New Jersey

Transportation - US Coachways Review - DO NOT USE

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but I just really feel compelled to do something to warn brides before they end up in a bad situation.

My husband and I had a lot of wedding guests that were driving in from fairly far away.  We arranged for a block of hotel rooms close to the reception, and decided to get a large bus to transport folks so I didn't have to worry about anyone drinking and driving.

We called US Coachways (a national chain.  Must be good, right?).  The representative took our info and said we'd have a contract via email in 48 hours.  Days turned into TWO WEEKS.  She claimed there was some confusion with our reservation... somehow they thought we wanted two busses.  Ok, fine.  We signed the contract, provided our credit card, and were charged the full amount the very next day.  But the experience didn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. 

I decided to look for reviews.  (Something my husband apparently didn't do before calling to book.)  The reviews were abysmal.  I started calling other bus companies to see if I could find someone available at the last minute.... even if it meant paying a cancellation fee with US Coachways.

The first company I called didn't have any availability.  He felt badly since it was for a wedding.  I thanked him and said I had a bus already, but saw reviews that left me a little less than confident so I was looking for other options.  He said, "Can I guess who?"  I said, "Sure."  He said, "US Coachways?"  I couldn't believe he guessed right away.  He then proceded to beg me not to work with US Coachways.  He said his company gets multiple calls a week from people who have been left stranded by US Coachways because the company calls to cancel on them with only a few hours notice.  This man had nothing to gain by telling me this since he couldn't provide me with a bus himself, so I took him at his word.

Luckily we booked with another company and had no problems whatsoever.  We called US Coachways to cancel and followed it up with an email and a fax per their contract.  It took them nearly 6 weeks to credit us back (and we incurred a finance charge on our credit card in that time).

I've since seen multiple complaints about them on multiple sites.  Every last one of the "recommendations" on their own Facebook page are nothing but complaints.  A recent one is a man who said that the company cancelled their bus 6 hours before their wedding.  I truly feel like my husband and I dodged a bullet. 

You only get to do your big day once.  I would hate for another bride to try to work with this company only to be left without any transportation for her guests just hours before the ceremony.

Re: Transportation - US Coachways Review - DO NOT USE

  • I''m sure we all appreciate the heads up, but to be fair to them, they didn't do anything harmful to you. You just read reviews and got an opinion from another company and are canceling based on what you read.

    Your advice to do research before booking any vendor is very helpful, but it's difficult to have an opinion on a specific service if you did not actually use that service yourself. 
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  • I did work with them in that it took two weeks, not two days, to get a simple contract sent to us.  We called them repeatedly and got either no response or nonsense.  During one phone call, the rep we had been speaking to this entire time tried to remind me that the weekends don't count in their 48 hour contract turn around.  I had to remind HER that TWO weekends had gone by and we still had no contract. 

    And after cancelling, we went through the same thing.  Call after call to get our money back for a service we didn't even use.  Six weeks for a refund is outrageous.  They claimed their finance department was backed up.  Funny how it wasn't too backed up to charge our card within 24 hours of getting our information.  But the refund, not so much.

    I'd also love to complain about their refund policy.  $100 just for the paperwork, plus 30% because we cancelled within a certain time frame of the event.  They had the reservation on their books for all of 2 days before we cancelled and we ended up eating $400 in just fees.  But, I'll admit, it was in the contract, so that's our fault.  But it still smacks of bad business.

    I attempted to even contact the CEO both through phone and email.  I have heard nothing back regarding my complaints about their service.  Did I expect the CEO himself to call me?  No.  But I hoped he would pass the message to someone else who would follow up with me. 

    So, based on the experiences I DID have with them (albeit limited), they're a terrible company. 
  • Did the hotel you blocked the rooms at not offer a shuttle service?  Most hotels will offer this.
  • SERIOUSLY DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! THEY TRIED TO RUIN MY WEDDING DAY!

    My wedding was in early October 2012. It went off without a hitch, except for the buses. They were HORRIBLE to deal with from the day we signed them. Of course they were nice and less expensive than the others before they had our creidt card info. DO YOUR RESEARCH! I wish I'd read more reviews before I got suckered by them!

    Once we had paid a deposit, we could not get any calls or emails returned for weeks. They charged us the wrong amount to begin with. They were incredibly unhelpful all around. It was like pulling teeth to get the schedule arranged for the three buses we hired and paid for.

    Then the wedding day came and it was immidiately off to a bad start. One of the buses was supposed to pick me (THE BRIDE) and the bridesmaids up from the hotel at 10am to take us to the venue which was 30 minutes away. The bus was 45 minutes late. The driver was nice but didn't have a copy of the schedule. He didn't know he was supposed to pick the Groom & Groomsmen up at the hotel later that afternoon and bring them out to the venue. He wasn't going to do it. I had to beg him - otherwise the guys would have been stranded. 

    The two bigger buses for our guests arrived at the hotels to pick up, and one of them was supposed to be handicapp accessible. My Grandmother is wheelchair bound and a few other elderly guests needed assistance. The bus arrived and the lift was broken. All they did was put an unstable step on the ground to help them in the bus. Some of the older folks had to be picked up and put into the bus, which was uncomfortable and embarrasing for them! We were confirmed to have a handicap bus! 

    The buses were supposed to start taking guests back to the the hotels in rounds until 11:30. We were about to load the last bus and he was going to leave. We were running about 10 minutes behind scheulde and he was going to leave 100 of our guests at a farm 30 minutes outside of town. We reminded him that the first bus of the day was 45 minutes late, so he could spare us the 10 minutes! He told us that was not his problem. He was going to leave unless my mother gave him $50. She did, which we call extortion! There was no other way to get all of our guests back to town!

    Since the wedding we have been trying to get some acknowldegment from US Coahways and some reparations for all of the BS they put us through! Once we finally, over two months later, got in touch with someone, they offered to give us a $60 refund! This is unacceptable and they haven't heard the last from us. 

    Brides please beware! My wedding day was great and I didn't let them get to me, but this company could care less about you and your guests. If you need transportation, TRUST ME, spend the extra few bucks and hire a reputable company! 
  • This company appears to leave people stranded all over the place. There are multiple newspaper articles about student groups having a year's worth of work and effort ruined by US Coachways. They are unreliable and take no responsibility for their screwups. Edward Telmany's word appears to be pretty worthless. Research them and you will be astounded. Stranded and US Coachways go together. If you've been screwed by them, post your experience so others don't hav to go through the same thing.
  • This company appears to leave people stranded all over the place. There are multiple newspaper articles about student groups having a year's worth of work and effort ruined by US Coachways. They are unreliable and take no responsibility for their screwups. Edward Telmany's word appears to be pretty worthless. Research them and you will be astounded. Stranded and US Coachways go together. If you've been screwed by them, post your experience so others don't hav to go through the same thing.
    SO you signed up 10 minutes ago to resurrect a year old thread to bash a company you never used? Sounds suspicious to me.
     
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