Columbus Coach - Columbus, Ohio

Lauren V.

December 6th-8th, my family & I took a Columbus Coach bus from Chillicothe, Ohio, to NYC, each paying $170 for the trip. Unfortunately, our bus (#233) was drastically different from the other 4 buses & not in a good way. The suspension was practically nonexistent, causing the bus to lean to 1 side, & every bump in the road felt excruciating. Passengers were literally bouncing out of their seats! To make matters worse, the heating & air either didn’t work or the driver was unable to manage it correctly, leading to unbearable conditions that made some passengers vomit. This resulted in multiple unscheduled stops.
Additionally, we had a low tire, raising serious safety concerns about our bus being on the road at all. It felt reckless for five buses to meet at the same gas station or travel center, especially with 300+ people stopping at once. In NYC, one of the other bus drivers even clipped a scaffolding, shattering a pane of glass. I understand that managing such a large group can lead to unforeseen issues, but there were certainly preventable problems that contributed to our 16-hour journey to NYC, and another 16-hour return trip. We were supposed to arrive in NYC by 9:00 AM but didn’t get there until noon. Afterward, we stood outside in the cold for over an hour, waiting for our bus to take us back home. The restroom on the bus was in terrible condition, no toilet paper or other essentials. Medical emergencies that arose were mishandled due to staff being untrained in those situations. During those incidents, there was no communication from the drivers, leaving us confused and anxious. Also, passengers remained on the bus while it was being fueled, which was unsafe. We were later told it was a fine! Each of our stops (about 6 on the way there and back, totaling around 12 stops) took 1-2 hours because of the number of people in 1 place. To top it off, I(female) had to use the men's restroom twice. Overall, it was a frustrating and uncomfortable experience.

Angela G.

BEWARE- Please read before you decide to take any trips that this company is supplying the bus.

Returned home today from this weekends NYC bus trip. Our group was on Bus 3. The trip to NY went well. 5 total buses went on this trip. Our trip home did have some issues due to the Columbus Coach bus charter company. We left out of NY a little after 10 pm last night. We stopped a few times. This morning we stopped to switch out drivers. The previous driver did not fuel up our bus. We had to wait almost 45 minutes to start driving again which put us behind schedule to get home. Our new driver, James, was great. He went to stop at another fuel station because the one we started at didn’t take his company fuel card. The 2nd place also didn’t take his card. We all had to get off the bus each time as you can’t be on the bus while it is refueling. We were finally able to get fuel at the 3rd place we stopped. We were finally on the home stretch and the bus completely shuts down on 23. We didn’t have any flashers. No flares or cones either. Semi-Trucks & other cars were flying by us. It was a scary situation on the highway. We had to call the State Highway Patrol so we would have flashers behind us. Columbus Coach needs to be held accountable. Not having flares, hazard cones or flashers was a huge safety concern. I felt bad for James since he seemed to also be put in a bad situation. The bus should have already been fueled up by the previous driver. The bus should have been pre-tripped before the driver ever started out on the trip home. All commercial vehicles must be pre-tripped as a safety precaution. Columbus Coach should have given James a working credit card to purchase fuel. That company just doesn’t seem to know what they are doing. Our group ended up calling family to come get us. We were broke down before you get to South Bloomfield. We got back to Chillicothe around 1:30 pm. We should have gotten back around 10 am. Once another bus had dropped off people they headed back to get the rest of the people on the broke down bus. I don’t know what time they ended up getting back to Lowe’s. Another one of the Columbus Coach buses also broke down last night although I’m not sure which Bus # that one was. These things that happened were out of Bonnies Tours LLC control. I do think Bonnie should cancel the bus for next weekend. Columbus Coach is not a reliable company. They assured Bonnie after last weekend that they would take care of maintenance issues (go to Bonnie’s Tours LLC to see all of those CC complaints) but clearly these buses are not safe. They did not run on time. They put people in a scary & unsafe situation. Columbus Coach needs to refund Bonnie then she could refund people. Thankfully we all arrived home safely. It could have been much worse if someone would have hit the bus on the road. I would think long & hard prior to going on next weekends trip unless Columbus Coach is not supplying the bus. I would never trust going on their buses again. In our group of 14- 4 decided not to go based on all the issues from last weekend. 2 girls left at the first stop as 1 of them was getting sick. 1 sold her ticket prior to us going. We started with 14 and only 7 completed the trip. Of those 7, we all agreed we would never take a bus trip again. This was my 2nd trip but Columbus Coach has definitely made it to where I wouldn’t go again. I think for the sake of Bonnie’s business she needs to stop doing business with Columbus Coach. I truly believe Bonnie has a good heart and tries to make these trips/opportunities for people that they may not otherwise be able to do. I will be reporting Columbus Coach to the Better Business Bureau. They need to make changes for the better for their customers.

Brandon B.

Used Columbus Coach for a shuttle service for our wedding about 2-3 weeks ago. Took the wedding party from Columbus to the venue 45 minutes away. Then had rotating shuttles take the guests from the hotel to the venue. It went great and no issues. After the reception was over, we had a SUV take bride and groom away, and then the rotating shuttles take the guests back. Donald, the driver, for the SUV was great. The shuttles were great, but the last shuttle failed to appear. As a result, we had 6-8 individuals of the wedding party stranded at the venue. Luckily, we were able to pick them up with some guests who drove, but it took a long time. I was not able to get in touch from anyone from dispatch since it was after midnight. However, the next day, I was contacted by the company, who admitted their mistake and refunded some of the bill.
Overall, pleasure to work with them with very competitive prices. Very responsive customer service. Might need back-up plans if your event goes late.

Lora T.

We have used Columbus Coach & Supreme Limousine for a couple years for our holiday party and by far the best to work with! From their office staff to the drivers, all top notch. Will not hesitate to use them again. Thanks for taking care of us! Excellent service!

Beth B.

Horrible bus company! The big charter buses seem to be from the 90's! They are not well taken care of either! I was on a charter trip this past weekend and so many things went wrong! Our bus had no wifi, the TV screens were broke, broken seats that either wouldn't recline or only stayed reclined. The heating and air was so screwed up! You were either sweating to death or freezing cold! The 2 drivers we had didn't even know how to work the heat and air. They had to go get a driver from another bus to help. Many window shades were missing. Our first driver is a remote dispatcher who was brought in from another state to help. Her driving was horrible! Our main driver hit scaffolding and shattered the outside pane of the window which flew off in chunks on the highway! Thankfully there were no cars behind us and only another one of the buses! Another bus had a broken part and was completely leaning to one side and almost hitting the ground! Another one of the buses died twice. It was a nightmare trip! I will never ride with this company again!

Patricia H.

The service provided by Columbus Coach from the scheduling to our safe return home was exceptional. Stacia who handled our scheduling was courteous, responsive, and listened to understand our needs. When we needed to make a change in vehicles, she worked with us to make it happen. The text notification service about the driver and arrival status kept us informed of our trip status, the process for handling concerns, and made me (trip coordinator) confident that we had chosen the right service. I cannot say enough about how much our group valued the driver, Donald. He was courteous, responsive, and an excellent driver. We appreciated his willingness to adjust whether it was the timing of our 1 stop or the travel route. He even took our pictures so we could have a memory of the trip. Because he knew the route and how to navigate the traffic effectively, his route adjustments minimized our delays and prevented us from getting frustrated. Given we were headed to a funeral service, getting there in a timely matter was important to us. We arrived there and back home in a timely manner because of his ability to navigate the traffic patterns. Most importantly, we arrived at both of our destinations safely. The reviews I have received from those on the trip all have been favorable. In fact, the morning's text messages were a request for another more fun trip with Columbus Coach and Donald as the driver!

Peter M.

Absolutely no accountability. A bridal party was left at a venue due to the previous driver being pulled over for not having any taillights. After having been pulled over and dropping off the previous clientele, no shuttle was sent back for the people stuck at the venue. The previously stated driver who was pulled over had promised the wedding party that there was another shuttle already on the way. When we attempted to contact the company several times and nobody answered the phone. There were also multiple voicemails left on the “dispatch” line. This not only held up the people stranded at the venue but the venue coordinators who had to wait on us to leave. To add to this the initial coach that was we arrived in had horrible seats, and cleaning products thrown in the bagging area. Absolutely horrendous.

Jessica C.

We used Columbus Coach for our wedding and I would recommend them to anyone! On the day of, the driver was timely, professional, and friendly. Leading up to our big day, Columbus Coach was easy to contact via phone if we had any questions or other information to provide the driver.