Don't Rely on Groome
 

Our trip to see family on Thanksgiving was almost over before it started thanks to Groome Transportation. They overbooked our shuttle and their system indicated we should be on a night-time shuttle rather than the morning one that we had reserved and recievd confirmation the day before (due to system transfer error). Family stepped in and helped us catch our flight. Another gentleman was also victim to the overbooking on the same shuttle. The worst part about the whole ordeal was Groome's lack of concern and customer service after the fact. I asked for the charges to be credited back on my credit card. They told me they could not do that without approval of a Manager. However, they would not make one available to speak to. I was told a Manager would reach out to me - one week and four more calls later I am still waiting a call from a Manager. When you absolutely have to get somewhere.....don't count on Groome to do it - and don't expect them to care about it when they don't.

Wake up, get smart call your credit card company and advice of services not rendered.
Same happened to us at MCO pickup said they only give credit on next appointment. Had to have a neighbor pick us up. Master card refunded money to hell with GROOM.

Third world country business.

Thanks. Already disputed with Visa. Waited a week for the promised call from a Manager that never came.

Bummer, but not surprising. That’s what happens when a relatively small local company is bought out by a big national chain. It’s very bad news for the Village’s, many people relied on Workman and the Villages Transportation before it was sold to Workman. If Groom doesn’t get their act together with the busy season rapidly approaching, prepare for lots of headaches and bellyaching. During busy season the combination of many more travelers and the usual winter weather delays have the makings for a traveling nightmare if Groom continues to fully book small vans instead of the larger buses Workman used. Stay tuned.

We found the best way to be in control of time when catching flight from Orlando or Tampa traveling from TV was a one way car rental from Enterprise at LS.

They jacked up the prices of one-way car rentals to the airport from LSL.

Everything goes up. Would still pay for the convenience and control.

Rental or private drivers are great for multiple travelers but get very expensive for single travelers.

Agree, but we are two, with lots of bags.
If an early flight, we book in overnight, and stay in local hostelry.
Works for us.

Its been....how long now since Groome bought out Workman? Six months, maybe? I read TOTV routinely and have seen maybe 5 first-person complaints about their service. Considering that Groome serves (est.) 50 to 100 Villagers a day, that's not a lot of complaints. My thought is that the vast majority of folks find Groome's service completely satisfactory.

Of course, we'd rarely read or hear about that.

Or most don’t use TOTV site. We had six different incidents with Groome, with reservations and yet no room on the bus, had to wait for next pickup, two out of the 6, had to have family drive last minute.

Our family and our friends no longer uses them, since complaints go no where, it’s not worth the headache, of using them. Plus even 10% of business has issues that still 10% who had to find other means of transportation

Our Private guys commented they have close to twice the business since the buy out this year. Hopefully Groome will take notice, but time will tell, around holidays

I don’t have much confidence in Groome. We tried to book them in advance and they confirmed, took the payment but on the day they did not show. When I called them they said, there was NO RECORD of our booking. Fortunately, I anticipated and had backup plans. The flight we had to catch was critical. I paid by credit card and just notified the credit company. Now if anyone ever asks me should they take Groome because it’s cheaper, my answer is, “Have a backup plan if you want to get somewhere. Maybe Groome will show up or maybe they won’t”.

With seemingly unabated growth, interest and expansion of The Villages there is an obvious opportunity for somebody to introduce and run a better service. I am confident people would be interested. Villages’s Van is not much better. They now routinely have passengers transfer from one van to another in the middle of the trip. I will no longer pay to have to deal with overloaded vans, waiting for passengers who don’t show and switching vans on a 1 hour trip!

If you are traveling with at least 1 other person, UBER is how I go. $80 with Groome for 2, $90 with Uber for as many that fit in car. Get there without waiting or riding around picking up others. I actually just came home solo 11/26 and still used UBER. I was picked up in 6 minutes from walking outside and brought directly home on Thanksgiving weekend. I used Groome twice. Once worked perfectly, once didn't(won't go into detail). Uber has NEVER been late to pick me up. Just consider what your time and aggravation level is worth and if this makes more sense in each of your individual cases.