National Express Reviews

1.6 Rating 323 Reviews
13 %
of reviewers recommend National Express
1.6
Based on 323 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Own Driver
On-time Delivery
Greater than 26%
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
Read National Express Reviews

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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National Express 1 star review on 24th April 2024
SELMAN AKSUNGER
National Express 1 star review on 23rd May 2023
Anonymous
National Express 1 star review on 23rd May 2023
Anonymous
National Express 1 star review on 9th July 2022
You Bus Smells Like Shit
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
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 6 months 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.
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Posted 1 year 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 1 year 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 1 year 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 ….
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Posted 2 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.
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Posted 2 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.
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Posted 4 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 4 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.
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Posted 4 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 4 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.
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Posted 4 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 4 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 5 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.
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Posted 5 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.
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Posted 5 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 5 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.
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Posted 5 years ago
Seats are so painful for anyone above 6 ft. Lower back pain an hour into my 3 hour journey and after another 30 mins the pain was unbearable. Would've stood up of I didn't have to fight the seat belt every inch of movement .
Helpful Report
Posted 6 years ago
Quite frankly, I am utterly appalled by the service I received yesterday on board the 737 service from High Wycombe to Hatfield and on the return leg from Hatfield to High Wycombe. The fact that there is no clear location to lodge complaints on the website either, just shows how poor National Express is in dealing with complaints. As a customer who has been using the service for the fifth consecutive year, I have totally lost all confidence in this company. Let's start with the outbound journey (High Wycombe Town centre to Hatfield- 07:30-09:40). We got to Luton Airport and were told that the coach had a flat tyre so wouldn't be able to continue the journey to Hatfield with the coach. We were told that alternative arrangements were being made, but that was the only update we received. Instead of being allowed to stay on the bus, we were asked to disembark and wait in the cold for over 30 mins, only to be told that I would be sharing a taxi with two other people. Whilst most other passengers got on the 787 service to continue the journey to Stanstead, I was the only one on my coach who was told that I would have to get a taxi; although would need to drop off two other passengers to two completely different locations, none of which were close by. So whilst waiting for the taxi, we were thrown about from person to person at Luton, as not even the rude staff knew what taxi was taking us to our destinations and when it would be coming....even animals are treated better than we were. Even though I got to my destination, albeit late for an important meeting, I thought this was a one off and allowed myself to excuse the matter as I understand breakdowns can happen. However, I was utterly disgusted as to how I was treated on the return leg of my journey (as if my journey with NE couldn't have got any worse!). On the return leg, (737 Hatfield to High Wycombe Town centre- 12:50-14:45), my journey was nothing short of a nightmare. I arrived at the coach stop outside the Galleria at 12:25, so well in time of the suggested 10 minutes before scheduled time of departure (which is both clearly stated on the ticket and on the company's website). By company policy, the coach is not allowed to leave before the scheduled time of departure, if all passengers booked onto that service are not there....(otherwise someone please explain to me what the point of booking a ticket is?!). So I continued to wait for the coach to arrive at 12:50. Now obviously because I was aware of what happened earlier that day, I was expecting some delays with the coach service. Bear in mind, I had not moved from the coach stop, and neither had the two other passengers waiting for the service. It got to half 1, still standing outside on one of the coldest days of the year so far, and still no sign of the coach. I then decided to ring the National Express customer service line and spoke to a middle aged woman, asking if the service had been cancelled or whether a replacement service was in use. She advised me that (in her own words) 'No we will never cancel a service and instead put out a replacement minibus. The driver is running slightly late but will definitely stop at all the stops published for this route. He will also get out of the minibus and shout for any passengers for the National Express service, so please keep an eye out for that.' So then I waited for this replacement coach service to arrive. An hour and half passed, and still no sign of this replacement service. So i re-rung the helpline, where I spoke to a lady called Sarah. Sarah informed me that after checking the system, the taxi, not minibus, had definitely passed from there and had picked up all passengers. So I was transferred onto the next service. Clearly, what I had been told was a blatant lie, as neither a replacement coach service had turned up and the coach service for 12:50 had been cancelled. If I had been standing there since 12:30, clearly I wouldnt have missed the taxi. Either that or the company did not follow its own policies about leaving only at scheduled times. Why can I say this? Because I was not on my way home until the next coach service at 14:50 ( exactly two hours later). In these two hours, I was told to wait outside, with no information screens about when the replacement minibus/next coach was expected, no sign of a replacement service and clearly the people on the other end of the phone were just covering the companies back. I am utterly disgusted by the service, and will not be using the service again in the future. I have completely lost my trust in the business and will be using other companies who will profit from years of service in the future. I expect a full refund for the disruption that was caused to my journey; I can understand if its just the one journey, as this has happened several times before where we have been stuck in traffic for hours, but when two journeys are severely disrupted in the way they were, this is completely unacceptable. The way I was treated with on the phone was completely undermining and Sarah who put me on the next service sounded like she was doing me a favour; no you were not doing me a favour, instead this is my statutory right as a passenger who has been disrupted for reasons that are not my problem. I have never felt so undermined as a commuter in my life and demand this to be looked into immediately. If this is not resolved, I am most certainly ready to take this up to a higher level.
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Posted 6 years ago
The value for riding the bus is fine the drivers are the issue I had. I had food that I hadn't finished and the driver told me to throw it away before coming onto the bus. I think that's a dumb rule but I get it so I got rid of it and came back. The entire rest of my trip he gave me a hardtime. I needed my charger from my bag and he would not let me touch it because he was suspicious of me. He started insulting me to the other driver that took over for him and started to tamper with my bag cause he thought I still had food in it. Completely unprofessional and undeserved. I don't think I would use this service again unless I truly had to.
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Posted 6 years ago
National Express is rated 1.6 based on 323 reviews