Hello, This is a message for every single parent who is thinking of buying their collegiate a ticket on a red coach bus for the holidays. Don't. However, let me expand on this. Hi, my name is Nathalie, I'm 19 years old and I honestly feel like I'm in purgatory. I have been on a bus from Gainsville to Miami for 11 hours. Just in case you didn't know, the usual amount of time that this drive takes is six. I will be arriving at Miami Airport 2 hours later than was scheduled. Right now though, I am STILL on this bus. The lovely buses red coach advertises on there website aren't a thing during the holiday season. Your child will be forced to sit in the same kind of bus HIGH SCHOOLS use for field trips. Additionally, the fact that they made us all wear wristbands to organize what bus we were going on didn't help the sinking feeling that I had somehow been teleported back to my sophomore year of high school. It's cramped like no tomorrow and bus seating is pretty much a free for all. Alas, because I had no idea what bus I was supposed to get on thus I was one of the last people to board, so I ended up with one of the worst seats on the bus. We were supposed to stop for a while at the rest stop in Orlando but because our bus driver somehow managed to stretch the hour and a half drive from Gainsville to Orlando into a nearly four-hour drive we only stopped at that rest stop for like 5 minutes. Because we were already so behind schedule. These seats are so uncomfortable my entire spine is just in s o much pain. I can barely move. The bus was crowded as hell and there was pretty much no opportunity to get comfortable at any point in the trip for ANYONE. We were all mutually suffering Additionally, for the first length of the trip our bus driver kept stopping at every single rest stop because (and this is a direct quote because someone actually stepped up and asked him) "he had no idea where he was going." He had a GPS out the entire trip. In terms of his actual skills driving the vehicle...I honestly was expecting him to announce to us all that this was his very first time driving a bus and to wish him luck. I would not have been surprised. Overall, the only thing that upsets me more than this bus ride from hell is the fact that I paid SO much for it. This was a service my family paid for and it was just. THIS bad. This is my first ever Yelp review. I'm selfish, I usually wouldn't waste my time typing something up for someone else's eventual benefit. But the one good thing that came out of this trip was the camaraderie I felt with my fellow bus mates. Every single time something stupid happened. I knew that at least we were all suffering together. So I'm writing this for them. I can't get my money back. But I can and will warn people from spending their money here. Just pay for a taxi. Or an uber. Or honestly, I think walking would've been a more enjoyable experience. Just don't. Buy. Red Coach. P.S: As I am typing this we pulled into Miami Airport and our bus driver tried to drop us off at the wrong stop. At this point, there were only like five people left on the bus so he just pulled into the airport and went to the first stop and turned on the lights and was like "Miami?". Of course, there was nobody there so we all knew it was the wrong stop and this was a dialogue that I swear, actually occurred A woman on the bus: This is the wrong stop Bus Driver: No this is it, we're at Miami Airport Woman: NO you're supposed to drop us off at H Concord Man: Just....Just keep driving forward. Please. Bus Driver: Oh. Alright. Just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, that actually just happened. Wow. P.S.S: It seems like Red Coach's PR team only replies to good reviews. And that's fine. Ignore me. But I'm telling you, the consumer who has hopefully read my review till the end, what this is really all about. If you took a red coach bus and it was a good experience you were LUCKY. Just plain old LUCK. The worst is what I've gone through today so the average? It just sucks. Simple as that. read more

If I could give RedCoach negative stars I would. I just had the most horrific experience with one of their representatives on the phone. Her name was Helen, she was the rudest person I have ever spoken to in my life. She was yelling at me, saying things like "If you don't like it I don't care", "I don't care what you think", "You can do whatever you'd like I don't care". I reminded her that she was talking to a customer and she continued to yell and repeat the same things over and over, I then asked her if she was the manager and she said yes. When she realized I was getting upset she started to have a laughing tone with me. This all began because my mom was issued the wrong ticket date. From Miami they were nice enough to let her travel to Gainesville being that she had purchased a $135 round trip ticket and the bus had only 10 passengers. In Orlando they apologized for their mistake and issued her a new ticket to Gainesville but they didn't issue her the new ticket back to Miami. She was supposed to leave today but her ticket had a week from todays date. I called red coach to tell them what had happened and Helen, from the moment she opened her mouth, kept on telling me that there was nothing that could be done without even thinking about it. She just kept saying that my mom needs to either travel on the 16th or she loses her ticket and will be forced to buy a new one. I finally was able to explain to her that the company acknowledged the error and let her travel to Gainesville, she then became furious and put me on hold for more than 15 minutes, only to come back with terrible attitude and being the rudest person I have ever talked to. Before this incident with the bus ride back, I had an incident on the day that my mom was supposed to travel (April 4th). She was at the bus stop when she realized that her ticket said April 11th. She called me and told me that the date was wrong, so I called red coach to explain to them the situation and see if they could help. I spoke to a guy named Mark. Mark wasn't rude to me but he just kept on saying that there was absolutely nothing he could do. I pointed out to him that the bus was empty and that my mom had purchased her ticket, if necessary we would be willing to pay a change fee. He kept on ignoring everything I was saying and just kept on repeating that nothing could be done. That made me upset because it was very unhelpful, as if he had no intentions of even trying to help. I decided to email the company because my mom was at the bus stop ready to leave and maybe they would get back to me quickly. I sent the email on April 4th and today is April 8th and I have yet to receive an email back. I am thankful for the person in the Orlando station that helped my mom get to Gainesville on the true day she was supposed to travel, however now she is stranded in Gainesville because the people on the phone are the most unhelpful people that do not care about their customers. I tried calling "corporate" many times and nobody answers. I wonder who owns this company and I wonder if they know that they're employees do not care if they have returning customers or not. I was a frequent customer of red coach, I also would refer a lot of friends and family that would travel to or from Gainesville. I will NEVER take red coach again, and I will make sure to let everyone know what a terrible company this is and the way that they treat their paying customers. They basically stole my money and Helen is so happy that my mom will not be traveling with them and that they get to keep her $80. They will lose much more than that for being rude and unhelpful. read more

I was completely dissatisfied and upset with my most recent Red Coach experience. I have used Red Coach on numerous occasions traveling from Gainesville to Ft. Lauderdale. I understand that there are unpredictable conditions that affect travel time (traffic, weather etc.) I am not one to complain when a bus is a few minutes late. However, my most recent experience was completely unacceptable. After arriving early to the bus stop, I continued to wait for my bus that was supposed to depart at 4:30. When the bus didn't show by 4:35, I began to worry. I attempted to call Red Coach 3 separate times and was hung up on each time. Finally, I decided to check my e-mail and saw a change in the itinerary. There apparently was a 2-hour delay. I finally was able to reach someone via phone, who persisted to tell me to come back 2 hours after my departure time. I clearly did not want to wait at a bus stop for another 2 hours, so I left, just as I was instructed to. About 20 minutes later, I saw a bus drive past me towards the bus stop. I once again spoke to a representative who ensured me that "that bus was not the bus I was getting on." I was instructed to get to the stop 2 hours after my initial departure time. After this phone call, I decided to check my email again, where I had received ANOTHER email stating that the bus was in fact back on schedule and to ignore the previous message. When I called the customer service line back, the representative said the situation was "a little confusing" and that the bus was in fact at the stop (a completely different story than I had been told 5 minutes prior). We once again rushed back to the bus stop after being told that the driver we going to be informed that I was on my way and it would ABSOLUTELY wait for me, only to arrive and find that the bus had left without me. Their communication system is clearly ineffective. I was told I could not be informed when the bus arrived, I would have no clue what was going on if I didn't randomly check my e-mail, and the customer service reps clearly have NO IDEA what they are talking about. I was put on another shuttle and was forced to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at 3:30 AM. I was offered a "credit", however, I will ensure that I NEVER use Red Coach again. read more

I recently traveled with redcoach on the first class service from Ft. Lauderdale airport to Gainesville leaving at 1:30 on October 13th and the reverse trip leaving at 4:30 on Sunday. When spending 160+ dollars on a bus ticket, I expected a lot better service than I had received. The trip back was delayed one and a half hours and same with the trip coming back! The times shown already are include all the stops, so for there to be this much of a delay is crazy. When a bus is so delayed, the least they should do is cut some of the waiting time in the Orlando stop. It is not very comfortable for everyone to be forced to get out for thirty minutes. On the way back the driver never showed up to Rosa Parks bus stop so we had to call RedCoach to find out where they were, then you let us know that the driver was confused and was waiting at Commuter Lot. This already gave us a 15 minute delay before even starting. Other than that on my way back I was sitting near the restroom so I had to constantly close the door I would say every ten minutes the whole ride or have to smell the very strong stench, didn't feel very first class. I'm not sure why the bathroom door doesn't stay shut or why there is no air in there. Going to the bathroom in the bus is extremely uncomfortable because it is so hot. Another thing I want to note is I don't understand why there is a separate price for booking as a student over the phone rather than the web. I had to pay more to order on the phone because my student code didn't come in on time. I also never even received a confirmation email. I'm honestly so disappointed I had to pay so much money for this kind of service to be eight hours on a bus ride that normally takes five hours. read more

It's a terrifying experience. My child is on the bus 2709 from Gainesville to Atlanta. The arrival time is delayed from 7:55pm to after 8, to 9:30 and they are in Forsyth when it was 8:37pm. The bus has been driving 55mph the whole time and in the last hour, it's been 45mph, now is 40mph. I called RedCoach, talked to an agent twice, the agent told me that they could see the bus is driving very slow and they are contacting the dispatch and he gave me the mail office number to call. I finally got to talk to someone at the main office (after leaving 2 messages, never got a return call, my third call went through). The main office lied. They told me the bus is now up to the normal speed. but it's not, it's driving 40pm. They said the bus was over heating, but it's fixed. Obviously it's not if the driver continue to drive so slow and now even slower and there were burning/gas smell, even the driver had handkerchief over his mouth and nose ( I wish I can post the pictures I received, but it may not be legal to do that?). When I asked the main office to please consider changing the bus for the safety of the passenger, that's when they told me the problem was fixed, it's not over heating, it's going the normal highway speed, which was a big lie, it has not been. I can't believe Red Coach will be this dishonest and gamble with passenger's safety. Scary experience. We are all on the edge of our seats completely stressed out right now. We won't be at ease until the safe arrival.....(Bus left Gainesville at 2:30pm, now is 9:42pm, not arrived Atlanta yet.) read more

I do not recommend this company. I made a roundtrip reservation to get my daughter from college to the airport for Winter break. The reservation was for a bus and a shuttle to and from the airport. On the first ride to the airport, the shuttle never showed up. After she called the company a few times, they finally sent a taxi to pick her up at the bus terminal. At this time I called Red Coach and cancelled her reservation for the return shuttle. I specified that I was only canceling the shuttle and not the bus to bring her back to college. I was given a confirmation number at this time. What ended up happening was that they made a mistake and cancelled her whole return reservation. I called to see what they could do at this time. The customer service rep. said she would check and put me on hold. I was disconnected at this time. I called back 3 more times to speak with her and was disconnected every single time. I called back and spoke to someone, they advised that their busses were all booked and that they could not help me. I asked to speak to a manager and was advised that one was not available. They took my information and told me that a manager would get back to me to discuss the issue and about my refund. No one has called me back. This resulted in my daughter being stranded at the airport for 9 hours. She had to take a Greyhound bus back to school at 9:45 PM by herself. Not happy!! Never again!! read more

***edited to add 1 star and update: The company did reach out and offer a free one way ticket (acknowledging that this couldn't fully compensate for the inconvenience.) I appreciate this though, cynically, it does line up with more aggressive action on my part. I will further update when I take that trip at some point. I received a refund after their website mishap caused me to be overcharged for a ticket. Or I should say I supposedly received a refund because it never worked when I tried to use it. I contacted customer service many, many times in the months that followed. I never heard back. Not even an automated response. Every couple of months I tried to get in touch with them again. 1.5 years later I finally heard from a semi-human (through the website's chat feature). I was told that my claim expired one year after its issuing and was no longer going to be accepted. How wonderful, customer service deigns chat with me AFTER my claim expired unused. Really unethical bs. As for the busses/rides themselves - you can see from other reviews, they're hit or miss. Often late or delayed and bus quality/experience varies dramatically. read more

Not reliable....Will never reserve again.. Don't let comfy seats & only 2 stops fool you . Booked my daughter from Tampa to Tallahasse on Friday afternoon ...1:55 Bus never showed up. After an hour ,she called customer number on ticket and was told bus near Tampa . I finally called & was told bus broke down, no idea when new bus would come or if they would have a replacement for the trip.. We were NEVER contacted or updated via email or cell numbers that were provided when making reservation I called at 4:30 and they still had no idea what they were going to do.. Customer service rep Sal was great when making reservation and so was Maria when calling for update ... Although I realize buses may break down , it happens ...Have a plan.... Orlando headquarters needs a big improvement on communications with customers...and have a back up plan. Get info to your 800 number reps!! Left all the customers stranded.... Cancelled entire trip ... As a parent 1,000 miles away trying to help my daughter find answers not very comforting . read more

Red coach: Your bus to Tallahassee from Palm Beach broke down tonight (July 10th). The bus that was sent to pick up your stranded passangers failed to have enough room to accommodate everyone. Three customers were chosen to stay behind (at a rest stop!) Your driver, Ricco chose my MINOR son traveling alone as one of those 3. He was told he would have to share the remaining 2.5 hour ride to Tallahassee in a cab (without a representative from Red coach) along with two adult strangers. To make matters worse, upon hearing that his step father would pick him up, Ricco and the two other passengers proceed to leave MY MINOR SON ALONE at the reststop on I75 North of Gainesville.... We called several times and spoke to several people who stated 1. There is no supervisor I can speak to 2. Someone will call me in the morning How does calling me tomorrow keep my son safe right now??? Regardless of age....YOUR RED COACH DRIVER SHOULD HAVE REMAINED UNTIL ALL PASSENGERS WERE SAFE! read more

" a bus ride from hell" I bought a ticket from Tallahassee to Pompano Beach when I got on the bus the air conditioner was broken and the windows do not open the driver passed up 75 and continued on interstate 10 to Jacksonville not even my route after leaving Jacksonville he headed to Orlando I was held hostage on a bus for 6 hours without air. When we arrived in Orlando I was told there was no bus to Pompano Beach even though I had a ticket in my hand. I have been on the phone now for two weeks trying to get my stinking $75.00 refunded. I was sick for 2 days after that ordeal try riding on a bus for 6 hours without A/C in Florida. Give me my money back who would pay you for a "RIDE FROM HELL"" I have called this place so many times...customer service stinks! And who is the so called supervisor Camille that is always to busy to speak on the phone. Don't ever ride on this bus. read more

Purchased a round trip bus fare from Ocala to Miami. I was at the bus stop location almost an hour early. The bus pulled in late and as I walked toward it, it drove away. I called customer service and reached a woman named, Al. She was rude and unprofessional and offered no assistance. She argued with us when we asked for helped. She blamed us and told us there was nothing she would do. When we asked for a supervisor, she told us there wasn't one and that she was the only person we could talk to. I think it was the rudest interaction I have had with a business employee. She refused all help. The driver did not do his job. He did not stop and wait for passengers and then, I had to scramble to get to Miami for an international flight. It cost me $307 that I did't have. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY read more

0 STARS!!! WORST customer service I have ever encountered. I had to change my bus ticket for personal reasons, so I called and paid to change the ticket. Everything was fine... except when I showed up to catch the bus the driver told me they had switched my ticket for the bus that left the day earlier (mind you it would have been physically impossible for me to have caught that bus considering I called way after that bus had left). It has been a month now and they still have done nothing about it. Because of this incident I had to pay an extra $130. I have emailed them and called them many times and they just do not care. On top of that the agents were rude and condescending. The management just does not care about the company I guess.... read more

Service has gone considerably down my years as a student taking their service. They don't provide snack boxes it was just that one experience apparently, their arrival times are usually not accurate if you take a night route (like a red eye from tallahassee to fort lauderdale or miami). Have had spontaneous/rudely unannounced "layovers" where it hasn't been 1 or 2 hours but 5/6 HOURS STUCK IN ORLANDO. Honestly I only kept taking their service because it's better than greyhound but they're overpriced, might as well take a flight (if possible) it'll be shorter, cheaper, and more comfortable read more

Zero stars!!! AC is not working on a 6 hour bus ride during the summer months in Florida! Bathroom is also broken, and the bus smells like poop! The entire bus is shaking, is old and dirty! I would take any other bus, megabus, jetset, greyhound, anything else!! This is by far the worst bus I've ever been on and I take buses on average every other weekend for the past 4 months! I'm on the bus now and have sweat dripping down me! Do yourself a favor DO NOT RIDE this bus! This is pure torture! I'm getting off at the next stop and finding another bus! read more

I seriously have to say that RedCoach has to be the top bus service that I have ever had, many companies should learn from RedCoach. I had a last min plan to go to Ocala for a family emergency and they were very affordable and nice. The bus was on time and the driver had a sense of humor and enjoyed helping others. now a days you don't see people enjoying their job and I liked that. I left from the Miami terminal, I left my car there for two days and with no charge, it can get any better than that. anyone need to travel?? experience the RedCoach. read more

Anybody thinking about buying a ticket should back away from their computer and walk away. You can thank me later. This company has now ripped me off 4 times. I payed for a "first class" seat and the business class bus showed up. Big difference. They don't care, kept me on hold from Miami to Ft. Laud. then I gave up. I have never seen a company like this before. The prices keep rising while the quality has disappeared. TRUST ME!!!! DON'T DO IT MAN!!!! read more

Bus to Fort Lauderdale to Tallahassee. I was told by red bus customer service where to wait for my bus which was 40 MINUTES LATE, and the bus drove right pass me without stopping. I called customer service and was told the bus will not turn around. I want a 100% refund and only received $40 for a $190 trip. The corporate office is not even answering their phone and I have called exactly 12 times. I need my ALL my money back or an option to reschedule the trip. read more

I use RedCoach on a monthly basis and love their very comfortable buses. Also the Miami terminal is very nice and clean all the time, as you wait for your bus to leave you can charge your phone or laptop and the have WI-FI and well as on their buses. I love the convenience of not having to drive and with the cost of gas.. RedCoach is a great idea, you can't beat it. read more

This use to be great now it seems like a 3rd world country drive. Had a trip where the toilet wouldn't flush and the the bus stank of piss. Then another ride where the driver couldn't find the a/c button in the heat of the day but decided to turn the bus into a freezer at nightfall. Management must have change this company was great now it's going down the drain read more