The Jazzy Limousine driver was told 9:30 a.m. for pickup at the Port of New Orleans at the NCL ship dock. Although I called repeatedly, they never showed up. Dispatch said the driver was coming, then he's dropping off embarking passengers, then a train is blocking the tracks. All the while, many cars, taxis and even charter busses were freely coming by. No train in sight anywhere. It's one way traffic, and clearly, no one else was having trouble arriving to pick people up.
I prepaid. I shouldn't have. I'll be contesting the charge.
A free taxi drive stopped to ask us if we needed a ride, and we said we did. It was 10:10 a.m. by this point. I called the dispatch back, this time getting another dispatcher on the phone, and told them we were taking another taxi, and they needed to give us our money back. She tried to say they wouldn't. No problem, I'll contest it with American Express. Don't use this company.
Yes, the Super Bowl was in town. But when our new driver took off it literally only took 10 minutes to get on the 10 freeway. Traffic was NOT an issue.
Response from Host
Feb 2025
Dear Mam,
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. I’d like to provide some clarity regarding the situation and our communication during your pickup at the Cruise Port of New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday.
First, please know that we were in constant communication with you throughout the delay. Our dispatch team conducted a conference call with your inbound chauffeur, who was en route to drop off passengers to the cruise port at the same location you were waiting. This was explained during the call, along with real-time GPS updates on the driver’s location with the driver explaining what he was seeing and experiencing during the delay.
To clarify, we did arrive at the pickup location, but you had already left before the driver could reach you. While it may have appeared that other vehicles were arriving freely, you were not at the back of the pickup line and may not have been aware of what was happening further down the line.
We also want to note that when asked if you had observed a train blocking traffic, our intention was to troubleshoot and understand any possible causes for the delay—not to insist there was a train present. Choosing to disregard the driver’s real-time status update and our live GPS information was entirely your decision, which unfortunately led to a missed connection.
The entire time the driver was stuck at the entrance of the cruise port before the train tracks and we could not determine why inbound traffic was not moving.
Additionally, since your booking was made through Viator, we do not handle any billing or payment processes directly. All financial transactions, including refunds, are managed by Viator’s customer support team. We recommend reaching out to them for assistance regarding your request.
Despite these challenges, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration caused. Our goal is always to deliver reliable service, and we are actively reviewing this incident to ensure smoother operations in the future.
If you’d like to discuss this further, please feel free to reach out.
Sincerely,
Sidney
Guest Services Manager and Lead Dispatcher
Jazzy Limousine & Shuttle