Insane John for Insane Limos

Limousine Crash Test Photo

One of the most frustrating things of being a Limousine Company owner is dealing with Driver/Cheaffeur issues and their costly Limousine damage mistakes. Many of you are problably wondering what possible damage a Limousine driver could could be the cause of and why it is such an issue when damage to a Limousine occurs. Depending on the overall size of a stretch limousine, party bus or airport transfer car the opportunity for having some form of damage increases with the size of the vehicle.

When we started Insane Limos, Inc. we started our limo fleet out with three stretch limos that are each very unique for their specific vehicle type. With each vehicle comes a different challenge and a different learning curve for each driver that might drive those automobiles, for example our Barbie Pink H2 has a much wider and more difficult turning radius than our stretch Escalade, meanwhile Andre our Ford F-650 Limousine has the best turning radius out of any of our Limousines and it is the biggest in our fleet. Your smaller non suv limos like Chrysler 300m and Town Car limousines will have a much better turning radius than all of the limousines listed above.

To give you an example of what you should expect if you start a limousine business I figured I might as well write a post with a few of the damages to our limousines which were either due to the reduced turning radius or of course driver error. I knew that our first issue with a limousine due to driver error wouldn’t bee long after first receiving our initial limos, it seemed as if every driver constantly would smack the right rear tire off of any curb or entry way. After seeing how often the drivers were hitting the curb with the right rear tire on our Hummer Limo I knew it would not be long, before I knew it I was receiving a phone call at 11pm from one of my drivers who was stopped on a bridge…. With a flat tire. Anyone want to guess which tire had a flat? You guessed it, the right rear tire was flat and as usual the driver protested his innocence and tried to tell me on the fact that someone might have cut the tire when he was stopped. Not the case, the driver later admitted to hitting a curb which is what caused the huge gash in the tire. Total cost to have the tire changed at 11pm than have a new tire put on in the morning prior to the run it was scheduled for, just under $1,000.

Being a Limousine Business owner for such a short period of time I would love to be able to say that the blown tire was the only issue that we have had since starting our Limousine business, only problem is that could not be any further from reality. In addition to the above the same driver that achieved the tire blow out also managed to put a 13′ (yes thirteen foot) scratch down the driver side of the Escalade a few short weeks after nailing the tire. If anyone were to ask me how this driver could have possibly put a 13′ scratch on the DRIVER side of the limousine (down to the metal) I honestly would have no answer, being as opinionated as I am my first thought is, “Moron”. That hardly ends the damage caused to limousines by limousine drivers, add in a knocked down mailbox, and a down to the paint scratch on the hatch of the H2 from nailing another mailbox, and one “unexplained” scuff on the front corner of the Cadillac Escalade and you will see it goes on and on.

I am now almost to the point where I am almost numb to the fact that there are just some Limousine Cheaffeurs that make constant and very costly mistakes in some of the most simple situations possible. Even being numb to the news when it first hits me hardly has me understanding how someone driving a limousine with a back up camera and a giant screen six inches from their face can still manage to take out a mailbox. If you choose to start a Limousine business I would suggest checking in with someone that will be able to talk you down from some of the most annoying situations possible, the small things drive me crazy and in the limo biz there are constant small things to drive you crazy. Subscribe to my RSS feed for instant updates, follow me on twitter or follow insane limos on twitter.

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One thing that became abundantly clear the minute we started Insane Limos was that just about everyone that calls to rent a limousine in Florida is looking for a discount or free rental time. It doesn’t stop there it seems that just about everyone that calls from another county like Miami or Orlando Florida to rent a limousine expects all the travel time to be free when doing runs like that, which blows me away since after all this is a “Business” which means we are required to charge for our services and stay profitable while doing so and paying a Chauffeur to drive for 8 hours (4 each way) is not inexpensive by any means.

I have to be completley honest when I say, “I just don’t get it.” why would anyone looking to use a service such as renting a limousine expect that business to just give out discounts upon being asked? I can name a million place that I go or have gone to and I never ask for a “Special” or a “Discount“, a few examples are going out to Dinner, going to a movie, going to a pet store and the list can go on and on. Wouldn’t a server look at you like a complete idiot if you sat down and ordered the Outback Special and said, “What kind of a discount can I get on that?” It’s not even an option and I will tell you why, when people go out to dinner they expect to pay for the dinner and the services that are being rendered to them…. Period. Operating a limousine business is not inexpensive by any means and the rates that we as well as most limousine companies charge are based on the fact that we are going to render the services that someone renting a limousine would expect to be rendered.

There is also another type of customer that rents limousines from limo rental companies such as Insane Limos and thats a “Friend” or someone that “Knows you” who automatically decides that your going to give a reduced rate because they “Know you”. Meanwhile many of these very same people have had no problem charging you full price for the services they rendered to you when you hired them. I have had people that did work on my house and charged me thousands to do so turn around and flat out ask for a special rate on renting one of our limos, it’s like “Give me a break I just paid you $6,000 and now your asking me for half off limo rental which would normally cost $600″ how friggin cheap can you be?

To the future limousine owners out there my word of advice would be to increase your level of patience when answering the Limousine phone (727-584-8888) because more potential customers than you think expect to have much of the services you render, rendered for free.

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