Ecosmart Taxi

After a discouraging string of calls to companies that said they served Marina Del Rey but didn’t serve MY part of MDR, I tried this number, the next on the list. I made the reservation, was quoted the $ 27 rate on the site, and crossed my fingers. My driver, Jesse, showed up in a hybrid promptly at my pickup time and called. When I came outside, he helped me put my bags in the trunk and made sure I was comfortably settled before closing the door behind me. We had an uneventful ride to the airport, made some small talk, and he made sure to get me to exactly the right door at my terminal. He did ask that I pay before we got to the airport, but it was the rate I’d been quoted, so I was fine with that. It sped things up once we arrived. I feel like I dodged a bullet based on the other reviews on the site, but I have no complaints!

Nothing particularly wrong except they didn’t bring a hybrid and said it had to be requested upfront. Seems a bit odd considering their site doesn’t mention this anywhere. If you are interested in staying eco I would find an alternative. driver was pleasant, they were on time, and price was as stated via their site.

I read the reviews AFTER I was in the taxi and was thankful that I had an uneventful ride to the airport. The driver was on time. I had no additional fee for the 5 minutes he had to wait for me and there was no asking for payment or tip prior to the ride. The car was NOT an ecologically sound car as the name implied but was a large, gas-​guzzling Lincoln. It was reasonably clean but not remarkable and there was the heavy smell of cigarette smoke in the car when I got in. The driver was polite and quiet. There was no complimentary water or anything really noteworthy about the service one way or another. It was a $ 40 quote from Brentwood and that is what I was charged. There was a tab at the top of the credit card screen to give tip amounts based on percentages and he didn’t check it till I was out of the car. I was very happy that he didn’t hassle me about using a card. I would say it was good and I was comfortable. Maybe the owner has been reading his Unilocal reviews?

I don’t usually write reviews, but sometimes the service is so good you just have to thank someone. our driver (i dont remember his name) was very professional, helped me with my bags, and got me to lax on time in a safely matter. i would recommend ecosmart taxi to friends and family!

The bad reviews are not an anomaly. Avoid this company! I called a day in advance to reserve a taxi for 11:45 pm from Santa Monica to LAX. At 11:50 pm, I called to check on them and the phone rang forever and was finally answered very casually. I asked if this was the taxi company and was told it was. I asked where my cab was and it seemed as though I had been completely forgotten about.
When I made the reservation, they promised to call upon arrival. Now, I was the one calling and they were late. Instead of sending their «Eco Smart» cab, they just called another, more expensive taxi company, which I could have done in the first place and avoided the stress of being late to the airport.
What is particularly upsetting is that the owner of this company is clearly exploiting the «Eco» name in order to make money. The cab that picked me up from the other company was a regular old van, nothing Eco about it.
BELIEVE THESE REVIEWS AND MOVE ON TO ANOTHER COMPANY.

I WAS ATTACKED BY DRIVER!
That first sentence should tell you enough not to ride with this driver which is also the owner of this one man operation! I have taken this service once before with no issue. I live very close to the airport, his service is $ 5 more then a cab but I thought I would help out a fellow business owner. My second trip ended with me on a corner in the dark and calling the POLICE!
I called the day before for a 5:30am pick up. The owner/​driver text me at 5:15am the morning ofsaying he was at my place at 5:24am I received a call I said «I called for a 5:30am cab, I will be out at 5:30» I walked out of my condo at 5:32am as I remember when I looked at the clock on my microwave. Keep in mind I have to take an elevator and walk down a long hall way with bags. I got to his car no later then 5:36am, I placed my bag in the trunk and said a quiet «morning» (it’s 5:30am in the morning, who is chatty at that time?) not less then a minute after I got into the car he asked for me to pay. I was irritated with the two calls before 5:30am, now him asking for his money, I slowly got my card out as it was dark and was trying to get settled in with my bags. he said I had to pay now since the service for the credit swipe is bad at the airport. He said he was going to charge me $ 5 for being late. He then asked me how much I wanted to tip I said «no tip» he flipped out! He ATTACKED me and told me I was the rudest women he has ever met, that I was disgusting. I was beyond shocked, I stood my ground about the tip and TRIED to explain why to him. I not once said a curse word. I got to the point of saying «I am a customer, stop yelling at me, you are talking to me like you know me» It got so bad with his insults that I was in shock and kept questioning myself if I was late which NO ONE should ever be treated that bad for 5mins EVER even 20mins. He honestly went crazy. I have NEVER been screamed at or talked to in such a disgusting, attacking way. I even put my hands up and begged him to «stop, please stop saying these things to me, I need you to stop right now». When he continued to tell me that my mother was a piece of shit and that she taught me no manners I said «obviously you are going through somethings in your life and I’m asking you to please stop taking it out on me!» That ignited a furry. He began comparing me to his wife? weird… at this point I felt like I was going to pass out and demanded him to let me out of the car (keep in mind it’s 5:40am and still dark outside) I got out of the car and he continued yelling, throwing my bag on the ground, I ran to take a picture of his license plate all while he flipped off my camera and continued to yell at me, when he reversed and acted like he would run into me TWO MEN RAN OVER FOR HELP. THEY WANTED TO CALL THE POLICE AND AS I COMPLETELY LOST COMPOSER THEY INSISTED ON CALLING THE POLICE ON THIS DOMESTIC ATTACK!!! YES, they thought it was a husband or boyfriend (can you believe it!).The men were extremely kind and bewildered that someone I hired to drive me 15 mins to the airport would attack a women the way they saw it. THEY HONESTLY THOUGHT I WAS TRYING TO COVER UP FOR MY «HUSBAND/​BOYFRIEND»!!! Thank god there is witnesses! They gave me a ride to the airport and when I arrived I was a complete emotional mess. The American Airlines representative noticed me and had me place a report so that he/​his company will not be able to drive into LAX again. She herself knew it was bad as I am a well put together business women crying my eyes out in public. Once I landed for my business meeting I received text messages from the driver/​owner telling me that I would thank him for what he did to me… I’m still dealing with other ramifications for this driver/​owner. This man is a monster and if I was in arms link I would not at all been surprised if he would have harmed me physically. I called the Police department later that day in Culver City to report the attack… WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!

The driver is very nice and the car is clean. But if you are used to the usual car service amenities like a complementary bottle of water and being greeted at baggage claim instead of waiting at the curb, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a good mid-​price option.

First experience was fine. Came on time and waited for me without hassle. Tipped the driver very well so naturally used them again the following year. This new driver (Omar) appeared very sneaky and my instincts was true after all. Halfway to LAX, he suddenly says the price arranged was actually not the right price and he wanted to charge me more. I repeated that’s the advertised price online AND also the same price confirmed when I called to reserve. He called his supervisor and had a minor exchange in his native tougue. Apparantly, there’s good people back at headquarter’s because Omar never mentioned any additional fees to me again throughout the ride to the airport. Be careful with this company.

I used them religiously over a period of 18 months and never had a problem, and their rate of $ 34 plus tip from my Crestview neighborhood to LAX was great, and their cars were clean. However, this all changed December 25, 2011 when I had to get to LAX for a 10am flight to Toronto. I called the day before, and scheduled a 7am pickup, and they confirmed. Day of departure, 7am, no car. 710am no car. I left messages. 725am no car, I called again, left messages. We had to scramble and drive our own car and park at LAX at much greater expense for an 8 day trip that cost me about $ 165. No one ever called me to explain, apologize etc. So unfortunately 10 great transactions were nullified by 1 bad one, without even a mea culpa. So to quote Michael Corleone «Youre dead to me, Fredo»…

Great company if you want a company not to pick you up. Or have you waiting for an hour and a half, on a thursday at 4:30pm. Go somewhere else united is a lot more reliable which is not saying much.

Same sad story: I booked them for a ride to LAX and they never showed. I called to find out what was going on and they had the nerve to blame the taxi not showing up on me saying that they’re never wrong.
While riding another cab, I was told by the driver that this company isn’t even licensed! Don’t use; plenty of other companies in the city who are both licensed and show up.

We called Ecosmart from Hawaii on monday afternoon to make arrangements to pick us up last night at 10:25 at LAX. We spoke with a gentleman that took down all the info. cell number, flight, time etc. When we arrived we called and the dispatcher to tell him we were in and he said they had no record of it. he was quite nasty and took no responsibility. He ended up calling another taxi service while we had to wait for 30 minutes. Not what we were looking for in a limo service after a long flight late at night. We though the Prius hybrid was a cool idea and still do but would never use this service again. Quite a shady operation…
08÷30÷11

Avoid at all costs. Perhaps the worst taxi service in Los Angeles.
Called four times to confirm a 7 AM reservation. They never showed up!!!
No one picked up the phone no one returned my calls, missed my flight!
Do not under any circumstances use them.

Worst service ever. Made a reservation a week ahead of time with a agreed upon fare that was advertised on the website. They called 2 hours before they were supposed to arrive, changed the fare, and demanded payment ahead of time. They were very rude on the phone and refused to allow us to speak to a manager. Extremely unprofessional and downright sleazy in their dealings. I would rather walk to the airport than deal with these people again.

After my go-​to Taxi service let me down (Euro Taxi), I gave these guys a try after consulting Google (for some reason I didn’t check Unilocal first).
$ 27 to LAX is a great price.
After my previous cab showed up 20 minutes late, I didn’t want to take a chance with a new service, so I requested that they come 10 minutes early.
The driver arrived about 5 minutes before I ordered the cab, which was a great relief, except that I wasn’t done packing (this was a last minute job). I ended up walking out the door later than I hoped (I don’t remember exactly how much later, but not more than 5 – 10 minutes).
When I got to the airport and gave him my credit card, he wrote down the rate as being $ 35. He penalized me for the wait time. Not sure how he calculated that rate, but it came out of his tip (not cool on his part). At least he didn’t harass me for charging the fare.
Not sure who I’ll use next time…

Very unprofessional. I booked them for a 4:30 am trip to LAX. The taxi never showed up and their dispatch was not answering the phone.
Do not use them if you actually want to get to your destination!
I guess it’s easy to be «ecosmart» if the car never gets on the road!

Nope. Tried to ripe me off!

The web site says «Best Ride in LA» but they don’t serve LA. I called for a Res for a pickup in 90 035 ZIp, they said they only pick-​up in Santa Monica. This deserves a bad review for false advertising, as the claim to the be «best» in a city they don’t even offer service in.
How can they be the Best Ride in LA if they are not licensed in LA?

Great service, great price! Will definitely use again on my next visit to L.A.

Wonderful Taxi experience going to the airport with a new company I would suggest adding to your contact list. My driver was Nawfal who picked me up on time in a new clean quiet hybrid car and to top it off had a flat rate to the airport.