Fed up with shared-ride services to LAX

Question: I am fed up with my experiences with shared-ride services to LAX. The most recent involved Prime Time. I returned March 22 from a trip and had a prepaid reservation for the shuttle home. I had even called the day before to confirm. I talked to the dispatcher at the curb when I emerged at 4:50 p.m. At 6:40 p.m., I finally got on a van. When I called to complain, the service rep apologized for the inconvenience and said there was nothing that could be done. What’s a traveler to do?

--Cheryl Caplow, Valley Village

Answer: Start buttering up your friends. Short of taking a cab (which Caplow’s company won’t pay for) or driving and parking your own car, you must rely on the kindness of strangers.

And there’s probably no stranger experience than waiting for a shuttle of any kind on the lonely isle at LAX.

On the same day as Caplow, I waited one hour for a shuttle to a parking lot on Sepulveda. In December, I waited almost two hours for the FlyAway bus, whose brochures promise service every 30 minutes. And one Sunday night, I waited so long for a shared-ride van that I got married and started a family. OK, a slight exaggeration on that last experience, but waiting exhausts one’s patience.

The solution, Prime Time suggested in an e-mail to me, was to follow its instructions: Get your baggage, find the Prime Time agent “in the familiar red hat and shirt . . . under the orange shared-ride sign.” The e-mail added: “After you cross to the outer island, the Prime Time agent will call your van, which will be waiting for you in the nearby staging area, to the curb for your immediate boarding.

“Our guest could have avoided this issue by following these instructions. With the option of calling our toll-free number or receiving assistance from one of our company coordinators, there is no need for her to have to waited any longer than necessary for dispatching a vehicle to her terminal from the holding lot located adjacent to LAX or just a few minutes from the terminals.”

The problem with this solution seems to be that Caplow did all of the above.

After The Times contacted Prime Time, Caplow’s money was refunded, said Eric Monroe, vice president, who offered her a private sedan for her next trip.

Tom Winfrey, a public relations rep for Los Angeles World Airports, offers what may be the best advice: If there is a second shuttle company that serves your area, try the competitor. That might have worked for Caplow, although she had prepaid this reservation.

Alternatively, Winfrey suggests filing a complaint through the airport’s website. Go to www.lawa.org, click on LAX, click on “Ground Transportation” and, under that category, “comments/complaints.”

That process may be some comfort when you’ve been taken for a ride.

travel@latimes.com