Blackberry transport service

Has anyone used this service? We booked them to pick us up in southampton and take us to London. We will be there in Aug.

Someone asked about Blackberry cars just a couple of days ago on Trip Advisor and the replies from people who'd used them were positive.

Judy,

We used Blackberry car service to take us from Harwich to London after our Baltic cruise in 2012. We shared with another couple so the price was the same as the train would have been. They were there right on time and everything went very smoothly. They didn't ask for anything up front, we paid cash (in British Pounds) when we got to our hotel.

Julie

Sounds positive to us. Thank you! Judy & John

We just returned from London and used Blackberry cars 4 times. They picked us up from Heathrow airport, took us to Dover port, picked us up from Dover port and took us to the airport. I can't say enough positive things about their service. They were prompt, nice cars and nice young men, helpful and courteous. Their prices were the most competitive that I found and replied to all my emails quickly.

My wife and I used them July 21st. Driver was 15 minutes late (accident on the highway), but so were we getting off the cruise ship so worked OK. Nice car, polite driver. 2H15 minutes to Hyatt Churchill (near Marble Arch). Their rate (about $175) was much better than others I tried. More than taxi-train to Waterloo-taxi across central London, but worth it to avoid hauling two large suitcases and, given central London traffic congestion, probably about the same amount of time.

Although we had a confirmed reservation and received their transportation twice prior within this recent trip to the UK, Blackberry left my husband and I stranded in Southampton after our cruise on Sunday.

After waiting 15 minutes for a driver at the pier, I contacting Blackberry and was told there would be no pick-up. I was told that they tried to contact us by phone and email to ask for a pre-payment for this pick-up. We did later see a missed call and an email, but the day before arrival, there was no way to receive calls or emails while at sea. I turned my cell phone on when we arrive to port, but there was no voice mail telling us that there would be no driver because of lack of pre-pay. We ended up having a heck of a time finding a taxi willing to take us to Heathrow, as it was too late to get transportation through the cruiseline.

Nothing was ever said to us beforehand that a pre-payment for the Southampton to Heathrow segment would be required. The dispatcher that I talked to said it was in our contract. When we returned home, I read the Blackberry emails and could find nothing mention. I looked online and could find nothing. In fact, while filling out a form within the booking process for a transfer from Southampton to Heathrow, it ask if we would like to pay by CASH or CARD. No pre-payment needed.

Before this latest incidence, we were planning on giving an okay review on Blackberry and had even recommended the service to a friend that was traveling to London around the same time. Now we regret giving the recommendation before we actually completed our travels using the car service. The following are the other two pick-up experiences.

Upon our arrival to Heathrow on October 16th, our driver was awaiting, even after a very long customs hold-up. However, we did have trouble finding him as he was not in the line with the other "professional" drivers. In fact, we were quite surprised to find a casually dressed young man holding a sign with our name. Expected a well dressed driver as shown in the advertising. However, the transportation to our destinations was excellent! The car was a small Mercedes model and seemed very clean. The driver very personable.

Now, the 2nd transportation segment was a bit different. The driver was 15-20 late for picking us up at out hotel with delivery to Southampton (no pre-payment given or asked for). He did send a text saying that he was tuck in traffic because of the rain. Upon arrival, our doorman asked us if we had called an Uber driver. We were perplexed by that statement until we saw the driver and car that arrived to pick us up. He said that indeed he was an Uber driver that worked on the side for Blackberry.

The car was barely large enough to hold our cruise luggage and it was not clean and tidy like the previous transportation. The driver, while nice, looked like he had just rolled out of the bed and thrown on a sweatshirt and jeans. In addition, although there was No Smoking signs in the windows, it was obvious that someone had recently smoke in the vehicle. My husband and I are both very sensitive to smoke smells which made the travel unpleasant. Also, the driver drove too fast, in our opinion, for the weather conditions. At times, he drove erratically a took cut-aways down residential streets. We were both fearful and very happy when we arrived at the port, which by the way, the driver kept asking us how to get to the port. REALLY? Being from the U.S. and it being our first trip to the U.K, we had no clue and why we hired someone and didn't rent a car ourselves!

After looking just now at the Blackberry website, I did find the following under TERMS:

2.8 The Provider reserves the right to use the services of contractors or sub-contractors (herein known as third parties) to provide services to Passengers

Hmmm...we suspect that both drivers were probably contracted out and will check more carefully before using another transport company. We will not be recommending Blackberry to anyone.