Perche

Hmmm. Concerned that I might be giving people bad information, I looked up TripAdvisor even though it is not a good source because almost everybody gets a 5, I look up Rome Shuttle Limousine. The findings should raise questions.

There are 414 english language reviews. 6%, or 1 out of 18 trips were poor or terrible. They mostly consisted of being stranded at the airport, being stranded at the airport and missing their cruise ship, being stranded at the hotel and having to take a taxi at the last minute to avoid missing the flight, the driver needing to use a map to find the city, the car reeking of cigarette smoke, the driver never getting off of the cell phone, speeding, near crashes requiring the driver to swerve off the road, booking as paying with a credit card but the driver insisting on cash, the driver insisting on escorting a person to an ATM machine because they only take cash, the driver following someone into the hotel expecting a tip. 6% is a lot. Imagine a restaurant where 6% of the plates have to be sent back to the kitchen.

The 6% poor and terrible ones have headlines such as;
Late and Lied
Bad Experience
Late and Non-english Speaking and Dropped Us Off at the Wrong Terminal
Don't use this Company
Left us Stranded
Dangerous Driver, Avoid
Terrible and Fraudulent Tour Company
Professional? No Way, Terrifying More Like
No response, and No Show
Private Car from Airport to Hotel Disappointing
Very Poor Service
They Were So Late We Had to Take a Taxi to Avoid Missing Our Plane
Disastrous
Very Bad
Not a Great Experience
Good Start, Bad Ending
Fast and Furious
No Show, No Booking, Despite Email Confirmation
Lack of Service
They Were No, Shows-Be-Careful
No Show

That's a very high complaint rate. The owners snarky responses to the complaints also reflects badly on the company.

If you add in the "average" reviews, you are up to 8%, meaning that one person out of every 12 rides wasn't happy. If you read the average reviews, every one of them has a complaint like a no-show, having to take a taxi at the last minute because they were late and would miss their flight, etc., and the person was just being kind by giving an average rating. The average ratings have titles such as,

Disappointed, Ripped off on Return Journey
Non-english Speaking Driver
Bad Pick Up, Good Return
Not Honoring Confirmed Prices
Good But....
Messing Up Port Transfers

A 1 out of 12 mess up rate is too high. When you add in the "very good," ratings, it highlights the problem with TripAdvisor, as it seems like most people in that group also had a significant problem. People tend to overrate things because they don't want to admit they spent a lot of money on something that was not very good. If you add in the very good group, 15% of the people, or one out of every six rides, had a problem with their ride.

The very good ratings are crazy. The most recent Very Good rating is;

Overall, Pretty Good.
"We had a little trouble finding our driver at the airport. I ended up texting him and calling him, and he was a little grumpy about that. We tried to make conversation but he was not interested, even though he seemed to speak decent English. His car stunk of smoke. He drove like a maniac, running at least four red lights. I had no cash for a tip so I asked if he could add it to the credit card charge and he said no. Then he kept coming in the hotel where we were waiting to check in and looking at us like he was waiting for something. All in all, I would recommend this car service."

The next one is;
Good Service Overall, One Small Watch-Out
"The only complaint is that we had indicated at time of booking that we were going to pay the driver by credit card. It was even in their drop down menu to do so, but the driver told us he'd only take cash. We'd just arrived and hadn't changed much cash yet (I had only tipping cash). He seemed extremely put out that he had to call their main office and have us give a credit card by the phone. I don't blame him too much because we probably made him pretty late for his next service, but there was some embarrassment in front of the hotel because of this."

Other very good ratings are;

Prompt and Professional
"On the trip from Rome to Civitavecchia, as we got close to the port, our driver, who was otherwise very affable and courteous, began talking about the possibility of our paying him in cash. We pointed out that we had opted for the credit card payment. If we had been told to pay in cash ahead of time, we would have been prepared. When we arrived at the port, the driver asked for cash again. We were not prepared to pay in cash and would have had to give him almost all the euros we had brought. He said we could get more on the ship. Yes, we could, but every time you change money, you pay a fee, and we had carefully calculated what we would need during the cruise, so hadn't intended to get more money. The reason the driver gave for his need for cash was that he was in a hurry, as he had to pick somebody up at the airport. It took several minutes to have this conversation and to fumble around with the money and figure out if we could pay cash. Finally, I told him that we didn't have enough. So he reluctantly got out his credit card machine, took my card, and in less than a minute, gave me a receipt. I still don't understand why he wanted cash. The credit transaction went very quickly, and it is an option offered by the company. I would certainly use this service again, but I think I would be prepared to pay in cash."

Much Better Than a Taxi
"When we walked out of customs the driver wasn't waiting for us. Although he was there, he was standing 20 yards to the back left at a column that read "meeting point". It took us about 20 minutes to find the guy, I guess we expected that he would be waiting amongst the crowds of people waiting to see their love ones come through customs. I guess if I were him I wouldn't have wanted to stand in that mob of people (literally hundreds), because who knows how long it would take for us to get our bags and get through customs."

Rome Airport to Boscolo Excedra Hotel
"Only issue was the driver was not there to meet us in Arrivals Hall. Had to call the agency, but he appeared shortly afterwards."

Worked Out Eventually
"One issue was tardiness, however, especially meeting us from our flight from Canada. Perhaps we should have expected it, as it seems that timeliness isn't as important in Italy as it is here, but it did cause us some anxious minutes. Everything worked out well in the end though & we did find that other waiting limo drivers were very helpful. There seemed to be plenty of drivers & taxis available too, so we may forgo hiring a limo in advance on future trips.

What a Way to Start and Finish Our Honeymoon
"Our first time to Rome, and our honeymoon, so we didn't want any pick ups at the airport and getting to our hotel - book a cab/limo....The only disappointment was that the car to pick us up wasn't a limo, in any shape or form, but a Seat Alhambra, with obviously a few miles under its wheels!"

Excellent Transportation - Issue on Return
"However, when i presented him with our credit card he said he does not take credit cards. I explained that we booked with Rome Shuttle, showed him the email confirmation and that we paid for the first leg by credit card. He said he couldn't take the card. I then offered him all the Euro i had left, 29 euro, plus all the US i had on me - $15 for the 40 Euro fare- this was all i had, but he would not take that either. As most people do, we were winding down our Euro and didn't have the full 40 in cash. We intended to pay 20 euro in cash and charge 22 Euro (with a tip) and still leave us a few Euro for any last minute airport expenses. Finally, my wife had to go into the airport- through security to find an bank machine and withdraw more money. This made for a needless stressful and hectic situation. I emailed Rome Shuttles upon our return to advise them of the above. They were very nice and apologetic and explained the driver should have telephoned them and they could have taken the charge over the phone. So, i would still recommend Rome Shuttle."

Good Service, Minor Problems
" I think they might have lost my booking(I could be wrong though), because after entering meeting point area I wandered around for 15 minutes trying find my name with no luck. Called their office and 5 minutes later found my name at the bottom of a very long list of names...Overall I'm very satisfied and will be using their services again on my next visit."

Pictures Better Than
"Only thing that i didn't like was much older and common cars i expect. I have used service before in Rome to and from airport Fiumicino and usually cars have been better."

There is something about the euphoria of arriving in Italy that can cloud judgment, and make everything seem great. I don't know how people can show up at an airport and there's nobody there while there is a stream or regulated taxis outside, have drivers pushing them to pay under the table (cash), and still rate the service as very good. If you add it all together, 18% of people did not have an excellent experience with this company.

I don't people think of a taxi as great, but the official taxis are clean and fairly new, always waiting just outside the doors at highly monitored taxi stands, you say 48 euros, they say yes, and you are on your way.

pkerr

http://www.romeshuttleservice.com/
We used these guys 2 years ago to go from Rome to FCO and our pickup went off without a hitch. Driver was early (6:30am for a 7:00am schedule) Nice, good condition Mercedes.
I contacted the company several times before and during my visit because I was worried about transit time, etc. and each time they got back to me promptly.
It was a very good experience.

PWMTrav

Thanks. I used your post as an opportunity to start the wiki for this thread.

JBD

You've put in so much time on this my friend, grazie!

I never looked at TA for Rome Shuttle Limousine before. I did just glance at the reviews categorized as "Terrible", and I think it is worth noting that it seems possible that some of these reviews are for other companies (since there are so many with similar names), and also, it seems by the company's responses that some of these no shows were due to the pax not confirming their res. Based on your post, I also just did a basic google search on this company, and see lots written about it on all the usual travel boards, with some warnings, and lots of good mentions too. As I've said, I've had good experiences so I've continued to use them.

Using TA as the source for what car service to choose, they currently show the number 1 company out of 189, to be Stefano's RomeCabs. And looking at the "All Languages" reviews breakdown you see this:
2,544 Excellent
18 Very Good
5 Average
0 Poor
2 Terrible

Here's the company's website: http://www.romecabs.com/

Regarding taking a cab into town, there are many articles and blog posts out there giving advice on how not to be scammed, but Perche's instructions above nicely sums it up.

I'll still use a car service though, especially for my transfer back to the airport when it's critical I'm there on time. That way I have no stress that a strike could affect me - when a public transportation strike occurs, cabs are harder to come by, and taxis strike too. I read about one last month: Taxi strike at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on 25 October

Thanks again Perche for putting in so much time on this!

JBD

Maybe you should wait until Perche vets the company.

Just to bring this to your attention, and yes I know, we can all add to the Wiki, but the existing Wiki on the thread linked below is fairly comprehensive, just needing some pricing revisions. Instead of reinventing the wheel, perhaps it can be cut and pasted into the Wiki for this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/italy...-24-hours.html

Perche

I think that a discussion about ground transportation in Rome or Florence should probably have something about Uber. I'll start it off.

The "sharing economy" is different in Europe. Notice how many cities, but Italy not yet, are clamping down on AirBnb, which just dropped its lawsuit against NYC, and agreed that they shouldn't rent out any apartment for less than 30 days. I heard that Barcelona just severely restricted Uber.

This is my impression about Uber in Rome. The taxi drivers raised holy hell against Uber a few years ago, with massive strikes, protests, and blockages of roads and highways. If you get into a taxi in Rome or Florence, like a gondolier in Venice, it's tightly regulated. Often, it's passed down, father to son. Uber was not regulated in any way.

The Italian word, "nepote" is the root of the word nepotism. Unlike English, where there is a specific word for grandchild, niece, nephew, in Italian, there is no separate word to distinguish between them. They are all your nepote. Nepotism means you keep it in the family. There is a lot of that with Italian taxis, the car and the license is passed down. The upside is that you would never get into a taxi in Rome or Florence that is not driven by a local.

When Uber started in Italy, broken down cars would be used, by people who recently emigrated to Italy, who had no idea where they were going, and didn't speak any common language. Whether the massive disruption cause by the taxi drivers was nepotism, or their expressed concerns about the quality of the drivers and cars (taxi drivers and cars are tightly regulated in Rome), is a matter of opinion.

In any case, a major court in Italy ruled that an Uber driver has to go through the same vetting and have the same quality of car, as a limousine driver. That ended UberPop, and made Uber just like any other limo service. It also made it more expensive than a taxi or a limo. There is a fixed expense for someone to buy a Mercedes, and wait for someone to Uber them. They'd rather get on the list of a hotel or a website. Uber is still there, but regulations have dampened it.

For these reasons, between taxi, car service, and Uber, Uber tends to be the most expensive way to get around Rome, or to go to and from the airport. They have to charge more to pay for the legally required high end car, because they are classified as a "Car For Hire," meaning that Uber in Italy is just like any other car service, without any noticeable advantage. Regular car drivers link themselves to a hotel or website, but an Uber driver is on his or her own.

It should be pointed out that the Uber threat is considered to have substantially upgraded the taxi service in Italy. The taxi services started an app called "It Taxi," that you can download. It's supposed to mimic Uber, where you can get on the app and just summon a cab. Personally, I've found it useless. I can get a cab, when cabs are around. When they are not, as in late at night, they are not available on the app either, just as Uber drivers are not.

Maybe people can fill in the dots with Uber. I know that just like Lyft started in the USA, there are now multiple competitors to Uber that have recently arisen in Italy.

KLouis

Just a word of caution, to avoid unnecessary bad surprises: When Roman taxis quote a unit price for the airport service, this is true only for trips that start (or end) within the Aurelian walls! In other words, a large part of what people consider the centre of the city (e.g. Nomentano, San Lorenzo, Parioli, Prati etc.) is not included. In such cases, the meter will easily climb to about 10-20 € higher.

Perche

I wouldn't worry about that. The Aurelian Walls encompass the historic center, where 95-98% of the people stay. I can't imagine a tourist staying in Nomentano or San Lorenzo, a 45 minute walk to the historic center. People who are staying there are probably not going to be taking a taxi.

The only places this could come into play is for people staying near the Vatican, Parioli. Staying there is generally not a good idea for a tourist, and few do. If they choose to, Parioli is closer to the airport than downtown, so if the cab driver says meter, not fixed rate, the fare will probably come in at around the same or less than the 48 euro fixed rate.

The only people who would be affected are those staying on the other side of Rome, on the other side of the Villa Borghese, in Prati, a very residential neighborhood over a half an hour walk to the historic center. That's the only place where the fare could be higher, but I doubt that too many people stay there.

People who stay in Parioli or Prati are probably cognoscenti, and don't need any advice.

There are very, very few tourists staying in the neighborhoods you mentioned, with the exception of the Vatican, where it will not cost 20 euros more, and might even be less than 48 euros by the meter.

JBD

KLouis, thanks for your post. That's very important info and should be included in the wiki I think.

Here's a link to Roma Capitale's map showing the area within the Aurelian Walls (colored in orange) where the fixed rates apply.

A popular Rome hotel where FTers are likely to take cabs from the airport is the Waldorf Cavalieri, on Monte Mario. And you can see on the linked map, that location is outside the walls.

To the south the highly rated B&B Althea Inn is also outside the walls, but given its proximity to Ostiense Station, I would imagine most of those guests would be taking the regional train or the Trambus.

Garbatella and Ostiense have become popular lately, with its clubs and appeal to the "trendsetters", so our younger FTers may be staying down in those parts, and are also outside the walls.

But getting back to the "typical" tourist, just look at the listings on Venere or Hotels.com, and you'll see tons of places advertising their proximity to the Vatican, or Termini - that turn out to be far west or east of those landmarks, respectfully, and therefore outside the walls too.

So while I do agree with Perche that for most tourists this won't be an issue, being forewarned is always better.

JBD

Thanks Perche!

To add to your Uber-ish discussion, I recently started a thread on Rome Apps, and in the first post there's a link to a Romeing article that includes the app "My Taxi". Here's a cut and paste from that Romeing article:

I don't know anything beyond what's mentioned above, but this does seem like a really neat tool to check out.

Here's the link to MyTaxi: https://us.mytaxi.com/index.html

JBD

I just did a search for MyTaxi on all open forums on FT and there are currently 33 posts:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/searc...2&query=mytaxi

I've only scanned the results - I see lots of comments from the Germany Forum and it appears there are M&M miles to be had with this app. And I see mention of a Conga in the S.P.A.M. Forum.

JBD

Thanks for starting the wiki!

But..... my 2 cents is that the wiki could be better served with including the basic information of what the different options are, versus linking individual car services.

Edited to add the following explanation as to why my fingerprints are now all over the wiki:

And if the consensus is that we should link specific cars services in the wiki I think they should be the companies that there's an abundant amount of referrals. As I've mentioned upthread Rome Shuttle Limousine has been recommended on this website for 10 years - but you see above how Perche called into question the opinions of all those FTers who spoke highly of this company.

The company currently at the top of TA's list, RomeCabs, I definitely recall reading good recommendations here, as well as on SlowTravel, also for a great number of years.

However, pkerr's referral that's now in the wiki, is for a company I don't recall reading about on FT, named RomeShuttleService. And according to the wiki link pkerr used this company for one trip, two years ago.

So I tried to do a search on this forum to see maybe I just missed all the referrals for this company, but the search results showed every post in this thread, I assumed since the company's name is in the wiki. So I went into edit mode in the wiki and deleted the company name and tried another search, but with the same results. And when trying to restore the wiki the way PWMTrav had intended it, I kept messing up the formatting. (Hopefully now it looks the way it did earlier).

I don't mean to disparage pkerr's recommendation, it's much appreciated. But I am calling into question its placement in the wiki. The suggestion I made above in Post #125, to me, would serve FTers better.

Perche

If I was going to use an app for taxis, I'd use, "It Taxi." It's a free download, and was specifically made by the taxi drivers union to mirror the Uber app, where you can view in real time where your car actually is, etc. I wouldn't use an app that also allows you to summon a car in Germany.

Personally, I've found all the taxi apps to be pretty worthless. It seems that it is either easy to get a taxi (there is an app that is a map of every single taxi stand in Rome), or it is almost impossible. Late at night all of the taxi drivers are at home in bed, and the taxi stands are empty. No taxi will show up until the morning, and no taxi driver will respond to Uber, It Taxi, or any other app.

Taxi in Rome is tricky that way. When stuck, going into a hotel or bar, or even a tabacchi and asking them to call, it seems like they are always able to conjure up a driver. Rome has an official number to call taxis, actually, two numbers, but late at night even they don't answer the phone.

KLouis

Sorry, but I really don't feel like starting a "fight" with you. I just wonder why you object about warning people about something that is a simple fact. Not everybody coming to Rome is a tourist who wants to see, and stay in the centro storico and enjoy its sights. Simply let one such potential first time visitor reading FT now, rather than arriving at FCO and being presented with a 60 or 70 € fare. I'm not suggesting to not take a cab but, rather, to be prepared for a higher fare if going to/from outside the walls. Especially because, with the meter running during stops due to the Roman traffic, an extra 10-20 € are normal. That is expensive for me, and probably for more visitors to Rome.

Frequentflyer99

Can I please clarify a couple of points ?

If I have understood correctly, the fixed taxi fare from FCO to the centre for 2 pax + luggage is €48. Would I be right in assuming that there is a plentiful supply of taxis and I would not have to fight / queue to get one (weekday late afternoon)?

If so, what is the advantage of booking a car which is always going to cost at least as much as the taxi and possibly more; and which may or may not turn up, which may or may not charge me extra for waiting if our bags are delayed and where I have to go hunting for the driver ?

Same question for the return, assuming I am staying at a hotel which has plentiful supply of taxis outside ?