Southampton transportation: West Quay Cars is Radio Taxis now?

[Ponder This]

Posting this outside of the mega thread for more visibility, I hope.  

 

West Quay Cars gets a lot of recommendations on this forum, but not great aggregate reviews anywhere else (Tripadvisor, Yelp, Google, TrustPilot). The booking tool on their website is broken and won't give quotes, so I emailed them at the address on their website. The response I got back was from Radio Taxis, but did have the West Quay Cars logo in their signature banner. I found a Facebook post that said the two combined operations in September 2022.

 

The email quote was £30 less than the next lowest quote I've gotten for the same car type for the same transfer (£140 vs £170), so I thought it would be okay.

 

I inquired with them about a Southampton to London via Stonehenge sightseeing itinerary and the quote is much lower than the others I've gotten (£290 vs £500+).  This raises alarm bells as "too good to be true."  It's not even in the same general price range.  

 

Does anyone have current experience with West Quay Cars under the banner of Radio Taxis?  It seems like it may not be the same as what built it a good reputation on this forum.  The price of the Stonehenge trip being too low does scare me. 

[John Bull]

Southampton Radio Taxis has been around for as long as I can remember, hence the rather dated name.

Must admit I didn't know about the tie-up with West Quay. I've always known West Quay for taking on the more-distant jobs, it may be that they're over-committed on your date.

 

Since Covid and the fuel & cost-of-living increases, the fare between LHR and Southampton seems to have settled at about £140 - £160. For starts at LHR, some operators add waiting time if you're late into the Arrivals Hall and / or LHR parking.

 

A direct Southampton to central London seems to be around £190 - £240.

Via Stonehenge adds 40 miles / 45 minutes to the journey time, plus waiting time at Stonehenge (90 minutes does the job) 

All of which makes £500+ OTT, and £290 a little bit south of what I'd expect.

 

Did you (or they) specify how long you'd be at Stonehenge?

Were the higher quotes from London-based operators?

 

JB 🙂

[Kgills]

I don't have super current experience but I booked with West Quay for transport from Heathrow to Southampton in November 2022.  I just looked back at my emails and emails dated early September 2022 came from a westquaycars email address and emails dated late September 2022 forward came from a radiotaxisonline email address.  I had a great experience with them and booked to use them last fall for a trip that I ultimately had to cancel. I've booked another transatlantic this November and will book with West Quay/Radio Taxis again.