Recent experience with Uncle johny

[climber2377]

i heard some stuff and didnt believe it, then i showed up and was thinking... my friends need a shuttle to be in town with me, so why not go to the guy who runs a shuttle and get them a ride. first i call, he doesnt answer. i then hitch across town to his place and he is outside drinking and when i ask for a shuttle, he says "not to be rude, but shuttles are just about done for the day, its not raining and its not snowing, your friends will be fine" Now it was only around 5:00 when this happend. i m not giving him any of my money, i suggest you dont give him any either! if you have a story that will help perpetuate the theme of this then please post here. do not offer pros and cons, this thread is not a debate*. please post only negative info here. i m sure this is a lot of it.

*Feel free to discuss both the pros and cons of recent experiences. It will be a lot fairer to the proprietor rather than a predefined flaming.
Added by Alligator.

[The Old Fhart]

So you get to a business and request a service. You find The owner relaxing after working and he politely tells you the service is ended for the day and you're pissed for what good reason? The only person doing anything wrong here is you. Being a thru hiker doesn't make you entitled or special in any way. Trying to get others to buy into your line of crap is disgusting. Grow up.

[Tennessee Viking]

Remember Johnny's is more of a business than hiker friendly. So he runs it strict.

At this time, he is getting bum-rushed by the crowd. Its like Black Friday for the trail. I can see where he can be a little crabby.

When I was living in Johnson City, and went to UJ's a couple times to visit the crowd. At times, there was a line of hikers from the street corner to the shop counter. Many times the wait for shuttles into town can be an hour or two.

I have asked Johnny on a couple occasions if any hikers need to go into town, I would be happy to offer them a ride. "SURE...that will help me with the backlog of shuttle requests." And boy did I get suckered into rides by that offer. About 10 wanted a ride all at once. Ended up only taking the ones that were going to farther out trailheads or to the bus station.

And by 5pm, Johnny is usually heading out, leaving only the caretakers.

[climber2377]

this is a forum about our experiences of the trail. i think that after being treated amazingly by people of the trail. and uncle johny and his place are trail unfriendly. end of story.

[Doctari]

AND you started a second thread on this subject?!?!

I am thinking Johnnies judgment pretty good, sounds like something I would have done. Don't show up after hours & then get pissed because the store won't re open just for you.

As posted above "Grow up!"

[woodsy]

Dude, you need to work around the service provider's schedule, he doesn't need to work around yours, maybe plan ahead a little better next time.
Service provides have a life too.

[Lyle]

I used their services a couple of years ago for a long shuttle and place to leave my vehicle. They were friendly, fair and prompt. No complaints at all with the service I received.

[Pete Moss]

Johnny and Crew were awesome to me when I came through in 08. Actually, they were so good to me it was tough to leave. I bet he might have even offered you a beer??? Anyways, even you said it was 5:00...he was done for the day, should have got there sooner....Point B- hes already had a couple of beers, I wouldnt drive you around after having a few for liability purposes and you shouldnt want a ride from someone who has been drinking...
Give it up, UJ rules!

[Tabasco]

Johnny saved my ass a couple of years ago, shuttled me from his place to Devils Fork Gap. I hiked to the shelter just short of Sam's Gap that night, when I got an emergency call from my wife that our younger son was very ill.

I packed up, called UJ on a dead run to Sam's Gap, he met me there and took me back to his place.

UJ runs a business, and a fair one in my estimation.

[Skyline]

The original poster is showing himself to be a kind of poster boy for Trolls. At least he's a fairly honest troll. Right in the first post he actually says he only wants to hear negatives.

Methinks Johnny has been around long enough to make good judgements about who he wants, and does not want, as customers. This guy seems to have shown up with a chip on his shoulder, got rejected, and now at best he wants sympathy from the rest of us or at worst he wants to start a boycott of UJ. Doesn't seem like either is happening.

Perhaps he can view his experience in Erwin as a teachable moment. It will serve him well as he moves north.

[Gray Blazer]

Why didn't the OP rent a car or hire a taxi if he was so worried about his friends? There, is that negative enough for you?


Now, Ill be positive. I'm positive you were wrong.

[10-K]

I think I've got the mother of all Uncle Johnny's stories...

My wife and I had a flat on the way to meet for a shuttle - the shuttle driver was still waiting when we finallly got there.

It was a Saturday and it was just an overnight hike and we were 400 miles from home. I was fixing to cancel the hike because it would be very difficult to buy a tire and have it mounted on a Sunday - we had to be home Sunday because our kids were at home.

Long story short - UJ kept my truck and had a tire put on it while we hiked and it was ready to go when we hiked back in Sunday afternoon.

All for $5.....

Bonus points: My wife forgot and left her wallet, engagement ring and wedding ring in the console and it was all right where she left it when we got back.

On top of all this, I've used UJ for shuttles at least a dozen times and have never once had a problem. The only thing that's kind of funny is that I don't know if I've ever paid the same price twice for a shuttle to the same place - I think he must just pull a price out of his head when he quotes a shuttle price - no big deal at all...

[John B]

I've been there twice and just thought it was a nice place. There was just one other hiker when I went through but the lady gave us a no-charge ride to town for food (dinner). Not related to shuttles, but the facilities were very clean and in good shape. I liked the place 100%

To the original OP, I've been a member here for a couple of years and spend way too much time reading threads, but I don't recall any example other than yours in which people were asked to post ONLY negative impressions. I think that says a lot:

"i m not giving him any of my money, i suggest you dont give him any either! if you have a story that will help perpetuate the theme of this then please post here. do not offer pros and cons, this thread is not a debate*. please post only negative info here. i m sure this is a lot of it."

[TD55]

i my friends need a shuttle to be in town with me, so why not go to the guy who runs a shuttle and get them a ride. first i call, he doesnt answer. i then hitch across town to his place

Made a phone call and got no answer. Obviously the person you tried to call was busy, closed for the day or for whatever reason not wanting to answer the phone. Seems kind of stupid that you would hitch across town. What do you want, sympathy for you stupidness?

[full conditions]

i heard some stuff and didnt believe it, then i showed up and was thinking... my friends need a shuttle to be in town with me, so why not go to the guy who runs a shuttle and get them a ride. first i call, he doesnt answer. i then hitch across town to his place and he is outside drinking and when i ask for a shuttle, he says "not to be rude, but shuttles are just about done for the day, its not raining and its not snowing, your friends will be fine" Now it was only around 5:00 when this happend. i m not giving him any of my money, i suggest you dont give him any either! if you have a story that will help perpetuate the theme of this then please post here. do not offer pros and cons, this thread is not a debate*. please post only negative info here. i m sure this is a lot of it.

*Feel free to discuss both the pros and cons of recent experiences. It will be a lot fairer to the proprietor rather than a predefined flaming.
Added by Alligator.

Son, you've just got to learn to take no for an answer with better grace and dignity. NOBODY owes you a thing just because you've decided to go hiking.

[jersey joe]

This certainly points to a larger issue of people expecting things that they shouldn't. To the OP, why did you just expect a service from someone?

[Slo-go'en]

Sorry, I too have nothing but good things to say about UJ's. I'll be passing through there again in a few weeks on a section hike and will definately stay there and give him money!

[climber2377]

no beer offered to me. no friendly smiles, no how was your day? no welcome to uncle johnnys no i m uncle johny, would you like a room? and to the people asking about renting a car. do you know where i am? as for a taxi, the nearest one is in johnson city. i have never been treated so poorly and I HAVE made this thread with the intent of BOYCOTTING uncle johny. i know that there are many people that have had similar experiences with the UJ establishment. i m not asking a fella to drive his car if he is drunk. i am asking him to be hiker friendly if he is an establishment associated with the trail. he has not shown me any friendliness and had not shown me an ounce of kindness. even the morning after! his driver comes up with his negative attitude and treats me with disdain. he also sat there last night bad mouthing a friend of mine, who isn t who they even think he is. i am not planning to talk about the stuff i heard about UJ's i can only offer my experience. it was nothing but negative and i dont feel he is the type of guy i would even give my money to. i suggest you open your eyes and see what is really going on. chip on my shoulder... not so much my friend. i am here to give my story to others so that they can make an informed decision of what to do with theirs. UJ says "not to be rude, but its not raining or snowing, your friends are hikers, they can surely hike in tomorrow" in my honest opinion that is absoulutely rude!

[climber2377]

This certainly points to a larger issue of people expecting things that they shouldn't. To the OP, why did you just expect a service from someone?

um... lets see, you go to a business that states "shuttle service" then you ask for a shuttle and say i ll pay you money to go get my friends who are trying to get to Erwin. how about "i m sorry we are closed for the night but i will gladly get them in the morning if that is ok with you?" oh that s not what drunk idiots say. they have a tendency to be rude. sorry for living.

[bulldog49]

i heard some stuff and didnt believe it, then i showed up and was thinking... my friends need a shuttle to be in town with me, so why not go to the guy who runs a shuttle and get them a ride. first i call, he doesnt answer. i then hitch across town to his place and he is outside drinking and when i ask for a shuttle, he says "not to be rude, but shuttles are just about done for the day, its not raining and its not snowing, your friends will be fine" Now it was only around 5:00 when this happend. i m not giving him any of my money, i suggest you dont give him any either! if you have a story that will help perpetuate the theme of this then please post here. do not offer pros and cons, this thread is not a debate*. please post only negative info here. i m sure this is a lot of it.

*Feel free to discuss both the pros and cons of recent experiences. It will be a lot fairer to the proprietor rather than a predefined flaming.
Added by Alligator.

That is just outrageous that he isn't at your beck and call 24/7. The arrogance (you figure out the arrogance reference).