Blacklane - Chauffeur Service 4+

TL;DR
Easy, professional and trustworthy. Highly recommend.
I found out my train for the next day was cancelled while in London at 11pm and needed a way to travel for Christmas. I searched a bit and considered a black cab or Uber, but was looking for something I could plan (I’ve had terrible experiences with Uber). I found Blacklane and decided to go for it based on reviews and comments from people. I had a car booked to pick me up at 11am the next day, it was early and they were happy to wait until the start time no problems, we ended up leaving early and I made a connection in minutes that saved me 2 hours. Worth every cent. Used them again to the airport and got an upgraded car; there’s not really any better way to travel than a 7 series, I even had a rare nap. Again, worth every cent. Drivers in both cars were professional and friendly, both times they arrived early and were happy to wait to the agreed start time to even start waiting 15 mins. I don’t often leave reviews, but good service deserves it, and I’ve not had better service in 2022 than with Blacklane. Look forward to this being my go-to in 2023.

Hello Jules,
Thank you for your feedback and we are glad to hear you rate our service so highly. We are always striving to provide as professional a service as possible and we are glad you are satisfied!
Chris

This is not an honest or reputable company. I tried to update the payment info for my ride pickup at Heathrow airport hours before the ride was due. When I updated the payment with the correct credit card, the Blacklane app suddenly informed me my ride was cancelled. I was in the middle of boarding my flight to London. So I quickly rebooked a new ride, confirmed it had gone through, then I had to shut off my phone as we were about to take off. When I landed in London, 2 rides had shown up. Both drivers are calling and texting, as is Blacklane customer service. I explained to all of them that the first ride had been cancelled by Blacklane. I was not sure why they had shown up. At this point, I had to get off the plane and go through customs. So I told customer service I would call them back as soon as I was able. After I hang up, I get emails saying my first ride had been cancelled outside the 1 hour window and now I owed for both rides. In my ensuing conversations with Blacklane, they refused to take responsibility for the glitch on their app and even went so far as to patronizingly explain to me how time differences work. Please spare yourself the trouble and never use this company. I had been a loyal customer for years, but recently, their tech (particularly their app) and their customer service is so bad it's honestly not a company to recommend to anyone.

Hello, Thank you for contacting us and I am sorry to hear about your recent experience with Blacklane. I would like to investigate this situation for you, would you kindly email chris.king@blacklane.com with your booking number as soon as possible? Once we have this information we will be able to check on the booking and resolve the situation for you. Chris

Review: On time airport pickup, luggage handled from bag claim to vehicle by the driver. Clean vehicle, professional and courteous driver. Just booked another ride for two returning from vacation, which leads into my suggestions:

1. It would be helpful to allow two drop off locations for an airport transfer, instead of having to book by the hour. The cost was similar, and fair in my opinion, however you must then discuss additional mileage with a representative if it will exceed their base mileage (25 miles for 2 hours). I prefer to complete everything via app, without the added step of calling in and/or chatting live. Representative who helped me through Facebook messenger was extremely responsive and very helpful.

2. After booking, I had to make an adjustment to the time and flight number a week in advance. Very simple to do through the app, however they re-verify the funds for the whole trip for each change. I was surprised when my bank notified me of two additional $113 charges, and didn’t feel this was properly noted on the page while making changes. The charges never posted, and were only left pending for a few days - however I can imagine not all customers may necessarily have the funds available in their account or are prepared to be without them for a few days just to make a change.

Overall I intend to continue using Blacklane and appreciate their service. Excellent company to book a ride with.

Hello,
Thank you for you kind and constructive feedback on our service. I am happy to hear that you plan on using Blacklane for your upcoming trips.
With regards to your first suggestion - we can accomodate an additional stop on a transfer booking if we have prior knowledge of the need and the stop is not not considerably far from the final destination. If the stop is along the same way, then you can include this information in the special requests section of the booking, with the name of the location and how long you anticipate the chauffeur would be waiting, and this would be assigned to a chauffeur who has prior information of your request. If the stops are significantly far apart or there would be a significant detour needed, then we would suggest booking an hourly booking in this case. This type of booking ensures the availability of the chauffeur for the needed amount of time, whereas leaving a note in the special requests is dependent in the availability of our chauffeur's. It is always advisable to contact us directly if you have any doubts as to the best way to go forward as we can advise you on the most suitable process.
With regards to your second suggestion, we are always working on new ways to make our process smoother and more convenient for our guests. We understand the pre-authorization may not be convenient for some guests and we are constantly looking for new ways to improve this needed security process.
Thank you again for you feedback and we are looking forward to seeing you on board with us again soon.
Best,
Chris King