Driver left prior to 1 hour timeline and "TSA Airport Transfers" failed to properly investigate (screenshot comms with driver included in review)
I booked a pickup with TSA Airport Transfers for an international flight landing in Rome at 7:15 A.M. The website agreement states that the driver must wait for 1 hour after the plane lands. After landing at 7:11 A.M., I notified the driver and he responded. Our plane taxied for about 30 minutes and I let the driver know my situation. He stated that by contract he would have to leave at 8:11 A.M. I communicated with him through the process ("I just went through passport control, etc.") and arrived at the pickup location at 8:05 A.M. (6 minutes prior to the deadline), I sent the driver a screenshot of the pickup location and asked where he was. He replied that he was already in his car because it takes him 6 minutes to leave the airport. I called him but no answer. In reality, he clearly left 15-20 minutes earlier, likely either to avoid having to make the drive or to chase another fare while also getting paid for this one.
I notified the booking person by e-mail at the company who immediately responded, apologized and stated that this is a serious violation by the driver and I should send screenshots and details of my dispute to their admin team. I provided screenshots of all communications with the driver, which clearly shows he left in advance, as well as a summary of the situation, and also a link to a Trip Advisor reviews for the same driver who apparently has been accused of scamming customers previously (available by a brief Google search of the driver's name). I also left my own negative review of the driver on Trip Advisor, based solely on the facts, all of which are supportable by screenshots of our communications. Less than half an hour after that I received the following reply from TSA Airport Transfers:
"Dear,
Hi, the driver has provided us with all the necessary evidence, to contest that he committed a violation you must present clear evidence that attests to it, it seems strange to us anyway, it has never happened.
be careful about the review you made, and it is criminally prosecutable for defamation, even if you have the evidence (yours), in Italy it works like this.
Best regards"
First, there is no way the driver could have provided any evidence supporting his position. At 8:07 A.M., after he had left and while I was at the pickup location, he sent me a picture of his IPad tablet at the pickup location with my name on it. This only shows that he was there previously, not for the full hour as required. Also, the driver specifically stated that he had already left prior to the 1-hour timeline, and my 8 screenshots of all communications provided to the company with timestamps supports this.
Second, I'm a practicing attorney and this is not how defamation claims work. I don't appreciate this company implying that I could be sued for defamation if I leave an honest negative review about one of TSA Airport Transfer's representatives. I replied to it after this stating that I would be including all of this in my review. I also sent an e-mail to the initial booking agent summarizing this and asking to speak with either management or someone from their legal team, but I did not receive a response.
The EUR 60 (which I expect to be refunded) bothers me much less than: (i) the actions of the driver, which caused me to be late to a meeting; and (ii) the statement by TSA Airport Transfers that my leaving a negative review could result in prosecution for defamation; in fact I probably wouldn't have spent this much time on this without that "warning".
Obviously, I'm disputing the charge with my credit card company and expect to prevail on this small matter, but my biggest annoyance is that I was put in this position by a driver who clearly was lying, and TSA Airport Transfers responded in the manner it did.
I would welcome a reply by TSA Airport Transfers to this review, and can also post related communications.
Edit: Defamation typically requires lie/misrepresentation, which I have not done, but as a courtesy I have deleted the names for now, and would be interested in seeing what evidence you say you have regarding your driver following protocol. I had no issue with your driver until he left before the allotted time and refused to reply to me, the main issue is that he did not want to do his job and acting like a victim. I sent you screenshots with time stamps subtantiating that your driver left early, to which he admitted. To summarise, the flight landed at 7:11 A.M. Your agreement states that he must remain for 1 hour. I substantiated that I had arrived at the pickup location at 8:05 A.M., which was confirmed by your driver's reply, also time stamped. It's pretty clear cut and I provided you screen shots confirming all of this. For some reason you are claiming that your driver was not in violation of this agreement. Please provide your evidence showing otherwise.
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