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William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

United States
16,323 posts
508 helpful votes
William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

I had gotten William's name from the forum so wanted to report back on our experience. William is very responsive to emails and we used his service from Belize City to San Ignacio....then on to Placencia...and then back to water taxi Belize City. I had read where others got other drivers I did request William but he put us with "Teddy Bear" for all the trips. William did introduce himself at the airport but he has a larger vehicle and I assume he takes groups larger than 2 if he has multiple requests. We loved our driver Teddy...very careful driver and he even stopped to shop for some sneakers (which I forgot at home) en route to San Ignacio. Always on time if not early with lots of stories to tell. William uses a few drivers who he has screened carefully as he is in demand. Private transfers in Belize are fairly expensive but when you see how much gas is and the condition of some of the roads and then the driver has to go back to his home you quickly feel it is well worth it. I highly recommend contacting William for your transfer needs. Many drivers were willing to take us for less but in very substandard and in my opinion dangerous vehicles. William's contact is:Email William at Belize Shuttle: belizeshuttle@yahoo.com.

Belize City, Belize
Destination Expert
for Belize, Placencia, Ambergris Caye, Cayo, San Ignacio
9,467 posts
6 helpful votes
21. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

He fraudulently ran credit cards-how is that not criminal?

san ignacio
24 posts
22. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

Dear Gene and to all future travelers and the ones that left but still reading about this ....

When looking and booking with WILLIAM BELIZE SHUTTLE, aka. THE ORIGINAL BELIZE SHUTTLE (without the s) is run by William and he is the one that you will be corresponding with back and forth to work out travel details ....

Nobody else ; no Timothy Sobers or other names are part of this business ...... Confusion is created by the copycat BELIZE SHUTTLES. ( with a s) also wel known in the past and still active , and is the same as BELIZE SHUTTLE AND TRANSFER , SERIOUS AMOUNT OF COMPLAINTS concerning TIMOTHY sobers company in credit card use after YOU THE TRAVELER left the country .....no small change neither.

Similar postings also to be found in CALL CENTER and WEDDING ORGANIZING online .....

So thru TA and other forums we the shuttle providers inside belize wanna warn you about this company and their practices , to make sure that your experience in belize is the best it can be .....

As belize has competition in the world of many other similar countries we just wanna make sure that when you come here that you won't regret it ....and that we in this tourism business get to prove that ...

In that same line we also have to warn you for the kind of business practices that for example , belize shuttle and transfer aka belize shuttles (with a s) are involved in ...

Belize
5 posts
23. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

Hello All,

My name is Malcolm Sobers, Owner of Belize Shuttles which operates the http://www.belizeshuttlesandtransfers.com site.

I have generally stayed quiet for years because of many reasons including intimidation, threats on my life and livelihood by persons who seek to destroy what I work hard for. In my study of Shakespeare years ago, and reading on of my favorites...A Man for All Seasons...I remember "Qui tacet consentit" or Silence Gives Consent.

Today I break my silence, I am no longer afraid, ashamed or can be intimidated by anyone.

I want to address the barrage of libel, slander and inaccurate information that has been circulating over the internet for years and most recently in the last month, especially those being initiated, orchestrated or fueled by a fierce competitor William Hoffman of William's Belize Shuttles and his merry band of thrill seekers.

I must admit, that my company and my name endured major hits on our credibility in 2009-2010 when we had some issues of grave proportions that affected consumers using our service or the business. This was not the workings of myself or ownership but of course we had to take the responsibility to resolve fully, which we did. In doing so it practically cost me my business for years and wiped out almost everything I had. I was swift and vigilant in addressing the issues, communicating with the parties that were affected and restoring their situation as best as I could. As William said, they were scary reviews, I must admit and it broke me, business and family.

My faith and trust in people, business partners and friends backfired and I painfully and slowly learnt how to get better at that.

Now 2015, I begin to get indications that I somehow reentered the business (I never left by the way, I operated at a small level for 4 years while I recovered) and I would be about suggestions of doing the same things to my customers and innocent travelers. Suggesting that I am impersonating a business and benefiting from the name and reviews of another to help with my business. This was further highlighted in a Feb 25th post by Mr. Hoffman.

Let it be known that since early 2009 I operated as BELIZE SHUTTLES and BELIZE SHUTTLES AND TRANSFERS, my websites and domains can prove such origination, so the suggestion that I changed the name or did that for a benefit of some sort is ludicrous. In addition, I have BELIZE SHUTTLES registered locally from 2010, long before Mr. Hoffman legitimized his business. His references to AKA Williams Belize Shuttle should resonated and confirm that it is the name that he used initially to operate. What is more interesting is that he registered my website name, Belize Shuttles and Transfers as his company in 2013, so if anyone has any tricks the record can prove.

Only after my temporary exodus from the business did he begin to use the brand Belize Shuttle to link him.

Customers don't come to me because of his name, they come because we appear at the top of google searches, offer the best prices and the most transport options within Belize and Mexico and respond in a timely and professional manner. In the past 4 months alone we have transported over 1000 travelers that were extremely impressed by our services, vehicle fleet and drivers who helped their stays be even more enjoyable. They would be more than happy to post about their experiences.

I no longer take credit cards, 4 years now, I do not work with hotels and resorts. All my customers come through email and are given a true Belizean introduction.

The attack is on the basis of competition and greed, as many persons have approached me - customers, friends, resorts/hotels, tour guides and drivers with information to suggest that my business is stealing his customers. It has gotten so bad over the last two weeks that persons have said be careful of alleged plans to hurt or kill me, my linkedin page is being trolled daily by my competitor (not sure he knew we can see who visits the pages), resort owners and others are being told scandalous and libelous things about me to deter their customers from working/booking with me. I have an email from a customer of mine that shows this man making horrible statements of me with the intent of creating a bad impression.

If anyone has an issue with me or my business I would be more than happy to meet, discuss and resolve so that we do not become unproductive and unprofessional.

I will continue to operate, I will continue to give customers the true cost of transportation and not overprice and underdeliver, Expect more new vehicles, new websites, better booking experience, 24/7 support, amazing drivers and guides and countless memories of pleasure with us. Nothing will intimidate, scare or move us, the business will survive me so I am no longer afraid, I have insurance and my family will be ok.

So travelers there is always two sides to the story, we indeed had some terrible times a few years back but we have seen the worse of it and we are moving to provide unmatched transportation throughout Belize and Mexico. All that was posted online are either issues that I was not directly involved with but I fixed as well as false allegations without getting accurate information.

Safe Travels

Sincerely

Malcolm Sobers

Owner, Belize Shuttles and Belize Shuttles and transfers

San Ignacio, Belize
4,770 posts
205 helpful votes
24. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

William helped yet another friend with transportation this week. He's the best. It's worth a bump on this thread, especially when people see the reply from the...less than honest.. company that has one of the worst track records around here. At first, I figured I'd just delete his useless diatribe, but it really does say all that needs to be said, and proves the point(but not the one he wanted to). Caveat emptor with the other company. They won't be around much longer.

Thanks, William!

Toronto, Canada
1,968 posts
12 helpful votes
25. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

Just so that nobody gets the idea that William is perfect, here is my post from our trip in December, highlighting that William can be a bit lax in his preparations:

William Shuttle --disappointing, needs to do his homework

We recently used William Shuttle for a trip from Belize Municipal to San Ignacio, with a stop at the Belize Zoo for a couple of hours. Danni, our driver, was fine and everything was great until we left the zoo and we realized that she didn't know how to get to the place we were staying. When I had booked with William, I gave him the name of the place we were going to (and the street it was on, Bullet Tree Road). He never asked for any more information, so I assumed that he (being local to SI) knew where it was. Well, it turned out he didn't and told Danni when he gave her the assignment that he didn't and to find out before picking us up. But she didn't. Bottom line is we spent over 2 hours looking for the place, mostly because she wouldn't listen to the directions that I was giving her about where it was near (from the website description). It didn't help that the Tripadvisor map for the place was wrong (but not as wrong as where she kept trying to take us!) but all it would have taken was for William to tell me when I booked that he didn't know where it was. I know I should have gotten better directions from the owner, but I assumed that a local driver would know. Bottom line, never assume, I guess.

26. Re: William Hoffman's Belize Shuttle Company...A recommendation.

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