Karmel Shuttle

I booked a shuttle via a 3^rd party from Irvine to LAX. I can’t speak to the prices Karmel charges but I got a decent rate, under $ 30, using a 3^rd party booker.
The van arrived on time and was empty except for me and one other passenger also heading to LAX.
The van was a typical utility passenger van. Light on comfort (very loud and suspension is all over the place) and used until they run it into the ground.
The ride itself was non eventful. The driver got me to LAX in about 45 min on a Saturday.
Driver was extremely rude and aggressive in demanding a tip — he made sure to block the luggage storage as he was doing this.
Next time I’ll just über it for twice the price and my own car.

Summary:
The good: friendly driver, budget friendly, easy online reservation system, text message notifications
The bad: the hour long wait for a shuttle, text message notifications (b/​c as helpful as they can be, they seem to be part of the issue with the wait times)
Comments:
I decided to use this service because a friend who arrived a few days earlier than me had used it without a problem. I made my reservation online and as soon as I landed, as requested, I responded to the text message I received and quickly received a message with the number of a van that would be picking me up. I stood outside on the curb waiting 30 min before I called the dispatch number to verify the van was indeed coming. When I spoke to dispatch, they asked if I had picked up my luggage, and said they were going to send out a van, and gave me a different van number from the one I’d received in the initial text and told me it would be about 15 – 20 minutes (all as if I’d never responded to the original text message). I told him I’d already been waiting 30 minutes and he said he didn’t know what had happened or why I’d been given a different van number previously. So, in all, I stood waiting on the curb at LAX for an hour before a shuttle finally picked me up. The driver was chatty, but personable (he kept butchering my name, but it happens) and there was only 3 of us in the van, so the trip was fine – although the seat belt was broken and uncomfortable for the ride and their were plenty of bumps along the way. I could have lived with the transpo issues for the price of the ticket, but waiting an hour for the shuttle because their is seemingly something screwy going on with their dispatch system. No thanks. SuperShuttle it is.

This review is a follow up to our previous poor review that we wrote on 10÷29÷15. Mark, at Karmel Shuttle, has stepped up to resolve our serious concerns regarding some very poor treatment we received by some of his staff’
Marc’s involvement has given us new hope that Karmel Shuttle really does care about their customers after all.
It’s nice to see that a company is willing to change their position on an issue just to make their customers happy.
Thanks Marc for keeping us coming back to Karmel.
Bob and Gail P.

We booked Karmel for our trip for shuttle service to and from LAX. Rates are reasonable, and the drivers were friendly, and arrived on time to pick us up and drop us off. I have some constructive thoughts about our experience to share.
Upon entering the van, I noticed right away the signs stating that if someone gets sick in the car, they will charge a $ 100 cleaning fee. And after riding in the van for a few minutes you can tell why, this van was very wobbly, and I started to get motion sick by the time I got to the airport. They need to get newer vans that have better suspension, and sit lower to avoid queasy customers, for that reason alone I wouldn’t use this company again unfortunately.
On the way back from LAX, I noticed the chatty driver was going in the wrong direction, I live near the ⁴⁰⁵⁄₂₂ area, and the driver took the 105÷605÷91 and was heading to the 5 freeway before I made him get of the fwy at Beach blvd! If I had dozed off who knows where we would have ended up. Last thing I want to do with two small children at 1am is to go on a fantastic voyage in a van that is making me queasy.
Nice company, nice drivers, but there are some things that they need to look at to improve their quality of service, the van situation alone will make me look elsewhere for my next trip. Thanks!

Worst service I have had driver more concerned about the new people he was picking up than worrying about where he was to drop us at the cruise terminal. Then I thought I cancelled my return trip as family were collecting us 6 months ago. we were in Mexico with no internet to find that they were charging us for another trip on my credit card I rang them at 6.40am to say no this had been cancelled and told them not send the driver for the 11.30am pick up. I did not get collected by family until lunchtime I kept checking no driver was there to get me. But when I wanted a refund they said the driver had been there to collect me and 5 hours notice was not enough time and refuse to refund stay away from this shuttle service

This van shuttle service is Vantastic.
Booking the evening before pick up, over a weekend, was not a worry. Making a change on the day of pick up — a little concern, for lack of communication from their customer service representative (s) to driver. Consequently, it took another day to refund a fare difference.
Our group of nine sat comfortably — and inside a cool van that seats nine (maximum). One passenger sat up with the driver, three on-​a-​bench or row behind them, then two bucket chairs, and the last row a bench for three. There within exist two 12 V receptacles, one between the driver & front passenger, and one behind the driver, alongside the bench, for phone charging.
No beverages, with the exception of bottled water, is in keeping with the law and in keeping the van clean (an accessorial fee for cleaning is in place). Both drivers were courteous — opening & closing of passenger doors — well mannered, and friendly. The VANS were both 2009 & 2010 models.
Out group reserved with Karmel, up to Hollywood from Long Beach with one stop. The return had another van & driver — so important to not leave items, we contacted two one-​way runs — and it was less expensive than using Über. Plus the bonding time, with the group together, was a bonus.
So impressed was the service from inside the van, that I have added them to my organization’s airport transfers /​carriers.

Ride from Orange County Airport to Hotel was less than satisfactory. Van smelled like a fresh cigarette. The location of pickup was a very long walk from luggage pickup. 9 passenger van step was difficult for my wife to climb up due to handicap and they had no way to accommodate.
Ride back to Airport from Hotel was in a better van. Still no accommodation for handicap step but we were dropped off at luggage check area.

Great service overall. We had a 9 passenger private van priced well below all their competitors. The driver arrived early and was very helpful with our luggage. He had his route to the airport already mapped out (which in the several hundred times I’ve used car services is surprisingly rare). Reservations and confirmation were both easily made. I would definitely recommend Karmel for airport shuttle service.

I’ve used this company at least 10 times & the departure pickup is always on time & smooth. However the LAX ARRIVAL pickup is the reason for this review. Even though you must provide your flight details when making your reservation they are always late when picking you up. My flight arrived at 2:10pm and the driver didn’t show up until 3:50pm. I realize LAX is busy but this is common service with Karmel. Sorry but you’ve lost our company business.

Their was a problem with the scheduling and the website in my reservation. Called to try to fix but considering I was supposed to be in CA already (whoops!) they would not modify nor cancel my reservation. They said they would be charging me the full amount despite the fact my reservation actually made NO sense and why didn’t I look at it? The customer service rep demanded that I had a confirmation and so it was all my fault. The reason was my flight was not for several days so I hadn’t had a chance yet to review the documentation. My bad — but obviously there was a glitch when I’m going from a hotel TO an airport and back? And the times literally over lapped — the reservation showed 2 trips within 8 hours. Not sure that is possible. Anyways, when I said I wasn’t going to pay for services not rendered they hung up on me. Not impressed. Will just take a cab instead and put in a stop payment on my CC. Obviously there was some problem on both our ends but not being willing to work with me at all to find a resolution and just being hostile doesn’t win any favors.

Thank you to the driver who picked up my partner and i from LAX he was sweet and apologised for being late. Great service loading bags and suitcases in and out of van. Thought id tip him and give him some New Zealand goodies. Thanks heaps cant wait to use your services again! :)

Had 11:40 pickup scheduled. Van arrived at 12:40. Driver blamed the construction at the airport. True. They are rebuilding LAX but only early AM and Kate PM. The driver was really nice. Kept us entertained. But the vans suspension was like riding in a ’42 Willy. And grooooossss filthy inside. Inside temp of the van was about 90. Finally got the prison break proof window to open so we could get some fresh cool LA freeway air moving through.

Friendly drivers, drivers were on time. I was coming back from John Wayne airport and needed a ride back home to Monterey Park. Honestly, their price is reasonable and we were heading home at rush hour. Definitely would go to them again. Pleasant experience and would recommend to others.

negative stars if i could. this shuttle service is by far the worst in the world!!! do not use this shuttle service!!! avoid at all cost! i would rather walk to my destination then take this shuttle service if it was the last choice on earth!!! terrible service!!!
take super shuttle!!! much better!!!

We were forced to loop around and around for nearly 40 minutes in the airport! There were already 6 passengers in the van and young children who were really tired. I would never use this shuttle service again. Very, very disappointed.

Excellent service. Pick up was prompt and our driver Rojen was very professional and courteous. He provided waters and offered Krispy Kreme donuts (we even had one!).

Early, extremely friendly drivers. Would definitely use this service again! One of our drivers even handed out Krispy Kremes!

This company is a perfect definition of the old adage, «You get what you pay for!» The pick up to the airport went quite smoothly but the return was less than perfect. Following the directions, I picked up my luggage, proceeded to the taxi and shuttle area of the airport and called with my confirmation number. They could not find the confirmation number and wanted my name. I was put on hold for what seemed like forever. Then I was given the directions to get my luggage and call, what I had already explained to the dispatcher I had completed. To make a very long story short, I arrived home approximately two hours after I landed. I live twenty minutes from the airport. On the trip to my house I had the opportunity to listen to the driver complain about the dispatcher.
Suz

Times change and it looks like this shuttle service has… in a bad way…
We were picked up on time… it was a small passenger van with only a ¾ bench seat (3^rd row taken out)
Second party was a pair of European ladies who booked properly and needed to make it to LAX in time for their flight…
The problem??? There was no way 4 full sized adults would be seated comfortably with the seating provided (1 up in the front passenger, 2 ½ on the remaining ¾ bench seat… while my party of two was prioritized… waiting for another van for the visiting ladies would have meant they would have missed their intercontinental flight… so. guess who got the ½ bench seat???
We all made the best of the situation… but enduring a 1+ hr ride to LAX (due to traffic) was painful… the hard edge of the ¾ bench kept pressing into the middle of my back. No seat belt was available to me. It took me a few min to stretch my curved back and my back was in some pain for about a day… Called to speak to a manager after our flight arrived at our destination… left a vm… never received any calls or emails regarding the issue.
Bottom line:
— Inadequite seating in transport
— customer service was a**

No one likes the hassle of Airport traffic and parking (Especially LAX). Karmel Shuttle service makes the experience of going to and from the airport easy and stress free.
The drivers were clean, professional and courteous. They were on time and quickly assisted me with my luggage. When I came back from my trip, I just gave them a call and they met me curb side within 10 minutes. No need to walk to the center isle with all the other shuttle services.
Although shuttle services may seem more expensive than some park and rides, it’s still worth the cost in what I save with time, effort and stress in driving or dealing with the airport traffic and parking myself.
Plus… it’s a real nice way to start and end your trip in style. :)