Carmel Car & Limousine Reviews 136

I wanted to report an incident that has happened on our pickup from the airport, when your driver ‘JUN’ arrived at our destination.

When the driver picked us up at the airport the very first thing he told us, after barely saying hello, was that toll and tips weren’t included and that we had to pay for them (in a very rude and abrupt way). We said ok, as we saw the email highlighting this information. What was very odd was that both the email and the driver mentioned tips before the trip even began. I’m fully aware that in the US there’s this absurd obsession with tipping for everything, however I would assume you would tip someone after they’ve provided you with a good/outstanding service.

As we were driving to our destination, the driver did not say a word to us, but showed early signs of his instability, constant beeping, road rage, loud exasperated exhales. As we approached our destination (we weren’t even there yet) he started asking us to pay for the toll (and tips) and we said sure, we can pay by card or contactless, whatever you take. He barely spoke English and was very hard to understand, and I’m sure he couldn’t really understand us either. Once he showed us his screen, the first thing he asked was to select a tip amount, I said we didn’t want to tip as he has been very rude to us from the second we stepped into the car.

At this point, things go absolutely crazy. He started shouting very aggressively, saying he would take us back to the airport and we would deal with his company about all this. We tried to explain we would pay for the toll as we agreed and it was ok, and there was no need for all this insanity. As he kept on shouting and driving off from our destination, he kept on shouting more and more, and then more. He told us to shut up and kept saying he will take us back to the airport. At this point, as he was basically keeping us hostage, I even told him I would call the police but he didn’t seem to care.

As he kept on shouting and driving like a maniac, we told him we’d pay both for the toll and tip him, at this point we would say anything to get out of the car and away from this very mentally unstable individual. I think he might have been under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. It was almost impossible to communicate with him, as he was shouting non-stop, not listening to us, and barely understanding anything we were saying to him. What seemed to kinda work was to say ‘we give you money now’. He somewhat calmed down and decided to drive us back to our hotel, we even told him we were happy to walk from where we were, as we just wanted to get away from him. We obviously tried to explain we never at any point said we wouldn’t pay for the toll, but it was to no avail as he just wouldn’t/couldn’t understand anything we were saying.

The toll fee was only $6.94 and we tipped him the lowest option we saw on the screen, just so we could get out of this situation. We were absolutely shocked about what had just happened and still trying to figure out how it would have benefited him taking us back to the airport, as he would have had to pay the toll again and definitely not get any money at all from us.

This was an absolutely disgusting and crazy situation, on what planet does someone treat their customers this way, shouting like a maniac and keeping them hostage, all for what, a $6.94 toll fee and a small tip? Make it make sense…

I’m definitely reporting this incident to Expedia, so hopefully they will stop working with you in the future. Of course I will also let the world know about this as much as I can (friends, family, socials, and I’ll even go to the media), so nobody else will have to go through this. I don’t understand how you can let someone so mentally unstable work for you and have the responsibility of driving people around, putting their lives (and other drivers) at risk. At the very least I hope I will be refunded for amount we were forced to pay, he can keep the $6.94 for the toll.

If I could rate Carmel limo less than a zero I would. Took them from JFK into Manhattan. Paid for a luxury car. Turned out to be a low end Toyota. For the return trip I tried to confirm the ID of the car and was told they would reach out 5 minutes before pick up. Heard nothing. At time of pick up they called and said they had NO CAR and could not say when a car might be available. After 35 years I’ll never use them again.

My clients used their services when they arrived at the LA Guardia Airport. We thought their prices were very reasonable when we booked it. My clients arrival was a nightmare. The gentleman that picked my clients up from the airport was so rude. They were trying to find him at the airport and he was acting extremely annoyed while they were talking to him on the phone.

After they finally found him, he shows up with a Toyota Camry. When we booked the transfer, the invoice showed 4 bags per passenger, my clients had 3 bags total and a wheelchair. They had to have their luggage on their laps because there was not enough room.

The drivers car was absolutely disgusting. It had garbage in the side pockets on the door, and was not vacuumed. Not to mention it was very hot and he had no ac and my clients were too afraid to ask to roll the windows down due to him being so rude. They arrive at the hotel, and the driver gets their luggage out and places it in the street and drives away. What kind of customer service is that?

This happened on a Sunday afternoon so of course I couldn't get a hold of anyone at their company, and Monday was a Federal Holiday. I had received a survey from their company asking how their services were and rated them bad and put into 500 characters as to what happened. I received an email immediately that said their customer service would be in contact with me. We'll Tuesday morning I call them and I was advised that customer service was not available but I would receive a call that same day.

A few hours goes by and no call so I called them again and conveniently customer service was not available again, they were busy with another caller was what I was told and I would get a return call. 4 hours later I call back and customer service is not available. I called back 3 times each day on Wednesday ,Thursday and Friday and was told the same thing, I would get a return call. Finally on Friday afternoon I receive a call from Joyce, from their customer service department who proceeds to argue with me because their invoice would have never said 4 bags per person, which I emailed to her and she "forwarded to her manager" my complaint was escalated to her manager and guess what? Still no return phone call or email from anyone in that company.

Their recording when you call them says they are world class, what a joke. I would never refer my clients to ever use them and will share with my colleagues not to use them either. My clients ended up booking a taxi for their departure back to the airport and we had to cancel their transfer with this company because it was such a nightmare. I advised my clients to dispute this charge with their bank because this was such horrible service.

You're better off getting a taxi when in New York City rather than this joke of a company, plus it's all cheaper too.

We were there on time. But without any details on how to find the driver. That's so basic when I write that now

We phoned twice but were cut off after listening to the recording. So lost without a limo we took a taxi.

They even had the cheek to refuse a refund. They replied on a TripAdvisor review saying 'contact our customer service dept'. But still refused.

How a company that doesn't explain how to meet their limo driver can continue to operate is beyond me. We really wouldn't use them again.

My experience with Carmel Limo was beyond disappointing. Despite booking two weeks in advance and providing our flight details, they failed to have a car ready upon our arrival. They repeatedly assured us of a 5-7 minute wait after baggage claim, but it was a lie.

We were left stranded at midnight with our children in the cold. When we called, they arranged another service, but it took 40 minutes to arrive. This level of incompetence and disregard for customers is unacceptable.

I strongly advise against using Carmel Limo. They're unreliable, untrustworthy, and their false promises put customers in vulnerable situations. Look elsewhere for your transportation needs.

Terrible experience!

Do not use this company. We have never ever experienced such bad service. They should pick us up at Newark airport and because of delay we arrived later than planned. But we called the driver who said that we shouldn’t worry and that she would wait for us. When we got out the company claimed an extra 90 dollars and claimed that they had been waiting for 2 hours. Maybe the driver did wait for 2 hours but only because their office send her to pick us up an hour before planned and even though we could show them the confirmation and prove that they had made an mistake and told her to pick us up too early we had to pay. We acknowledge that we were late but the driver told us it would not be a problem and of course we were willing to pay a little extra but we ended up paying almost 300 dollars to drive 11 miles. Furthermore the driver almost couldn’t speak English and it was very hard to communicate with her. We will definitely never use this company again.

Please stop demanding tips for a trip which has already been paid for in advance. Customer at the end of the trip may not have the cash especially as it not made clear when booking the trip that drivers will not leave alone until you give them the tip they want. Also please make other hidden charges such as tolls clear when trip is being booked as tourists wouldn’t know about it.

Contratamos un servicio para 5 personas entre el aeropuerto de La Guardia y el hotel en Jersey City en diciembre de 2023, porque era más económico que el taxi, Uber y otras opciones de transporte privado. Además, lo habíamos utilizado en 2019 y quedamos contentos.
Esta vez, además, han incorporado mensajes SMS y e-mail con instrucciones previas y al llegar al aeropuerto, para saber el punto de recogida, el coche que te espera, etc. Todo fue OK, a excepción del chófer que nos pidió una cantidad elevada en concepto de "peajes y propina". Le pagamos, pero puse una reclamación porque me parecía excesiva la cantidad, y Carmellimo me reembolsó directamente el dinero (a excepción del precio real del peaje).
Un 10 por Carmellimo, por su comprensión y rápida actuación, así que seguiremos utilizando el servicio, por su seriedad y respuesta al cliente.

On time and great car, excellent service and price was competitive.

Driver came early and loaded suitcases in trunk, without having to ask. At the airport, driver unloaded suitcases and put them on the curb.

Awful experience. Terrible driver who couldn't communicate and was visibly frustrated and couldn't navigate correctly. His frustration was bad enough it made my family uncomfortable. Then to top it off we accidentally left a bag in the car. We called back within minutes and to make a long story short it has now been 5 days with no cooperation from Carmel in helping resolve this. So it appears that the driver is now enjoying our valuable electronics.

Complete thieves. Did it again tonight. Try to book on the app, keeps giving you error message and then the car shows up when you’ve made alternative arrangements. No other option than canceling but you still get charged tolls and tips for a trip you never made.
I had it before, gave them the benefit of the doubt but these guys have unfortunately abused the system. So will I.

Always on time.. great drivers.. easy

Used Carmel in 2019 for airport pickup at LGA to hotel in Times Square and next day to cruise port in New Jersy. I remembered the service to be great so I was confused when I read negative reviews when planning trip to NYC this weekend.

I'm so glad I trusted my instincts and decided to use Carmel again for airport transfers. They were PERFECT. We used them 4 times during our stay. Each time , communication , driver and car cleanliness was spot on. At no time were we left waiting or stranded.
Will use them again. Thank you. CARMEL for great service!

Avoid at all cost. They left us stranded at our Niagara Falls Hotel when we had a CONFIRMED booking and paid for in full in advance. How dare you. You unprofessional saps.

You NEVER called or text to say the driver will not be showing up-and you had my number since you made me confirm it for you while on the phone. Instead, at 301pm I had to call to find out where our driver was since the pickup time was 3pm. To only be told (after two different reps got in the phone) to tell me, I need to find another form of transportation to BUF as the driver will not be showing up. WHAT? No apology, nothing. Rude, unprofessional and completely unacceptable.

This is NOT the way you run a business. I’m just sorry that our go to Chauffeur service, Blacklane does not operate in Ontario Canada. Now that is a chauffeur service we have never been let done with. I will NEVER use your service ever again.

Do everyone a favor and do something else as you obviously don’t know how to run a Chauffeur service.

Amazing and inexpensive service! We needed to get a ride from JFK to NJ. Uber and Lyft wanted to charge us $70-$80 more. I ordered Carmel and was so much more satisfied with my ride than I was with my UBER there.
Forget the other apps and use this one. I am a new and loyal customer!

I have been using Carmel for at least six years, and I still love the door-to-door service, the actual road trip, the drivers’s safe driving, timely pick-up arrivals, and the professional friendliness of the drivers.

My friends and I use this service for out-of-town travel and have found the cost to be fair, efficient, and worthwhile.

I am very pleased with Carmel Car and Limousine.

Service has gone downhill! I’ve been booking with Carmel for over 10 years but after this last trip, it’s a hard pass. Both drivers for two separate trips were 15-20 minutes late. It really added to the stress of getting to and from the airport. I won’t be booking with them again.

Terrible customer service. I rented through this company because it said I could cancel four hours before the activity and still receive a refund. I was flying from Las Vegas to New York City and my flight was canceled four times because of weather I canceled 12 hours prior to the activity and did not receive a refund taxi drivers are more dependable for the same cost. Do not use limo.

Booking by phone quick and included all fees. Agent handled discount coupon and sent email confirmation of booking. Driver on time waiting for us, car clean, trip was especially quick, and driver helpful with baggage.