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Routemaster Bus Company Reviews

2.4 Rating 16 Reviews
38 %
of reviewers recommend Routemaster Bus Company
Read Routemaster Bus Company Reviews

About Routemaster Bus Company:

There are a few images which conjure up an internationally recognisable symbol of Englishness as the national icon that is “The Famous Red Routemaster”.

We are proud to have had the privilege of working with one of London’s most recognisable sights “The Routemaster” for over two decades.

We take pride in our vehicles and have recently re-upholstered our fleet with the traditional strawberry crush moquette material which has been used since the 1950’s.

Our pristine fleet has also had its exterior re-sprayed in the traditional “Routemaster red”, as recent as October 2014.

Our large fleet is extremely important to us as indeed your custom from original inquiry, to the arrival of our classic vehicles at your all important event, our expert team will be with you every step of the way.

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Phone:

0203 811 5674

Location:

71-75 Shelton Street
London
WC2H 9JQ

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Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Like the other reviewers I wish that I'd read the comments before I booked this company to take my daughter's wedding guests from the ceremony location to the reception. I should feel highly delighted that the dirty old bus, WITHOUT any of the wedding ribbons I'd paid for adorning the bus, did in fact turn up and transport the guests. The driver looked unkempt and was dressed ready to go to the allotment - not to drive guests to a wedding reception. The bus was dirty with broken windows. I had a bad feeling when I initially booked the bus as I was constantly being hassled to pay the balance a couple of months before the due date. During the wedding reception I had 3 phone calls from the bus company asking where the bus was as they couldn't find the driver or the bus as they needed him to go to another booking! I contacted the company to ask for the refund of the wedding ribbons and compensation for the disgraceful service received. As you will all know the customer service was dreadful. I was fobbed off for weeks until all communication ceased from them. They obviously knew that they were about to cease trading. I have now received an email from 'Darren' saying that its the fault of HMRC as they have been closed down and he may be able to pay back his debts at the end of January 2018. I'll believe this when I see it. I don't know how companies can operate like this, let down people on the most important days of their lives and still sleep at night. Even if they do start to trade again, DO NOT USE THEM!
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Posted 7 years ago
It's a shame you have to give this company one star to make a complaint. It doesn't deserve a rating at all. Like most of the reviews on here, I have lost my money after the company ceased operating. If you have lost out too please contact me at jfbmckellar@hotmail.com May be we could all come together and apply some pressure
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Posted 7 years ago
""Booked this crowd for my daughters wedding. After reading subsequent bad reviews I called the Ops director on Aug 13th who assured me all OK and urged me to pay the remainder of the balance (I had in fact already paid it.) Subsequently found out that when I phoned they already knew they had to pay an HMRC bill or be wound up. They voluntarily ceased trading 4 days later. Am now owed £900 by them. They will probably start up again under a different name, so suggest before booking with another company you very carefully check out ther credentials-amongst very fair vintage bus co. hirers (we subsequently luckily found one for the wedding) there are several cowboys-this company being one of them.
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Posted 7 years ago
We had a large group of people (about 70) hire this bus in advance to take us to an event in Henley. The monies were paid upfront and it was organised well in advance. The bus driver picked everyone up in the morning and was happy to make stops on the way but on one of the stops the driver was behaving inappropriatly; exposing himself to an entire group of young ladies and men. This behaviour is disgusting and indecent. In the evening, everyone arranged to meet the bus again however the bus didn't show. As far as I am aware, there was no communication to our group that the bus had broken down all day/night so we were left in the dark. Henley is a very small town over an hour away from London and there were no trains available, resulting in 70 people being stranded in the middle of the night. The bus company made poor efforts and eventually stopped answering our phone calls to make alternative arrangements to get everyone back to London. We found their professionalism totally unacceptable and appalling and they've made no effort in contacting us to resolve the matter. We have not received any sort of compensation for the evening; most people caught taxis back to London costing over £160. This is by far the worst customer service experience I've ever had and I would warn others to not book with this company at all.
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Posted 7 years ago
There were 70 of us that hired this company to take us from London to Henley on the 1st of July 2017. The bus company were late to pick us up. The driver was disorderly, underprepared and inappropriate on the way there. But the worst part of our entire ordeal is that the company stranded us in Henley at midnight with no way of getting home to London. The bus supposedly 'broke down' and we tried ti contact them on the night to arrange alternative transport home, but they turned their phones off and ignored us. Each one of the 70 people that had paid upfront for a return journey to Henley instead had to get taxis back to London which were not cheap - it's an hour and a half journey. Since then the company has not responded to any of our complaints about getting a refund of the money we paid them upfront - considering the service was appalling and we only received half of the services that were contracted. I must stress to anyone thinking of hiring this company. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. They are arrogant, unfair, dismissive, unprofessional people and the company is an utter sham. We still have not received a refund or proper response from the company, over 2 months on. Once again: DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY.
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Posted 7 years ago
Wow, I wish I had read these reviews before handing money over to this "company" myself. Our bus also did not show up, and the company has pretty much been uncontactable ever since. They left sixty-five of us stranded in the middle of nowhere, and we eventually had to arrange our own emergency transport home. Instead of offering a refund, or even an apology, the only meaningful communication since before the hire has been that "they're sick of dealing with us". It would almost be funny if we weren't now having to go through the courts to claim back the considerable amount that they owe us. So please, if you're reading this, get out while you still can! These guys aren't worth your time, let alone your money.
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Posted 7 years ago
DO NOT USE THIS DODGY COMPANY. We paid in advance for a bus to transport 70 people from London to an event. The bus was over one hour late in the morning. The company did not bother to contact us to let us know, we had to chase them and there was no apology when they finally did arrive. In the evening we arrived at the arranged pick up location, at the arranged time and there was no bus. When we contacted the driver to see what was happening he informed that he was broken down and would not be picking us up. He offered no solution so we suggested that we would be happy to wait 2 hours for an alternative bus to be sent. This wasn't possible as the company was uncontactable by us or the driver. We were left stranded on the road. All trains had stopped for the evening by this time and we were forced to catch taxis back to London and pay £180 each. It has been a month and the company have not apologised and have offered no resolution. They haven't even refunded the money we paid for the service they never delivered! This company is so unprofessional - it is disgraceful. Looks like we will need to peruse legal action to obtain the money they have stolen from us.
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Posted 7 years ago
Do NOT hire this bus company. We paid for the service in advance and the bus didn't pick us up. 70 people were left stranded on the road and we all had to spend £200 each on taxis. It's been one month and we've received no refund, no explanation, not even an apology. The company won't respond to our calls or emails, so we're going to have to take them to court to retrieve our money. Absolute disgrace.
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Posted 7 years ago
I hired two buses to attend and take my guests to my reception - One bus arrived and we were told that another was 15 minutes away, we waited and waited until 40 minutes had passed! My reception was held on a boat so we needed to arrive promptly. We had no other option but to ask the remaining 60 or so guests to cab it to the reception - I have wriiten an e-mail requesting a deposit for the bus to be met with unprofessional and rude staff. I am still waiting for any sort of decent reply but I'm waiting the 28 days they have specified before taking them to small claims - That's if my frustration doesn't get the better of me and I make a trip to their offices, which I'm sure probably do not even exist. Terrible - DO NOT USE!!!!!!!
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Posted 7 years ago
I contracted the services of the Routemaster Bus Company to transfer my 65 wedding guests from the registry office to the reception. It didn't show up, even though I gave an additional hour for it to arrive. I was advised I should find other means of transport, which all my guests did because we had no choice. I've not been issued a refund even though it's now 6 weeks after the event and very clear cut that it was their fault. I've been fobbed off continoously and had the phone put down on me on numerous occasions with no reason or apology being received. This is the email I received when I asked for the refund....... Thank you for your email. She is on annual leave, so we apologise for the delay. We are sorry to hear that you feel that we have not met your expectations. Please note that as per our terms and conditions, point 1.17, we endeavour to reply to any complaints within 28 working days. We are getting written statements from all parties involved, in the meantime we thank you for your patience. Please note it is our company policy to respond in writing only, we do not respond via telephone conversations. I am now having to go down the legal route with no end in sight. I didn't think that companies with service like this existed anymore. I wish I'd read the reviews first before booking them but they seemed a trustable established company.
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Posted 7 years ago
The bus itself was a little dirty on the inside, it looked like it needed a good clean. However the bus hired arrived on time and the driver was lovely.
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Posted 8 years ago
Hi just wanted to thank all the staff for an amazing time had on the bus with all my friends for our tour of London, it was such a great day. Many Thanks
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Posted 8 years ago
We used The Routemaster Bus Company for my mum and dads golden wedding anniversary surprise, my dad was a Routemaster bus driver in the 60’s and they were bowled over with the beautiful restored bus, all our guests had such a wonderful time. I wanted to thank you all for a great job, I have already recommended you for my friend’s wedding. Hayley Higgs
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Posted 8 years ago
A brilliant night out, we hired the bus for my partners 50th Birthday. The old fashioned route master bus was perfect, he loved it. We danced the night away with our friends and family listening to 80's music while taking in the sights of London.
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Posted 8 years ago
We ordered a bus for my birthday party, all of my friends and family had an amazing time. The bus arrived promptly and the service was excellent. Many thanks to all your staff. Brian
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Posted 8 years ago
We used this company for our wedding and the bus was amazing, so many nice comments from our guests, the driver was great, please send our thanks xx
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Posted 8 years ago
Routemaster Bus Company is rated 2.4 based on 16 reviews