We rented a 30 passenger party bus for the prom. The bus was painted in graffiti and the 16 kids were very excited about it. The pictures which were sent by the booking agent, showed an awesome but with cool neon lights, three dance poles, handrails mounted around the ceiling and a wet bar. We were told the bus would be coming from Atlanta Georgia, which is 99 miles from our home. Three days prior to the prom, I called to confirm that the driver had directions and was assured the driver would call us before the day of the prom. I got a call the night before only to find out that the graffiti bus was sent to Dallas and there must have been a "mix-up". The owner of the limo company said that we were getting a brand new bus instead and that the kids would be thrilled. He asked ME how long I thought it would take to get from Jacksonville Florida to our town because that is where the bus was located! I asked repeatedly if the driver was going to drive the nine hours from Jacksonville and still be able to drive our kids around for eight more hours. He said, "sure, he does it all the time! The kids will be thrilled with the bus and the driver!" Let's just say that it was SHOCKING, not thrilling. This BRAND NEW bus had rust all over it, no lighting inside, no handrails (except for a couple that had just been installed over the speakers) and the driver stated that the lights had not been installed because it was a "new bus." I demanded to speak to the person in charge but he simply stated that "if you don't like it, I will have the driver leave" so basically we had no choice. I called to speak to the booking agent and to the owner again but they refused to do anything to make up for their BAIT AND SWITCH tactics! He even had the nerve to tell me that the bus "did have lights, your kids must have turned them off"! Come on! This company is a joke! Every parent got on that bus and all of them were terribly disappointed at what our kids had been stuck with for their senior prom night. I will say that Joe, the driver, was very apologetic and a sweet kid... Especially since he drove 18 hours in a 24 hour period... Which I am pretty sure is illegal!
0 comments