Elegant Arrivals

Review: Hired a 28 person oversize party bus to get our senior couples to the Prom. Money was required in advance. The morning of Prom (5/4/14) Elegant Arrival called and told us the party bus we paid for broke down and we were getting two small buses. Seemed okay and the kids were excited. However, when the bus arrived it was in horrible condition with several clear safety violation. The brake light was out. The rear emergency door was riveted shut. But the largest issue was the main bus door was broke and couldn't be opened. To get in or out you had to climb through the drivers door to the back. #1 These girls have long gown # 2 What happened if there was an emergency, how would the kids get out quickly? This was a clear safety issue and I am sure it is against the law. After my phone call to the company demanding a full refund, they refuse because they felt they offered a viable solution. Because this company has unsafe vehicles and obvious ethics issues, I am filing a complaint in hopes of preventing someone getting very hurt and in hopes that another prom won't get ruined.Desired Settlement: #1 Some look at the safety of Elegant Arrival's vehicles

#2 I want a full refund

Business

Response:

May 31, 2014Dear [redacted]:Elegant Arrivals is a for hire transportation limousine service. On March 27, 2014 an 8 hour Prom limousine transportation service was booked by [redacted] via Email/internet and telephone contact with our reservationist [redacted] for May 3, 2014. At the time of the initial reservation request, we secured a deposit of $100.00. Full payment of $1,440.00 was received before services were rendered. We (Elegant Arrivals) require a $100.00 deposit for service. This deposit ensures that the vehicle requested is reserved for that date of the event, put on the schedule and cannot be booked again for that date of service.On May 3, 2014, before service was rendered, we put a call out to [redacted] to inform her that the large bus which was reserved was unable to be used do to unforeseen mechanical issues. We offered to send (2) 14 passenger buses and that option was agreed to by customer.The buses arrived to the pickup destination on time without issue. One of the buses had a power failure unknown to the driver until he attempted to open the passenger entrance door. Both drivers had contact with the owner and mechanic about the power issue an attempted to rectify the situation on scene. The drivers were unable to fix the issue and after no passengers boarded the bus it was returned to the limo yard. Upon arrival it was discovered that it was a relay malfunction and the vehicle could not be used. A replacement vehicle was sent out to the destination pick up for the return service.In our contract it states that we (Elegant Arrivals) reserve the right to substitute any vehicle at any time for unforeseen mechanical issue reasons. [redacted] was sent out a confirmation email including some of the rules and it also says to visit our website for complete rules and policies. I am including this email. Our contract is under [redacted]s name and no one elses.As to [redacted]s complaint about the emergency exit being riveted shut, this vehicle has a roof emergency exit which was not riveted shut. There is no rear door emergency exit on this vehicle, but there is a luggage storage door.As to the best of our abilities we rendered the service. The contract was signed and we feel that we have done our part. We are only obligated to the name on the contract for resolving issues. We did apologize to the parents who called into the office that day for the unforeseen issues. We followed company policy. Please feel free to review the rules and regulations online at www.elegantarrivals.net as well.Respectfully,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Review: The two vehicles for which I contracted with Elegant Arrivals on Saturday, May 17, 2014 were a large limo bus and a trolley. An initial $100 deposit was paid on January 16, 2014 with a credit card ending in [redacted] to secure the limo bus. No confirmation of the terms of engagement were ever received by me from Elegant Arrivals ("EA"), despite repeated requests for same; however, when I initially spoke with "[redacted]," he indicated that he would arrange for "split" service, wherein I contracted with EA only for the hours of use, which freed the vehicle for use for other purposes on May 17. As explained to me, split service meant that once the vehicle dropped the wedding party at the reception, there was no need for the vehicle to remain outside the reception, unused, for 4.5-5 hours. Based on this representation, I agreed to contract with EA for the large limo bus on May 17.

Thereafter, on April 29, 2014, I contracted with EA for the trolley to provide transportation for out-of-town wedding guests. An additional $100 deposit was provided on the same credit card. I received confirmation of the trolley contract shortly thereafter.

Issues arose almost immediately on Saturday, May 17, the day of our wedding. At approximately 9:30am, I received a phone call from [redacted], the driver of the limo bus. [redacted] introduced himself and asked for me to provide him with the itinerary for the day. This was a curious phone call to receive since I and my coordinator provided the day's itinerary to EA on numerous occasions leading up to May 17, but also because [redacted] had verbally confirmed same with EA on Sunday, May 12.

Needless to say, the main occurrence with which I take issue is that I was forced to walk from our wedding reception, in my wedding gown, to my hotel at the conclusion of the reception because the limo bus was not present. Suffice to say that, if the limo bus was in fact present at any point in time around the conclusion of the reception, a quick visual scan of the limo bus (yielding no one in a puffy white dress) may have given the driver pause, or at least served as grounds to explore my whereabouts further. To add insult to injury, I was advised upon return from my honeymoon that I would incur an additional $540.00 overtime charge in relation to the limo bus. Despite contacting Elegant Arrivals and speaking with them at lengthy, I still do not have any additional information the driver's whereabouts during the course of the "overtime" as he was surely not using his extra time to drive me, my husband our wedding party home - the services for which I contracted.

With respect to the trolley, reports regarding the trolley service were relayed to me the following day, May 18. Based on information provided by guests present on the trolley, the driver was also unaware of the itinerary for the day. The trolley stalled several times and guests on the trolley had to get out to help push it. The door on the trolley was broken and flapping open and closed during the entirety of the trip, which, as you may be aware, was primarily on Route **. The trolley got lost on numerous occasions. At one point, the driver had to inquire with people on the street to locate the destination. Similarly, the driver got lost on the way to the reception and the trolley was righted only after a guest was able to utilize the GPS on their cell phone. During our conversation, you had indicated that your notes reflected that the trolley was swapped out for a bus on May 17. I can confirm that the trolley was swapped for a bus at some point in the evening. Again, this is another frustrating detail as I did not contract with EA for a bus. I was told by [redacted] of EA that the trolley was brand new (her words), but the accounts of the evening directly contravene these statements. Finally, the trolley had none of the items, refreshment-wise, that were contained in the confirmation email.

I called EA upon my return from my honeymoon and, after a prolonged amount of time on the phone with a representative, I was asked to memorialize our conversation in an email to her. On June 6, 2014, I did as requested. To date, I have received no response, despite requesting a response and a refund.Desired Settlement: I want a refund for the overtime charge of $540.00 in relation to the limo bus, as well as a refund for the trolley services.

Business

Response:

July 3, 2014To Whom It May Concern:Elegant Arrivals is a for hire transportation limousine service. Prior to receiving your letter of July 1.2014 we had been in contact with our customer and had this incident under review.We are glad to say that we did resolve this issue with the customer, [redacted]. A refund has been issued with our apologies as a mistake had been made.Respectfully, ?

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and agree that a resolution has been reached.

Regards,

Review: Booked a bus for high school prom. On prom day first bus broke down and company sent 2 smaller buses with capacity of 14 people each. Upon arrival, one of the buses was unable to open the door for the kids to board the bus. The bus drivers were trying to fix the problem. Numerous parents called the company while this was going on to try and request another vehicle or a solution were met with hangups. One bus then loaded 20 kids on it to take them to the prom 45 miles away in the rain. I did not permit my child on the vehicle, but it is appalling that the company driver would do this. I pray for the kids safety as I do not have faith in this company.Desired Settlement: As I had to drive my daughter and her date, I wish a refund of the $110 total we paid as their portion of the fee for the bus.

Business

Response:

May 31, 2014Dear [redacted]:Elegant Arrivals is a for hire transportation limousine service. On March 27, 2014 an 8 hour Prom limousine transportation service was booked by [redacted] via Email/internet and telephone contact with our reservationist [redacted] for May 3, 2014. At the time of the initial reservation request, we secured a deposit of $100.00. Full payment of $1,440.00 was received before services were rendered. We (Elegant Arrivals) require a $100.00 deposit for service. This deposit ensures that the vehicle requested is reserved for that date of the event, put on the schedule and cannot be booked again for that date of service.On May 3, 2014, before service was rendered, we put a call out to [redacted] to inform her that the large bus which was reserved was unable to be used do to unforeseen mechanical issues. We offered to send (2) 14 passenger buses and that option was agreed to by customer.The buses arrived to the pickup destination on time without issue. One of the buses had a power failure unknown to the driver until he attempted to open the passenger entrance door. Both drivers had contact with the owner and mechanic about the power issue an attempted to rectify the situation on scene. The drivers were unable to fix the issue and after no passengers boarded the bus it was returned to the limo yard. Upon arrival it was discovered that it was a relay malfunction and the vehicle could not be used. A replacement vehicle was sent out to the destination pick up for the return service.In our contract it states that we (Elegant Arrivals) reserve the right to substitute any vehicle at any time for unforeseen mechanical issue reasons. [redacted] was sent out a confirmation email including Some of the rules and it also says to visit our website for complete rules and policies. Our contract is under [redacted] name and no one elses.As to [redacted]s complaint about being hung up on, the owners phone battery did die during this event. The calls that came into office were answered and handled accordingly.As to the best of our abilities we rendered the service. The contract was signed and we feel that we have done our part. We are only obligated to the name on the contract for resolving issues. We did apologize to the parents who called into the office that day for the unforeseen issues. We followed company policy. Please feel free to review the rules and regulations online at www.elegantarrivals.net as well.Respectfully,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,