The Bus Club London Review

Overall Rating

Booked a Routemaster bus in May for my wedding in August - took deposit immediately over the phone and I sent the balance plus extra payment for wedding ribbons on the bus and a keepsake sign in June, but never received no confirmation of receipt either by post or email.
The week before I started emailing to confirm timings, route and parking, even tried to call but heard nothing until 2 days before the event. The booking agent said they were short staffed and people on holiday - nice!
On the day the bus arrived 40 minutes late to the pick up point, went off in the wrong direction, got lost 2 times en route and asked for directions, and appeared to be speeding at times.
The guests on the bus arrived to see us get married - my father could not walk me up the aisle


Wrote immediately to complain by email and posted the letter.
The booking agent passed the letter to a manager who took 10 days to respond.
He said they should have been at the pick up point an hour before departure but got held up in traffic. The bus has GPS tracking system but not sat nav - so why did the booking agent make a point of asking for postcodes of locations when the driver was not using a system?
I feel the driver should have called the office to call the contact person in the party to advise of the delay well ahead and the guests could have decided to take their own transport and park in town - less than 10 minutes away and still been at the wedding venue with time to spare.
The Bus Club offered me no refund as the journey was completed, and a 25% discount on the next booking depending on availability!
Company changed driver on the morning, apparently didn't use any of my directions or maps - which a sightseeing double decker bus uses every day.
Apologised for the inconvenience but nothing else -
It was a wedding which I had to book up a year in advance for the historic date and The Bus Club ruined my day.
Family and friends were gutted that my flawless planning was ruined, mostly because guests had come from all over Europe and the Singapore.
I would not recommend them ever for any event - and will take this matter further.
It's taken me over 2 months to get over the comments and the upset caused to my family. I hope you trust my review and take heed not to have a similar experience.

Members' Comments onhula5531's Review

• indigomjd on 3rd Nov 2008

  I found this review helpful because it confirms the fact that I felt that the Bus Club were practically reading from a script when I complained to them about similar problems. It seems they are used to not turning up for weddings and ruining what is supposed to be an amazing day.

• Covgurl86 on 5th Mar 2009

  I disagree with this review!!

• hula5531 on 23rd Mar 2009

  Covgurl86 celebrating a birthday in Birmingham vs 2 weddings in the London area are totally different jobs.
  Planning your wedding which takes a huge amount of time and money to gather guests from several other countries and booking a venue a year in advance,so it''s distressing to find half your guests missing on the day because a bus that was booked 4 months before couldn't arrive on time and be prepared for the route.
  The Bus Club routemaster should have been at the pick up point one hour in advance and without telling the usher acting as the contact point the truth they would be seriously late.
  5 minutes turned out to be 35 minutes with a driver who had no idea of the route.
  The court ruled last week that the Bus Club did not adhere to their own Terms & Conditions, there was nothing in writing to confirm services to be provided therefore there was no contract but they still took the money!
  Readers take note, when you have insurance that there is documentation to back up ;)

• hula5531 on 23rd Apr 2009

  County Court adjudged in my favour - to get half my money and court fees back.
  No surpirses it was late payment.
  This company has no idea about wedding parties - so if you're looking go to someone that delivers an on time and courteous service.