Eight Black shuttle closes suddenly, leaving longmont travelers with useless vouchers
Longmont’s Eight Black ends service amid rising costs, stranding customers with unused $32 vouchers.
Eight Black, a Longmont airport shuttle business, abruptly ceased operations last Friday, shocking many of its regular customers. The shutdown left many travelers at the airport scrambling to find alternate means of transportation down to Denver International Airport, including customers who purchased prepaid vouchers.
Just weeks before they shutdown, Eight Black was promoting discounted, non-expiring ride vouchers on their social media pages. Customers of Eight Black bought the vouchers, sometimes in bulk, and don't know if they will be getting any reimbursement or return on their purchase. Many customers purchased vouchers for specific trip plans or wrapped them up as gifts, only to be informed via their stories on social media that Eight Black had officially ceased operations.
Sudden closure leaves customers in limbo
In a message shared online Friday evening, Eight Black said a combination of rising costs meant they could no longer remain in operation. The rising costs included insurance, airport fees and other regulatory fees, and the service itself. Eight Black complained the "financial burden was far too much to allow us to continue under a shared ride."
The company's message, which was posted on Facebook and sent to customers via email, indicated June 13 was their final day of service. Hundreds of angry commenters replied immediately, with some indicating that they had just purchased (a few days before) Eight Black vouchers. Attempts to contact Eight Black have gone unanswered; calls are forwarded to a voicemail and a message left has gone unanswered.
Customers seek refunds and next steps
On Monday, customers stopped by Eight Black’s Main Street office seeking clarity only to find the location locked up and with no staff inside. While lights were still on inside and there were still visible items belonging to staff, no one answered knocks or buzzer responses to gain entry. One of those individuals, John Rogers, who frequently flies to Colorado for work, said he felt misled after he purchased multiple discounted ride vouchers that he could no longer use.
Karen Modafferi has been a long-time Eight Black user and stopped by our office after reading on Nextdoor that her vouchers might no longer be valid. Karen noticed that the service was getting slower in recent rides, but still trusted the company due to many years of largely positive experiences with them. She even scheduled a ride for Tuesday morning and never even had a notification that it was canceled, so she was forced to scramble to the airport in other ways. On other platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and Nextdoor, others shared similar frustration, often saying they were left out of pocket with no explanation.
