What if your limo doesn't show up for your wedding

[Viper_Dude]

My wife and I were just married on June 24, 2006. The limo service (A Savannah Nite in Cincinnati, OH) was supposed to arrive between 5:30 - 6:00 at the church. A little after 6:00 pm I was told by one of my groomsmen there was no limo out front. Him and I circled the church, and no limo. I had my friend walk across the street to another church to make sure he didn't go to the wrong church. He wasn't there either. I go in and grab my cell phone to see if he called... no missed calls. I call the limo service and they give me the driver's number. I call the driver and he says he is in traffic, still 40 minutes away. At this point it is 6:50pm, and our reception was supposed to start at 7:00pm. We ended up piling the entire wedding party into the 4 cars that hadn't left the church yet (including the photographer's SUV).

Well the outcome is we were about 45 minutes late to our reception (still had to pay for the time though), and we had to waive the receiving line to get the wedding somewhat back on schedule. The rest of the reception went fine, and after an hour or so of speeding things up we were back on schedule. We just got back from our honeymoon yesterday (July 4th, 2006). Now I'm left with one burning question:

What should I do about the limousine service? I checked my bank statement and they have refunded $282.50, but not the original $250.00 deposit. I'm trying to get my eggs in a row before I call the owner of Savannah Nite. What would you do in my situation? Also, have any of you dealt with something like this before? Any clues, hints, or suggestions are welcome.

Jason

P.S. To make this somewhat hot tub related, the resort we spent our honeymoon at had 5 whirlpools, and our room had a jacuzzi. ;-)

[wmccall]

Clearly 100% their fault.  They owe you everything. For our wedding the baker forgot to bake the cake.

[Spatech_tuo]

What should I do about the limousine service? I checked my bank statement and they have refunded $282.50, but not the original $250.00 deposit. I'm trying to get my eggs in a row before I call the owner of Savannah Nite. What would you do in my situation?

They may say the traffic issue was not their fault but it certainly wasn't yours and since they did not provide the services the down payment was there for I would call and politely ask when that redund was coming my way. If they hesitated at all I'd let them that in reality you feel like they owe you above and beyond that for lost reception time and screwed up plans.

[Brewman]

Did you sign any kind of contract?  If so, is anything spelled out in there that limits the limo companies liability?  If not, press for a refund, and hope you don't have to take them to small claims court.  

[anne]

I agree- you deserve 100% back. Unless there was some horrendous traffic pile-up, I'd say that as a transportation service, they need to anticipate even bad traffic, and just get there early! Ask for 100% back. If they balk, politely tell them you will go to small claims court not just for the deposit, but for the lost money at the reception you paid for but did not benefit from. And add anything else that is reasonable as loss, too.

[wmccall]

A friend of a friend drives in a limo company. Their driver gets there an hour early and has a cup of coffee in a nearby restaurant, or reads the paper in a nearby parking lot.  They have 5 limos, and its rare they are all out at the same time. If a driver has a problem he calls for the back up.   No!, Don't back up!

[tmknies1]

Congratulations on your wedding Jason. I wish you and your wife a long, happy marriage.

I would press for all your money back. If they balk, take them to small claims court and add damages to the amount for lost time at reception, etc. I am sure they will settle quickly.

Good luck.

[drewstar]

Congrats Viper!


On my wedding the limo never showed the next morning to take me and may wife to the airport.    

The limo company owes you all the money (including the deposit back).   I would contact them with a polite note, but one that is firm, and clearly illustrates your disapointment.  I would ask for the $25 back, and give them oppurtunity to give it to you without causing a problem, and perhaps allowing them to  maybe if they felt you might use them again,  give you a discount next time you use them.   Give them the oppurutnity to do the right thing. (My experience has been, most limo companies  don't care, even ones that I have used dozens of times).   eh.

Going after them for anything more than that (wedding receptiion time,  and aggrevation) seems like it would be a long shot (or  at least what I have learned from watching judge judy).

I'm sorry to hear about the problem, but I hope everything else went well.  

[wmccall]

Yes, congrats on the wedding. Getting married was one of the smartest things I've ever done. (Yea, its a short list)   At least now in Ohio you don't have to take a blood test to get a license to get married. My arm is just healing up from the old country Doc stabbing me with the needle to get blood.

[Viper_Dude]

Thank you for all the responses. The concensus seems to be to get my money back and just walk away. However, after my chat with the owner of the limo company yesterday I would be more than happy to take him to small claims court just to inconvenience him. Here's what happened:

I called Eric, the owner of Savannah Nites. He said he's on vacation until next Wednesday, and I will just have to wait, but he will give me the $250.00 back. When I asked if he was going to give me any compensation, he told me, "I wouldn't count on it." Also, now he's trying to say the limo did show up, fifteen minutes late, and we were already gone. I know for a fact we didn't even pull out of the parking lot until 7:05! He was supposed to be there at 6:00. I do have the original contract, and it says 6:30, but I called and changed that with him over a month before the wedding (unfortunately I didn't get the changed time in writing).

And now it gets even better. He says the driver of the limo actually was late because he had to stay at the accident scene (now it's an accident, not just traffic as the driver originally said) as a witness because it was a fatality involving a motorcycle. I felt so bad at that point, but still the driver should of called me. I got off the phone with him, and started to realize the motorcycle accident sounded a little fishy (call it intuition).

I called the State Highway Patrol, and they said no fatality accidents occurred on I-275 on that date (driver claimed he was stuck in traffic on I-275). There were three fatality accidents, but they were in northern Ohio, none involving motorcycles. She even called Hamilton county police to confirm there were no local accidents involving motorcycles on that date... and there weren't! Not only is this sorry so-and-so lying to me about his arrival time, he's trying to manipulate my compassion as a civilized human being to get me to drop the subject.

So now not only did this piece of work break our contract, he's now told me a bald face lie to cover his rear end. And I checked the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint, and it turns out he already has 5 other complaints in only 3 years of owning this business!

[wmccall]

Take the $250 and run. Maybe buy extra Dichlor.  I've heard it said all good wedding days have on disaster. Ours was the cake as mentioned earlier.  Consider it a good omen.

[Spatech_tuo]

And now it gets even better. He says the driver of the limo actually was late because he had to stay at the accident scene (now it's an accident, not just traffic as the driver originally said) as a witness because it was a fatality involving a motorcycle.

Even IFFFFFFFF that were true, that is not your problem; they did not render services as agreed upon. That may stop you from going after more than your deposit as it would show their intentions were honorable (again, we'd have to believe this first) but in the end you deserve EVERY cent back at a minimum since you received nothing of which they were contracted to provide.

I agree with Bill, get your $250 deposit back and concentrate on everything that went right for you on that day.

[spaman-]

I hate limo companys, my boss in Phoenix hired a limo to take us to a concert, after the concert the limo driver was driving like a nut , then to top things off a drunk driver runs a stop sign smashes into the limo sends me flying forward and my wife thru a side window and slamming her to the floor , it was dark after the limo finally came to a hault I was calling my wifes name and no answer, I find her unconciuos on the floor a buddy grabs a lighter and shines it in my wifes face it was covered with blood and her scalp was layed open we thought she was dead! After a few seconds she started the deathly girgle sounds , fire and rescue showed up and long story short she had over a 100 stitches in her head a huge lump and loss of memory but was ok. Come to find out the limo driver had a suspended drivers license. The limo company never even checked his ID it was his 5th offense, the drunk driver spent a year in jail and still pays 250$  per month on a $30,000 restitution! So yea take him for what you can get! Sorry to hijack the thread but Im bitter about the limo companies smarmy dealings!

[Viper_Dude]

I hate to bring this topic back to life, but I just wanted to bring everyone back up to date. I'm sorry to report that this scenario has gone from bad to worse.

Eric, the owner of the limo company has to this date never called me back. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. That got the owner's attention! He sent them a statement in which he states he is now refusing to return my $250! He says that it was a non-refundable deposit, and by us not being willing to remain at the church another 40 minutes (which would make the driver over an hour late), we violated the contract! This was one of many inflamatory comments he made in his response to the BBB (Apparently not realizing I would get a CC of his response!)

So this brings me to why I am updating this thread today. I filed a small claims case against Savannah Nite Limousine last month, and this coming Wednesday is my big day in court!

My question to everyone is, "Is there anything I should know ahead of time or be aware of before Wednesday?" Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions!  

[Brewman]

Bring a copy of the contract with you.  Also bring copies of any correspondence you may had sent or recieved, (letters, copies of emails, etc.), and a journal of all conversations you had with the date, time agreed upon actions, and actual results.  
 Anthing you can do to show the limo company lied to you will help a lot, I'm thinking.  But it has to be documented to be worth much.
Remember to bring the stuff from the BBB too- it'll be interesting to see how he defends himself in this.
 You may have to demonstrate how this company violated the terms of your contract.
A witness or two who can back up anything that isn't on paper may help, if that's possible.