Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Travel and Accommodation => Flights and Travel => Topic started by: cleworthallray on September 23, 2015, 09:17:42 AM
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Can anyone suggest a safe transfer company for the journey from dalaman to kalkan. We have just returned and have now decided that we need to change who we use. This years incoming journey was hairy but the return to dalaman was dam right dangerous. We were thrown from side to side and no matter what comments we made it made no difference. There are clearly some good ones because as we swerved passed some driving carefully on the inside I could see their drivers shaking their heads. A couple beeped us when we were that close to them. I have complained not for the first time to them and they immediately apologised and said that they had talked to the driver who said he wasn't speeding. They said he had been reported twice before and he would not be driving for them anymore. But unfortunately we have heard this before. It's as if they have a death wish, we thought we would turn over on some corners. I think they are just trying to knock 10-15 minutes off the journey that does not matter to us. The increased cost to the company on fuel, brakes and engine alone should be a concern. It was a totally unpleasant journey after an absolutely brilliant holiday. My wife spotted a niche in the market although it may be expensive. Helicopter from dalaman to kalkan probably about 20 minutes. Our friends do this from nice airport to nice and Rome airport to the city and its not much more than a taxi in those places. What a way to arrive. Helicopter please ..... Where to sir.....drop us off at Adams kalkan. Cool. Any rich investors in kalkan .... Sort it. But any suggestions for a good customer caring transfer company would be appreciated. Our company....... Ps. When we arrived at dalaman and recovered our luggage from the rear of the people carrier was the first time our driver commented or smiled and stood their waiting for his tip. I smiled back and said one word. "Horrific"
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We have had good drivers with Define, not always with Adda and ok with Enes. But the drivers maybe change from year to year. Perhaps best to speak to the company mgr/owner at the time of booking to say that you want a careful driver.
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The Helter Skelter Dalaman trip is a lottery who you get..we have tried several different transfer companys and found only occasionally do we get a safe ride! Part of the problem is Transfer companys seem to Sub contract work out..we know this for fact as we have been told by drivers they don't work for such and such company normally..in fact we have had a tomato farmer and a waiter driver us in recent years..rather than turn a job down they seem to take it on and worry about it later...I guess it's Called making hay while the sun shines? ::)
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We have used Xpress in the past & always had a safe journey also with Brave Tours. Some of the drivers have been a bit miserable but then I wouldn't fancy doing that trip 2 - 3 times a day really.
Have been told there is a heliport at Club Patara, not sure if correct but it could be a start to a transfer service ;)
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This reply depends on how you feel about driving in Turkey.
On our first visit to Kalkan 5 years ago we had a rather unpleasant transfer from Dalaman although return journey was much better.
What we do now is hire a car from Dalaman for 3 days to be dropped off in Kalkan at end of hire period and at end of holiday do same thing for return journey to Dalaman.
The drive is simple and only requires two right turns from Dalaman all way to Kalkan.
This way you choose the speed you wish to travel.
I negotiate the cost of car hire either whilst in Kalkan (on previous visit) or via email, not paying the price that is stated on website.
Most of the hire companies will negotiate especially if you are returning customer.
It works out slightly dearer than transfer but you get the use of a car for 6 days to collect those all important supplies on arrival and to visit some places.
For us it generally works out around £50 more than transfer including fuel but 6 days car hire for £50 isn't bad.
Hope this helps.
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Thanks for the replies. All good company names welcome. Tried the car hire from Dalaman but generally found it sat there all the time. And having a car means no drink and that's no good. Yo. BL. How are you doing. As I'm sure you know, I'm a big believer of "make hay while the sun shines" which after this summer in the North West is why I came again to Kalkan for the seventh time in September on the trot. Bet you got some free tomatoes.....Local tractor dealer near me just went bump and he had a helicopter......should have gone to the auction and bought it. If we moved a few olive trees in the garden, we could land at the villa, so long as we didn't squish any tortoises.........
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No Tomatoes ..just wind!! everytime he overtook on a bend I dropped another one :angel: ;D
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Glad I was not in the same car :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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Im not sure who you used but we have used Brave Tours for several transfers and driver service. We have always been vey happy.
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Thanks for that suziq I will keep them on my list. We weren't with brave tours.
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Used Abi for nearly 20 years and had nothing but helpful careful drivers
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Used to use Adda...............but we experienced high speed eratic driving....too quick,and our guests feed back quite often included complaints against them for that exact reason.When we complained direct them..........it was as if they didn't believe us,and I just could not stand their attitude.........from that day on we decided to use Enes tours,as we had recommendations from a lot of others who were happy.
We have used them for the last three years for transfers........safe,reliable,good value...free water and sweets.Emin in the office is fab ( we were invited to his wedding ). We also use them for car hire and again,never an issue at all.
Who did you use...you haven't said.You should say who it is so everyone is aware of the experience you have had.
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I think it's pretty much six of one and half a dozen of the other! We have used Enes for the past 3 years and get mixed journeys. We like them though and they are great people so we stick with it. We hired cars/jeeps this year and spent quite a bit if time on the D400 and as a result feel less concerned about the driving styles!
We may exen be tempted to self drive to and from airport next time .
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Agree with previous two posters. We have used Enes for 7 years and have never had a bad journey from Dalaman and even Antalya. They have reliable , sensible drivers who have been with them for many years. Emin is extremely organised and efficient. All our guests use Enes and we have never been let down or had a complaint.
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We use Enes for transfers to/from all our rental properties. We have used them for nine years now, and have never had a (justified) complaint from any of our clients. On the other hand, we have had plenty of instances where guests have booked their own transfers through other companies and have had problems with late pick-ups, dangerous drivers etc.
We use Enes because Emin is so easy to deal with, and he has never let us down.
Personally, I don't take transfers - I generally drive to and from the airport in a hire care from Enes on my frequent trips to/from the UK as I quite enjoy the drive, and in any case it works out cheaper! 8)
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I think it is between the devil and the deep blue sea. We have used Add a for the past 3 years and fingers crossed have had a reasonable transfer both ways. This year was particularly good, a very steady driver without any mobile use........must be a first. We used Define before and some of those drivers were a bit manic!
Our worst trip this year was on a dolmus back from Patara Beach. My husband and I sat in the front, both seat belts were broken and for the whole journey the driver was having an argument on his mobile. It was truly terrifying, he had a bus full of people and I could count on one hand the number of times his hands were actually on the steering wheel! Never again.
I suppose at the end of the day it is down to the driving ability of the drivers. I am quite happy for slow and steady.Would also like to see mobile use banned when driving, but I wonder if that would be adhered to?
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Thanks everyone. We will be giving one of your recommendations a try next time. At first I thought that it would be unfair to say who we were with because they did respond to us quickly and did apologise which they have done on previous times and persuaded us to give them another opportunity to make it right. We won't do this again because as BL said they may subcontract and are therefore not able to control or train their drivers. If they don't subcontract they still have little control over how their drivers behave. I'm sure most of you will have already guessed the company and I now recognise what mayday said that others should know so they can make an informed choice. And if this is not made public there maybe no real reason for them to improve. So yep it was ADDA. Sorry to say. We had a hire car for a day off them and they delivered it to the villa and picked it up and they were great. Transfer is a another thing. One last thing to emphasise in my opinion how close we came to hitting another vehicle or skidding off the road down a cliff. I own a car capable of doing 180 mph under the right conditions and used to rally cars through forest stages and I know when a vehicle is close to out of control and I was well happy to make it to dalaman
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One question - did you tell ADDA about your experience? They need to know....
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Well Martyn,i let them know after my experience and after our guests complained as well.I would say their attitude was..........we believe our drivers and not you.I could not take them seriously,so decided to use Enes from that moment and have not looked back with car hire or transfers.....top marks to Emin for both.
Also,i do not find Adda staff as friendly so it was an easy decision for me.
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Hi MartynE. Yes as I said earlier I did and they apologised and said that the driver had said he had not been speeding or driving dangerously but they admitted that he had been reported twice before and therefore would not be using him again. So they did believe me and put up no defence but it had happened before with Adda and this was the last time. I found the lady is the office very nice. So it's a shame but we won't risk our lives with them again. Cheers
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Highly recommend Brave Tours. Very professional, courteous drivers. Overall fantastic service.
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Agree totally with Now Retired and MartynE about self drive.
I've always used Enes as you can pick up at Dalaman and drop off in Kalkan with no surcharge. Additionally, on subsequent visits, all the paperwork is already completed so it's just a signature and away you go - perfect.
I usually have the car for 4 days. Day 1 is usually for stocking up on provisions etc and, depending on where you are staying, this could involve several taxi fares which you can offset against the cost of car hire. The next few days are spent visiting local places like Kas, Kaputas beach and Patara which would all incur transport costs.
When you drop the car off, they even take you back to your villa although on the last two occasions, they came to the villa to collect it.
Overall only slightly dearer but far far more convenient.
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Don't forget drink driving Alcohol limit is lower than the UK and if you have passengers it is Zero the D400 is prime stopping territory..so no drinks in flight etc :-\..think I will stick with the hair raising Whacky racers transfers
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Hey BL. I didn't know that about the passenger and zero Alcohol bit. That's no good for me. Flight and no drink. Kalkan and no drink. Might be better to be asleep during transfer. Not that I like drink. You ever tried red diesel. Looks like pomegranate.
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Brave Tours have just arrived at our apartment at the exact collection time for a driver service with our rental car for friends returning to Dalaman. The driver was polite and courteous as we have always found and he had placard ready for our next set of friends who he will pick up and deliver to the apartment later tonight. So easy to organise and so far always reliable.
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Another vote for Enes! I think we've tried practically every transfer company but have settled on Enes for the last 8 seasons. Incredibly reliable, safe drivers and Emin is very easy to deal with. Once you get that level of trust with a company its very difficult to move to another just because they might be a couple of quid cheaper. The cold water and biscuits on arrival at Dalaman are part of our Kalkan experience now :)
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Yes agree K4E............I love those little vanilla wafers,the sweets and the water.......along with good value,reliability and safety..Emin and Enes are no 1 for me
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Hey BL. I didn't know that about the passenger and zero Alcohol bit. That's no good for me. Flight and no drink. Kalkan and no drink. Might be better to be asleep during transfer. Not that I like drink. You ever tried red diesel. Looks like pomegranate.
My understanding,as told to me by two Kalkan locals, is that the zero limit only applied to professional taxi or bus drivers. For everyone else the limit is 50 (ie below our 80) which equates to one beer.
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I can also highly recommend BRAVE TOURS. We used them for the first time this year and will use them again next year without hesitation.