WARNING FOR PARENTS! EXPIRED CAR SEATS!\r
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This company was recommended by the hotel we stayed at for a friends wedding. We were in Florida for less than 48 hours and needed transportation to and from the airport and hotel. My daughter is one and half so it was important to book a service that provided car seats (we opted not to bring ours because this seemed more convenient). The car seats are not installed by the company or drivers - this is the responsibility of the parent. \r
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At the airport arrival pickup, the seat appeared old, worn, and dirty. We attempted to use LATCH to secure the seat, but due to heavily twisted straps, we could not pull tight at all. We used the regular seat belt, which worked fine. To secure my daughter into the seat, the harness straps needed to be raised (as they should be at or above the shoulder). This required removing the cover which exposed more twisted straps and yucky grime. My husband spent 15-20 minutes untwisting so we could secure her. \r
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When we were picked up to go home, it was a different brand seat than before. This seat was so old it didn't have LATCH and when I turned it around was completely shocked. The expiration notice said:\r
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""DO NOT USE AFTER DECEMBER 2005"" (It's November 2013)\r
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Being on a time crunch to get to the airport, we had no choice but to use this seat. Again, this had heavily twisted and dirty straps, which took my husband 20 minutes to remove the cover, untwist, and secure. We ended up in the car for 2 hours in awful traffic jams (should have taken 20 minutes but there was lots of police activity because a suicidal man had the highway completely shutdown causing chaos on the roads during morning rush hour). I was honestly scared of getting into an accident because people were driving erratically and our driver was trying to get us to the airport to make our flight. I asked him at one point to ""please take it easy"" because I'd sooner miss the flight than get into an accident. \r
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The following day, I spoke with the owner George. He was unaware of car seat expiration dates and insisted his car seats are inspected yearly and are safe to use. I explained to him why they expire:\r
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1. They are made of plastic and over time, plastic becomes brittle and breaks. This also greatly effects side impact protection which is SO important when it comes to protecting a child's head during a crash. (This seat offered little to none)\r
2. Safety advances and improvements are ongoing in both cars and car seats. \r
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George was more concerned about the twisted straps and said his drivers should have been should be aware of this. He also told me I could have brought my own seat from home. \r
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I wasn't looking for money back, I wanted George to acknowledge this safety issue. However, his insistence that his seats are safe due to yearly inspections left me no choice but to warn other parents. I don't expect him to be an expert in car seats. However, as an out of town customer using his service, I strongly believe parents should be able to have a reasonable expectation that their child will be provided a safe seat to sit in. This seat was clearly NOT safe. \r
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On a different note, both drivers we had were prompt and courteous, despite our issues. The cars (large SUV's) were very clean and comfortable. I would have not had any issues had I been traveling without a child. \r
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