Anita's Weekly Column

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Never, Ever Call Yellow Cab of Boulder

I’d like to share my experience with everyone I can: Yellow Cab of Boulder went out of their way, not only not to have me as a customer, but to ruin my chances of getting to my destination by any other means.

My car was in the shop for repairs, and I was told that it would be ready for pickup at 5:30pm on Wednesday, July 11. Since I was performing in a show that opened at 7:30pm that night, it was very important to me to pick up my car and get to the theater on time. Since I was staying in Louisville, where bus service is almost nonexistent, I decided to call a cab. I called and checked web sites for several cab companies, most of which told me politely that their cabs don’t come to Louisville. Yellow Cab of Boulder, however, did not say this. Their web site had a form for an “Advance Time Call,” a way to call for a cab 24 hours ahead of time, so I filled out the form on Tuesday, July 10. I noted that the form said “This is not a reservation,” but failed to tell me what, exactly, an “Advance Time Call” is. I asked for a cab to come get me at 5pm the next day, figuring that, even if the time was not exact, if the cab arrived within an hour of the time I asked for, I’d still have no problem picking up my car and getting to my opening night.

At 4pm on Wednesday, I’d had no call, no email, no indication at all that the “Advance Time Call” had been received. I called Yellow Cab, and the call taker assured me that they had my order, and I was “all set.” I thanked her and settled in to wait. At 5:15, I called again to ask if the cab was coming. The call taker told me they were “running a little late,” but assured me that they had my order and she’d let the dispatcher know that I was still waiting. I called again at 5:30, and at 5:45 and was told the same thing. I asked the call taker if she could find out for me whether any cab was even in my city that day. She said she couldn’t get any information; all she could do was tell the dispatchers (who apparently can’t talk back, themselves) that I was still waiting.

At 6pm, when my cab was one hour late, I called and asked if the call taker could tell me if a cab was ever coming to get me. She said she couldn’t; all she could do was tell the dispatcher, again, that I was waiting. When I requested that she put me on hold and ask the dispatcher if any cabs were anywhere near Louisville that day, or any cab driver had been told to come towards me, she said she couldn’t do that. She said there was no way to know anything, because “our drivers are independent contractors,” as if this explains why nobody can speak to them. As further excuse, she argued that my house was not in Louisville, but in Lafayette, (It isn’t. My house is between the Louisville Post Office and the Louisville Police station.) as if this explained why Yellow Cab had repeatedly offered a service they refused to provide. I hung up the phone and sobbed for a while. By this time, it was too late to walk the 3 ½ miles to the car shop, to find a friend I could beg to pick me up, or to find another transportation service. If Yellow Cab did not come through in the next 15 minutes, there was no way I could get my car and get myself to the theater before the curtain rose.

At 6:10, I called again to ask if my cab was ever coming. The call taker assured me that she had no idea. I asked why, since they can’t get anyone to any place at any given time, Yellow Cab is in business at all. Yellow Cab’s customer service didn’t know that, either. She said she’d be happy to tell the dispatcher that I was still waiting, though. I pointed out that, in 5 minutes, it would no longer matter whether a cab ever came. She offered to cancel the cab and take down a complaint. I told her I’d call back in 5 minutes.

At 6:15, still sobbing, I called to cancel the cab and file a complaint, though I couldn’t imagine who would read the complaint—the non-speaking dispatchers, perhaps?—or what anyone at Yellow Cab would do about it. Only then was I put through to a manager, who listened to my complaints, heard that, in my experience, Yellow Cab not only didn’t want me as a customer, but had gone out of their way to ruin my day and make me hate the company. This manager told me that the manger who’d called me back to confirm my Advance Time Call should have told me that they don’t guarantee anything. I pointed out that no one had ever called me back, and that the call takers who were the only people I could ever get a hold of before her had said nothing of the sort, but only made it very clear that they knew nothing about anything. She said she was sorry, and all she could do was put me through to the voice mail box of Travis Menaphee, her manager. I left a message, explaining my whole experience, in Travis’ mailbox.

Travis left a message on my voice mail on Thursday morning, saying he’d like to talk with me more about my complaint. I called back, got voice mail again, and left another message. I have not heard from Travis again.

I must admit that I did make it to my show. I called my 65-year-old mother, who lives in Lakewood and hates to drive after dark because she can’t see very well at night. Mom rushed all the way to Louisville, I jumped into the driver’s seat and sped all the way to the theater in downtown Denver, and having missed all pre-show preparations and scared the rest of the cast, I rushed into the theater 5 minutes before the curtain went up. My mother waited through the show while the sun went down, let me drive to the closed repair shop (where my car, paid for over the phone, was waiting with the door unlocked and the key in it), got my car, and let my poor mother find her way back to Lakewood.

If Yellow Cab had simply told me in the first place that they had no interest in serving me, I could have called my mother the day before and asked her to come get me in the daylight. I could have called all of my friends until I found one who was available that night. I could have walked 3 ½ miles to the shop. I could have hired a limousine…I could have done many things besides nearly ruining a show on opening night. Yellow Cab of Boulder went out of their way to ruin my night, and their systems are apparently set up to do just that. My advice to everyone who will listen: Never, ever call Yellow Cab of Boulder.

Want Yellow Cab’s side of the story? Call 303-777-7777 and choose the option for Boulder and Boulder County, but be warned that all you’ll get is a call taker who knows nothing and can’t communicate with anyone else in the company.

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