need to have the bride wait 20 — 30 minutes in the limo. She told me all she could offer me was– are you ready for this? — take the limo to the wedding location as booked and then have them send a black SUV that we could have the bride wait in — and this would be an additional charge, not included in the two hour stretch limo rate — the SUV WOULD BE A THREE HOUR MINIMUM CHARGE!!!
I lost it and told her what I thought of Carmel’s customer disservice. She didn’t care, told me if that’s how I felt I should just cancel the limo, which I did, and she promised me there would be «NO REFUND! Have a nice day and enjoy your daughter’s wedding» and she hung up.

Think that Carmel is a reliable, trustworthy car company with good customer service??? THINK AGAIN!!! –SKIP CARMEL AND USE A MORE RESPONSIBLE CAR COMPANY (OR REGULAR TAXI) WHERE YOU AND YOUR POSSESSIONS WILL BE SAFE.
I had the misfortune of leaving a bag containing money, credit cards, ID, apartment keys, a wedding gift, clothes and other essentials in a Carmel Car. I discovered that the bag was left in the car just as it pulled away, having dropped us off at Central Park.
Foolishly, I thought it would be easy to contact Carmel, identify the driver and recover the bag. Instead, I have had the worst customer service experience imaginable. When I call, I keep getting transferred to a mailbox to leave a message and no-​one ever responds. I’ve logged online reports on the webpage and sent emails –all unanswered. When I speak to dispatch, they say that they can’t help.
If you leave something in a regular NY taxi, there is a strong chance that the driver will facilitate you getting it back. It has happened to many of my friends in the past. You would think that this would certainly be the case with a «reputable» car company like Carmel –well, my experience is quite the contrary. And, while the bag loss was bad enough, the horrible way that Carmel treated me afterwards was breathtakingly arrogant and unhelpful. Carmel doesn’t care about its customers.
USE A MORE RESPONSIBLE CAR COMPANY THAT VALUES ITS CUSTOMERS AND THEIR POSSESSIONS.

I am confused about the low ratings in the reviews for Carmel. I just used them ⁵⁄₁ for a trip from NYC to Newark Airport. I actually called them a couple of times because I was calling around to double check rates that were posted online. Everyone I talked to was more than helpful and polite. They were the most economical service I could find without taking a shuttle.
The driver actually arrived 10 minutes early, which was fine with me since I was already waiting in the lobby. They call you when they arrive. The vehicle was very clean and they driver very nice. You can pay with credit card without an extra charge for doing so.
The only hiccup was that my receipt was not immediately emailed to me. I need it for my expense report so I just called them today — 7 days later — I had it in my email in less than 5 minutes. Again the person I talked with on the phone was very helpful and polite.
I highly recommend them!

If I could give 0 stars, I would have. The absolute most unprofessional «service» I’ve ever encountered. Refused to make a pit stop before taking me to the airport. And then yelled at me.

We called in advance, we reserved an SUV, we had a 6am pick up for an 8am flight, and it snowed 3 inches. Flight was on time, roads were clear… but according to Carmel’s policy in Queens that means they will call 15 mins before pickup to state there are no cars.
Needless to say we go in our car and drove to the airport and parked in long term parking, just made our flight. What did Carmel say, «ma’am, we need to continue with our calls let me transfer you to our automated customer service we have 30 ppl we still need to call»
If there is even the slightest chance there will be an ounce of precipitation… choose another car service. It’s an aggravating waste of time with a terrible service plan.
We did receive a few days later a coupon for 10% off, you couldn’t pay me enough to use Carmel again.

I’ve used Carmel exclusively for the past several years, and even recommended them to other people. I casually ignored the very low rating saying that those experiences didn’t match my own. I would book online, and the cars would show up.
That is until now. First, on my trip out of town, they sent the car to the wrong borough. By some miracle, another driver happen to be just starting his shift fairly close to me and was able to get me to the airport on time. Though barely.
A little uneasy about my experience I thought it’s OK. It all worked out.
Now, I’m looking to make my return trip and after being delayed due to weather (the agent actually asked me why I didn’t take the car when ALL flights to LGA had been cancelled) I am told that they cannot use my already pre-​paid trip to re-​book. Apparently their string and can computer system doesn’t allow them to see «previous» reservations.
So now, I either have to pay them again with the hope of maybe getting a refund for the first trip, or, find alternate transportation.
My beef isn’t necessarily with the agents, they do what they can with what they’re given. It’s with the company itself, and this is absolutely the last time I will ever use them.

Agree w/​other Unilocal reviewers… this company is a mess. YOU CAN’T BE LATE!!! 30 minute waits past my scheduled pickup time on two separate occasions despite booking in advance. Additionally, the customer service line is a voicemail box. Forget this. It’s sad because I once had good experiences with this company, but that was months ago.

I tried these guys on my most recent trip to NY. Booked online for a JFK pick-​up and pre-​paid (with tip!) with my credit card. When the driver picked me up he demanded that I pay him directly and that ‘something had gone wrong with the credit card’ and he needed the $ 70 in cash. Of course this was just a way to rip me off. I disputed the charge and was paid back by my cc company but these guys are a total joke and rip-​off artists.

Never use this service — we prepaid for multiple trips and cars never showed up. Call multiple times dispatchers never had any answers would transfer me to a voicemail of customer service who never called me back.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE