Blue Star Taxis (Christchurch) Society Limited Review

Delightful lady called Robyn on switchboard was marvelous, efficient and very helpful.

I would give 0 if I can. The guy who catch my call called Sonny, so rude I never ever meet. Just rememer the guy called Sonny and do not book their taxi. Also they will in my black list although they didnt care.

Scary ride, 89 in a 60 km speed limit, 65 in a 50 km speed limit. I was going to the airport but was not in a rush nor do I think a person with a " p" endorsement who takes public passengers should be breaking the law all the way from the pick up to the airport. Guess the drivers are not paid to make conversation, just as well otherwise he would be broke. That said I have had good experiences with Blue Star. This driver I would of given half a star and obviously my safety was not a concern for him.

Its average and they add an extra $3 if you're a foreigner because they know you cant keep up or dont know what theyre doing...
Aswell as not telling you the 'extra' they charge as they mash toll buttons before pushing the final costings onto their machines.

The driver also saw my destination was on the closest end of a one way road, and instead drove another $20 all the way around to drop me off...

We asked how much roughly our drive in Christchurch would be. The driver told us around $45 - $50 it turned out to be $88!!! Just bunch of liars!!!! Don't be surprised to have no more business and stop blaming Uber but instead look at the service you provide to your customers first!!!!!!

Booked a taxi for pick up from the Car rental place to the airport and asked to meet us there in 10 minutes. They hadn t arrived so I followed up, they said they couldn t find a car! Thanks for wasting my time and not considering to ring me to say so.

Terrible experience with Blue star, almost missed our flight.
Requested a van as 4 of us plus luggage would not fit in a car. A car came anyway and the driver said "not to worry another car will come". 15 minutes later we rang to see how far and the operator rudely said no van was booked and no second car was coming - they sent another, we waited a further 10 minutes and had to pay a total of $36 to get 4 people to the airport - 5 minutes away, got on the plane with only a few minutes to spare. Thankfully they pulled through for us, but very lousy service, obviously poor communication and no compassion for our situation.

Driver took is on a rather indirect route back to our hotel. Did not drive smoothly and cost us twice as much as it did to Uber out to our destination.

Charged $40 to go from airport to Sockburn. A 10 minute drive. These taxis are a ripoff

1st transfer driver cab number 5 amazing helped sort all issues thank u very much sir. Would b more ha willing travel with cab 5 again . 5 stars to you .

But cab 20 MrAlex Lee Chang was anaragant couldn't drive for peanuts and should not have s licence little lone a passenger licence very rude and up set me lots and was very annoyed that he was asking for personal details. He had very poor communication skills . Lucky to even get half a star mr Chang 10

I order blue star Taxi , after finding my cars tire got flat. Taxi arrived around 10mins.When I boards the taxi ,driver even not looked at me, he is busy talking in phone n looks like fighting with their customer care.. 2 minutes later, he ask me for destination and I told him that I will drop my flat tire to Tony tire and go home... I ask him how much the fare will be altogether and he said $30 . I replied okay good to go. .. on the half way, when I have to stop to drop off the tire for repair he told me that he haven't started the meter and he want $45 to go to next destination or give him $15 cash now and he will start meter. .... Point of start to Tony 1.5 km. And Tony to my home 4kms..... Driver name is AChawla. A beard guy.... Very dissapointed, poor service.. After cash money...

Used a couple of other taxi companies once but found Blue Star and it is the only one I now use. They are always friendly, polite and helpful. I am disabled and they always treat me well. They are the only ones I recommend.

Why pay all this money when you can just get a uber

The cab driver decided to earn some extra cash and take the scenic route and a short trip that should have been a $10 ride became $20 because he drove the long way around the park, thought we were tourists and wouldn't know any better. He must have forgotten that cell phones with GPS are a thing and we knew the whole time. On top of that we had to wait a long time just for it to show up. His mother must be proud.

I was driving through christchurch city and in the spaces of 1km I saw a taxi turn right while in a left hand lane (cutting off three lanes or traffic). Then continued to drive down Morehouse ave changing lanes with no indication and also cutting people off. Then continued to turn on to fitzgerald ave and again cutting over 2 lanes without indication causing people to take evasive action to avoid a collision. I would definitely not recommend them as a taxi service nor would I feel safe being a passenger in this particular vehicle. The driver was completely oblivious And in my opinion was a hazard to everyone around him

We prebooked a taxi for 3:15am the das before, which was confirmed via E-Mail quickly. At 3:05am we got a message via SMS that the taxi would arrive soon. It arrived at 3:10am, so that we started 3:13am and arrived at the Airport perfektly in time.

Had bad experiences in the past, including nearly missing flights because I booked a taxi, I was waiting on the road, waited. Was told after ringing up that a taxi had been sent, and the driver was waiting. No sign of them. But tonight was the final straw. When we were driving home today got tailgated by one of their drivers (for doing the speed limit) and tooted at for not going into our driveway fast enough for them. They didn't have any passengers, and sped off. This occured 7.54pm Withells Road. I will let everyone I know about this.

Attempted to get a cabfrom the airport to my house in Burnside but was denied (reason: not a big enough fare). Happily walked 5 minutes to get an Uber.

I had a taxi driver named "Richard" he was so kind and lovely to talk to will definitely get Blue Star taxis again!

Only 1 star because can't give any lower! Nearly missed my flight because taxi never arrived!!

What can I say. These guy are utter pioneers of customer experience in the taxi business

From the defensive grunting driver (whose grasp of English was impressively rudimentary), to the $3 random bonus surcharge on top of the $19 for a 5 minute journey from the airport, I cannot rate these clowns high enough.

What a splendid business model. Bravo! They deserve a Nancy Peloski style clap

Booked two taxis to chch hosp on 29/5. Cannot fault the service. Friendly drivers, clean taxis and arrived on time. A long established reliable chch identity.

Rang up and booked a cab for early morning to the airport and it didn't arrive. When I contacted them they said it was never booked. I have given an extra star for the effort the driver did to get me to my flight.

Quick awesome service, driver was nice and talkative

Beware, we ordered a taxi the day before for an early trip to the airport. Had to reorder in the morning with the driver then coming from the city to pick us up. Nearly missed the plane. Would have been quicker walking.

Ordered a taxi giving instructions where I was to be picked up and dropped off.Taxi went to the wrong place for pickup and was taking me to the wrong area to be dropped off.He told me the dispatcher had given him.incorrect details. The whole trip he ranted about how bad the dispatchers are and how he was going to complain with some colorful language at one stage.
Not very professional. Will not use again .
Wish I had read the reviews first.

I used Blue Star taxis three times during my recent trip to Christchurch. Interestingly, all three drivers engaged the same tactic: appear to understand the address where you want to go (you show them in writing and reinforce it verbally); they then start chatting with you as a distraction; they then take you via a long route or end up at a different street address, pretending that they misunderstood where you wanted to go. Each time I had Google maps on and was able to check their route as we drove - and catch them as they made a wrong turn. They each offered a few dollars off the fare. I also didn't trust their app to reserve a 5:00am pick up and instead elected to use their Contact Us form on their website. I received an email reply with a name and reply email address. Sure enough, at 5:05am I was able to contact Blue Star with a reply email to say that my cab was not there. I did actually get a swift reply and a cab arrived a few minutes later. As most people have already posted in Google reviews, Blue Star don't really make you trust them. And they are expensive - $25-32 just 5km from the airport. Better to take Uber.

1) Allowed 30 minutes to get me to an appointment but took 40 minutes to arrive after 3 calls to the service.
2) Telephonist refused to send me a taxi because I would not specify I was going to a medical or work related appointment. I said I was going local. Really I could have said I was going to a medical appointment and gone to the other side of the city. Somewhat over the top by a smart power hungry telephonist by the name of Paula. As a result I will no longer use Blue Star and have been given the green light to use another company. Shame really as I am an old Blue Star employee, both switch room and driver and have remained faithful for 30 years. This will possibly give the government dept responsible for payment of my transport the impetus to use another company.

Clean and nice car, awesome service, friendly driver.

Will stay away from blue star taxis in Christchurch airport in the future. Paid 48$ for a very short and easy ride to riccarton. For comparison, I paid 18$ on my way back with Uber. And I usually pay less than 40$ in Auckland for a way longer and tough ride!!!

Booked blue star taxi from shirley to Christchurch hospital, great service nice drivers, very impressed, no parking worries, will definitely use again, keep up the good work. Price was good.

Booked a Blue Star taxi to pick me up from Christchurch domestic airport and confirmed by email. Driver wasn't anywhere to be seen, so I phoned the dispatcher and was told the job had been completed even though I was still waiting. interestingly, I got a call ~30 min later from the driver trying to find me; I'd subsequently got another taxi and arrived at my destination. Absolutely pathetic. I'll go back to getting a Corporate Cab because they are reliable and on time.

Twice, the same male driver made me miss very important hospital appointments, wheelchair taxi was booked & well in advance, after reading reviews & my own experience with Blue Star Taxi's I would never recommend them & advise to avoid using them. The male driver dodgy as well.

Taxi driver asked to bring us from BreakFree hotel to Crowne Plaza.
Answer from the driver: Just go RUN.
Can work better in Amsterdam.
They are all like that !!!!

Choose a different taxi firm. Gold star are really good.
Last night I called for a taxi at 1.22am i was told one was on the way for me. At 1.45am i called again and explained that I was alone and on the street. I was told again it shouldn't be to long. After sitting in the cold and dark for an hour someone came out of their house to see if I was safe and ok. They ordered me an Uber and it was there in 5 minutes. Eventually a got a call saying my cab had arrived I explained that I no longer needed it and it was not ok to leave me on the street at that time of night and the lady on the phone said, I quote " what is a women doing on the street at this time" she was unbelievably rude and unprofessional. She needs sacking. What a horrible piece of work

I booked a van with BST to pick a group of us up from a wedding in West Melton and be dropped off in Halswell. This was done three days before the wedding.
Then just before they were due to arrive I get a call saying they won't be sending a van now, but how about three cars if they can get them!
This was going to cost at least three times the amount of what the van would cost, and they couldn't guarantee that these cars would even be there in the next hour.

To top it off the guy in the end of the phone decided it was better to argue with me than sort out our problem which they had created.

Useless company.

Booked a taxi the night before for a 5.45am pick up to the airport. Taxi never arrived. No communication from Blue Star to say there was a problem so that other plans can be made. When I called, was told very busy??? At 5.45 in the morning??? They said they would try get a taxi soon. No communication. When i called back they had done nothing. I booked an Uber that arrived 4 minutes later. Just made my flight. If I waited for Blue Star I would have missed my flight. Never again. When I told them I would not use them again, they said Thank You.

0/5 stars, got hit by one of their taxis a year ago and they did nothing about it. Boss said, verbatim, "What do you want us to do about it?" And had a terrible attitude. Didn't even try and look into the situation.

Wouldn't even give a one star if I could, took a taxi from the CHCH Airport to my work which is 3.7km away, less then 6 minutes drive and was charged $35.50. When I questioned it with the taxi driver he stuttered away and started to get defensive.
I called the next day to their admin and got told I was over charged and it should have only been a $22.50 fare, she told me the manager would call me back that day. I then called 7 hours later to be told they had all gone home with no call back.

I called three times the next working day and finally got through to the 'manager' who lacked important customer service skills and continued to tell me that the government made it 'legal' for taxi drivers to charge what they like. His attitude was not one of a managers, he sounded like he did not have a care in the world.

Even worse, the CHCH airport website states its $40-60 to get into the city centre, which they state is a 15-20 minute drive away. I asked him to explain how a 5 minute drive vs a 15 minute could be less then $5.00 difference.

Absolutely ripped off and will never use a mainland taxi again.

Have had good service in the past but I just booked a taxi rang back an hour later asking how long they d be answered saying they ll be there when theyve finished their other jobs and got hung up on, rude.

It is very rare for me to response negatively but I am very disappointed with Blue Star and their poor service. We had pre-booked a van to collect us. Booked two days prior with a booking number confirmation. I re-confirmed on the day. All good.
Pick up time came and went as we waited by the front door for the driver to come up the drive. I called the company asking where the cab was and was told, a call to my cell had been made by the driver and as there was no answer he drove off. We can not believe it, while did he not come up the drive, we would have seen him arrive as I was watching out for the cab van to arrive.
In all the years I have been using Taxi Companies they have always driven up the drive or onto to the house driveway. The policy must have changed???? A replacement van was offered when I rung the company asking about the booked van missing our pick up and was told they could have a replacement one to me in an hour. Too late. Our friends booked two Uber cars on the spot and we were collected asap.
My daughter has been let down several times by later pick up or no turn up.
I have resisted the Uber app but now have loaded it onto my phone. All my friends us Uber and I think I'm the last to do so. I was a loyal Blue Star customer.

Ordered a taxi using there mobile app. Entering locations into the app is a tiny bit awkward. I liked that I could enter additional infos. Taxi driver was very much on time - got out of the hotel and off I went. He was also very friendly. It was a quick and relaxed trip to the airport.

avoid blue star taxis at all costs!!!!!!

drivers rip off clients! choosing longest route. I gave them multiple chances... every single driver took a longer route... not a single one chose the most economical. the worst driver drove down a city road with no traffic with 30ks where there was 50 allowed trying to catch all the red lights. unbelievable!

called up to ask for a taxi and man at the other end was very rude! I asked a question twice and was swore at. taxi took 45minutes to turn up. NEVER AGAIN

I ride the taxi from my work to my home and the driver said 10 $ its alright? Then I'd agree
When i pay .I thought its only 10$ I trust her
I check my account she took $12.30 in my account
Now i dont trust you again.

Impatient and rude staff who have zero listening skills. Unhappy with the service received

I've never had any problems with Blue Star. Always friendly and on time. Cars are clean. It is always beneficial to call ahead to book.

Ordered a taxi at 11:30pm on a Tuesday to pick me up from stanmore road . 30 minutes later it still hasn t arrived and they can t tell me how long it will be ??? I m wondering if I should walk to my friends house but it s midnight and Linwood isn t the best area :/ Thanks a lot Blue Star will NEVER use ur taxi service again. Uber is a million times better ! With Uber it s a maximum 5 minute wait 24/7 seven days a week . I am so mad right now

2 hours is far to long. Poor is not a strong enough word......

BlueStar Cab driver #78 (jaggy) makes our taxi l trips an ease! He is incredibly polite- drives safely and respectfully. Fantastic time management! He also holds a great conversation. Number 78 is the taxi to look after you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Friendly service on the phone, taxi arrived quickly, helpful driver loaded our bags. Would use again.

Terrible booked a maxi hours in advanced and never showed. They wonder why everyone uses uber.....

Ordered a cab on a quiet Sunday evening, after 45 minutes we called back and asked where the cab was. They told us they couldn't get any one to our area and we should try a different company so we did. Very unprofessional.

Reliable and on time everytime. Very happy with Blue Star service so far!

Waited 20 min on monday night
Not taxis in town . Should of told me of this when booked .

Not reliable at all. We called the night before to schedule a pick up at 3:45am in the morning from the car rental to the airport but it never arrived. We called and they could not give us an ETA on when a taxi would arrive so we had to walk 30mins to the airport with our luggages. Absolutely horrible experience.

Poor management even though the trip was planned a week in advance, taxi was over 30min late meaning we had missed out on part of our activity. No one took ownership of this balls up which was even worse.

Hi taxi arrived quickly, but driver had no idea where to go. Had to navigate there and back. Poor service from a big company. Very disappointed for 8 minute ride and slowing for normal bumps in road $30 ,bit steep

I ordered a Blue Star taxi from Christchurch Hospital to Mairehau on 13 December. The driver seemed to have no idea how to get there and my wife had to try to navigate for him. He had no ID visible in the cab although I thought that was legally required. He also had no GPS. This was so bad I will never use Blue Star again.

Got ripped off. Was in Chch for the first time, and unfortunately told the driver about it. He was pretty social though, only to find out that he was asking questions just to distract me from having a sneak peek at his GPS. Needless to say, took all the wrong turns. Ended up with 60$ less in my pocket for something that was supposed to be an 11ks trip.

Horrible experience! I have never had such an unprofessional driver in my life! Picked me up from chch airport and after asking where I was going he started asking how many girlfriends I had and was I looking for one nighters while down here. For one I m gay and no I don t see woman as a prize or a piece of meat!!! You clearly need to re train your driver on etiquette and conversations!! I ll NEVER use this brand of taxi ever again!

Great service on the phone by a young lady, I think her name was Matala or something along those lines. A+++ effort from the Blue Star Team! Will be using again! Top Notch!

Should be called "NO Show". Booked a van the day before it was required, via the office and were told the fare would be approximately $65. We were ready to go at 4.15am when we received a call from Blue Star staff member saying their van driver hadn't turned up and we'd have to go in two cars. We said we shouldn't have to pay for two vehicles because it wasn't our fault that the Blue Star driver hadn't turned up. The man at the Blue Star Office was extremely rude, he told us that we could always book another company. Not an option at 4.30am in the morning when we were trying to catch a flight. The Blue Star drivers themselves were very polite and obliging, however our fare cost over $100 when the previous evening we had been told approximately $65. Your people skills are atrocious "Mr Blue Star" - if you speak to your drivers the way you spoke to us it's no wonder they don't turn up. It's unbelievable that you are still in business with phone operators like the one we dealt with. We will never use or recommend Blue Star ever again. If there was a "NO" star rating you would get it.

Not a very professional company Booked a cab for 3.45am for international airport. The driver didn't show up, we phoned the company and they then sent another driver arriving at 4.15. A very very slow trip from Bealey Avenue to airpirt, took us 25 minutes without any traffic. Arrived late for check in. Would not ever use this company again.

Ripped off , driver took the longest way possible , done a 3k loop and ended up about 600m from where we started then passed the correct turning and done another loop back to the destination , navman had the route as 3.2ks cost $22

I really needed their service on 2 different occasions due to my daughter not being able to walk because of a consistent ankle injury. But i had to carry my 5 year old home because they didn't arrive on both accounts.

Guy smelled like he had pissed himself multiple times, and seem a bit psychotic. Took an uber to the place and then a blue star home. Blur star was 90% more expensive.

We have a very nice taxi driver named Richard, he made wonderful conversation and was very funny, incredible service from him !

Be prepared to wait and wait. The drivers I've had are fine when your cab finally does come, but dispatch is rude, and there's no way of knowing how long it will be before a cab finally shows up.

I made a complaint about a fare dispute via their website and someone called and explained the charge within 2 days. No problems with service.

With the technology we have today and the gps age, it is disappointing you are unable to tell me how far your next taxi is. You will perish with Uber around if you don't step up. Good luck

Beyond rude on multiple occasions with multiple drivers, do not recommend using.

Asked for a quote for a fare from Woolston to CHCH Airport. Telephone assistant forgot to mention the barrier fee which the other companies advised me of. Amateurs - avoid!

amazing service, knew where we were, when other companies didnt and only took 5 mins. very polite and knowledgeable about christchurch. A+++++

A very efficient, on time and overall excellent service
3 Taxis in 48 hours, all drivers most helpful. Will recommend to other Aussies

The lovely driver of this car rego FEL278 yesterterday blocked somebody from reversing out of the riccaton car park, he had room to go forward and backwards to let these guys go no other cars in frout or back, the rude man new they were wanting out but sat there, Waiting for his park that is reserved for the taxis not like anyone gonna take his park ! Never will i ever ride with you guys knowing how horribly rude and selfcentred your drivers are.

I had just had a rough experience at the hospital and I rang blue light to get a taxi to the airport. My taxi driver Barry from Afghanistan was a blessing. He was so kind and thoughtful. Thank you my friend.

Such a great taxi company! My driver, Jaspinder, was so unbelievably kind!!

Rude, Rude and Rude...called up last night to hire a taxi but a man picked up phone and asked me from where I want to be picked up but I told him street's name three times and then he yelled on me to tell him street's entrance.How can you expect from a new person in a city if he/she will tell you entrances of streets.After that he hang up the phone.I was all alone on road and could not find a taxi n walked for 45 minutes to home at midnight. I would not recommend to anyone this taxi service and would never call again in future.

Don't even want to give you one star, appalling service today with receiving staff on phones who argued with me like small children. Taxi had not turned up after 15 minutes so rang you back and was told a taxi van had been sent straight away, well it hadn't as I had been sitting with the door wide open waiting and watching all that time. Staff argued it had been there, it hadn't. I'm not a liar but I think blue star taxis are. Staff were very rude and I will not be using your service again. Especially taxi van 885 driven by John who likes to keep his window open on freezing cold mornings and doesn't offer any assistance to a disabled client. Disgusted at your customer service.

Suck big time. allowed me to request a taxi. 20 minutes later i rung back to ask how long, and was told unfortunatly we have none out my way. Why didnt they tell me when i first rang? dumbest taxi company ever.

Had a great ride, first time in a prius and I loved it, cheers

Put it on FB but obviously don't publicise negative reviews. Unreliable company.

Gee Blue Star you really suck! For first time Corporate Cabs unable to pick us up from midnight Brisbane flight so I booked a meet and greet by phone from Oz. Only no meet and no greet only a txt that said car no. Abc was " near" the area. Only it wasn't. Waited 10 minutes all the while trying to communicate with other BST drivers who didn't give a rats. Advice was to pick up a cab from the rank. So then I phoned and hung off the end of your call centre for another 5 minutes without an answer. So gave up and got a Mainland off the rank. Your business sucks and you deserve to be ubered.

Booked them last night, from rossburn receptions, out to Kaiapoi, Cleland Crescent, told the operator and driver atleat 20 times, was crescent not street, ended up out a Belfast, tried to charge us $120 plus, operator admitted her mistake, driver said he was losing money, even thou he has GPS, and we repeatedly told him crescent, then got mad cause we wouldn't pay full amount because of a small mistake, DO NOT USE

If I could, I would give 0 rating. Though the cab arrived on time, while ordering the cab they mentioned a certain price to airport and never mentioned a hidden additional charge to enter airport, and also without notice added a card payment fee. This in total increased the quoted fare by about 55%. I WOULD NOT recommend this cab service in Christchurch.

Got scammed by these guys, called for a pick up from the airport, sat outside the arrival area - there was not a soul around so clearly we were the intended pick up. Taxi pulls up and sits outside the departures area (Why would an arrival be sitting at the departures!?!?). after 5 mins eventually drives over to us and claims he didn't know where we were even though he could clearly see us. He then said he had to pay the airport fee and had to go round the block to scan his card. And he charged us for the whole detour! Just because he didn't go to the taxi stand in the first place. And despite all the extra miles rounded up the fare too above the meter. Second taxi we got back to the airport started adding on random extra $$ to that fare too even though his meter said something different. I'm sorry but this is NZ, we aren't a corrupt country trying to screw people over. I feel so embarrassed that tourist probably have to put up with this too.

6.45am Monday morning and I have a bluestar van opposite my house with music blaring away. No it wasn't picking anyone up it was just sitting there. If this is how your drivers are I will never use your service.