Very disappointed in the car that arrived to take us to our hotel in Manhattan from JFK Airport.
Not only was it dirty and smelly ......the driver wasn't any better. He never spoke to us but kept muttering to himself.
Not a good start to our vacation.....
You get what you pay for I suppose, no one waiting at the airport, after 30 mins I called the number and was told to wait outside at the second stand under the C sign. Tens minutes on a van arrived so if your expecting a town car like in the picture don't get your hopes up. Trip in was quick but when we arrived we're told we had to pay tunnel tolls as well on what I thought was a pre paid voucher. The driver didn't take cards I hadn't any cash due to the one ATM at JFK terminal 4 being out of order. So had to go in and sort it out with reception who paid him whilst I went to a ATM. A bit embarrassing and not the streamlined welcome and arrival I'd have liked.
Booked online which was the easy part. However, once you have booked and read the small print you will note that your car is outsourced to a company called Carmel Limo. In their small print is states you have to confirm booking again online not straightforward then you MUST the word must was bold and in capitals telephone Carmel Limo 12 hours before you depart. This means calling USA from the UK which for me was not straightforward. I do not have the option of calling international numbers from my mobile and have no landline. In the end I had to visit a family member to use their phone. This was an absolute nightmare as Carmel Limo were constantly engaged for hours it was only lunchtime their time. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep before leaving from my flight. This was just unnecessary stress. I tried calling Carmel Limo on about 6 different numbers i.e. general, accounts, driver, complaints, admin, manager all to no avail. I then emailed them on 6 different email addresses and never heard anything back from them. I then emailed and tweeted Viator, then finally hooray managed to reach Viator on a UK number who contacted Carmel Limo to confirm the booking on my behalf. I gave them some feedback about not being able to reach Carmel Limo and the call handler seemed shocked by this. I have since read many, many reviews that all say the same. The return journey was exactly the same. No way of reaching Carmel Limo by telephone, even the hotel could not get hold of them. Again called Viator for help. You will also note in the small print that you have to pay a toll to the driver. This worked out as another 8 there and back. On the way back I handed the driver 12 8 toll and 4 tip He promptly snapped at me where is my tip! I was in shock! I wished I had asked for the 4 dollars back but didn't think about it at the time. Although the drivers arrived promptly I would never ever use Carmel Limo again as they caused too much stress. Beware if you are booking through someone like Viator as you may end up with them. Ask Viator who they are outsourcing to first. Carmel Limo caused me and my friend a huge amount of stress and tears, yes tears. Come on Viator. Check out the companies that you are outsourcing to. I would not use you again if the service provided by the companies you use is anything like Carmel Limo. Not cool Viator, not cool.