I traveled from Cleveland to St. Augustine to witness my brother's wedding. I had a a lot to do the day after the wedding so I decided to schedule an extremely early flight. When I was picked up by the driver, I noticed that many of the lights on the dashboard that indicate engine problems were lit on the dashboard.
The beginning of the drive went well and it was really early in the morning, so I decided to take a nap in the back seat. I woke up as the car began to slow down and came to a stop. Assuming that I had arrived at the airport I sat up and gathered my things. I looked out the window only to realize that I was not at the airport. The driver seemed frazzled as he called his manager. The car was about 20 minutes from the airport.
I realized that the car was now broken. As I listened to the phone call, I told the driver that I could not miss my flight. The driver called a cab. I waited in the car for the cab as the driver looked at the engine. Because I was nervous I would miss her flight, I got out of the car every 10 or so minutes to get an update.
For those of you that have driven to the Jacksonville airport, the freeway is not well lit. The location in which the car had stopped working is not very populated and at 5:30 in the morning, it is extremely dark. For a 100 pound women in the middle of nowhere, in a car with a complete stranger, this situation is extremely scary. I had no way to get to the airport, no way to get somewhere where I could feel safe. After and hour, it was clear that I had missed my flight. The driver looked at me and said "Looks like my boss is buying you a new flight". After some persuasion, the boss (Wayne) agreed to drive from St. Augustine to pick me up and take me to the airport.
After an hour and a half of being stranded on the side of a freeway in under a pitch black night sky, I was picked up by Wayne. While it may seem like I was rescued, this is when the story takes a turn for the worse.
By the time Wayne picked me up, I had already missed her flight. I was pretty upset by missing my flight and asked Wayne why he sent out a car that had the check engine light (and several other lights) lit up on the dash. Wayne stated that the car was in the shop 13 hours ago and refused to pay the $3000 dollars to have the light turned off. (Side note: while this is a questionably appropriate behavior for someone's personal car, this is completely inappropriate for a car that is used for a business).
I believed that I deserved some retribution from losing an entire day (I landed in Cleveland 10 hours after I had expected). When I voiced my beliefs, Wayne got angry. You won't like Wayne when he is angry.
As seen above, the majority of the reviews discuss Wayne screaming and yelling. That is exactly what happened to me. While driving to the airport, Wayne searched through his phone to attempt to call his wife (who apparently is a lawyer). He stated that he was also inconvenienced because he had to drive me to the airport (which is what she paid for). Wayne offered to pay the difference between the two flights. That difference was less than $5.
I called my brother to tell him what happened. He told me that he would contact Wayne and try to appeal to his reasonable side. My brother told me that the conversation was pleasant and that we were going to be able to come to a mutual agreement.
The next day my brother received a voicemail that Wayne would compensate me with a very small amount of money. I told my brother to tell Wayne that "he clearly needs the money more than me" and to reject the offer. My brother also told him that I was going to write a review on social media. Apparently, Wayne got mad and yelled at my brother. This does not surprise me because he had already yelled at me earlier
Airport Express St. Augustine sends out cars to pick up customers that have not been serviced correctly. When I complained about her horrible experience Wayne yelled at me and threatened to sue me on several occasions. Wayne also yelled at my brother and threatened his first amendment rights.
I had a horrible experience. I felt as though my money was more important to them than my safety.
Update: my review was not about money. I wanted to post my experience as a warning to others about how Airport Express St Augustine treats their customers. As you can see in other reviews I was not the only person that has been yelled at by Wayne. I would encourage Yelp subscribers to read through all reviews and form their own opinion. This was my experience and it seems others have had similar issues. I hope future travelers make the right decision for them and do not have the same experience. I would recommend choosing a different shuttle company. read more
