Originally Posted by
MIT_SBM
When you knew you were not going to be ready on time AND the driver called, why did you not tell him to depart without you as you were not ready? I can only assume it is because you wanted to ride in the van rather than pay for alternative transportation.
Of course I wanted to ride in the van I'd paid for rather than pay for alternative transportation
. It was his van, his schedule, it didn't occur to me to question his decision to wait.
Originally Posted by
MIT_SBM
You stated that you thought $60.00 was fair, why did you not just get your luggage and then pay the $60.00? The few times that I have used super shuttle I have never given the driver additional money [tip] until AFTER I had possession of my bag(s).
How was it "clear he wasn't going to open the back and give [you your] bags"? Where there other passengers in the van at this point? Did he state that he wasn't going to return your property?
Why didn't you call super shuttle while sitting in the van to ask about the "late charge" and why it would change from $60.00 to $101.00?
Without knowing more, I don't see how you can dispute the $20.00 tip that you gave. As for the cash that you gave to the driver, I am not so sure that it is clear that you were handing it over just so the driver would release your bags. Maybe it is just an assumption you made, unless the driver made a statement to such effect.
I didn't call SuperShuttle during the ride to ask about the price increase because at that point I believed I was paying an official shuttle penalty of $60--he told me the fee was $101 once we got to LAX, which is when I started wondering who I was paying.
Most drivers are very friendly and courteous, but with this guy everything felt unnecessarily adversarial: he seemed unhappy about leaving before I paid the $60 until I told him there really was no ATM around, he acted defensive when I wanted to check the back seat of the van after my bags were on the curb, small things like that. He was an imposing man, he stood in front of the back doors and seemed unwilling to grant me access to my bags when I told him I needed to retrieve my ATM card. No, he never said he wasn't going to return my luggage. Yes, it was just an assumption I made based on his tone and body language. At the time I was afraid he might drive off with all my things if I refused to pay. Who knows? I wasn't willing to find out.
I was willing to pay a company penalty of $60. If he'd processed my card and given me a receipt for it, I would never have started this thread. What bothers me is being shaken down by a rogue driver.
Big thanks to
justhere for your post, I couldn't have put it any better myself ^, and thank you everyone else who's given me advice; I've sent them a condensed version of my post and I'm very much looking forward to their response.