I recently had an appalling experience with SMC coach hire on June 29th, 2024. On organising a means of transportation to Bournemouth beach from Southampton, SMC’s customer service: at the time of enquiry, change of itinerary to final payment seemed straightforward Disappointingly, our group, CUBES4FUN, consisting of 130 African passengers, including men, women, young children, and babies, was left stranded in Bournemouth due to the company's shocking service. Firstly, we were provided with the wrong coaches for our trip to Bournemouth beach. Rather than two coaches with large capacity for luggage for 130 passengers, a double decker bus turned up, with little space to hold luggage. Despite this major error, we expected SMC coach hire to be reasonable and that our return journey will be managed properly. However, SMC coach hire refused to come back to take us back to Southampton. Their refusal left us frantically searching for alternative means of transport. Rather than owning up to their failings, SMC coach hire claimed health and safety concerns, a reason that was not communicated to us until we had already been transported to Bournemouth. SMC coach hire offered a refund for the return journey, but this wasn’t the solution we needed and was simply not good enough. The SMC coach hire representative that I spoke to refused to pass my problems to a manager and at a point even hung up on me. SMC coach hire’s decision to abandon over 37 African families at Bournemouth beach without a positive resolution was inhumane and utterly unacceptable. The stress and inconvenience caused to everyone, especially the young children and elderly passengers, were immense. I strongly urge others to reconsider using SMC coach hire, as their actions during this incident were unprofessional and deeply disappointing.