Arrow Cab Company
Categories: Taxis, Airport Shuttles [Edit]
Neighborhood: Bayview/Hunters Point2575 Marin St
(at Kansas St)
San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 648-3181
76 Reviews for Arrow Cab Company
Luxor used to be my company. They even gave me a lucky special "preferred customer" # to call. But after the last 5-6 times of 45-60 minute waits to get picked up, even after repeated phone calls, I needed a change. I did a quick Yelp search & settled on Arrow. We used them that night & needed 2 cabs. They were incredibly friendly & fast. It was a gorgeous Saturday night in the City & the first cab showed up at my Inner Richmond residence almost before I could hang up the phone (and definitely before I could finish my wine). The 2nd cab took another 20 minutes, but they kept us updated with their progress & apologized profusely for taking so long.
I'm a convert. Arrow from here on out. The only reason they do not get 5* is that I've only used them once. After their probationary period, if their service remains fantastic, I'll up'em to 5*.
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They stop for me when I flag them down and they pick me up when I call them. This is all I really ask for from a cab company.
Plus, they'll risk life and limb (theirs AND mine) to get me there quickly when I'm in a hurry.
Plus plus they're still radio dispatched which is pretty cool.
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Taxi-ing should be easy, right? You shouldn't have to wait hours for one to show up after you've called. You shouldn't have to deal with sketchy drivers taking you in all sorts of directions. Trust in Arrow.
They show up on time, wait for you and even buzz your door to let you know they've arrived. Have this on speed dial and don't both with Yellow or other competitors.
I call this taxi company when someone needs a cab at my work. They are close-by and normally come within 5-15 minutes. The guy that answers the phone is pretty short, just a little shy of rude, but pretty consistent. However, when I call them to pick me up at home they don't come out! By the way, it's the same guy answering all the time?? Granted, it was a friday night 9:00 and I did expect a wait. After 20 minutes I called the dude back...he assured me it was on it's way. After 45 minutes I called back, "It hasn't come yet?" was his reply. An hour goes by and I call a final time. "It's on it's way." By this time I'm totally perplexed and pissed! We decide to call another Company and they tell me it's a 45 minute wait. We ended up spending the night in with a bottle of wine. Arrow, YOU SUCK unless I'm at work.
BEWARE!!! DON'T USE YOUR CREDIT CARD with Arrow Cab.
If you ever used your credit card, check your statement to see if have charges from these two merchants.
MERCHANT BANKCARD
FDIS SF 0000 SAN BRUNO
I use my corporate card to take a cab home almost every night for the past 3 years, so I did not notice it for the longest time (1/2 year to be exact). But, my super-organized assistant began noticing I've been missing receipts from the SAME merchant month after month (we thought I was just losing recipts). Also, same fraud happened to my co-worker, so I'm sure there are more victims out there.
Yellow cabs, Luxor and DeSoto are the safest because they authorize on the spot. Some Arrow Cab drivers that accept cards use slips to get a copy of your card info and process it later.
Of course, credit card companies reimburse you for fraud. But it's a bitch to get a new card and update all your auto payments.
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Friendly guy on the phone in my call ahead for an early morning pickup to go to the airport. Taxi was right on time and the driver was friendly and got me to the airport without any problems, helped me with my bag as well.
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This is the only cab company that I can actually get a hold of on the phone, and the guy has been really nice every time! They have arrived in minuets each time I needed 'em.
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Hands down, the BEST cab company in the City.
Always prompt, always nice. They have friendly drivers who, generally speaking, know what they are doing. There is a significant lack of sketchy to them, and several of them don't even live on their cellphones. I have been using them personally for 4 years and at my work exclusively for one year. Never have failed to make me (or my patients) happy!
There is one female driver, a faaaabulous woman named Alicia with big curly hair and a huge personality, that truly shines. She has saved my butt about 5 times now when I was about to get into trouble or become stranded somewhere in the city with no help. She -ROCKS-. Hope you get her, because you will never forget it!!
It was Friday night, and the mood was right,
I was going to cab it to drinks with friends
even though my budget says get on the bus.
So I call them - rings for hours
before some random guy in a house picks up
sounding like he just woke up
I like to be on time so I called 1/2 hour early and said be here at 7:45pm.
He said we don't do that, call within ten minutes when you are ready to go.
So I take a deep breath and say ok - maybe these cab services have it down to a science who am I to judge. So I call with 20min to spare, Im totally ready, Im a cab driver's dream....
Nobody shows up!!!!!
I call back to check - after ten rings and another groggy conversation, he just hangs up saying he can't find a cab.
Is this standard in the city?!?!?! Not sure, but you would think in business you'd be a little more upfront. They stood me up!!!!
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Rumors are true! Arrow Cab takes the prize for providing the best taxi service in the City. I called them during rush hour the other morning in the rain, and they picked me up within 10 minutes. A minor miracle I would say...
My friendly cabbie told me Arrow is speedy because they still use a live dispatcher system rather than a computer. Frankly, I don't much care why. I'm just happy to report I'll never be stood up by a cab again!
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Awesoome Awesome Awesome, dispatcher knows me by my name!
I'm Black.
Really! I swear I am! I may not be the best dancer in the world, and I may bear a slight resemblance to a certain character on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air (hint: NOT Will Smith), and I to have tickets to see Tristan und Isolde at the L.A. Opera, and I pronounce "chitterlings" phonetically instead of adhering to the generally accepted pronunciation "chittlins"... But I am, in fact, an African-American male.
So why do you San Francisco cab drivers insist on picking me up? This past weekend, the longest it took me to hail a cab was 45 seconds - and that was the longest.
I started to think that maybe it was because I was hanging out in North Beach and Russian Hill. So this afternoon I tried hailing a cab in the Mission. An Arrow Cab driver saw me from across the street and made an elaborate U-turn to get to me and pick me up. And he was very friendly too.
I'm beginning to develop a complex about this...I may have to take some lessons from Danny Glover.
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I've had five encounters with Arrow Cab so far. Four of those experiences were fantastic, one wasn't. Hence, the number of stars given.
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I don't take cabs often, but when I have a 0600 flight there isn't much choice. I haven't had all the bad experiences other Yelpers have with cabs not showing up (in the few early morning airport runs I've done since moving to SF 3 months ago).
All that said, I was happy with Arrow. I called the night before for a cab at 0430. The dispatcher was quick and to the point, but accurate. When I walked outside at 0425 the cab was there, the driver was friendly and talkative, but not too talkative for the early hour.
Everything was smooth, and Arrow is now my first choice for early morning airport runs.
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This is the only cab company in SF worth even thinking about. Seriously. Two words: LIVE DISPATCH. Two more words...NO HOLD. Dispatch and drivers are super friendly, arrive quick and know the city. Don't water your time with the craptacular antics of Yellow, Luxor etc. Seriously.
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So what if most of the cabs they own are a little...dare I say, rundown...aren't most?
The point is that when I call, someone friendly ALWAYS answers regardless of what time of day or night it may be, and they always show up in (usually) less than 5 minutes. They're quiet remarkable that way.
P.S. I heart you Arrow Cab!
P.P.S. They (hands down) provide a better service than Yellow or DeSoto Cabs. Trust me, I'm usually riding a cab somewhere down the streets of this city, so I should know!
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Arrow Cab really screwed me and my girlfriend over last weekend. I called them at 9:45 and requested a cab to pick us up at 10:15. The person on the phone rudely responds, "Just call me when you're ready." And then he hung up. I called back at 10:10 per his request and said I needed a cab. He said, "It'll be 30 minutes." All the while the man on the phone was acting rude and snapped at me when I asked if he needed my phone number. So that was the first thing that irked me. I wanted a cab "in 30 minutes" at 9:45. Instead he makes me call back later to tell me, "30 minutes" what the hell?
But then it got worse. So we go outside at 10:45 to wait for the taxi. Mind me; we're already late because of the jack hole on the phone. 11:00 passes by and still no cab. Finally around 11:15 I call back to ask where our taxi is. The guy responds, "Oh the other guy doesn't know what he's talking about. He's just a rookie. I'll see what I can do." And then he proceeded to hang up on me. So I call back to ask when a cab's going to come pick us up and he responds, "I don't know dude, It'll be at least an hour." Are you kidding me? I'm not going to go out at 1:00 in the morning! Needless to say, the cab never came and my girlfriend and I were left in the dust. What a waste of a Saturday night!
The people working the phones at Arrow Cab are worthless. I don't know how the actual cabs or cab drivers are. Maybe they're decent, maybe not. I'm not likely to find out because I will not ride in an Arrow Cab now because of their garbage office staff.
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Prompt, friendly, and didn't have to ask me for directions.
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I take cabs all the time and Arrow is one of the numbers that succeeds in the phone call to cab to customer to location transaction.
I don't need to see a therapist, because I take Arrow cabs.
After a stressful week, I go out drinking with friends and then hop into an Arrow cab.
Instantly, the backseat is transformed into therapist's couch.
Of course, the therapist may not always understand you, but they know that all they can do is listen...and listen they do.
I begin to share with the driver the good/bad events that are happening in my life. Each pivotal moment is described in slightly slurry speech, often beginning with "shee what I'm shaying? he shed I was shpeshul."
Since the cab ride takes around 20 minutes, I am able to unload a large amount of information on the poor, unsuspecting driver who was lucky enough to pick up my drunk butt.
The ketel & crans have melted the ice around my heart and transformed me into a seemingly deep philosopher of life and love.
Then the cabbie pulls in front of my apartment, rips the money out of my hand, kicks me out of the car, and speeds off without waiting for me to shut my door.
This serves both of us just fine.
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OK, so I called to book an early morning cab and asked for a car that accomodates skis. The dispatcher said, No problem, we just got our own SUV, and will make sure to pick you up in that so you don't worry about your skiis....getting picked up tomorrow, and I have a realy good feeling about it already!
I was once kicked out of an Arrow cab in the Western Addition. Granted, the girl we were with had a bit of a 'tude. But the cabdriver's 'tude was worse. We were all going to different places, and she told him how she thought he should get there, and he snapped at her. She asked him for change when we got to her stop, and he snapped at her. So, she called him an asshole, and he told us all to get out. They were both assholes.
Another time, though, I got a free ride in an Arrow cab. I was running late for work, and I flagged on down and asked the driver to wait while I went to the ATM. Well, my bank account was overdrawn, and I had no money to pay for a taxi ride. I told him that I had no money, and sorry for wasting his time, and he said "money isn't everything" and drove me to work for free. If I ever end up in his cab again (with money) he's getting a massive tip.
With the rest of my experiences falling right in the middle of those two (flag, drive, thanks bye), taking off one star for getting kicked out and adding one more for the free ride, they get three stars. There are better cab companies in the city.
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They are fast.
They are furiously funny.
They are F-ing awesome!
I just wanted to go home last night and was having a hard time getting there. For some reason second that the bars close in San Francisco it also seems that every cab driver on the face of the planet ends their shift.
You know it's a bitch to get a cab in any neighborhood of SF at 2:01 am. You KNOW it.
It's even harder to get a cab in Hayes Valley at 3:01 am.
But, my hero Amir, called and called and called cab companies for me until he got through to Arrow.
I fully expected to be waiting for eight-gazillion years after he got the dispatcher at Arrow; but, within five minutes of the call a cab picked me up.
Not only did the cabbie (Dave) get there quickly - he took me home the most expedient route - which you know cabbies usually don't do.
You KNOW they don't.
Dave was awesome, he let me smoke in the cab and didn't even laugh at how drunkly incoherent I was when I was attempting to make small talk with him. In addition, he waited until I got my key in the lock of the door of my apartment before he drove away.
Arrow, keep hiring drivers like Dave, he's a credit to your business.
Yellow Cab and DeSoto have been replaced on my speed dial for cab co's - I'm Arrow all the way, baybee!
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I want to erase my review below and give Arrow 1 star and tell you all that they are the worst cab company in town. They show up late or not at all, you never talk to a person, and they just suck over all.
That way you all won't start using Arrow and clogging up their phone lines. This past Saturday, I called for a cab at 9 PM expecting a long ass wait since some other company that shall remain nameless couldn't even answer their phone. Literally 2 minutes after I hung up with the dispatcher, the cab driver was knockin' at my door. I had to put the rest of my make up on in the cab.
Boo for efficiency and timeliness. You people really shouldn't use this company. They suck.
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Original Review:
On a busy Saturday night, I was in need of a cab- badly. No one wants to show up at a Christmas party after all of the free booze has run out!
After putting Yellow Cab on repeat dial to no avail and cursing the wretched cab situation in this god forsaken city, Arrow Cab came to our rescue. Not only did they answer the phone, but I talked to a human being and they said a cab would arrive in 5 to 10 minutes.
Knowing this had to be a lie, we sat around the house and I made some vodka and juice concoction which we took shots of... because we're just high class and that's how you kill time in my house. You drink.
About 20 minutes later, we got a call that our cab was downstairs. 20 minutes is unheard of! Arrow Cab is now programmed in my cell phone and on speed key #2.
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I was feeling disenchanted when my car was sent to the shop for repairs the day before an important job interview. To make things worse, I had run out of luck when trying another cab company. Arrow Cab Company saved the day. Taxi driver arrived at my place within fifteen minutes of placing a call with the dispatcher. To my relief, the day went smoothly from that point forward.
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Best cab company - EVER!
I'm at work and someone asks me to call them a cab to come at a later time. "Oh Crap," I think to myself...I asked my coworker for a suggestion on a cab company that could live up to the challenge - voila! Arrow Cab!
I called, expecting to be on hold forever - NOPE! Reynaldo talked to me and knew where I needed the cab sent (USF Lone Mountain Campus) and even offered to call me when the cab was on its way. Talk about going the extra distance.
Awesome customer service! I will totally use them again =)
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Beats Yellow Cab any day of the week. I got tired of calling Yellow cab and waiting 20 minutes on hold... So I tried arrow twice and both times someone picked up pretty quickly and the taxi arrived withing 5 to 10 min!!!
Reliable, clean, courteous, fast, safe, pleasant, easy to deal with. The cab business ain't rocket science, but these guys have it down.
Three people were *smoking* in a cab.
There were two patrons in said cab.
BEST CAB DRIVER EVAR!
I felt as if our cab driver was this UBER BADASS dude we met at a bar that I wanted to invite over to the house to listen to Floyd, discuss Stephen Hawking literature, watch The Wizard of Oz high, then offer him some jello pretzel mold dessert with an Orangina before he passed out on the couch. This of course after he called his girlfriend Learlene and drunkenly told her how much he loved her and their six illegitimate children to the sounds of Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the background.
Ya know?
It was as if Jeffrey "Dude" Lebowski became a cab driver in San Francisco.
I think I recall exclaiming "Can we keep him?!?!" when I stepped out of the cab, but I can't really recall.
Note: Names were omitted from this review for obvious reasons.
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I think these guys have the best dispatchers of all the cab companies in the City. Consequently, they are the best to call (as opposed to flag). Not only are the dispatchers efficient, they are also friendly.
Case in point: I was headed to a friend's house last weekend to rondezvous for a road trip, and I had called a cab to haul me & gear over there. As I was about to get off the phone, I heard the dispatcher telling a driver that the 101 was backed up. When I said "Oh, excuse me?.." , the guy proceeded to give me some very helpful traffic info.
As for drivers, you really never know. I personally love taking cabs for the random social interactions, but there is always that driver-- every fith ride or so-- who wants to give you whiplash, resents your direction.... or is receiving his own directions intercrainially from hostile space men.
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Thanks yelp! I needed to catch an early morning (pre-BART) flight and didn't want to deal with the insanely huge lead time most airport shuttles schedule or the incredible amount it would have cost to park my car at SFO for the length of my trip so I came looking for a rec and Arrow came up as the best. Just as reviewed, the dispatcher was very nice, even when I called back to confirm (I'd made the initial call 2 days in advance). The driver was waiting outside my door a few minutes early, the ride was excellent and the fare very reasonable to me even with a nice tip.
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I've had very mixed experiences with Arrow. On one instance, I called them, my call was taken immediately, and they had a cab out in front of my office before the elevator got me there. Nice!
On other occasions, however, their office has failed to even pick up the phone when I called. In addition to that, I've NEVER had any luck calling the number posted in the phone book and at the top of the Yelp profile (648-3181). The call dead-ends into a voicemail box. I also have had hit-and-miss luck with the "special" number posted in a number of these Yelp reviews (970-1110). Look, this isn't rocket science: have a phone number, have a human answer the phone, find out where I am, and get a cab to pick me up.
I've found the Arrow Cab drivers to be very professional, friendly, and honest. It's time the central office starts doing its job as well as the drivers on the street do theirs. Until then, 3 stars only.
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the only taxi to respond to a desperate call on a friday night, stranded in the middle of nowhere. the guy knew where he was going and was so friendly and awesome. i have had many experiences like this with them and many bad experiences with Luxor. use arrow!
I would give this company zero stars if I could, but since I can't I will vent with one star. I called this company because a friend recommended them to me. I understand it's one of the busiest nights of the year here in San Francisco, but the person who answered the phone was pretty rude. When I was trying to tell him the apartment #, he hung up on me so I called back to tell him and then he said, "Yeah, I heard you, next time speak faster." Whatever dude. And then the cab didn't even come, after waiting an hour, so I called and was told "Oh, I'll see if I can send someone over."
I realize now that it's because of cab companies like Arrow that people don't trust cab companies in general and want to call multiple cab companies just in case... I'm glad City-Wide was able to come within 4 minutes of my call to them so that I could cancel on these guys.
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Saturday night I'm (reasonably) sure I took an Arrow cab home. I dropped my cellphone in the cab. I called my phone but no one answered. Next morning tried again, phone was going straight to voicemail.
I called Arrow cabs and spoke with Peter in lost and found. He was so nice and helpful. He asked if I was sure I was in an Arrow cab I said that I thought so but all I could recall was a red cab. He directed me to a site which lists all cab companies, their phone numbers and a picture of their cabs. http://www.sfgov.org/s...
Peter also told me that every cab company is required to fax the local police station a list of what they found over the weekend. The number is 415-553-1447 (Peter said not to leave a voicemail, just to keep trying back until you get someone that picks up). The woman I spoke with Vinny took my information but they didn't find my phone. Even though this information didn't help me - hopefully it'll help someone else!
Go ahead give me a "useful" - you know I deserve it.
UPDATE - I just noticed a 41 minute call to the Republic of Congo (that's in Africa for those who failed 9th grade geography). I called Arrow cabs and spoke to David, a Supervisor, he is going to look at the schedule to see if any Congolese cabbies were working that night. David said Arrow doesn't want to employ cabbies who treat their customers that way - lesson of the day don't f with me!
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I waited 45 minutes for a cab that takes Visa. The cab shows up - and does not accept Visa. Worst waste of my time in months. Very bad service.
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BEST TAXI COMPANY EVER!
The dispatcher is the nicest guy in the world. The cabs are prompt when you call. I had to go from the Sunset down to the Embarcadero and be there by 5:45 AM and they came and even got me there early enough to have coffee time! After being burned by so many taxis in San Francisco, I have finally found my soul mate.
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I, my friends, besides being a whore for socially inept men, goat cheese, french fries, whiskey based drinks & fat cats, am a sucker for cab rides. I have spent almost all of my life on some kind of public transportation and instead of developing this zen like attitude about how thoroughly annoying it is, I have zero patience for it and will pretty much always choose a cab ride over the bus, even if I am down to my last 10 dollars and need to start offering handjobs on Craigslist in order to buy meals. This spoiled princess behavior coupled with my complete inability to understand how basic time works leads to the fact that I am always, always running late (like, really late. like oh shit I need to be there in 5 minutes and I am still reading twop recaps late) and so you know, I am a taker of cabs.
Arrow is the ONLY company that I will ever call, especially after a recent near death (oh, okay, ankle bruising) experience on Luxor and the fact that calling Yellow Cab is basically a joke. They should just laugh at you when they pick up the phone. Arrow on the other hand, remembers you even after you call once or twice. Fast and super reliable. I think that the negative experiences listed here are the exception rather than the rule. Program them into your phone immediately.
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No no no no no!
Put the phone down, do not call them if you need a ride!
Perhaps it was a fluke, but they have royally screwed me over today. I called to have a cab ready to take me to a location in the Marina this afternoon, only to have them NOT show up.
I call the dispatcher after waiting ten minutes past the requested pick-up time, and he says something to the effect that no one is available to pick me up.
My face at that moment could have rivaled Munch's painting; I was SO screwed. I was stranded in Twin Peaks; it's not as if there are hundreds of cabs zooming by in the manner of Market Street.
I was late for my very important meeting, looked the fool when I stepped into the meeting room, and the string of profanity could not stop spilling from my mouth all afternoon.
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I'd give 0 if I could
On hold for over 30 minutes....I guess I'll have to drive.
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