Just got back from a week in London and wanted to pass on to anyone who may be thinking on using a car service called London Shuttle. We used this service 2 years ago with no problems. For this year's trip I emailed them in August to make sure they were still in business. They responded back that they were indeed still in business and would be happy to get us to and from Heathrow. The way they work is upon payment, they give you an 800 number to call from a BT telephone and they send a driver to pick you up in about 10 minutes. As I said, we used them 2 years ago and it worked like a charm. This time, however, when we arrived and called, the number was disconnected. The only way to contact them is via email and they of course haven't responded (big surprise!). So it was roughly a $140 lesson learned and I wanted to get the word out so others are not taken advantage of. We ended up using Hotelink which worked pretty good for us.

Have you reported this to the police?

Have you tried this website with their contact numbers?http://www.londonshuttle.com/ncontact.htm
Surely if you paid by CC the card company will refund your money?

OK - I'm confused -- you paid them in advance? I've used many mini cabs and car services and have never once had to pay up front.

And if you did pay, presumably it was by credit card you are totally protected - just dispute the charge.

But where on earth were you going for $140 / £80?

The cost was 35 pounds each way, to and from the airport. I'm actually out $125. Since I had used the service in the past and had confirmation that they were still in business, I went ahead and charged the entire amount. Just one less thing for me to worry about, I figured. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, so I learned a hard lesson.

I am contacting my credit card company and disputing the charge. However, since I've already paid the bill, I'm not sure if that will do any good. I'll give it a try.

It didn't occur to me to call the police.

We just used a service called London Shuttle from Southampton to London (arranged by travel agent). We had to cancel a first arrangement.. and tho our credit card had been charged, there was no problem getting credit. Had to use 800 no. and it worked fine. Our driver was excellent. If I were you I'd try to work with tel co on the right number. If it's the same company I can't imagine the problem you describe.