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SuperShuttle is going out of business

latimes.com

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Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#121

Post by flafla2 »

gramakri wrote: post #24

I use SuperShuttle pretty much all the time. I understand why the service is widely disliked. Most people expect a predictable shared ride with least surprises. The pick up is predictable but not the ride itself. Sometimes it's like 3-4 stops and the whole thing takes a long time. On the other hand, I have tried uber shared ride from airports and it's way worse (at SFO). The rides keep getting cancelled. Late at nigh…

I thought this, until my ride to the airport was cancelled , 20 minutes before the arrival. I almost missed my flight, good thing Uber wasn’t particularly busy that day (this is in Pittsburgh where rider supply can really screw you).

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#122

Post by huebomont »

jcranmer wrote: post #116
khuey wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's probably no more than twenty airports in the US with rail/subway connections. Notably the second busiest (LAX) does not have a rail connection but they're finally building one.

I count 25: Boston, Cleveland, Chicago O'Hare, Chicago Midway, Providence, JFK, LGA, Newark, Philly, BWI, DCA, Atlanta, SFO, Oakland, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Portland, Seattle, Dallas/Fort-Worth, St. Louis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Salt Lake, Phoenix. If you include proposed or in construction links, there's also Honolulu, Washington Dulles, Orlando, LAX. There's also a few more airports that have bus…

LGA has no rail connection and JFK isn't directly connected, you have to transfer to and pay extra exorbitant fare for the AirTrain.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#123

Post by totalZero »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #17
totalZero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can schedule an Uber ahead of time.

That's not what scheduling an Uber actually does, though. "The Scheduled Rides feature allows you to select a 10 minute window for a driver to come pick you up. At the start of the window, the app will send out a ride request on your behalf." So if you "schedule a ride" at 7pm, it is exactly the same as just using the app manually at 6:50pm. There is absolutely nothing remotely close to a guarantee that anyone will y…

I believe you are mistaken.

Three days ago I scheduled an Uber for 5:00AM-5:10AM.

It arrived at 4:57AM.

EDIT: Perhaps you misread the description...

"The Scheduled Rides feature allows you to book a trip in advance by selecting a 10-minute pickup window. The driver will be requested on your behalf and will arrive in the 10-minute window you've selected. In the case where a driver is not available, you'll be notified."

https://help.uber.com/riders/article/scheduling-a-ride-in-ad...

There would be little sense to doing what you suggested (queueing rides 10min in advance for scheduled riders) because Uber can use scheduled rides as constraints for pathing of vehicles, and some areas would have a greater than 10 minute wait time for pickup.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#124

Post by Jamwinner »

legohead wrote: post #114
awillen wrote: post #109

More than once I had a SuperShuttle driver tell me their credit card machine wasn't working. When I told them I didn't have cash, they'd insist we stop at the ATM on the way home. When I pointed out that the website where I booked plus the outside of the actual van we were in said they accept Visa, they'd really get in a huff. Always magically had paper credit card slips, though. Some of them really sounded vaguely t…

I took my first SuperShuttle on my last conference trip to SF. I didn't talk about payment until I was already at destination, at which point he told me he didn't have a machine. I thought it odd, and just gave him cash. He told me $19 even though the guy at the airport told me $18. Gave him a $20 and went on my way. Also the ride was very odd. The guy mentioned how he wished he could drive a tank, and even had tank…

Nobody is in the right business. There arent exactly lines to become shuttle drivers for dismissive people who assume malice when the damn machine is a POS.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#125

Post by pastssexec »

sailfast wrote: post #106
momokoko wrote: post #21

Very interesting in that SuperShuttle was sold to a PE firm specializing in distressed assets in September. This bankruptcy was likely already a given at that time.

Came here to say this. I'm not sure their bankruptcy was a given at the time, but I do wonder how much money they took out of the deal in exchange for cheap debt that the company is now defaulting on. Franchisees took on all the risk here - how does the parent go bankrupt unless it was a debt-based grab?

Yes, it was a $$ grab by the investment firm that took over in Sept. Transdev, their previous parent co, gave Blackstreet Capital Holdings somewhere around $20ml to take ownership of SuperShuttle. From what I understand Transdev had tax credits coming due from losses they took in previous years and this was an easier out. There were others who were interested and in the game who were going to take less and actually keep it running but they were not considered. Not sure why Transdev didn't take either of those offers. Also, Transdev filed a suit last month in Delaware over a $7ml dispute in working capital adjustments with Blackstreet. Side note, person heading up the takeover from Blackstreet was not nice at all, to be polite.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#126

Post by ghaff »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #33
awalton wrote: post #31

Let's face it, Ridesharing ate their lunch. I was a religious SuperShuttle user until Lyft showed up - it usually cost me roughly the same amount to take a Lyft shared, I didn't have to wait on the right van to show up, and instead of winding through taking a half dozen other people home first, it often takes me straight home, or at most with a couple of stops. It's a hard world for traditional scheduled taxiing to b…

I remember one time my wife and I took the Super Shuttle home from SFO to Mountain View. It took about two hours since we were the last stop and in fact the shuttle went north a little first before turning south. That was the first and last time I used their service.

I used to use a shared van service fairly regularly. After the second or third time my ~1 hour airport drive turned into a 2-3 hour late night marathon, I stopped doing it.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#127

Post by cardiffspaceman »

Slartie wrote: post #68

I started in 2013 to have a yearly trip to Miami for a cruise at the beginning of February. For a solo traveler, taxi had been rather expensive unless you managed to pool with someone right at the airport, so I was glad to find the shuttle operators sitting next to the taxis right at the curb, and I could just walk there and get a ride. Nice low barrier to entry. Especially after realizing that indeed, public transpo…

I have been the foreigner using an unfamiliar terminal. Since it was a cruise to Vancouver, my cruise travel agent recommended I use a cruise message board for that city. I thereby got info on the whole range of options. Plus of course we could have used the cruise line's transfer (i.e. big ole bus) from cruise ship to airport. We hired a car and got a description from the driver of the places we passed through. Thus I learned to use such message boards as a starting point. Plus I learned to have contacts.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#128

Post by sl1ck731 »

gniv wrote: post #95
sl1ck731 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had just started using the local Coach airport shuttle because it was so convenient and have begun to travel more. It announced it was shutting down a week or so ago for the same reasons. Ridesharing will cost me double each way or risk leaving my car at the airport. I'm beginning to dislike Lyft and Uber. When I was in Vegas it wasn't even worth using them. The lined up procession of cabs is more convenient than t…

> The lined up procession of cabs is more convenient than trying to find the one car you're supposed to get into, Lyft has a new feature (I forget what it's called) where instead of directly matching with a specific driver, you get a four-digit number and then stay in line and get in the car when your turn comes. At that point you match with the driver using the number you got.

This is actually pretty interesting, but still seems like more ceremony than cabs anywhere that is similar to Vegas in that they have designated pickup areas (I don't know where else this may apply).

One of my drivers told me there was some regulation coming down that would allow the cabs to be more competitive price wise with Uber (I think I paid maybe 10-20% more than the Uber on average I think). If that was the case I'm not sure what benefit fiddling with my phone would offer at all.

I guess the one good thing is it potentially keeps cab prices low there.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#129

Post by someonehere »

I had to catch an AM flight in Austin. Used SuperShuttle to book my trip to the airport. I literally was the first person he picked up. We drove for like an hour all over Austin picking up a couple more people. It was night out still so I had no idea where we were because I was tired. Anyway, Finally got to the airport. After that no more SuperShuttle. This was ten years ago and I’m glad things have changed.

Re: SuperShuttle is going out of business

#130

Post by awillen »

Jamwinner wrote: post #124
legohead wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took my first SuperShuttle on my last conference trip to SF. I didn't talk about payment until I was already at destination, at which point he told me he didn't have a machine. I thought it odd, and just gave him cash. He told me $19 even though the guy at the airport told me $18. Gave him a $20 and went on my way. Also the ride was very odd. The guy mentioned how he wished he could drive a tank, and even had tank…

Nobody is in the right business. There arent exactly lines to become shuttle drivers for dismissive people who assume malice when the damn machine is a POS.

When someone in that industry tells me the machine is broken, I presume they're being dishonest because it benefits them (they avoid fees and presumably tax reporting to the income) and I've seen too many cabs have their machines magically working if you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid.

Also, if the machine actually isn't working, they always used to have paper slips to make CC charges. Those are never mentioned unless you tell them it's CC or they aren't getting paid. Dishonesty by omission is very much still dishonesty, and telling someone that the CC machine is broken implies that they can't accept CCs at all.

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