Don’t Hire Them!
We hired Premier/Elite for our October 1 wedding. I had always heard really great things about them and felt I had nothing to worry about when it came to the transportation.
A shuttle was supposed to run at 10, 11, and 12 to take guests back to the hotel. They were provided this information in advance so that is the expectation we gave our guests. At 11:20 I was approached inside the venue by the shuttle driver. He stated that the 11:00 shuttle had not left and now it was too late to take people back since he would not be back in time for the 12am shuttle. I kept asking why it didn’t leave and at the time he couldn’t give me an answer. I spoke with the guests who were on the shuttle and was told by them (and to clarify they did not know each other) that they were told to get off since there wasn’t enough people to make the run. The driver claimed to dispatch they got off voluntarily. Why would they get off voluntarily when they got on to go back to the hotel? That doesn’t even make sense. This shuttle driver was inside the ballroom drinking coffee (which I think is completely wrong) and then when he drove the shuttle at midnight (with a full shuttle bus) he ran a red right, swerved in and out of lanes so he was beeped at by other cars, and had to back up since he got too close to a rock formation. For the 12am shuttle he was was saying he had more seats (my dad had to get off the bus because there wasn’t a seat for him) and he was saying it was fine for people to stand. This to me is a violation. He also told dispatch there was no one left at the venue. At 12:15 the shuttle had still not left since he was arguing with the event manager of the Riverhouse so I told him he needed to leave and take the shuttle back to the hotel. He saw me walk back into the venue so this was a blatant lie. This shuttle driver yelled at me (the bride) and also the event manager at The Riverhouse. Additionally, one of the limo drivers was very rude and I witnessed them telling Riverhouse staff what to do. In the limo that brought my husband, my dad, and I back to the hotel he would accelerate very quickly and then pull his foot off the gas so we were being jerked around in the back. I honestly can’t believe he is a driver for a living and drives so poorly.
Premier/Elite has chosen to take the side of the shuttle driver since they do not have audio on the shuttle bus and only video so they are saying it is a he said/she said issue. I absolutely believe my guests because why would they lie about that? Premier/Elite is responsible for their drivers and the way they’ve handled this situation is very sad. It’s not just my word but all of my guests, the Riverhouse, my coordinator, etc and they seem to feel that after everything this shuttle driver did that night that he is the one they should side with. Long story short - don’t hire them. I missed basically the last hour of my wedding getting yelled at and dealing with this situation and then my guests were not allowed to go home at the time they wanted and were subjected to an unsafe driver. Hire another company so you can make sure your day is flawless. Premier/Elite should care that many guests are aware of what occurred and feel as shocked as I do about what transpired but The Riverhouse and my coordinator also witnessed this mess. These are two entities in the wedding world so Premier/Elite should care about their impression. My day was absolutely perfect except for this nightmare.
I have also called twice to discuss my experience further and left messages and was told I would be called back but of course no one called me.