The Keen Group - another Clapham invasion?

[Muttley]

First there was Carol Cars, everyone's favourite East Dulwich minicab service of the 1990s, based at the bottom of Barry Road. They were then taken over by Dulwich Cars, who renamed themselves APT [thanks Bigstew], then they became "Carriages" (what a pretentious name). Now they are called "The Keen Group". It's still the same phone number it always was, 8299 4000, but it turns out that the Keen Group are actually a Clapham minicab company. So is this how all the Claphamites are getting here? Does what used to be "Carol Cars" still employ any people in East Dulwich, or has this business entirely gone West? I think we should be told.

[carter39]

And aside from whether they're local or not, more importantly - they're rubbish.

We booked a cab - the driver had no idea where he was going, and relied solely on his SatNav - which saw him come off the side streets straight onto rush-hour traffic on a major road. Then took us all around the houses, before finally getting so lost, we had to get out and walk and try to find the location ourselves.

We reported it to the company, but despite several follow-ups to find out how our complaint was progressing, we never got any call-backs and our complaint was ignored. Shame, coz Carol's was excellent.

[bigstew]

Weren't they also called Dulwich Cars and then APT? I think they're great for airport service and do turn up when they say they will.

[zephyr]

I havw used them with no problems.

many cab drivers use Stnav these days. I got a cab from Clapham to Nunhead a few weeks ago. The driver went by his satnav (quickest route) when my route would have been better. He insisted in taking all the side road etc even though it was 3 o'clock in the morning and the south circular was fantastically clear.

[Muttley]

Generally I've found Keen Group and all the predecessors reliable (with a couple of notable exceptions). They used to have drivers who would honk from the street rather than bothering to knock on the door, but thankfully that antisocial practice seems to have largely disappeared. My main concern at them no longer being an East Dulwich centred firm is that the drivers are likely to be less familiar with the rat runs around here, eg avoiding the schools in rush hour, avoiding Camberwell Green etc.