National Express Reviews

Name: National Express
Address: National Express House, Birmingham Coach Station, Mill Lane, Digbeth, Birmingham
Rating: 1.60

1.6 Rating 350 Reviews

13 %

of reviewers recommend National Express

1.6

Based on 350 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
On-time Delivery	Greater than 15%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.7 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

About National Express:

National Express coach & bus tickets for travel to over 900 destinations throughout the UK including London airports Heathrow, Gatwick & Stansted. National Express offer Britain’s only scheduled coach network reaching around 1000 destinations in England, Scotland and Wales.

Phone:

08717 818178

Location:

National Express House, Birmingham Coach Station, Mill Lane, Digbeth
Birmingham
B5 6DD7

Write Your review

Tell us how National Express made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“I have advance booked from New Zealand, months ahead of the travel date in September. I find they have charged my credit card twice and for 4 passengers not 3. They tell me they have not charged twice and they cant change the ticket to three! My bank clearly shows the payment and the ticket states 4 people. I now don't trust them, nearly 150 pounds to travel from Stanstead to Heathrow, what a rip off. We have international flights to catch and I am now worried the coach service wont run on time, given all the other comments on here. This company is behaving in an appalling manner and have effectively stolen from me. Disgraceful advertisement fro travel in the UK.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Worst company in the world. They stole my money. Horrible service, terrible employees. I want back the money you stole from me. Pay attention to your credit cards, they will steal from you, and they will charge you more than once! Do not buy tickets from this company they are a fraud! They don't answer messages, I'll comment everything I can. Do not buy anything from this company! They charged me twice on my card for incompetence, they said it was a system error and they would get my money back. I ran out of money on my trip they charged me everything I had. I want my money back!”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Extremely disappointed with National Express. I have been a regular commuter with them fur over 12 years now and I have to sadly admit I saw their reliability, timetable, customer service and support going from great to bad snd now to worse! The new idea of combining coaches routes ( 3 in my case) to get more money but less options for customers is appalling. Results are lateness all the time, no space for customers luggage, twice in a row stuck half way thhrough the already long journey to work because the driver either had enough and left us stranded aying he was then sick and hid behind his coach and problems with spaces for luggage! Please listen to your loyal customers and bring back original coaches routes and timetables. The customer support is shocking and non existent as most of offices are shut now. Never thought I'd say that after many years of being a happy commuter with NX but I will soon start looking at other ways to commute if this doesn't improve.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“Always late,no refund, no warm drinks or food given as an apology. Disrespectful juvenile staff....cheap isn't cheerful...its nasty....avoid”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“A long journey 6hrs plus and no stops for stretch of legs, get food or drink and to use Toilet!!! Not customer friendly as certain people need a toilet breat, I have health issues and need a loo!! I have been warned in past to Not use bus loo!! Only if brave!! But Your coaches have always stopped before in past!! It’s criminal. Elderly, men with prostate probs, arthritis, we need to stretch our limbs, eat, it’s very customer unfriendly and if I go too long without loo I’m ill I am on medication. No way will women or indeed some men use your coach loo, the rocking of the bus will cause accidents, soiled seats and floor!! It is a health hazard on its own! You should make this clear when people book and so are warned to bring food/drink and expect to end up having an accident!! I have a long onward journey after bus!! It’s unfair!! It’s inhumane!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Ok first of all, today March 19 22, the bus was meant to show up at Mile End at 11:57. Never showed. Waited for 40minutes afterwards. Ticket bought online so basically went down the drain as I had to find an alternative route. Second, two weeks ago same situation in Stratford. Bus is extremely late, national express personnel have no clue when it's coming. Said the app wasn't responding so they couldn't track the bus. Had to buy another ticket for a different service. The outcome of that was MISSING THE FLIGHT. Why are you even operating?”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“National express is completely unreliable, travelling to Stansted Airport from any part of London with them has become just IMPOSSIBLE. Their coaches either don't show on time or they don't show up at all. Hundreds of passengers are missing their flights because of National Express disservice, many of those who making to the airport on time have no other choice but just change their route, catch a train or a taxi. National express management should inform their customers if they are still present in the market or not. If their business is not profitable anymore they should just file bankruptcy and move on. And they should stop waste public money for such an appalling service”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Concerned about Walsall bus 41, not sure if it's ending, never keep time, sometimes they never turn up, Not turning up or late is being treated as normal. No apologies or announcements, sometimes drivers are rude and just shut door in your face. You report this to their supervisors, they'lltell you there'snothing they can do. It'sashame. I'm just a concerned customer, thank you.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“So much mess & chaos. Booked ticket for 4:47am from Golders Green online just to be told that the bus was fully booked & I cannot get on. It was not just me, 30 people at GG station faced the same situation. The most unreliable service!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“They need to sort out their luggage criteria you can have 2 medium suitcases each weighing 20kg so allowed 40kg but say with a large suitcase you can only have 20kg because it takes up more space but shows they're invalids cause 2 medium suitcases take up the same space as a large but then also has 20kg more weight more then a large. Will advise no one to use this service they're not understanding or are they any good”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Used National Express coaches for the first time to make an 8 hour journey to visit my Daughter. Brilliant service, fantastic drivers and a safe and easy trip, thankyou.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“First of all it was very hard to find where the bus stopped. When the bus came, the driver and he asked me why the ticket was for the last bus, to which I replied that I missed the previous bus which departed the day before at 10pm, but this is a flexible ticket. He said it is not a flexible ticket and that normally, even so, you have to call national express first in order to take a different bus. I apologized and said that I was not aware of that, and that this is definitely a flexible ticket because I paid extra for it. With a very aggressive rude tone he kept saying it’s not, thinking I was lying, and then finally found where it said “flexible,” and I said “come on man” in response out of fear and frustration. He then said in front of everyone that “this girl needs to watch her mouth” and that he can decide if I get on the bus or not, and that he may not take me and everyone else will go on first. He made me stand to the side, I was with my friend as well who’s ticket was fine, and he let everyone go on in front of me. There were very few people riding the bus. He even told my friend she could get on now, who was standing right next to me. She said, no, she won’t get on the bus without me. After that he let me go on. After I got on, he let a group of teenagers on the bus, who said very loudly that he didn’t even check their tickets and some of them got on for free. They also were shouting on the bus for the entirety of their ride. I am not exaggerating, I really mean shouting. The driver did not say anything to stop this. I was infuriated that the driver threatened to not let me on the bus. It was 3am and I had no other way of getting home and no where to stay in Brighton. There were maybe 10 people on the bus in total, but he still threatened to not take me on. I was very scared as I did not know if I would be stranded alone in Brighton. I'm a young woman and it was 3am, during a storm. Throughout the bus ride I was scared to even speak to the driver to ask a question about the destination or ask the teenagers to be quiet in fear he would kick me off. This was a very unpleasant and scary experience and I will not ever be using National Express services again. This is not the first time I have experienced a rude driver with these services.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Completely unorganised with rude staff. I bought my ticket a month in advance so well ahead of the trip. I was waiting in a long line to board the coach just like they recommend but when I got to the front of the line they said they coach was fully booked. When I already had a ticket for the coach at 9pm. I was waiting before the coach was meant to leave and they had the nerve to give my seat to someone else. I had to wait another half an hour for a coach and got home a lot later than I was planning to. National express as a disgrace and I will be ringing them everyday until I get my money back for this disgusting service.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I tried the "live chat facility but no on responded (robots on strike?) I then sent emails but got no reply to those. FinallyI phoned the call centre. The problem was that the website showed that the service from my home town to Heathrow airport was no longer running (it used to stop at the airport en-route to London). The operator could not tell me if the service had ceased or whether it was just an error on the website, she could not tell me if or when it might be resolved. Nevertheless she did offer to sell me a ticket to Heathrow, even though she had no idea if the service was running. Unbelievable.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Very disappointed with the response I received. We are in the middle of a global pandemic & there doesn't appear to be any room for human compassion. As a family of 3 we were due to travel to the UK from Australia on 29/12/21 and booked the bus from Heathrow to Plymouth for 30/12/21 and returning 2 weeks later. We were due to visit my mother-in-law who's 101 years old. As we were unwell prior to flying & all had to get covid tests (one member of our household has since tested positive)we had to cancel the flights which in itself was stressful and National Express would not issue a refund or even a credit which was all I asked for because the ticket was non-refundable. Where does common sense prevail under such special circumstances that the world is currently going through? For a fee they offered to change the ticket but that didn't fit in with our plans as we would have to pick a date out of thin air & only within a 3 month time frame! Unfortunately they are the only company which operate from Heathrow otherwise I would not be using them in the future- maybe I'll make the treck to Victoria Coach station & catch a much cheaper & better organised Megabus service. I would highly recommend that option!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I have booked a ticket from you to travel from sheffield greenhill to London Victoria. I was standing in the stop pointed out by NE app and the email i received from you but turned out that was on the opposite side of the road. When i looked at live map then i went to the stop on the otherside of the road. I was standing on exact same point as it was showing on the live map. Bus didnt stop even though i raised hand. Fortunately i had a car which drove me to bus station and we followed bus to next stop. I told driver that i was standing on the exact point as it showed on the map. He was very rude to me and my 77 years old disabled mother who was travelling with me and he said you are wrong and i am right and if i say anything else he will leave me here. This is worse experience i have had with a very rude driver. I didnt argue with him and i told him polietly that i was standing on the right place. He was talking to us in very loud voice and was rude. If there is no action taken against this i will take this further to Bus Users UK . Its national express fault if they are sending passengers to wrong stops . Your greenhill sheffield stop on the way yo london is wrong on the map. And after bus doesnt stop when we go to next stop drivers argues rudely that passengers are wrong and he is correct.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Called up and thought it went well until I was a little unsure what he said - so I tried to clarify a few times. Ended up being yelled in the ear - he was asking for the 'name' for the ticket. I mean, I get it you may be frustrated about how I can't understand you, I'm not from the UK so it's hard for me to understand his accent. To be honest, my ear still hurts now.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Fuckinf awful.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“I want to make an official complaint not only about the staff but a horrible experience I have had yesterday evening with National Express.. I travelled home from Moscow for my father's funeral. I bought a ticket and paid an extra 5 pounds in case I missed the bus at 6:55pm. The plane was held up on the runway and I missed it I was not able to change the ticket as you no longer have an office in T5 Heathrow/office was closed. I went outside and saw 2 coach/bus 'helpers'! They were not helpers - they were helpless I'm sorry to say. They told me they could not help and to go and use the phone inside near the kiosk. There was no phone so I used my own phone. I then found out the NE office/phoneline was now closed. I got the help of the airport helpdesk who came outside to speak to the Nat Express 'helpers' who I had previously spoken to. They were rude and surly and said they could do nothing. The male 'helper' stormed off muttering something under his breath. I then tried to change my ticket on your website. I could not amend it and tried to book another ticket but the next bus was the next morning. What happened to the 9:00pm bus??? I have had to pay 179 pounds to stay in a hotel. It was either that or sleep on the road. Well done National Express! What a lovely welcome. Imagine if I was a traveller who had no knowledge of the airport and did not speak the language. I have had more help travelling in third world countries.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“No refund or credit note if you get covid. National company should be doing better. And complaint phone line cost 13p per minute but don't expect an answer less than 6 minutes...I gave up”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

National Express is rated 1.6 based on 350 reviews