Last week a certain money manager from New Canaan became positively apoplectic when we could not meet his chauffeured car service need on short notice.
We can’t blame him. He and his team have counted on flawless service and never a coverage issue from Teddy’s for decades. But we called several other affiliated limo companies to meet his Sunday night request for a Monday morning car. ..and nobody had an available driver. Our drivers all had assignments already – even me, the company president had a pre-dawn trip to cover.
Teddy’s has always understood a simple ‘yes we can’ is often what our clients covet most from us. “Can I get a 5AM car Tuesday for my boss from Westport to LaGuardia?” Of course – with no pre-dawn surcharge! Midtown, New York to Greenwich tomorrow night? Certainly.
Lately, though, as you have read in so many headlines, the service and travel industries are having once-in-a-lifetime difficulties in finding help to fuel the rapid rebirth of post-pandemic business travel. So many chauffeurs had to leave the industry while it was effectively closed and we are battling to replace that headcount with other world-class professional drivers – no easy task.
Meanwhile, Teddy’s is hearing from so many new people who need professional private car service. So many have moved up to Connecticut during the pandemic. Just today, we booked a first-time ride from a woman whose family just moved to Darien from Brooklyn. We are also hearing from numerous people whose pre-pandemic car service is out of business. At the same time, our frequent business fliers are returning to work at a brisk clip.
We’ve got you. We have your back. But ‘yes’ costs a little more for a while as we rely on independent affiliates and partner providers to help meet your business travel needs. So we’ve increased our surcharge to help us attract and retain the professional chauffeur staff you have come to rely on. We hope you understand.