The Limos.com Forum Has Moved!!!

I am having trouble with a very dirty phone line (Dial up is state of the art where I live)this week end so hopefully I will get through this post before I get knocked off.

Out where I live, aside from the County Transit that only runs 9 to 5 week days, I am the only other form of transportation available. Got a call from a Lady yesterday who needed to get to Detroit, 156 miles away. I quoted her a rate based on the round trip time at my Garage to Garage rate pkus 1/2 hour for prep and clean up. Came to $312.00. She almost blew a gastet because I wanted so much to haul her to Detroit. Well I got to thinking, if this Ladys car is broken down, how much wouls a Tow Truck charge to haul her Car to Detroit.

The Tow truck was a lot more than I wanted. The Tow Truck charges $50.00 to hook up and then $3.00 loaded mile or $518.00. People never cease to amaize me. They are willing to pay $500.00 to haul their Car but not willing to spend $300.00 to haul their Butt.

The Tow Truck business and the Limo Business are very much the same. They both involve a vehicle worth between 50 and 70K. They both run 24 hours a day. The advantage the Tow truck Driver is his client is not complaining about the AC not being cold enough.

Good stuff Dean.

I knew an operator that got so fed up with price shoppers that when they balked at the rate he informed them that they just flunked his "Solvency Test ". When they asked him what he meant he told them he only carried people that were fiscally solvent !

United Cab is a fine New Orleans cab company. I know a local limousine operator who gives out their number to all price shoppers and tells them to call " United Limo". He gets some nasty calls back from the price-shoppers which he enjoys very much ! In this part of the country if you told the discount crowd to call Shoe Leather Express they would ask for the number.

In a service business such as ours you have to seek out the markets that appreciate Highly Professional Service with all the amenties. Some of the calls you receive are funny. A few weeks ago a call came in for a ride to Florida for a group of 14. I quoted our tariff and the caller said ' I was looking for something much cheaper". When I suggested a school bus company the caller became upset and told me he wanted a luxury vehicle. I told him to keep searching and to have a nice day. Running below cost is not one of our business strategies.

If you have a retail store in a mall or a strip shopping center would you sell below cost just to have customers ? Your posts on this matter are very depressing as you talk about operators who run below cost-the sign and mark of the desperate and of folks who don't belong in this profession. CLASS QUESTION : Define Sharecropper.

Dave,
I think all of us have had those type of calls from people, and it still suprises me how much nerve people have. When they don`t like your price they ask do you know of any company cheaper ? better yet do you have their number ?
I always bite my tongue at this point, i would like to suggest shoe leather express. I like the customers that call up and tell us what they are willing to pay for a trip. I am an easy going person that will take a lot, but i wish sometime i could speak my mind to these rude customers, but what kind of refelection will that be on my company. I know it all evens out in the end because of the nice customers that are happy to use your service outweigh the couple of bad ones.

Learning how to do the math correctly is a problem in living for many folks.

Build a name so those calls are rare. That is called branding. When they come treat them kindly as you would with anyone who has a learning disability.

quote:

Originally posted by TxLimoGuy:
Dean/Dave, try my favorite response for this...

"You know, Mr Smith, The other night on the road I just needed a quick nap, maybe like 4 hours, but darnit if the Holiday Inn didn't charge me for all 24!"

Ok, so I have never really used that one, but there are times you'd like to

Tony the sad part of your post is that you pay for 24 hours at a hotel but you check in at 3:00PM and have to check out at 11:00AM. Don't sound like a full day to me. We need to shorten our hours kinda like a Shrink. You charge by the hour but the patient only gets 50 minutes.

Dean/Dave, try my favorite response for this...

"You know, Mr Smith, The other night on the road I just needed a quick nap, maybe like 4 hours, but darnit if the Holiday Inn didn't charge me for all 24!"

Ok, so I have never really used that one, but there are times you'd like to

The humor folks like these bring is a joy. I had one call me a few months ago for a minibus quote from the airport to Tulane University. He became extremely upset when I quoted him my price. He said "What-for a 15 minute ride ? " Instead of arguing with him ( an obvious waste of time ) I informed him that was my tariff and I was bound by it. He understood that response and moved on to find someone else. The lack of logic of these people is amazing. I mean-what kind of Chauffeur would work for 15 minutes of pay ?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dean Schuler,

Babe Ruth once said " If you wanta take the ride, ya gotta pay the ticket ".

quote:

I lose no sleep over such calls. They are not customers to begin with.

I will repeat my phrase:

"Some people are not livery customers, they just don't know it until they make a phone call."

and add to it,

"People are never tow truck customers unless the HAVE to be"

My guess is a taxi to Detroit would have been close in price to your, eh Dave?

In valuing their transportation option people rarely consider the value of their time, or your cost structure. It never entered her mind about you being in the car 6 hours for her trip. Her only basis of comparison was probably the $12 in gas money she might have to give a friend to take her (and we all know that friend's time has absolutely zero value).

I lose no sleep over such calls. They are not customers to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by gunny:
A pipe froze in my friends house & bursted. He called a local plumber who drove 10 min to the residence, cut off the main, knocked a hole in the wall & Spliced the pipe, collected $250.00 & was out the door 15 min after arrival.

It is all a matter of perceived needs to cost. I need to have this pipe fixed before my home gets flooded out.

Someones mode of transportation is stranded and they need it back on home turf. They'll pay whatever it cost to have that accomplished.

As previously posted, when people call for transportation, that is what they are looking for, basic transportaion. Hardly ever have I answered a call (Fla & NY) where the voice on the other end will say, "yes, I would like the pricing for a chauffered driven luxury car".

Customers don't hear the 3 hours to and 3 hours drive back time. They only hear $300. for a 3 hour ride. To them $100. an hour is outrageous.

Gunny, You know civilians have no common sense-that's why the military invented basic training!

A pipe froze in my friends house & bursted. He called a local plumber who drove 10 min to the residence, cut off the main, knocked a hole in the wall & Spliced the pipe, collected $250.00 & was out the door 15 min after arrival.

It is all a matter of perceived needs to cost. I need to have this pipe fixed before my home gets flooded out.

Someones mode of transportation is stranded and they need it back on home turf. They'll pay whatever it cost to have that accomplished.

As previously posted, when people call for transportation, that is what they are looking for, basic transportaion. Hardly ever have I answered a call (Fla & NY) where the voice on the other end will say, "yes, I would like the pricing for a chauffered driven luxury car".

Customers don't hear the 3 hours to and 3 hours drive back time. They only hear $300. for a 3 hour ride. To them $100. an hour is outrageous.