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

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Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 2 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Our journey home was the worse experience at Victoria. As pensioners we waited 1 1/2 hour for our coach. For such a major hub I can only describe it as a cattle station where the staff are arrogant and unhelpful. The place was dirty . The toilets were closed for a long period. They said for cleaning. We’ve traveled with National express over the years and it has deteriorated enormously. The journeys from airport to airport are fine and the drivers are great but we never want to go to Victoria ever again.. We live near Stansted and it would be so good to get a coach straight to the airport. There are so many stops in London as well. Guess it’s a money making deal .”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 week ago

“Please don't travel in national express bus, The Cheat customer and every thing is bad. I went from London to Manchester I reserve the set and I pay for that online but on that set already an Other customer was set and as will the bus I inside was dirty.”

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Posted 9 months ago

“Bus was late, to which I had to order a taxi, to catch my next flight. Even though yes, traffic buildup can be something, that is out of control of the operator, but the attitude of the customer service is something that they actually can influence.”

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Posted 10 months ago

“We booked a family ticket from London Victoria to Norwich on the 23/10/23 (until 27/10/23) at 1200. It was one of the most uncomfortable horrendous journeys that I have ever experienced. It took 5 hours to get to Norwich, yet the driver did not stop once for a break so that customers could stretch their legs or even buy a drink! The seats were so uncomfortable I suffered backache for days afterwards. Even though we bought return tickets we ended up booking train tickets with Greater Anglia Rail Service to return to London as we just couldn’t face the prospect of travelling back to London on a National Express coach! We had a completely different experience travelling back by train with Greater Anglia Railways the seats were much more comfortable, clean toilets on board and snacks available to purchase! I can safely say that I will never travel with National Express again!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“Had issues purchasing a Young Persons coach card for my daughter. Online system failed several times before it went though but the. I found the type of card had defaulted to ‘senior coach card’. Redid the purchase and called customer services. I explained and was advised that the incorrect one would be cancelled. Checked next day to find if been charged for both. Then both cards arrived with my daughter so obviously had not been cancelled. Rang again 2 weeks later in case the refund was taking a while, but no it had not been refunded. CS advisor was pretty curt to the point of being rude, asking for the same information over and over. Will now wait to see if the refund arrives. Not a great experience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 2 years ago

“My plans have changed. I purchased a flex ticket from heathrow to southampton for Sept 5th 2022 and now I have to get to Gatwick instead however despite the tickets being cancellable and refundable there is no way to do this online. Since I am in the US I cant simply call them so I am using facebook to talk to them, sort of, since they ony reply in the middle of the night when I am asleep. They said I should buy a new ticket and they will refund the original but I think we all know they are not going to refund anything ...”

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Posted 2 years ago

“I will not use national express again its a waste of time but the price is okay, they make you stand with the coach in golders green for 10 minutes unnecessary when we have go to home.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“It’s good customer service and everything , but this wi-if guys is from 2001 come on to open a page in google is 15-20 min and is no people in the bus we are few it’s a joke. Really at least you said you don’t have WiFi as this is ….”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Bad Choice during Covid times For us as family the bus to Stansted turned out to be more expansive than the train a they don't offer free flexibility in case of delayed flights. Trains also make social distancing easier + have no traffic issues. I think this prices them out of the market. Maybe considering customer needs more would bring better business.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“when i booked my ticket, i asked if there was wi-fi, the person said yes. when onboard it was advertising top of my seat wifi on board, had a usb plug in front of me, but NO WIFI.I went to see the driver and asked him if the wifi was on, he said there is no WIFI. When i came back, on the same day, the coach had wifi but no usb plug. So why advertising wifi when there is not?? even the website facilities say that there is wifi, so why lying?? bad customer service about his, very bad.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Consistently delayed lately and even when pickup is on time you arrive at your location later than the expected time making it difficult to make plans.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I'd like to share my experience with National Express from start to finish. I bought a ticket for me and my boyfriend to travel from London to Redruth. We put both our suitcases in the hold underneath the coach like we were told to, only to discover the driver had removed one of our suitcases off of the coach at Newquay and left it stranded by the side of the road. This meant that he had no clothes for the entire weekend, so obviously we had to buy some new clothes. We spent just £117 on this. We called National Express immediately. If I had been reimbursed promptly and compensated promptly, I’d be really happy. However, it took about 3 weeks to get reimbursed for the clothes, and about 12 phone calls repeating ourselves, and being ignored, and passed from person to person. It became our responsibility to remember complaint numbers and people’s names and ticket numbers. We were questioned about times of phone calls and who we spoke to. This should have never have been our job. This is boring and stressful. Who has time for this? What a headache. It took so much time and agro to get this resolved, I would rather have spent extra money and travelled by plane. BEST OPTION. Unfortunately, National Express are disorganised, and we suffered the consequences of this. There is no ticketing system attributed to luggage retrieval. And heaven forbid something goes wrong! Lot’s of people would’ve probably given up and accepted the loss to be honest. Obviously we spoke to some very helpful and kind members of staff such as Sanjay, who was great, Sue and finally NEIL (who resolved this in about 5 minutes) (THUMBS UP!). However, the overall experience was just difficult. We are grateful to finally be reimbursed. Hopefully this feedback helps.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Rarely on time. Some coach drivers are so rude and drive dangerously fast. WiFi never works. Only good thing is the cheap fares but you have to book early.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Constantly late from 10-60mins you will be lucky if its on time. They advertise wifi but its so bad its nasically unusable they also advertise sockets to charge appliances but they almost never work. Due to uk laws they have no obligation to refund being extremely late. Thank god for laws like that! Oh but dont worry the "sorry for being late" was enough.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“The coach was freezing cold, on a warm day. Several people complained but the driver did not care. On my trip today both drivers seemed entitled and uncaring.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Regular customer as thats the only transport I can get to the airport for my 6am flights. Horrible service from Golders Green station to Stansted, the coach never arrives to Golders Green on time, always 20-30 minutes late, leaving people anxiously waiting in the middle of the night and in the cold. Very rarely the driver will provide assistance with the bags. Last time it was particularly bad, the coach as usually arrived 30 mins late and the driver didn't even bother to step outside the bus, people were pushing each other trying to put their bags into luggage compartment, there were massive crowd around the bus with no space to move properly. Very bad experience”

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Posted 6 years ago

“Bought my ticket well in advance. Spoke to the driver in my departure, explained my flight would now be earlier for my return. No problem he said just change your ticket when your returning. So I did that. But for that I had to pay over £21. Original return was only £25. £5 to change and over £16 for excess. That is totally unjustified especially as there is plenty of room on this coach. Misleading information and Help desk not interested.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“The lady who worked at the National express service from Luton to Paddington on 27th December 2018,at 8.25 WAS VERY RUDE AND UNFRIENDLY..YOUNG GIRL...if she don't like her job why is working there? Very UNFRIENDLY staff.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“All in all good service...but tricky departure times... Stansted Airport (Nov, 10): The coach was delayed from 16.30 to 17.00. At 16.54 they announced departure and left suddenly at 16.56 and not 17.00. We were in the waiting room and didn’t have enough time to get there. Had to pay extra for the next one at 18.30 Northampton: We had to wait for the coach for more than one hour in winter time. No mail from them, no sms, no coach tracking in the app. Milton Keynes: The change coach was delayed indefinitely and we missed it because the departure announcement wasn’t clear.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“On 24th July 2018 I have purchased a Senior Card online and wanted to purchase return tickets Preston (Lancashire) to St Austell, departing on 10th August 2018 and return on 12th August 2018. Booking online was easy and straightforward, unfortunately Senior Coachcard wasn't accepted during the booking. Contacted National Express on 24th July (15 minutes call duration) and have been advised to wait 24 hours for card to be activated. Fair enough the T&C includes following line "Your Coachcard is only valid for use for travel from the next calendar day after purchase". Attempted online purchase on 25th July, same issue Senior Coachcard not recognised. Contacted customers service (18 minutes call duration), have been explained there is an issue with the system and therefore card cannot be recognised, promised call back next day, 26th July 2018, to take the payment over the phone. No phone calls from National Express received on 26th July 2018 and after 7.00pm decided to call customer services. Third call took 50 minutes. I have been told that I have purchased Senior Coachcard incorrectly and have to return the card. Have explained that I only purchased Senior Coachcard online on 24th July 2018 and haven't received it yet. Have been offered to pay over the phone with charge of £2.50 for each ticket, which I kindly refused justifying that the issue with Senior Coachcard is on National Express side and I could easy purchase tickets online if the coachcard discount recognised. Have been put few times on hold, travellers details have been taken at least 3 times along with full address. Finally the tickets have been book and paid, E-Ticket has been delivered to my email address. On the following day Senior Coachcard arrived with post, card valid from and valid to dates being incorrect, valid from 05/12/1942 - valid to 05/12/1943. To summarise the experience, booking tickets online on National Express website end up with total of 1 hour 23 minutes on the phone with National Express to complete the purchase.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

National Express is rated 1.6 based on 350 reviews