National Express West Midlands Reviews 1,273

Yet another bus driver not stopping at the bus stop to pick people up!

Coventry bus route 21 - 07/08; St James Lane; at 14:42 - thank the driver for me!

Great stuff, I hope you have the same day I’m currently experiencing.

Absolute donut!

I have been telling wmt on the extremely bad service on the 89 bus when it was West Brom to Bham city and then when it changed from West Brom to Bearwood. Drivers change the route if there is too much traffic, bus is never on time and usually average late is 20-30 mins and then at times doesn’t even show up. I have seen elderly, the disabled/wheelchairs users/on crutches, children and ppl going to work waiting for a bus which is late for r never turns up. To be honest they are not even worth 1star and should be the option for minus stars. So far today I have been waiting on this bus for the last 1.5 hours from Bearwood to Smethwick and now it’s showing another 30 mins to arrive.

Wouldn't give these clowns 1 star. Just missed 95 bus as it went 2 minutes early... another 30 minutes wait !! Even though the gormless driver could see people wanting the bus he decided not to wait and pulled
off anyway. If they can be so punctual on the night time why is the service so crap during the day ???? THIS 95 BUS SERVICE NEEDS SACKING AND GET ANOTHER COMPANY TO RUN THE SERVICE !!!
IF YOU COMPLAIN JUST EXPECT THE USUAL RUBBISH AND EXPECT NOTHING TO BE DONE ABOUT IT. I know cus I have made numerous complaints.
PASSENGERS PAY EXTORTIONATE FARES FOR USELESS SERVICE !!

I am trying to buying new one month adult pass from last 3 days, fed up with the app and online website not working properly both. So frustrated about wasted time in my busy schedule.

Yesterday the 27 bus didn't turn up again. So I had to get a taxi to work as I would have been late as I work in the community with people with special needs. Most of the buses are missing or running late. It gets me mad when they put the bus fares up for such a bad service.

Absolutely disgusting service, buses not turning up, taking bus service off without notice, I didn't want to give 1 star. over 3 hours to get home on a journey that takes 30 minutes, no communication from the company, they put you on hold whenever you ring, can't even say would go to a different company, there's no options
Update on their reply;
This was a planned occurrence, the services are totally unreliable frequently not turning up, as for looking on the website for delays, disruptions you follow your bus on the app to supposedly 2 minutes away then disappears from app. I had to pay for a taxi to get to work as well as buying a day saver totally unacceptable

They really need to do something about the seat space my knees was in pain for 7h straight I don’t recommend this service really uncomfortable

Don't go with them as I am waiting on the phone to change a journey for 40 minutes and no one answering to me!!!Initially suposed to be only 20 min waiting time!!! I fed up of them ,after 40 minutes of waiting time and listening the same robot voice I shut down the phone!!!This company damage your menthal health,don't deserve even a star!!!!

Absolutely pathetic! They want to raise their prices and can’t even get consistent buses!! Still standing here waiting for several buses that should have come an hour ago or the boiling sun. Complete and utter joke

The outside temperature is 22 and on the bus it's about 35. The air conditioning is turned off. They are saving fuel on AC and don't care about passengers. Shame

Most buses I use ,(48,49,80,) are dirty , scruffy,and generally in a sorry state .Why are you still using 20 year old buses in the fleet? I go to London and other places quite frequently and all of the buses there are no more than 6/7 years old.Why are you still using buses from 2003/4?

Absolutely shambolic. Bought a 4 week adult ticket online. Swift card not updating on swift collector app, so re-directed to download tfwm app. That app won't accept my swift card (turns out the cards starting with number 633597 0112 are issued by this National express west mids company - even the tfwm website says this and gives a separate number for contacting national express WM).

I proceed to ring 0121 254 7272 multiple times and when I picked the options for swift card (it was 122) the phone just cuts off.

But I have a full order confirmation on my emails when I purchased the ticket, so I proceed to use this as proof. The driver responses are astounding. Two of them clicked some buttons on their machine, and I proceeded no problems.

But the rest... "that's not valid" "you don't want to pay?" "try scanning your card on the machine... its expired, you can't travel" because my card will not update, BUT I HAVE EMAIL CONFIRMATION WITH ACCOUNT NUMBER AND ORDER NUMBER AND MY NAME AND THE COMPANY AND THAT I'VE PAID £60!
Then you go to the FAQs on their website..... they tell you to download the tfwm app despite the cards beginning with 633597 0112 not working on it..........

Incredibly frustrating!

I’ve been waiting for AN HOUR! on bus stop that is supposed to be active, even when the bus is on diversion! Please avoid this company if possible, boycott them. They don’t don’t deserve a single penny

Absolutely rubbish service as usual on the 49 in Solihull. Regularly miss buses then the next one is late. Pathetic

I am deeply disappointed with my recent experience on 27/05/24 with nx bus. The situation was not only mishandled but also resulted in severe emotional distress, which I believe warrants immediate attention and compensation.

On the aforementioned date, I attempted to use the ticket machine on the bus, but it was not functioning. This issue prevented me, along with other passengers, from purchasing a ticket. Despite this, I was singled out by an inspector accompanied by two other individuals. The inspector's behavior was notably hostile and aggressive, leading to a highly intimidating and humiliating experience for me. The group, which included two large men, ushered me off the bus in a manner that exacerbated my anxiety and stress. This was a clear intimidation tactic that made the situation even more distressing.

Adding to the distress, I was unable to show my student ID as I was on my way to obtain a replacement for the one I had lost. Despite traveling with Swift for years, I have never been informed or asked to show my student ID. The terms and conditions regarding the necessity of carrying a student ID at all times were not clearly communicated during the application process. In fact, these terms and conditions of issuing a fine for not having student ID are not available anywhere, rendering them invalid due to a lack of evidence. The link provided on the back of the swift card leads to an unavailable page, making it impossible to review these supposed terms and conditions. This misleading practice potentially violates consumer protection laws, specifically the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which mandates that terms and conditions must be clearly communicated and accessible to consumers.

When I attempted to ask questions and clarify the situation with the woman handling the inspection, she was very hostile and exhibited rude behavior, including constantly rolling her eyes. Despite my politeness, I was treated condescendingly and felt bullied by the group of three inspectors.

As a result of this incident, I experienced significant emotional distress, triggering a depressive episode that necessitated therapy. I am demanding compensation for this emotional distress and funds to cover my therapy expenses. Furthermore, I insist on the following actions:

An investigation into the conduct of the inspectors involved.
Appropriate disciplinary actions, including considering termination, probation for six months, or reassignment to part-time roles, given their aggressive and hostile behavior.
A re-evaluation of the training and policies regarding customer interaction to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Additionally, due to this distressing experience, I would like to cancel my Swift card effective immediately.

If these actions are not taken, I will escalate this complaint to the Ombudsman and the West Midlands Combined Authority to seek a formal investigation and resolution.

I expect a prompt response to this serious matter. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss the next steps. I trust that Swift Bus Company will take this complaint seriously and take immediate corrective action.

Bus came 7 minutes early and still drove straight past me when I stuck my arm out then had to wait for 20 minutes for the next bus because the one in between was cancelled so I ended up getting to work late

Thought I would leave the car and use the bus. Disgusting! Dirty, stinky and at times wet seats. They should pay us for suffering the stink and horrible environment. This was found to be the case on 3 different occasions by me and others reported similar experience on the 23/24 bus into Birmingham.

I don't know why they don't inform people of road works that will increase the route by 30 MINUTES plus.
There have been a couple of times that buses did not turn up or stop in the middle to let us wait for the next one without giving us any reason. I'm sick of it and end up paying taxi because of it or late for work. They need to do better because we are paying for the service and it's not fair that they cancel or stop in the middle of the way or being late continuously. Some buses are not regular too which is not fair

Basically Thieves!!

Took a bus today and two inspectors came to see the tickets of people in the bus. I on the other hand had a student ticket since I am a student but forgot to bring my physical id as I had been using the commute today to get to work. An “inspector” took my swift card and asked for my id, I told him I didn’t have a physical id but I was more than happy to show him my Unidays, picture of my id, driving licence and even offered to show him my official student account with my picture, student id number and end of my course date. At the end I even said I can get someone to get me my physical student id and then show it to him while I was waiting with him. He refused but when he had entered the bus he willingly let a man exit from the bus after making an eye contact with him with zero effort to even stop him from leaving. While on other hand I stayed as I PAY for my ticket every single month by doing odd job as a struggling student. He basically took my 2 day salary I really hope that satisfies him and the company he works for. I even told him why he didn’t put even 0 effort stopping a man but full effort forcing me to pay the full fine he said “Well, that’s life”. I asked him to provide me his name or any id but he refused to tell me and said that is none of my concerns. The fact that he refused to even accept the id that I said my friend would bring over really begs the question if scamming people is the way that these “inspectors” are paid. I guess scamming struggling people like us is another source of income for this company. What your employe does/thinks shows what the company stands for so I guess this is what National Express West Midland really stands for. This is an absolutely disgusting behaviour.

Deserve praise

Last week my son lost his wallet, I requested a new bus pass on Tuesday, it arrived today.
Saves him walking over a mile each way to school and back.

But even better, there was another envelope from them, and inside was his wallet!!!

Thanks so much, so refreshing to see such a caring attitude, made my day :)