AlpyBus Reviews 366

I will try to be as diplomatic as possible. The arrangements are NOT AT ALL what was sold to us.
We had bought a transfer from GVA to Avoriaz. Completely disorganized and we did not get brought to the destination we had paid for but got dropped off in Prodains and was left to figure out how to get to Avoriaz.
On the return the transport left without us, they claimed they were there to do pickup, we never saw the bus marked Alpybus, nor did we get a call to try to connect with us. Huge stress as on Feb 26th there is absolutely nothing available.
And, by the way, we were charged Euro 750 for this disaster.
They showed complete disinterest in their customer resolve department. basically blamed us for the mistakes.
Please DO NOT USE these corrupt folks, at Euro 750 it is close to highway robbery.
Do not us use Alpybus, under any circumstances, and if you do, good luck.

As things stand, Alpybus is not a business I will be using again, nor will I allow anyone I know to use them without first informing them of my situation. This is a company that leans heavy on it's small-print in order to support disconnection in its service delivery. Ultimately when things go right, it's cheap, but when things go wrong, expect disinterest, and leaning on wide-ranging yet tenuous terms and conditions. In after-the-fact dispute resolution, expect to be blamed yourself for issue arising due to their operations. In my case there was some moderate complexity in the booking process as there is ambiguity in the timings of their transfer arrivals due to the business model of accepting customers before designing how they will provide the service.
I had engaged Alpybus to the Prodains lift which permits access to Avoraiz by cable car until midnight on my day of arrival. It was important to get a guaranteed arrival time (following a reasonable departure time) or else there was substantial risk of missing the last cable car. I had provisionally arranged a local taxi firm to pick me up, but to finalise the booking I needed the arrival time with a reasonable degree of accuracy. After initially contacting Alpybus via their support form in English, I received a reply in Spanish about lost property, so instead I called Alpybus. After speaking with Clare I was informed that yes it would be quite tight getting to the lift before closing, but good news, at that time of night, access to Avoraiz by car/bus was easy and I could be taken there instead.
On the night however I was ultimately delivered to a (very closed) bus station in the middle of a resort 30 minutes drive away from where I needed to be. I had spoken to an agent at the airport and was satisfied that I was travelling to Avoraiz, and other people on my bus were, yet I was forced off the bus and left stranded at 2a.m with all my luggage (luggage + snowboard bag) in minus 11 temperatures. The local agent suggesting it was not his problem, to take it up with Alpybus + arrange a taxi myself (they were not willing to assist in this, and indeed the 10 taxi numbers were all unreachable at such a late time)
In the end, an individual staying locally acted as good Samaritan and drove us to the welcome centre at Avoraiz for £60..not a taxi, not Alpybus.. not before having to don my ski gear simply to stay alive in the temperatures.

In handling the complaint about this action, Alpybus firstly did not reply on the night, or the next day and took their representative Anoushka until Thursday to merely explain back what I already knew about the history, plus that it was myself at fault for not being stronger with the airport staff, and for not knowing the address on the received SMS. All Anoushka wanted to do was refer back to my original email asking about arrival time SO I could book the Taxi, but seemed unable to connect the dots that a) Alpybus had never replied to that email, (unless you count the irrelevant Spanish reply) and b) the information provided by Clare days on the telephone superseded that email. It was the telephone interaction that directly caused me to cancel the arranged taxi. There was opportunity to catch this at the airport when I said to the agent there that I was travelling to Avoraiz, there was no concern expressed, he found my name on a list and directed me where to wait, it was only several hours later (and far too late to make alternate arrangements) that the error was discovered. Alpybus's representative suggests this was my error saying…

*****
“..You then made a request for the drop off address on arrival to be in Morzine so you could take a taxi from there to Avoriaz. You received an email and sms from us stating that your drop off address was Morzine Gare Routiere. Despite any phone conversations, the confirmed booking is that of the details confirmed to you via sms and email the day prior to travel as per policy. You received this information and didn't attempted to change it even though you knew it was not your intention to be dropped off in Morzine.

You will not be eligible for reimbursement. We again apologise for this misunderstanding that has caused inconvenience.""
*****

Alpybus operates for the convenience of their operations, and is unwilling to resolve problems they have created. I understand things go wrong sometimes, which is why I emphasise that this is not only the pre-booking, booking and onsite operations, but also the problem-resolution team at fault who as I say above are content to take take their own best interests first, failing to acknowledge their own mistakes and blaming the customer, for acting as a reasonable person would, such as trusting a contact centre agent's word. Left like this, Alpybus have lost my custom indefinitely, and I suspect they won't care.

We booked with Alpybus for a Christmas break to Chamonix, I booked the more expensive fully flexible transfer for peace of mind given the Covid climate, the trip was then cancelled due to the change in travel restrictions following the rise in Omicron, I advised Alpybus on 12/12/21 I have emailed them 5 times and I'm still awaiting my £124 refund, they reply and say OK we'll sort it, then they just don't, not a trustworthy company, complete shambles it would appear

We were on the same bus as the person who wrote the review recently about being dumped in the middle of Les Gets and can verify this happened exactly as he said. The driver was extremely aggressive and simply wouldn’t listen to the fact that they had proof from Alpybus that they had paid to be delivered to a different address. Shocking behaviour.

A transfer that had always taken no more than 90 minutes previously set off 60 minutes late and then took over 3 hours because of their new policy of putting you in a large bus and then taking the long way round so they can disembark you into smaller vans closer to your final destination. No explanation or apology.

Avoid them like the plague

Left stranded to Val thorens when we were going to morzine. The opposite direction. Our names were called on to the bus so no mistake on our part. Absolute chaos at their desk in Geneva. Do not use this company!!! Stick to Bens Bus or other firms.

Absolutely terrible service! DO NOT USE!! Much better options out there!

Left me and my pregnant wife stranded in the middle of town at 1am in the freezing cold with all of our baggage. We were forced to walk 45 minutes up a windy steep hill. My ticket I paid for was to take me to our chalet. They did not care. The driver said. “You have two options, get off the bus or I call the police”!

After using them for 5 years, I’m shocked that we we were treated like pieces of trash and just thrown on the side of the road in the freezing cold.

I have now found a taxi service which is 1/3 of the price. Message me if you want the number.

I made a reservation and payed extra in order to get a full refund in case I had to cancel. I cancelled the reservation on January 1. Ten weeks later, and I still haven't got my refund! In answer to my emails inquiring about this, I am offered their sincere apologies time and again, but nothing happens. This is not only ridiculous, it's also bad policy. You could also call it stealing. I for one will not make use of their services any longer.

We booked a transfer on Saturday evening for 06:25 on Monday morning to Geneva airport for a flight at 09:45 stating the journey would take 55 minutes. We then booked a taxi for 06:00 to take us to the pickup point.
I then received a text and email the day before altering the pickup time to 05:00 which would essentially mean having to get up in the middle of the night and hanging around at the airport for the best part of 4 hours.
I replied asking to cancel and refund but received no response. They are now refusing to refund saying that in the smallprint they can essentially change the time to whenever they want. We ended up getting the taxi we had booked and paying for a train to the airport so have now paid out twice. You are much better off using public transport or getting a taxi as at least you can rely on these and not get ripped off by these incompetent fools.

Terrible. Shambolic. They have changed their business model and it simply does not work.

Pick up transfer from airport was chaos - we had to run for a bus that wasn’t there and they had to call the bus driver and turn the bus around. 2 Irish lads (didn’t get their names) were doing a great job but the infrastructure behind them was shambolic.

Return Transfer - picked up at 4.30 in a small bus to be transferred in morzine to large bus - waited 1hr for the bus to be full from other small buses which were late!! We then drove to Thonnon and unbelievably drove through the centre of Geneva

Overall Transfer was 3 hours which normally is 1.30hrs

Don’t book with Alpybus

Having booked two Flexi transfers, which were interrupted by Covid, I requested a refund on 3 Jan. The response advised that, due to Covid, the refund would take up to 6 weeks. Having not received a refund by 20 Feb I contacted Alpybus again. The response came back to say my refund was registered on 20 Feb and could take 8 weeks to process! This is not a reputable company and I doubt their liquidity. Use another transfer company which can be trusted.

Unbelievably disorganised. They used to be a really good service but during the pandemic they have changed hands and are now an absolute shambles!

On the first leg of our journey we received a text saying they had changed our transfer time, to 8 hours before our flight even took off, let alone what time it landed. We contacted them to find out what was going on only to be told there was nothing they could do, it couldn’t be changed and that they weren’t going to offer any refund or alternative transfer.

We had four friends on the same flight who also ran into problems with them, only two managed to make it on to the bus. The other two were left behind because they said they needed to take their staff members back to Chamonix as it was the last transfer of the day and Alpy bus had accidentally over booked the bus, and there was no longer room on the bus so Alpy bus we’re going to leave them (two young girls) in the airport overnight, again with no alternative and no refund. Even though it was Alpy bus that had overbooked. The girls were left to pay €190 for a private transfer after Alpy bus refused to honour their pre booked transfer in favour of getting their own staff home.

Then on our way back to the airport they were 40 minutes late picking us up with no explanation or apology making us almost miss our flight.

They have a ridiculous system where you cannot select a pick up time. You give them the flight number and they decide when they are going to pick you up. You have absolutely no say in it whatsoever. And then the extra joy of them being 40 minutes late and then having to pick up other customers making you even later.

It was the worst experience I have ever had with a transfer company and I would never never use them again.
Their customer service is non existent as is their actual service.
Avoid like the plague, unless you like wasting your time and money and running through an airport with all of our luggage and almost missing your flights.

1.5 hour delay getting to Les Gets, which is only an hour from Geneva. Not surprising as the bus driver couldn’t even get out of the airport! The whole bus was then told to get off and abandoned without guidance in the middle of Morzine. It could be a comedy, but this is supposed to be a professional outfit. Complete shambles, with no one in charge and taking responsibility for matters within their own control. No apologies, no compensation - yet! Management- if there is any- in denial and in hiding.
Perfectly good on the way back but lack of reliability and accountability unacceptable.

Cancelled our shared transport a month before our transfer, would not recommend in the slightest

Disorganised chaos at geneva airport. In a crowded and very busy arrivals hall, you are expected to hang around for hours and hope to catch an Alpybus representative shouting out departures and names (A simple sign held aloft would be a 100% improvement !). No information provided, travellers and staff stressed to the hilt. My wait at the airport on 29th Jan was 2 hours which led to issues with key collection at Morzine.
My own conclusion is that Alpybus may have grown too big/greedy - travellers are placed onto a large coach and taken to resort where smaller mini-buses take smaller groups to chalet addresses - it is clear that the significant delays are due to waiting for various flights to land so the large coach can be filled, leading to the chaos at the airport.
The pick-up for return was timely following receipt of email on the preceding night. However, there was a further delay at the collection point waiting for the large coach for the return trip.
Ultimately we arrived and got collected. You get what you pay for in life, but none of my group will be using them next year

At the point of sale you are told a transfer time (approximately an hour after your flight arrival time according to the T&C, which is fair enough given the airport can be extremely busy at times), however, AlpyBus reserve the right to adjust this quoted time to a much later time at any point up until, and including your arrival at Alpy check-in desk. According to the T&C a part refund is due at 2hrs (3 hrs from your flight landing) and full refund at 3hrs (4hrs from your flight arrival). This is referenced in point 57 of the 89 points of the T&C (The T&C take a while to digest so you'd need multiple coffees). There are some other concerns in the T&C which I would comment on (like you can't drink any fluid like water!) but I want to remain focussed on ensuring potential customers recognise that you might be waiting for a very long time in the arrivals hall before your transfer leaves the airport.

Furthermore, if like me you are told your transfer has moved, from 5:00pm to 6:30pm due to "not enough people to make the transfer worthwhile" (although the office gave me a different story) the actual departure will be later even still. In this case, well past 7pm (So more than 3hrs past my flight arrival). Thus given the transfer didn't actually leave the airport until gone 7pm (more than 2hrs past the original quoted time) it seems AlpyBus still are unwilling to refund per point 57 of their T&C.

The take-away for me is that I couldn't possibly recommend the service as the 2 or 3 hrs wait in a airport post landing is unacceptable and not what you want at the beginning of a break, and the company is seemingly bending the T&C to increase revenue. For me this isn't acceptable when there are cheaper, more comfortable and reliable options available, hence the 1 star.

Consumer be aware - based upon their response to this review it seems my very late departure (>2hrs) must have been due to something 'outside their control' and thus no refund. I get the feeling that with that clause to hide behind I bet there isn't ever a refund.

Very easy to use/organise service. Let you know the day before when you’ll be picked up and where.
Was uncertain looking at the previous reviews but was very well organised and couldn’t fault them.

Didn't realise that I had a 4 hour wait in Geneva airport after my flight arrived (at 11am) as I couldn't get to the 11.20am bus i(to Verbier) in time. I had to book another organisation who did hourly scheduled trips instead and managed to catch their bus at 11.4 (and they provided an excellent service by the way.) I asked for a refund and was told to read the t's and C's and I wouldn't get anything back. Terrible service. Anyone booking with them should check how long they need to wait - it wasn't obvious when I booked that there was such a long 4 hr wait for the next bus.

WARNING: Do not book with this company. Due to the recent Government restrictions of not being able to come to France, which was announced 4 days before our travel, this company insists we do not get refunded at all. This is a company that has no interest in helping out its customers, even though my flights, accommodation, ski passes and everything was able to be refunded. They are a bunch of thieves taking customers' money and not refunding them when changes to plans are out of our control and are the law that we can't travel.

Travelers not wishing to risk wasting half a day in GVA airport should NOT use AlpyBus; employ another van service with more frequent trips and better adaptability. We paid AlpyBus for van service from GVA Airport to Chamonix on 26 August & return on 13 September. AlpyBus advises pickup times the day before travel. AlpyBus advised on 25 August that our airport pickup time was 18h00, for our arrival time of 13h00, i.e. 5 hours wait at the airport. After flying overnight from the USA, we joined another American couple with the same problem and hired a Geneva taxi. We abandoned our AlpyBus tickets to Chamonix. AlpyBus advised on 12 September that our Chamonix pickup time was 6h50 for a 15h00 flight, i.e. 6½ hours wait at the airport. We arranged later transportation with another van service, and again abandoned our AlpyBus tickets (total AlpyBus charge was billed as $144 via PayPal). Note that AlpyBus does not man its office full time. As a courtesy, on 12 September we texted cancellation of our return but in vain: A van showed up at our Chamonix home at 6h50 on the 13th.