Northern Virginia Checker Cab

Safe ride, but smelly and dirty. Old green beans spilled next to my seat. Gross!!! Our driver relied on me to give him directions to a well known landmark in our area. We took über home very clean and it was cheaper.

In the last two weeks I’ve had to use a cab to get around Manassas. Every driver was professional and each vehicle was clean. I never had to wait more than ten minutes. On top of that rates where fare… Get it… Lol
However their app on the phone is broken. I’d advise that rides just call their number.

I used them 4 times last week to get to and from the Downtown Manassas VRE station, roughly 6 blocks from my apartment. The service was great, I received text message alerts when the driver was at my apartment and other locations and they were very polite and courteous. The fares were reasonable too. I knock it down a star because one driver did not know how to get to my apartment and I had to give him directions to it (all drivers should know where anything in Manassas is before they get behind a cab).
But the customer service/​dispatchers were very prompt and polite on the phone, and will definitely use them again for my next service in the Northern Virginia area.

Manassas Cab has undertaken a name change and much-​needed facelift and have relaunched themselves recently as Northern Virginia Checker Cab. I’ve used Manassas Cab many times in the past, and have now had a couple of rides with the new NV Checker, and it’s pretty much the same. Here’s a breakdown of what’s changed and what hasn’t since the rebranding:
Booking: About the same time that Manassas Cab underwent their name change, the app they used for smartphone booking, Taxi Magic, changed to «Curb», and went from a decent app to a complete piece of garbage. So the best way to book is old school — just call them. Dispatch has generally been friendly and efficient each time I have called them.
Dispatch: If you give them your cell number — or they have it on file — they still will text you when your cab leaves and arrives, and they text you a web link to track the cab’s progress in a browser. It’s dated technology but provides useful functionality.
Fleet: Manassas Cab’s fleet needed a major makeover … the vehicles weren’t so bad on the interior, but looked sketchy. The rebranding and pain jobs were much needed — having a professional appearance gives riders comfort that they are dealing with a professional company and not an unlicensed, fly-​by-​night operation. And it seems they’ve added several hybrid vehicles to their fleet … more often than not, I’m getting picked up in a hybrid from NV Checker these days.
Credit Card Payment: This is always a sticky wicket with cab companies. Nobody carries cash readily these days, yet many cabs are not equipped to handle credit card transactions, and cabbies hate taking them. With Manassas Cab, I never really had any gruff from cabbies for paying by credit card, but the drivers mainly had the old 1990’s cardswipes, and transaction times took forever. I typically tried to carry cash, and if I didn’t have any, I’d stop at an ATM. It would usually be an out of network ATM and I’d wind up having to pay $ 5-​$ 6 in bank fees. Cab companies in Fairfax are wired for customer credit card transactions, and I hoped we’d see that eventually come to Manassas Cab, or to NV Checker after the rebranding.
But alas, not so much. The cabbies do all seem to use app-​based transaction system now, which is better. But when I had a cab pick me up about 3 weeks ago and when I asked him if he tool credit cards, he claimed that the «machine» was down due to the weather. Instead of arguing, I just asked to go to an ATM, and swallow more ATM fees, fees that came out of his tip. The most recent time I used NV Checker I mentioned this to the dispatch, who seemed disappointed to hear that happened and told me to let them know if it does again. The driver he sent was aware I’d be paying by credit card, and gave me no problems.
I’ve experienced far worse cab service in other areas. There’s been a hiccup here or there, but I’ve generally gotten some really nice drivers and solid service with NV Checker.

Never again… we set up a pick up. The driver arrived but just sat in the driveway. We noticed him and went out. The problem… there were 5 of us and we were traveling to Europe so plenty of luggage and he was there with a minivan. The driver said they don’t have a larger vehicle. So we had no choice but to shove everything in the vehicle. We had to ride to the airport with suitcases on laps.
Also, the vehicle was dirty and smelled like rotting produce.
The driver was not friendly at all. And I was beginning to wonder if it would take more than an hour to get to Dulles from Manassas because I’m sure he was going below speed the entire time… or maybe the smell just mad it seem that much longer!

This company did a great job sending a cab to my house to take my family and I to the airport. Will use them again to book transportation from the airport!

My fiancé and I were married at Bristow Manor this past weekend, and had spoke to Manassas Cab 2 weeks in advance in order to coordinate transportation from the hotel to the venue, and then back again. I spoke with the dispatcher David and agreed upon a contract; 5 vans to pick people up at 5 and 11. I asked for an invoice, or some sort of written agreement to confirm all of this, and was assured that it wasn’t necessary. I then spoke with him again the day of the wedding, and confirmed everything one final time.
At 5:00 o’clock I began receiving numerous calls from the taxi drivers informing me they were at the hotel, even though I had told the dispatcher that I would be at the venue, preparing for the ceremony. The biggest offense however, was that at 11:00, when the wedding ended, not a single taxi showed up. We called the dispatchers and after being hung up on several times, were informed that the taxi’s I had reserved by contract, had gone to pick people up at a concert.
I was informed that the earliest any cab could be there would be 40 minutes. My guests, family, and my new wife had to coordinate among ourselves to try and get everybody back to the hotel. I was extremely upset with the lack of professionalism, and the dispatcher told me that there had been no reference or communication regarding the contract I had set up with David.
On Monday I called to complain and the best answer I received was: Oh well. I asked for restitution and a discount on the services rendered, however apparently the company couldn’t do that for one reason or another.
If you’re looking to use Manassas Cab for any sort of ceremony, or even any sort of transportation, I highly recommend that you use another company unless you enjoy waiting. The drivers will abandon you if there’s even a hint that they can make a better fare elsewhere. Additionally the management is uncommunicative and doesn’t understand what customer service is. Don’t use Manassas Cab!

It is for sure that we will NEVER use this taxi company. First, they made a mistake when we called to change our pick up time. We moved it from 2:30p to 2pm; which they mistakenly changed to 2:40pm. We have no idea what happened since we called 2 times to confirm the change. Once a driver showed up late, he took a longer route to get to the point only 1 mile from our home. He told us it was a short cut, but obviously it wasn’t. We got to the airport, we gave him a credit card. He demanded cash and told us it would be another 20 minutes we had to wait for a credit card payment to be granted. The whole thing was just so bad that we decided to always drive to the airport from now on.
*** Here is the update as of February 2013
After posting our initial review, we had a chance to speak with Robert, VP of this company. It seemed like our appointment was made in the midst of a transition from one system to the other. Anyway, the company sent us some vouchers together with a letter of explanations.
I initially put 1 star, but will put 4 after everything.
(5 for the excellent customer follow up — 1 for what we had to deal with = 4)
When I research, I usually read from the negative reviews. They help me a lot. I am not sure if I am supposed to change it now, but for anyone who reads this posting, please think that my rating for this cab company has been modified!

I’ve been using Manassas Cab since as long as they’ve been around. They are the taxi number I have programmed into my phone. I don’t need a taxi often, usually just to get me to and from the car dealership occasionally. I’ve never had a problem and generally don’t have to wait long for a taxi after I call. I manage my expectations about taxi service in the suburbs vs. the city. It is slower and Prince William County is a big county with a lot of territory to cover and a lot of traffic as well as airport service, all of which chew up a ton of time.
My recent experience was a weekday morning at 10 am. The taxi met me at my location about 10 minutes after I called. It was also a pretty rainy day so I appreciated the quick pick up. The car was clean and the driver had a GPS so I didn’t have to explain how to get to my home, which is tricky. He had the a/​c on as it was a hot and humid day.
My afternoon experience was a little longer wait. I waited an hour and then called to get a status update. They said a driver would be here in 5 minutes, it ended up being 15. The car was clean, the driver was friendly, he did not have the a/​c on even though it was really warm and humid. He eventually turned the a/​c on about half way to the destination. He did not know how to get to the destination and did not have a GPS, so I had to navigate.
I agree with other reviewers that if you have to be somewhere time sensitive to definitely build in a decent time buffer. Since I was in the comfort of my own home waiting and my service was not time sensitive, it was not an issue. Had I been standing on the side of the road on a dark, rainy night, it would be a different story (and a different review).
I think one area of improvement for this service would be to manage customer expectations with reasonable and realistic time estimates. To say «a drive is on the way» when they know it will be 90 minutes before one arrives sets a bad start to your service experience. Tell the customer exactly how long you think it will be so that the person can plan accordingly. Had I know it would be almost 90 minutes before the taxi arrived, I could have done a whole hosts of things while I waited.

I decided to try this taxi company because of the good recommendations from Unilocal.However, we were disappointed at their service. Our reservation was 5am in the morning, but the cab was not there at 5am. So I called the company. Fortunately, somebody answered the phone and told us the cab would be there in 5 minutes. Actually, the cab arrived 18 minutes past 5, and the driver didn’t bother to apologize for the delay at all. The rest of the ride was fine, and we barely made it to the gate of our flight before boarding.
My suggestion: Add 30 minutes for the buffering time when you make a reservation with this company.

My experience with this cab company was pleasant. The cab came about 5 minutes after I called for it. The cab was very clean but had dry cleaning blocking one of the windows we were sitting beside. The driver was friendly and polite. If we ever need a taxi again, we will call this company.

Every now and then I need a cab but not too often. When you’re going to the airport you need reliable cab service. You need to know that it will arrive on time.
All I can say is that for the dozen times I’ve used Manassas Cab Co over the years they’ve never disappointed me.
I usually call the day before and set up a pick-​up time. Sometimes it’s at 3:30 in the morning. One time I got a call from the driver. He said that he might be late but was on his way and that we should go outside and wait. He wasn’t anymore than a minute or two late.