R and R Limousine and Bus Transportation Disaster at SXSW 2012

March 10, 2012 6:10 pm 9 comments

I wasn’t alone during my first real negative South By Southwest Interactive (sxswi) experience.  This morning I sprung out of bed after a restful sleep ready to take in some very cool sessions on video and other things.  I wasn’t too worried as my first panel was at 11:00am but I like to take in random sessions or blog a bit.  That was not to be.  I’m staying at the Country Inn and Suites and which has been absolutely spectacular in terms of service again today.

The R and R Limo SXSWi shuttle service van left a group of us stranded this morning.  We tweeted the account @rrlimobus and @sxsw it seems there were several left hanging this morning.  If not for Cory and Ashley from the Country Inn giving a few of us a ride to the Austin Conference Center we would have still be sitting in the lobby, you guys are golden. 

What I find fascinating is that this conference is very large and “interactive,” or so it should be.  Meaning I would expect a company like R and R Limo here in Austin, Texas, who last year was terrific to be more savvy with respect to a fail like today.  At least send us a tweet.  Instead?  Nothing.  Everyone has a bad day, it was raining today and even though I don’t consider that to be a serious reason for none fulfillment of service.  I want my money back.  The one time I’ve actually managed to catch a ride, the driver didn’t know where our hotel was.  

The really simple lesson for businesses here is to”listen” and be “responsive” in a crisis situation.  It’s not a new one but it is important.  Especially in a hyper-connected environment like SXSWi.  R and R Limo, you get a fail for damaging my sxswi cool this year.  I missed a critical panel for my business today because of your poor prep and execution of your services.

Can a company react to every tweet?  I don’t they need to.  However, in a crisis situation?  Definitely…and immediately.  Here’s a quick snap-shot of what many sxsw attendees had to say today, clearly R and R caved. 

Hey Southby…have you had a poor experience with the R and R limo shuttle service in Austin this year at SXSW2012?  Sound-off. 

Will they recover their service for the rest of the conference?

  • http://twitter.com/BakoInd Grant Baker

    Glad to see I contributed 1 impression to the cause! My friend and I ended up driving to ScreenBurn and taking the shuttle from there. We waited about 1 minute doing it that way as opposed to upwards of an hour trying to wait for a green line bus.

    What gets me is that they said this year is “new and improved” (http://sxsw.com/shuttles) and then charged us $20 more than last year. I’d rather have “old and out-moded” if this is what is new and improved.

  • Pingback: Shuttle troubles, meeting Erin Kissane, and more rain | Bako Industries Blog

  • DemoExamples

    Meanwhile the City of Austin continues to strengthen this monopoly.  The following is an account forwarded to me from a local owner/operator in Austin who obviously does not want the company name published because R&R has big pockets, and had serious influence with getting the latest regulations passed through the city of Austin.  According to several resources, Arcediano recently formed a “Central Texas Limousine Association” and somehow became the self appointed president. It is a small town, and the little guys cannot risk taking these companies on in public. 

    Account from a local company:
     
    While picking up a client at one of the hotels, I learned of what the Twitter Universe calls an “Epic Fail” with the SXSW Shuttle Service. Passengers were lined up and complaining that they had been waiting for more than an hour, and were desperate to get rides to their scheduled sessions. They had all prepaid for the transportation and were not getting responses from the provider, two women were scheduled to participate in a panel and missed the session completely. 
     
    I could not help them at this time since I had a passenger.  My client suggested that I go back to this hotel, or another one at which his partner was staying, and provide some “on call” service because he had already received numerous text messages from associates expressing concern about shuttle availability. 
     
    The restrictions placed on my company by the City of Austin prohibited me from jumping in and providing immediate relief to ensure that SXSW attendees made it to their events on time.
     
    I should be able to book these rides, on site, ON DEMAND for these extremely aggravated visitors. Restricted by regulations, I will continue to explain to them why I cannot simply take their group to the convention center for $40.  I will express my empathy for their frustration, sympathy for their missing their session, then thank them for visiting my city.  Then I will drive away in my empty, fully licensed, permitted, insured SUV, because I cannot afford to have my permit revoked.

    It was estimated that the 2011 SXSW injecting approximately $167 million into the Austin economy.  With Formula One on the horizon, it is imperative that we achieve smart growth. It is not in Austin’s best interest to be placing anti-competitive restrictions in place to grow monopolies, especially those which fail their customers.

    • Richelle Bauman

      For Help call Tom Lincoln at Austin Area Limousines at 512-386-8600.  He is working to organize an association with the NLA to help ALL limousine companies in Austin.

      • JJinTX

        CALA!! 

  • DemoExamples

    And I don’t know why I keep showing up as a Demo Example, but I wish that I were -what a great way to go through life.  Just a Demo!!! :->

    • JJinTX

      woohoo, fixed it – forgot it was in Disqus.  Guess I need to “get out”  more often