“We had a great experience, communication with the whole team along with the overall journey was perfect, driver had great banter with us too! Highly recommend and great value for money!”
“Very helpful bookings team, kept me updated with my booking and received drive’s number the day before the trip. Great day out, driver was okay, not too chatty but polite and patient with the kids. Highly recommend SMC”
“The booking process was easy, their communication was excellent.
On the morning of the pick up, the coach driver got held up in traffic but she let me know in good time of pick up that she was running 10 minutes late, so I wasn’t stressed. That was so important to keep me informed and I was grateful for that. She was very friendly and helpful.
On pick up from Heathrow, due to the coach being held at the coach park, it was a bit of a wait for the driver to arrive at the Bus Stop, but we were communicating by text so we knew exactly what was happening. Again the coach driver was extremely helpful and friendly.”
“If I could give them 0 stars then I would. Awful customer service. Booked a minibus for sisters hen party and on the day of departure did not turn up. Phoned the number we were given by text and the driver told us that he would not be picking us up and he was just the operator and that we needed to speak to the company direct. When we phoned the company the lady on the phone said that she was aware that nobody was going to pick us up and made a poor excuse why. By this point I had one upset sister who’s hen party was ruined before it had even began. They refunded the money back straight away and I was left to organise other means of transport for 9 of us to Reading from Neath. I would not recommend this company to my worst enemy. I would also not believe the 5 star reviews that are on their website.”
“Excellent service with these guys, the bookings team were so helpful with my requests and had no issues with their customer service - the driver was very friendly and turned up on time, really nice journey my whole family was happy!
Can't recommend this company enough.”
“Great service. Very helpful bookings team. The response was super fast and helped me through the whole process. Driver was very friendly and got us where we needed to be earlier than expected.”
“Disgusting state of affairs. September 2nd 2018 Party of eight left high and dry with no transport to get us from Peterborough to Birmingham. It was a Sunday no way to contact company and the 'driver' who rang me an hour beforehand just wouldn't answer the phone until way past the pick up time to tell me that there would be no journey, he wasn't going to pick us up. No explanation or apology. On the Monday I contacted the company for a full refund as is my legal right only to be told a cock and bull story about the driver being killed on his way to pick us up! (Yeah the guy I spoke to after the pick up time). I had to keep asking for a full refund for 10 days! Finally got it and it was sent from two different banks one in Manchester and one in London in two payments. Dodgy if you ask me. I have reported this company to Trading Standards who I understand will be investigating them. Do not use!”
“Excellent service! We booked for 4 days of travel for our organised trips for delegates to our conference The two drivers: Karl Wimble and Kevin Baker were amazing! Very professional, friendly and helpful.
The coach: very clean and comfortable”
“An awful service.
My experience really wasn't '"a great level of service for the price you pay" as stated on your website.
We made a booking from Southampton Travelodge to Goodwood Racecourse and back.At 11:00 (the time we were due to leave) our coach had not yet arrived. I rang the number of our supposed driver (sent to me via text the day before). When speaking to the driver, he said there had been a mistake and that he was with a different booking, which was already at Goodwood. He gave me the number of someone he thought might be. When speaking to our new driver he didn't even know where we needed to be picked up from. By the time he got to the hotel it was 12:00 (1 hour late).This was a great inconvenience as I was in charge of a group of 40 people.”
“NEVER EVER EVER USE THIS COACH COMPANY.
Horrendous service. Hired 4 coaches for 200 people from London to Norwich. One coach never turned up, another came one hour late. Managers were disrespectful.
On our return with 200 kids in heatwave sun, 3 coaches turned up. 4th never came and they tried to pull off one of the three drivers to do another job.
Disgusting service!!!”
“I recently have used SMC Coach hire services, and unfortunately it did not go well for me.
I came across SMC Coach hire through a friend that have used them before. The first warning my friend gave is that the coach arrived quite late (around 40 min) to take the group. Even though, I heard the advice I decided to go with them as well, thinking that maybe it was just a one off situation.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
My trip was from Bromley to Swindon and I calculated around 2:30 to 3:00 trip. We were supposed to leave at 8:00am and we would have time to arrive in the event in Swindon.
My group was 15min before the departure time in front of a parking space, however when was 8:00am no sign of the coach. I waited another 10min to call the number provided by SMC Coach hire, which when I called, by my surprise I had been informed (politely) that the coach was going to be late 1:00 (AN HOUR) same problem as my friend. The reason, was because the air conditioning was not working, and they needed to provide another coach.
After an hour and so, the coach arrived, parked over the road, which I needed to cross the road with 50 people excited to go to the event.
The coach was terribly hot, and we noticed only one air conditioner working.
We arrived quite late, as our event usually lasts two hours we missed more than half.
When we arrived the driver was not happy because the group left some food on the floor (peanuts and bottle of water) and we didn’t pick up (I didn’t know we were supposed to clear the bus for them), however we were quite late for the event we didn’t have time to do it. So, he decided that we could not take any bottle of water or any food on the way back, and if we were thirsty we could ask him he would stop in a petrol station. The coach was boiling hot, and we stopped on the first station, which I spoke to the driver and CONVINCED him that we would pick the bottles of water later if we were allowed to carry them on the bus.
When we got the destination back in Bromley the driver was inspecting one by one at the bus door, checking if we had picked the bottles of water.
I have spoken to SMC Coach hire advising them about the bad review, and they gave me a reply apologetic, but nothing more than that, which in my opinion, they should have gone an extra mile and give a refund (as I requested), as the whole point of hiring them was to get in my event in time, and this wasn’t achieved.
The points that did frustrated me was the deficiency of reliability, first the bus being late and also if I didn’t call I would not be informed (that’s how I felt), also the lack of customer service by the bus driver.
I hope they really step up and improve the service, because for the moment I would spend more and go somewhere else.”
“Was part of a booking from Bournemouth to Gatwick and back from Stansted to Bournemouth. Transfer out was fine, but the driver didn't show for the return journey and at 1am 10 of us were left stranded 2 1/2 from home with no options other than a £550 taxi fee. Ok mistakes happen I guess, but the company then have the cheek to essentially only refund the one leg they didn't turn up to, leaving us all out of pocket! What message does that send?! At least admit it's a mistake and you'll cover the cost to show that you care about customers and reputation but from reading other reviews it seems this is all too common. Seriously, if you're considering getting a transfer, pay the extra few quid and use a company who are reliable, and more importantly care about their customers”
“Appalling service. Contacted to enquire of how local roadworks which would restrict access to pick up point would be handled and was told. "You'll get the driver's mobile number on the day and you can liaise with him then." Clearly not a coach company but an interface - like booking.com- but useless apart from SEO. Cancelled and booked local”
“very helpful staff. in particular Josh in the back office and the driver Alan. both very well informed employees with good local knowledge. we flew in to edinburgh and SMC Coach Hire had already taken our flight number so it could monitor our arrival time. just excellent attention to detail.
coach was magnificent. roomy and spotless clean. the price was excellent. streets ahead of competitors for value.”
