Aug 14, 2009 8:35 pm US/Pacific
Did Bay Area Shuttle Company Double Charge?
SAN LORENZO (CBS 5) ―
Some Bay Area travelers are complaining about a shuttle company that they say double, triple, or quadruple-billed them for a single ride to local airports.
The complaints are about a company called Angel Express, which operates out of San Lorenzo.
Yvonne Buff of Hayward told CBS 5 Investigates she made an online reservation with Angel Express earlier this year and gave her credit card number to hold the reservation. She took the shuttle to and from the airport and paid for both rides in cash. The cost in each direction was $59.
After her trip, Buff said she reviewed her credit card bill and found three additional charges posted from Angel Express, each for $59, totaling $177 in all.
"Two years from now, who's to say that they won't charge my credit card and me not notice?" said Buff, who is now concerned about potential future use of her card number.
Another customer, Melissa Hilal, said her family used an Angel Express shuttle for a ride to the airport in February 2008 and was charged not only $69 cash at the time of service but also got two more separate charges from the shuttle company posted to their credit card, one in 2008 and another one this year.
"A year later, to a month exactly, there appeared another charge," said Hilal, who was surprised to see the charge.
The Better Business Bureau gives Angel Express its worst rating, an "F", in part due to complaints from others who said they were also double-charged.
A CBS 5 Investigates producer took a shuttle trip with the company, giving the requested credit card to hold the reservation and paying cash at the end of the trip to Oakland International Airport. The credit card used was charged two days later for the same $54 charged at the time of service.
State records list the owners of Angel Express as Mohammed and Donna Darwazeh. Neither they, nor any company representative, responded to repeated messages left on the company's listed phone numbers. The man who drove during CBS 5's trip also refused to comment when approached in San Lorenzo.
After complaining, Hilal received a refund from Angel Express for one of the two charges that appeared on her credit card bill. Her card company refunded the other charge. Buff has not received refunds for any of her charges.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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