do you do inter run pick ups

[TANMAN]

while a driver is waiting for the night out and there at a club and the driver is asked can he take some passangers to another club what are the negatives in alowing him to do this

[Digger]

If you mean that these people are not the scheduled clients for the night, you never do this.
A - no contract against damage

B - They could steal personal items belonging to your main clients.

C - You aren't there when your clients need you.

[Celebritylimoky]

When a client rents this car for say 6 hrs. straight through. The client is in the club for a couple of hrs. If someone approaches a driver, he is to say the car is booked, NO EXCEPTIONS! That car is to be at the client's disposal for the entire charter. What if the client has a last minute change of plans, and needs to go somewhere, and the car is not waiting outside? This client is going to be PISSED! and will likely want a kickback, and will probably never use you again.

Even if someone else who is riding in the car with the client ask's to go somewhere without the client, the driver should always get permission from the client before leaving.

My policy is even if the client tells the driver that they will not be needing them for two or three hrs., the car still stays there.

If the driver needs to get something to eat, assuming that there is a fast food rest. close by, they may get a bite to go, then return to his post ASAP

[Limo Scene]

NEVER! This is NEVER acceptable. Suppose your party gets in an altercation with another clubber and is asked to leave? Worse yet, your client gets in a fight with his significant other and they decide to leave immediately.

This question is the same as a hotel manager renting your hotel room to someone for an hour while you go out to dinner. You wouldn't expect the manager to hail a cab for you and then rent your room out to someone for a "quickie" since you were not using the room at that time would you?

[LIMOJESS]

When parked outside a restaurant or club people assumed that we are for hire ie. a Taxicab.

Make sure the doors are locked while waiting.

[Steve W.]

Yup lots of negatives to this TANMAN this practice has been know to be called "double dipping" and many of the problems customers report with our industry can be rooted in this very thing. Profitable? Yes. Recomended? NO

But keep this in mind. When you hire drivers some may try this little trick to increase thier paycheck on the down low. Should definately have something in your employee manual that states that this practice is grounds for termination. This is why spot checks on GPS or mileage logs are a good idea to keep people honest.

Besides most state regulations prohibit limos from taking street hails (the situation you describe is basically that) so you also run the risk of the passenger being an investigator for the taxi commission looking for limos breaking the laws. Gotta love them fines.

[Daytona Limos]

Absolutely never, at Daytona Limos we strictly prohibit any use of the vehicle during the clients booked charter. Yes it may seem tempting when you know you will be sitting for 4 hours while your clients are at a concert or a nightclub, however as others have mentioned, what if your clients don’t enjoy the concert and want to leave? Playing Taxi cab is a all around bad idea, yes some of our competitors do it, and yes some people may even be upset you won’t take them wherever they wish to go, but the bottom line is, it is not something any limousine professional should do. We even go so far as if a limousine is chartered we do not allow others to even look inside the vehicle; you never know who might just grab a cell phone or camera. If a potential client approaches me I politely inform them that the vehicle is booked and the client’s belongs are in the vehicle, I hand them a card and welcome them to call me to schedule a free demonstration or direct them to our website www.daytonalimos.com (http://www.daytonalimos.com) 95% of people respect this, the other 5% who get upset are not the types of clients you want anyway.
I am almost embarrassed to share this story being that now I own a limousine company, but I will. Back when I was in college I was on spring break in South Beach Miami, while walking down Washington ave. on the way to the nightclubs I saw a huge stretch Excursion limo, which was the first one I had ever seen, this was around the year 2000 when they had just come out. I asked the chauffer if we could look inside, he said no problem. It was me and about 10 feel college friends. Not only did he offer to let us look, he quickly asked where we where headed. I told him we where headed to CroBar, which was a popular South Beach club, he then said for $10 a head he would cruise us down the strip and drop us off in front of the club. I said how about $75.00 he said you have a deal, let me put all of the client’s belongings up front with me and then you guys can jump in. The chauffeurs or should we say driver rounded up all of the personal belongs of his clients who where paying for the limo and tossed them up front. We then piled in the limo; we even drank some of the beer out of the coolers, which the driver said was fine since they had so much. We cruised down the strip once and where dropped of at the club. At the time I thought it was the deal of a lifetime, however looking back now I know why we have to deal with so many people who ask the question “why do we have to pay for the limo while we are not in it?” It’s because some chauffeurs do exactly what this guy did, hindsight is 20 20 now if I was approached with this situation I would ask the chauffeurs name and promptly inform his company of his or her offer. I was part of the problem, but now I know exactly why you don’t want your chauffeurs doing this.

[Salicete]

The car stays with the people who chartered and paid for it, period.

What do we do in the mean-time?

Clean the car, so each time the clients board, it looks as clean and organized as the first time they boarded.

The cars all have laptops with broadband cards, and DVD players, so drivers are able to entertain themselves during those long waits.

[Greenpala]

Never.

But I know a lot of drivers that do that on the side (shorty's) without company knowing it to make a quick buck or extra tip.

If you are a hussler and work for yourself and want to make some extra buck, make sure you remove people's belongings from the car while doing a shorty.

[Limo Scene]

Daytona,

Loved your post. Took me back to my own first days in the biz. I worked for an accounting firm. My job was to develop tracking software for clients. Anything that could be tracked from cattle to crops and eventually a limousine service activities. I asked the owner if I could drive a limousine on the weekends. I told him it would help me make a better program if I really knew what they did. I was taught how to get shorts or hails and pocket the money by other DRIVERS. I was taught how to steal gas. I was taught how to steal soft drinks and booze. It was everything I needed to create trakcing and monitoring programs from a "bean counter" point of view.

Eventually, the owner asked me if I would like to leave the accounting firm and coming manage the business for him using the tracking programs I had just created.

First company meeting we had to introduce me to the rank and file (All 8 of them), I collected their fuel cards they were allowed to keep. No PIN accounts etc., just regular old credit cards. Next I fired four of the 8 on the spot in the meeting. I said, "I think you guys know why - right?". The owner said, "hold on!" and had me step outside to tell me these were "his four best guys" and he didn't want them fired. I asked him to return back into the meeting and ask them if they knew why they were being fired and let them explain. If they didn't want to explain, they must have something to hide and if they don't explain, I will after they leave the meeting.

I still laugh about that start in the biz. Going to park in front of a popular nightclub after the paid gig ended was a normal to pocket cash for as long as a driver wanted to stay out doing so.

Today, that scenario is virtually impossible to do with GPS tracking, a 24/7 dispatcher watching your every move and communicating by radio. PIN numbers on gas cards tracking fuel purchases by vehicle and chauffeur, alarm codes to enter and exit the garage in the late hours, a time card machine to stamp in and out time.

Oh how the days have changed................

[Dean Schuler]

The negative is that you then define yourself as a short-time hustler. Unable to charge full tariff on a charter for whatever reason, you then have to work in the shadows to make a buck.

[Jim30]

We even go so far as if a limousine is chartered we do not allow others to even look inside the vehicle; you never know who might just grab a cell phone or camera. If a potential client approaches me I politely inform them that the vehicle is booked and the client’s belongs are in the vehicle, I hand them a card and welcome them to call me to schedule.....


Right out of the "Ultimate Chauffeur" DVD the Mazza program. Basic chauffeuring IMHO.



Originally posted by Dean Schuler:
The negative is that you then define yourself as a short-time hustler. Unable to charge full tariff on a charter for whatever reason, you then have to work in the shadows to make a buck.

Sad part about it is, Dean, is some limousine companies make their money doing this which in turn brings down the rest of us -- especially with the party crowds. Someone in this area started some stupid "split time" trend BS garbage. We just quote what it is and if they go out for a night out, they go out. Most of the time we get lowballed by "split time" transfers. I have started concentrating my marketing efforts on other things.

Jim

[NightOut]

Originally posted by Limo Scene:
NEVER! This is NEVER acceptable. Suppose your party gets in an altercation with another clubber and is asked to leave? Worse yet, your client gets in a fight with his significant other and they decide to leave immediately.

This question is the same as a hotel manager renting your hotel room to someone for an hour while you go out to dinner. You wouldn't expect the manager to hail a cab for you and then rent your room out to someone for a "quickie" since you were not using the room at that time would you?

You are always right on the money. Excellent example as well.

Never. I don't even allow others to 'look' in the vehicle, regardless of whether or not there are any clients belongings in back. I am the clients chauffeur, it is the clients car, the clients space, the clients fantasy for the night. Many clients get a kick out of just 'having the car outside' while they are dining or whatever. It's all part of the illusion, and that's what they are paying for. If they just wanted a ride, they would have 'called a cab', not 'contracted' a Limousine.