Another vehicle is sent and you are told straight away. On any journey with a deadline in it, the replacement is dispatched before anybody stands about establishing whether the first car is fixable, because a flight does not wait for a diagnosis.
Category
The car and the journey
Contact
+44 7775 554848 or info@firstclass-chauffeurs.co.uk
01/The short answer
Another vehicle is sent and you are told straight away. On any journey with a deadline in it, the replacement is dispatched before anybody stands about establishing whether the first car is fixable, because a flight does not wait for a diagnosis.
It happens rarely and it does happen. Cars are machines and machines occasionally stop, usually at the least convenient moment available. What matters is how quickly the second car starts moving, not how good the story about the first one is.
QA-01/What happens in the first five minutes
What happens in the first five minutes
The chauffeur gets the vehicle somewhere safe and calls it in. The office puts another car on the job immediately, from wherever the nearest suitable one is, and you are told what has happened and what the revised timing looks like.
On a run to an airport that decision is made instantly rather than after an attempt at a repair. Ten minutes spent hoping is ten minutes the replacement car could have been driving, and on a departure that is the difference that counts.
Vehicle made safe, then the job reallocated at once
You are told directly, not left watching a hard shoulder
Timed journeys get a replacement dispatched immediately
Same class or better, with no additional charge
Reservations answered around the clock for exactly this
QA-02/Before the journey, if a car goes off the road
Before the journey, if a car goes off the road
You are told as soon as we know rather than at the door. Any replacement matches the class you booked or improves on it, at no extra cost. Nothing smaller simply turns up and hopes you will not mind.
For a booking where a named vehicle was held, a wedding car in particular, the conversation happens rather than the swap. Options are offered, and the honest position is stated even when it is inconvenient to state it.
QA-03/What keeps it rare
What keeps it rare
Servicing on schedule rather than when something starts making a noise, and a pre-booking check that includes the dull things: tyres, lights, screen wash, and whether the cabin has actually been cleaned since the last job.
Long distance work gets more attention again, because a failure on the M6 at ten at night is a far bigger problem than one on the Fulham Road. A car going to Scotland is checked as a car going to Scotland.
QA-04/What it costs you
What it costs you
Nothing. A breakdown is our problem and it does not appear on your invoice, in any form. Where a replacement arrives in a higher class of vehicle, the original rate stands rather than the better car being charged for.
Where a delay caused by us genuinely costs you something, that is a conversation to have with us rather than a line to argue about later. It is a rare situation and it is not one we would try to win on a technicality.
How long would a replacement car take to reach me?
+
In London, usually a short wait, since there are other vehicles in the area. On a rural road or a motorway a long way from a city it takes longer, and you will be given a realistic figure rather than an optimistic one.
What if the breakdown means I miss my flight?
+
It is a situation we would deal with directly rather than by pointing at terms. The immediate response is to get you moving, and the conversation about consequences happens afterwards with a person rather than through an automated process.
Do you carry a spare vehicle on important bookings?
+
For weddings and multi-car events, contingency is part of the planning rather than an afterthought, and a backup arrangement is agreed in advance. For a single transfer the answer is the fleet itself: another car is dispatched from wherever it is.
Tell us the journey. We will send the price in writing.
Message us the date, the pick-up and where you are going. You will get a fixed written quotation with the vehicle, the chauffeur’s arrival time and what the figure includes — no form to fill in, and no estimate that moves later.
