How not to run a business
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Back in June, I blogged about Where to leave your car at Sydney Domestic terminals for those of you that are frequent day-trippers via Sydney airport.
For trips longer than same-day, leaving the car there gets a bit expensive, so in order to keep the accountants happy I recommend finding another way.
I'm not a big fan of the standard taxi for a couple of reasons. The first is the inconvenience of having to wait for them as opposed to having them waiting for you. When you do enough travel, that time adds up and is unproductive. The second reason is probably more reflective of my own phobias, but Sydney cabs don't have a reputation for being clean and Sydney cab drivers don't have a reputation for being hygienic or familiar with the streets.
As such, I've always attempted to use a Silver Service, Prestige Cab or other hire car where it can be booked and they are waiting, the car is clean and the driver is professional.
However, I would like to share with you a recommendation of who not to use as well as an example of how not to run a business... at least if you want to stay around for long.
I tried elimousine & ecotaxi recently as a friend who manages a hotel recommended them a while back.
The concept seems cool but the execution was anything but. Out of four pickups I arranged with them, they only picked me up once - the first time.
On the second instance, I was left hanging at Sydney T3 as 'the driver had the wrong information about my flight's landing time because his blackberry had a javascript problem with Qantas' website and would take 20 minutes to get to me'. It took only 15 minutes to wait for a regular cab. The manager of the business was 'kind enough' not to charge me for the missed pickup - really! Like he had any grounds to charge me!
On the third instance, I was offloaded to Silver Service, which wasn't really a bad thing.
In the final instance, I was just left at Sydney International with no indication as to why they weren't there or anyone answering the phone to make alternative arrangements. Upon email the manager of the business, I was told he was "very surprised to hear that" and that he "will address tomorrow morning"... which he never did.
Clearly, I won't recommend using them to anyone but at least they serve as a good example to the rest of us how you shouldn't run a business.
Labels: Personal effectiveness, Travel
posted by Lee Gale @ 2:00 AM,
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