Umbrella Global Bus & Charter

The day before we flew out, we realized we needed to get some sort of car from SFO into the city to pickup our parked car. After checking out several sources, we figured out a Town Car would cost roughly the same as a cab, so went ahead and booked it through limos.com.

Upon arrival, we communicated with our driver, Raphael, and were conveniently picked up at the curbside. A Lincoln can definitely be a luxurious alternative to a cab, and the price for this car was lower than competition. The nice leather seats were comfy after a long plane ride, and the car was very spacious while accommodating 4 passengers with 2+ bags each. I would definitely use this company for Bay Area transportation again.

We used them for our wedding in Sonoma, they were punctual, clean and priced more affordably than some of the Napa/Sonoma bus charter companies. Raphael was very responsive on the phone, although slightly less so on e-mail. Would use again!

Raphael reached out to me to take note of the incident. Apparently they were double booked on our wedding day with an event that occurs annually and rather than cancel our reservation they utilized a partner to service our reservation. Although I prefer the company communicate the change in plans up front, I appreciate that he took the time to reach out to explain and correct the situation. I realize that my experience was inconsistent with the experience of others (which lead me to use Umbrella in the first place) and I would consider booking with Umbrella again.

I hired Umbrella to perform a shuttle service for my wedding out in Placerville and I'm a little conflicted about my experience. Raphael was very unresponsive via email. First he claimed that my emails "got filtered out", but then 2 more emails and a week later I finally get another response. Then 3 emails and 3 WHOLE WEEKS later he apologizes and says he was out of town and away from email on PTO and that he'll respond to me that afternoon. He doesn't respond for another WEEK, finally giving me a bookable link to pay for/confirm the reservation (at this point we had been at this for 2 months). He then goes radio-silent and I don't hear from him again. Was this a fluke? Was this normal in the bus charter industry? Was he dead? I was busy with planning so I didn't have time to find another shuttle service, so closed my eyes and said a prayer...and come wedding time...lo and behold...the bus showed up at the arranged time/place, looking like a brand new, jet black spaceship. The driver was courteous, punctual, super nice, and he drove back and forth for the entire day with no complaint. The bus was squeaky clean and very comfortable. My guests were immensely impressed...they really enjoyed the ride and had nothing but nice things to say about it. So.......a fantastic bus with a great driver, but a less-than-perfect reservation process. You may have to badger them for information and to confirm your trip details, but it will may all work out in the end with a fabulous and comfortable ride for your passengers.

Very impressed with intake, pickup and dropoff to SFO. We are a very private couple that travels a lot, therefore, we needed a new SUV and a company we could rely on for our international travel (Europe). Raphael arranged the pickup for one of his teams drivers, and things went very well. I have my card on file, making this easier in the future. All docs and signatures are via docusign, therefore, this is as easy and better than a uber Black.

I highly recommend to my fellow Yelpers, 5 Stars.

SF Limo Express has been my go-to car service for business travel. However, the quality of the customer service has gone way downhill with my last booking for airport drop off. Our driver, Kim, was rude and an aggressive driver - ran a red light and also tried to cut in/out of lanes which made all of us nauseous. (Docking 1 star because of the bad driver.)

I contacted the company after my traumatic experience and my concerns were addressed promptly by Raphael, one of the owners. He apologized profusely for the horrific service we experienced from the driver (who was apparently a new chauffeur) and refunded the booking. I am glad SF Limo Express is still focusing on stellar customer service and hope to give them a try again.

My ride service has always been great and ultimately, the outcome was what I was seeking. What I'm not impressed with is Christina, the office manager.

I was charged twice for one ride. I attempted to use their chat feature to clear up the mistake. A few minutes went by before I received the message that "Christina has joined your chat." No response. Over 15 minutes went by and follow-up questions were ignored. In the meantime, I received two email forwards from Christina of my ride confirmations. Another message appeared on my chat window, "Christina has closed your chat." I then called the number to address my duplicate charge and explain what happened via the chat window. I didn't know I was talking to Christina at the time. She repeatedly interrupted me and was insistent that she only had two charges and that was all "she could see." I told her I had three separate charges on my Amex, with three separate transaction numbers and that "I needed a resolution; 'I only show two charges' isn't an appropriate resolution." This back and forth went on for minutes until I asked if I could send screenshots of the charges/transaction numbers to the owner, which is what I did. I thanked her for her time and we hung up. I wanted to give Christina the benefit of the doubt - we all have bad days after all... until later that day when I received the below emails from her:

1/29, 2:05pm: "Just so you know, I could not reply to you until I actually pulled up the reservations to see what it is you were charged, according to my access to the payments. Unfortunately, the manager was out of state traveling and I was the only one tsking bookings and answering all the other calls. Once I had a moment to take my breath, you called before I could reply to your CHAT which wa 5 minutes after you sent an initial CHat.

(sidenote - False. My initial chat was sent at 9:42am. She closed the window after 10am. The timestamps were included in this email reply to me.
Sent: 01/29/2018 09:42:19
name: XXXXX
email: XXXXX
phone: XXXXX
(09:42:19): I was charged twice for one ride
(09:47:12): hello?
(10:00:24): hello)

I Usually do not reply to the CHATS as well. I gave you the information that I have access to. As I stated, in our Book.Limo application, I only show 2 payments received for both your trips on 1/9/18 and 1/11/18. I also advised you to send Raphael an email so he can research and investigate the triple payments you were charged. No one was itentionally ignoring you and I was overwhelmingly busy."

1/29, 2:16pm: "Oh, yes and let's be clear about the facts. Everytime I tried to talk, you interrupted me which is extremely rude!"

Again, the ride service has always been great, timely, easy. My unpleasant customer service experience is why I've rated this business so low.

Prompt and professional drivers, clean and comfortable cars, and good customer service. I have been impressed each time! Prices are better than most services I've used in the Bay Area (and I've tried them all!) I was even able to book at the last minute, just a few hours before a trip.

Raphael the owner is kind and courteous, and always willing to accommodate. I've also met Oliver as a driver, a true class act. I've used them for business trips as well as a night out in the city and will definitely use them in the future.

Why Uber when you can book a (most likely) cheaper car with experienced and professional drivers who make you feel safe and comfortable?

Raphael the business owner reached out promptly to address the issue we had previously encountered with the call center, and provided a refund. I am updating my review to 5 stars primarily due to my respect for Raphael as a business owner in resolving our issue in such a professional way. As mentioned previously, the online booking system is very convenient and also would like to mention the drivers at this company are top notch in terms of courteous and professional service.

Had those god forsaken 6am flights, and Raphael was prompt and on time at 430am.
Got to the Airport quickly, instead of the driver driving super slow and telling me his life problems.
Car was super clean, and comfortable
and for 45 it cant be beat

I found SF Limo Express, thanks to Yelp and the service was superb! Raphael was great, he let me know when my client was picked up and dropped off and everything went very smoothly. Not to mention its the best deal I found:

$45 SFO $65 OAK airport services

Will definately use them again!