Luxury Ride Limousine
Fraud Attempt and Terrible Customer Service

I called Luxury Ride to arrange a limousine for my anniversary about two weeks in advance. I spoke with "Bobby" who helped me select a Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine for $100/hr all inclusive. He assured me that he would be the driver and that he would even "throw in a bottle of champagne" because of the event. I gave him my debit card information to hold the appointment.

I called to confirm the service the day before my anniversary and spoke again to Bobby. He assured me that everything was in order and he would be on time. The next day I called about one hour before the car was due to make sure that all was well. Bobby told me that "they were having transmission problems with the Mercedes" but that he could provide a Lexus SUV limo at no extra charge. This seemed odd to me as the Lexus should be less money. I told him I didn't want the Lexus and how long it would be to wait for the Mercedes. He said he needed another hour so I agreed to that.

When he did not arrive on time I called and was told that the Mercedes could not be fixed and that he was on the way with the Lexus. I was disappointed but I had no time to make other arrangements. A few minutes later the Lexus arrived but with a different driver, "Coco". This led me to believe that Bobby had double booked the Mercedes and took that job instead.

Coco immediately asked me for upfront payment of $500 to cover the estimated 5 hour time slot. I offered him my American Express card and he told me he needed cash because he had no way to imprint the card. I have taken dozens of limousines in my life and have never been unable to use a credit card before. I told Coco I was not carrying that much cash and he called Bobby. We finally agreed that when I arrived at the restaurant, I would attempt to get the waiter to imprint my card for him.

We entered the limo after I gave the address and directions to Coco. Since the destination was a surprise for my wife I didn't want to discuss it in front of her. Despite the fact that the restaurant is well known and on a major street in Beverly Hills, Coco continually needed direction which spoiled the surprise for my wife. The limo was not clean and smelled of vomit, the air conditioning was faulty and no bottle of champagne as promised. Also, the limo was too large to maneuver through to the restaurant and, since we needed to bring the driver into the restaurant to imprint my card, we had to park around he block and walk to the restaurant.

After an embarrassing episode of having the waiter go to another business to get an AMEX slip, we finally signed it for $500 and had our dinner. Because of all of the issues we decided not to drive to a night club after dinner as planned, and we returned home. We had the limo for exactly 3 1/2 hours.

The next day I called Bobby and told him of our unhappiness with the service. I asked how much he was charging my AMEX and he said $500. I asked why since we only used 3 1/2 hours if time and he said that we had "contracted" for 5 hours and needed to pay for all of that. I told him he could charge a total of $400 and give Coco whatever tip he felt was warranted out of that. He agreed.

About two weeks later a $500 charge appeard in my checking account from an unfamiliar source. I researched it and got the number of another limo company in Los Angeles. I called them and asked how they got my information and why they were charging me. Although the owner was familiar with Bobby at Luxury Ride, he swore that they had never charged my card. I told him that I was reporting the charge as fraud to my bank and he asked me to keep him informed.

I reported the charge to my bank and they have temporarily refunded the money while they investigate. To this date there has been no charge from Luxury Ride on my AMEX, the only autorization that I signed.
I hope that this experience will help others when choosing a limousine service. Make sure that they accept credit or debit payments before you use them.

Company: Luxury Ride Limousine
Country: USA
State: California
City: Studio City
Address: 11685 Ventura Blvd
Phone: 8187884466

  <     >