Slip in service with Mr T taxi ?

[anonone]

I wanted to see if anyone else has noticed a slip in the service with Mr. T Taxi.

For the past several trips, the driver has not been waiting for me at the airport. I have had to get some phone credit and give them a call. Driver then shows up 5 or 10 minutes later.

This recent last trip, after calling and waiting about 5 minutes for the driver to show up, the driver indicates we need to wait for another customer as their driver did not make it back to the airport in time. I had thoughts of bailing all together, but the other customer showed up quick and we got on our way and I didn't want to mess with finding a different ride. Price dropped to 600 baht. Anyone else seeing this type of problem?

I think the next trip I will try a different service...so any recommendations? Service is more important to me than price. I really want someone reliable that will be there when I come out of customs and get on the road right away.

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[Neal]

Because I saw all the great reviews on my forum I Wrote to Mr Ts to go to Siem Reap. When I asked for a price I got a brief response back that said "no can do". I though it odd that it was so brief. Then I heard about the fact that many cars cannot go into Cambodia but to take him to the boarder and have someone waiting for me. So I wrote again and asked if he could arrange for someone to meet me in Cambodia at the boarder and take me to Siaem Reap. Again a cryptic "no have freind". I was about to give up when the hotel wrote me and said that they would have a van meet us at the boarder so I wrote him again and asked for the price to take us to the boarder at Siem Reap. The answer? No can do. Well I gave up.

[anonone]

Hmm. That is rather strange. Maybe he just concentrates on airport runs. I would think a long drive out to the border would be a good gig. :dontknow:

Also, I failed to mention something in my original post. In all fairness, I did use Mr T for all my return trips (from Pattaya to BKK) and they all went off without a hitch. Driver showed up exactly on time at the various hotels / guesthouses. This is very important to me as I typically leave Pattaya at about 0300 hours to get back to BKK in time for the early morning flights out to Tokyo. If the driver does not show up at 3 AM, I would think it would be a difficult thing to find an alternative at that hour.

Anyway, interested to know of other's experience. Perhaps I should just shrug off the enforced "shared" taxi ride to Pattaya as an aberration, probably not ever happening again?

[catawampuscat]

I am extremely pleased with T. He is always prompt both coming and going to the airport.
The only thing that surprised me was the fare to the airport from Pattaya was reduced unless my memory is slipping
and was only 1200B. We did hit some traffic leaving Pattaya last time and he was concerned he might be late for
his pickup at the airport.
I am sure that there are times when scheduling problems and traffic jams cause him to not be waiting and the need to
wait for a few minutes but this would affect all taxi services.

I recall reserving a car when I booked a few nights at the old Howards. It was so simple to do on the internet.
I ended up waiting and waiting and finally had someone call the phone number for me after many tries.
It turned out that the driver was there all the time but his sign had someone else's name on it.
I didn't know the driver and he didn't know me.

I know T and reccommend him for excellent service but of course there will be bumps in the road sometimes.

[anonone]

Thanks Catawampuscat, for your post.

The driver did seem very apologetic for having to ask about it being OK to"double up" for the trip to Pattaya. I really think he was trying to avoid having either one of his customers spend a long time waiting for someone to pick them up. I have no idea if it was due to traffic (unlikely at 2330 hours), a mechanical problem, or whatever.

It takes me over 20 hours of flying to get to BKK, so I am really rather annoyed when the driver is not waiting for me. I often remind myself to take a breath and get back into Thailand mode. But between the past several times of having to call to find the driver and the one-off shared taxi ride, I just wondered if others have been having issues.

I did finally figure out how to keep my SIM card active for longer stretches, so it is now also not going to be quite as big a deal to call when I land.

Oh, and I am not sure what prices you are talking about. For BKK to Pattaya, I am always quoted 1000 baht total (no extra for tolls). For the return from Pattaya to BKK, it is 900 baht all inclusive.

[christianpfc]

I did finally figure out how to keep my SIM card active for longer stretches, so it is now also not going to be quite as big a deal to call when I land.

Can you please elaborate on this? I had problems keeping my 1-2-call SIM active between holidays. Now I transfer balance from my card to a friend's (and keep the validity that comes with the balance, 20 days for 100 Baht) or validity from friend's card to mine.

[Shuee]

whats more important is what to do when your taxi booking fails to show or is going to arrive too late, when you need to get to airport on time from pattaya, & you got all your bags & luggage beside you also, what do you do......what would you do? what other taxi can you call at short notice?
can anyone spaek from experience, that must be a terrible feeling to know you could miss your flight!

[joe552]

Happened to me last June when the transport for Bell Travel failed to arrive. I was staying at Mosaik apartments and they arranged a car for me. I left about 2 hours later than planned and it cost a lot more (1400bt), but since I always allow loads of time, it wasn't a problem. Still, I didn't need the stress and wouldn't use Bell Travel again. My advice would be to allow plenty of time before your departure. I'd rather be sitting in the airport having a drink, than sitting in Pattaya afraid I'll miss my flight.

[newalaan]

anonone wrote:I did finally figure out how to keep my SIM card active for longer stretches, so it is now also not going to be quite as big a deal to call when I land. "Can you please elaborate on this"

Yes I never had a problem in the past with keeping my thai number and leftover baht 'live' until the next trip, usually about 3 months, this last time it expired. Can anyone elaborate as requested by christianpfc?

I know T and reccommend him for excellent service but of course there will be bumps in the road sometimes.

For a taxi firm the whole thing is about reliability, if you have made it clear to the taxi firm the date, time and place he needs to be, then there can be no 'bumps in the road' there is no excuse, a reliable taxi firm finding a problem with traffic or another unexpected problem should always have enough contacts in the taxi industry to be able to get a replacement there on time. It happened once to me years ago and the taxi firm involved got another to take the fare, I only knew because I didn't recognise the driver and he explained the problem and that the original firm turned my fare over to him as a vehicle had broken down on the way to pick me up, he said he had the call a hour before, he was waiting for me. Any taxi firm worth their salt should always have a 'network' at the end of the phone.

I'd rather be sitting in the airport having a drink, than sitting in Pattaya afraid I'll miss my flight.

After the first year of visiting when I spent a great deal more time back then in Pattaya than I do now, I started staying in Bkk for the last 2-3 nights of very trip in the silom/suriwong or Saphan Kwai areas an hour or so from the airport. Still have the last 2-3 nights in Bkk somewhere I find it's a nice easy end to the trip and no worries about getting to the airport.

As for Taxis from Bkk to Pattaya and vise-versa......PT Taxi Service have never let me down, driver always there ahead of time, sometimes 20-30 mins. Always quick, safe journey's with no faffing around. Even last-minute changes have always been accommodated, and often with sms/text to confirm even after email confirmation. Highly recommended. Airport-Pattaya and VV Bt1000 inc tolls. Pattaya-Silom/Suriwong/Sathorn and VV. Bt1100 inc tolls.

[andrewcraig]

We used to use PT but are looking around for someone different. having to wait in a service station whilst he fills the tank was the first gripe, then we went to another and then last time went to a third. too much

the drivers were hitting 140 which makes us nervous and then he was taking phone calls and driving we became scared at any urgent braking. and always PT drivers go along south road which is always chocka full late afternoon