Hiring a limousine is something we all end up doing on average at least once a year. Businesses often require the services of a limousine hire company more often than individuals. However, regardless of if you are a business owner that needs a limousine or a regular person looking to hire there are a number of things you should and shouldn’t do.
It is also important to bear in mind the fact that since limousine hire businesses do not necessarily need to be licensed there are many cheap domestic operations that can be taken advantage of provided that you know the person renting out his vehicle.
Below we look at a few things you ought to look into prior to hiring a limousine.
Don’t get a limousine that’s not insured
The majority of professional limousine hire companies invest heavily in insurance. The insurance is to make sure that their vehicle is always covered in the event of an accident. However, their insurance may not cover passengers in the vehicle or even the driver. This can be bad news for you if you’re in an unfortunate accident when riding in that limousine. So, passenger coverage should be one of the first things that you look into when hiring a limousine.
Don’t do business with an un-licensed hire company
We mentioned above that unlicensed services which are mostly run from home are cheap but they are also not regulated. If the home based service just has one limousine or even two how will they send you a replacement in the event of a breakdown halfway to your wedding? A licensed service will have around a dozen limousines for hire and will have a replacement policy in place.
This way if something does go wrong along the way you can be assured that a similar type limousine will pick you up, your only loss will be of a few minutes.
Not checking the vehicle before you hire
This is another common mistake made by people who assume that they are dealing with a professional limousine hire company. The mistake of not checking every feature that you’ve been promised as well as the condition can cost you when the limo comes to pick you up. Many services assume that people will not use even half of the features mentioned on their brochure but they do charge for them.
Because you’re paying make sure to check if these features work, if not ask the company to reduce the price.
You don’t sign a contract
This is another big yet common mistake often made by people who are hiring a limousine for the first time. If you are going to hire a vehicle you should make every possible effort to ensure that what you’ve agreed on verbally with the person in charge is on the agreement. Check the agreement for hidden costs like driver tips, cleaning charges, car wash, extra mileage charges, extra time charges etc.
These costs can add up pretty quickly. You should also make sure that a replacement vehicle is mentioned on the contract in the event the one you’re given breaks down. You should also check the contract for a cancellation policy. The majority of companies will just charge you a service fee and refund the remainder of your money if you cancel but this has to be specified on the contract.
Once you sign the contract make sure to pick up a copy of it for your own records. This will also help you file a complaint in the event there is a dispute with the company.
Check reviews and feedback
If you have the number of hire companies down to a handful you’re considering try to do a bit of online research to find reviews and feedback about the company. A good limousine hire company like SUV Chicago Limo should have a lot of reviews from people who have used the service. However, you should be careful of services that are either new or ones that do not have any reviews.
Companies with lots of negative reviews should be avoided, even if you think its part of a smear campaign perpetrated by a competing business since you do not want to take the risk of wasting your time proving it.