Exemplar Coaches & Limousines

I am very disappointed to see that a traveller is dissatisfied with our service. Here is some background information on how we operate and some details of the events of the day in question. The Martine party booked a Seat-in-Coach transfer. A 21-seater was allocated to the task and the driver was tasked with collecting a total of 15 passengers. The journey from the airport to Port Douglas is 70km. I am confident that everyone would agree that we cannot allocate a coach to a person or two; we set our coach prices for a coach service, and we operate to have the fixed cost-per-trip met wherever possible. However, we do all that we can to minimise our guests time at the airport. We have a policy whereby we do not gather guests from more then three flights and the ETAs of those flights are not spread by more than 15 minutes. Experience (of moving more than a million passengers) has shown that a 15 minute spread is reasonable. This spread accords with the normal variance of even one plane: the time between the first person off a plane (for example, out of First Class with only carry-on luggage) and the person with the last bag off the carousel (and thats usually me!). If a seat-in-coach is organised then, by definition, there will always be a delay between the first and the last person ready to go. Those that understand this and prefer to not have a delay will pay the extra and utilise a taxi or a limousine. That then explains our policy and what normally happens but, as is the case with everything, things do not always run to plan. The day in question was Christmas eve, a very busy day, and the time was midday: the busiest time of day. The airport and terminal were very congested. Our guests were to come off three flights (1200, 1205 and 1215), and they were to come through the same arrival gate and to collect their baggage in the same baggage area. To a point things ran to plan. Each flight landed on time and passengers began to stream through arrivals. However, a problem occurred when one flight had to wait for a gate to be assigned. It had to sit on the tarmac, stranding the last two of our passengers. This was explained to the already-gathered passengers. Subsequently, and while in mid-sentence briefing a pair of just-met passengers, a member of the Martine party demanded of the driver what the departure time would be. It was at that point that the driver said: "Dont hassle me, I am only the driver, I have no idea, I am not in charge of the aeroplanes." The driver assures me that he said that in a very tongue-in-cheek manner. It was ten minutes later that the coach departed. I concede that what my driver said has been misconstrued and that it has caused offence. And for that I apologise and I have counselled the driver. I would like to add, however, that the driver in question is our longest serving driver, having been with us over six years. He is mature-age and has an impecca