Originally Posted by KatieBon (Post 2287581)

Are there private car services you would recommend? (and thank you for the payment tip, did not know that!)

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2287706)

So far precisely three posters, with a total of 3 posts among all of them, have posted favorably about Dawn's Car Service. The folks with negative opinions, four in all, have a total of 1,269 posts among them.

This is mentioned because even though this particular site is generally seems pretty reliable about offering opinions about businesses (apart from the occasional ax-grinder) it is not immune from the same type of thing that plagues Amazon and a whole lot of other places where folks post opinions about businesses. Business in and around TV know about this site and monitor it. If there is money on the line, some folks MAY not be averse to stacking the deck, so to speak. For OR against. But for my part I'm far more apt to trust folks whose posts I see frequently, than the folks show up with few or no previous posts to their credit (again, either way) when there are strong feelings about a business, one way or the other.

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2287706)

So far precisely three posters, with a total of 3 posts among all of them, have posted favorably about Dawn's Car Service. The folks with negative opinions, four in all, have a total of 1,269 posts among them.

This is mentioned because even though this particular site is generally seems pretty reliable about offering opinions about businesses (apart from the occasional ax-grinder) it is not immune from the same type of thing that plagues Amazon and a whole lot of other places where folks post opinions about businesses. Business in and around TV know about this site and monitor it. If there is money on the line, some folks MAY not be averse to stacking the deck, so to speak. For OR against. But for my part I'm far more apt to trust folks whose posts I see frequently, than the folks show up with few or no previous posts to their credit (again, either way) when there are strong feelings about a business, one way or the other.

Originally Posted by MandoMan (Post 2287566)

What horrible stress for you! I always drive to Orlando and use Park-N-Go on Semoran Blvd for parking. With all the taxes and discounts, it costs $10 a day. I book online and pay in advance with PayPal and print out my reservation. My GPS takes me there. After I show my receipt at the office, then drive to where a van is waiting. I park where told. The driver loads my suitcase and gives me a receipt with my parking place number on it. Then the driver takes me to the airport—about ten minutes to my drop-off at Departures. When I return, I call a number and ask for pick-up. Sometimes the van is waiting, and sometimes it takes fifteen minutes. I’m dropped off at my car, and off I go.

This is MUCH easier than possibly waiting a long time to park at the airport, and the service is better. I don’t like the drive to the airport, but I have a Prius, so it’s not much more than two gallons of gas.

I use the site below to book the reservation, then choose the Park-n-Go on Semoran (there are two). There are other parking places listed, but that one is the cheapest, and it’s good, safe, easy.
https://airportparkingreservations.com/orlando-airport-parking-mco?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campa ign=campaign_APR_2023_27_DEC_ONP_CONTACT_STRATEGY& utm_term=Use%20code%20HOLIAYMCO8%20for%20$8%20off% 20your%20next%20airport%20parking%20booking%20or%2 0$5%20on%20hotel%20and%20parking%20packages.

Originally Posted by spinner1001 (Post 2287719)

Right, possible fake reviews. It’s commonly believed about Amazon reviews. Likely some get into TOTV. Caveat Emptor.

How to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon (2023): Tools and Advice | WIRED

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 2287726)

$10 a day for parking, plus $20 for tolls round trip, plus $20 for gas round trip. If you're going away for a week-long trip, that's $120 (8 days, because you get charged for any time over the exact hour in the parking lot) round trip, PLUS you have to do all the driving. Compare to $85 round trip, and someone else deals with the driving, and even takes your bags out to the curb when you get off the van.

Originally Posted by BrianL99 (Post 2287478)

So I went to Ireland for the holiday and 2 months ago, I booked transportation with Dawn's Car Service to Orlando Airport.

At 2:50 PM on 12/26 I get a text, "Is your flight on time? I'm leaving now".

15-20 minutes later I get a text, "I'm feeling under the weather, I'm sending my son.

It's supposed to be a 4:30 pm pickup.

4:35 he's not here and I ask Dawn if he's lost.

"He made a wrong turn and will be there in 15 minutes" is the response.

How does someone get lost with GPS?

4:50 she says "he's still not there"? "He should be there". (no kidding!)

4:55 I tell her I'm going to miss my flight and I'm leaving to drive to Orlando.

He's still not here at 5. I drive to the airport, spend 40 minutes finding a place to park, then dash from Terminal A to Terminal C, race through Security and make my flight, only because of the kindness of the AerLingus desk agent, who allows me to board the flight, late.

Now I'm stuck with my car at Orlando airport and after 22 hours of airports and flying, I have to drive back to TV at midnight last night.

Dawn won't refund my $261 and offered me a "credit towards a future booking". Oh yeah, I can't wait to depend on her again!

& as it turns out, Dawn doesn't even have a "son", I've been told.

Originally Posted by retiredguy123 (Post 2287518)

If your credit card is with an FDIC insured bank, and the merchant accepts the credit card as payment, the bank is required to comply with the Federal credit card dispute process. I would never pay a merchant with a third party payment, such as PayPal. Merchants like to use PayPal as a way to bypass the Federal credit card dispute process. The Federal dispute law allows you to dispute a charge within 60 days from the date that the charge first appears on your credit card statement. If the merchant failed to deliver the service or product you paid for, the bank must issue a credit to your account.

Originally Posted by Ironnan (Post 2287821)

There was a whole line behind me that also got refused parking. I’m sure they paid too. The days of quality customer service are long gone.

Originally Posted by Eg_cruz (Post 2287825)

PayPal backs you in a dispute.

Originally Posted by Rainger99 (Post 2287822)

Is the $85 for one person or for two people? If there were two, would it be $170?

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC (Post 2287961)

Well we sure destroyed Dawn's business.

Originally Posted by BrianL99 (Post 2287478)

So I went to Ireland for the holiday and 2 months ago, I booked transportation with Dawn's Car Service to Orlando Airport.

At 2:50 PM on 12/26 I get a text, "Is your flight on time? I'm leaving now".

15-20 minutes later I get a text, "I'm feeling under the weather, I'm sending my son.

It's supposed to be a 4:30 pm pickup.

4:35 he's not here and I ask Dawn if he's lost.

"He made a wrong turn and will be there in 15 minutes" is the response.

How does someone get lost with GPS?

4:50 she says "he's still not there"? "He should be there". (no kidding!)

4:55 I tell her I'm going to miss my flight and I'm leaving to drive to Orlando.

He's still not here at 5. I drive to the airport, spend 40 minutes finding a place to park, then dash from Terminal A to Terminal C, race through Security and make my flight, only because of the kindness of the AerLingus desk agent, who allows me to board the flight, late.

Now I'm stuck with my car at Orlando airport and after 22 hours of airports and flying, I have to drive back to TV at midnight last night.

Dawn won't refund my $261 and offered me a "credit towards a future booking". Oh yeah, I can't wait to depend on her again!

& as it turns out, Dawn doesn't even have a "son", I've been told.

Originally Posted by spinner1001 (Post 2287594)

That’s what I thought. I believe there is more to this story.

Originally Posted by CFrance (Post 2287695)

I can empathize with the OP not wanting to get to an offsite parking lot after 22 hours of travel and then drive home. We fly frequently to Europe and Australia, and the last thing we want to do after baggage claim and customs & border patrol is then have to wait for someone to pick us up to retrieve the car and then have to drive home.

Another thing we don't want to do after all that travel is get on a bus that drops several people off individually or just takes you to a point that isn't your home. We very much appreciate the ease of a private car service and have used the same one for over a decade without a hitch. We don't prepay. There have been threads on this topic that list reliable private services, if one wants to do a search.

Originally Posted by pairadocs (Post 2288056)

didn't it say it was for two people ?

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC (Post 2287961)

Well we sure destroyed Dawn's business.

Originally Posted by JEM0715 (Post 2288098)

How can one destroy a business that was NEVER legal in the first place? She wasn't state business licensed, no commercial insurance, no airport permits, and you say destroy a business? What they did was expose an illicit service.

Originally Posted by JEM0715 (Post 2288098)

How can one destroy a business that was NEVER legal in the first place? She wasn't state business licensed, no commercial insurance, no airport permits, and you say destroy a business? What they did was expose an illicit service.

Originally Posted by MrChip72 (Post 2288320)

Incidentally, I was looking for a service to get to MCO in 2 weeks for just myself. Ended up booking a one way car rental from Leesburg to MCO where I'll pick up the car the day before. Was $44 all-in with taxes. Seems like the less stressful way to go.

Originally Posted by MrChip72 (Post 2288320)

Incidentally, I was looking for a service to get to MCO in 2 weeks for just myself. Ended up booking a one way car rental from Leesburg to MCO where I'll pick up the car the day before. Was $44 all-in with taxes. Seems like the less stressful way to go.

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby (Post 2288336)

How do you get from your house to Leesburg and back? Or does the rental agent let you park in their lot for free?

Originally Posted by Michael 61 (Post 2288117)

I appreciate the OP for posting this. For those that want to discount the OP’s experience, that is their prerogative to do so. Posting that they had wonderful experiences does not negate the OP’s experience. I need 100% reliable transportation to the airport when flying.