AVOID THIS BUS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!!!!!! The incompetence of this company's management, staff, and drivers on the day of my daughter's wedding caused us angst, anger, and exasperation, not to mention we lost an hour of the wedding reception on that evening this past September. My daughter contracted with United Bus to have three coach buses transport 56 people each from a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, to a wedding venue in the Mount Vernon area about 20 miles away, then back again after the reception at 11 p.m. on September 14, 2019. Allowing for a 20- to 25-minute drive, we figured the passengers would board between 4 and 4:15 p.m. and arrive at the venue no later than 4:50 p.m. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. So at 4 p.m. on Sept. 14 at the Hilton Old Town Alexandria, how many United Bus Charter buses showed up? One. When did Bus No. 2 show up? At 5:20 p.m. When did the third bus show up for the 4 p.m. pickup? Never. A comedy of errors and incompetence left nearly 100 guests waiting in the hotel lobby, so our wedding planner and her assistant quickly set up an Uber code tied to my account to start ferrying guests to the venue as they waited for the second and third buses to arrive at the hotel. Some guests used the code, others just paid themselves, and by the time Bus No. 2 arrived - 80 minutes late! - only seven guests and the wedding planner assistant were left. This 55-person bus departed with eight passengers at around 5:30 p.m. and arrived at 5:55, so the ceremony didn't begin until 6 - one full hour late. This hour delay caused the reception - scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. - to start at 8, meaning we lost an hour of the reception, a full 60 minutes of fun and laughter and dancing, because the venue could not extend beyond 11 p.m. because of noise ordinances and worker considerations. THERE'S MORE: After the reception, there was another bus issue. The third bus finally had arrived, so three buses were lined up in the parking lot, packed with our guests and ready to take them to a bar in Old Town Alexandria for an after-party. One bus departed on time, a little after 11 p.m., while the other two buses idled and prepared to leave. But one of the buses, driven by the same woman who was 80 minutes late for the afternoon pickup, took the wrong exit lane and could not navigate a left-hand turn out of the parking lot - in fact, she hit a fence with the bus, causing damage to the fence and the bus. Then, to add insult to injury, this incompetent driver was unable to back up the bus correctly and maneuver it to a point where she could make a right-hand turn to loop around and take the correct lane out. Her bus blocked the third bus from departing, so 100-plus guests were left stranded on these buses FOR 45 MINUTES! Finally, the driver of the other bus had to get out of his vehicle, take the wheel of her bus, and back up her vehicle so that his bus could get through and her bus could make a right turn, loop around the parking lot, and take the correct lane to finally get out of the lot. Yes, this company's bus driver was unable to maneuver her vehicle in reverse. Beginning on Monday, Sept. 16, we began emailing and calling the bus company to get information on how this situation unfolded and to request a full refund. These efforts were met with more unbelievable incompetence from the company's staff. First, we were told the company's owner was out of the country, unreachable, and would be back "next week," meaning the week of Sept. 23. We eventually found out that he was indeed reachable and had access to the internet, yet he was unable to send us even one email from his account? To say something like, "I understand your frustration and will deal with this when I return from abroad on so-and-so date." In the meantime, the wedding venue sent an email to the United Bus representative who had facilitated the contract, and her response was laughable and almost unintelligible. This response led the wedding venue to ban the bus company from its site, saying, "It sounds to me as if your company owes this family some compensation for the situation they had to endure regarding the timing and professionalism of your drivers. With regard to our venue, we will not be allowing United Bus back at our property as a vendor, and will be informing our clients of this." We continued to call and email the company and were met with more incompetence and delay tactics. "Next week" become the following week before finally the owner picked up his phone. After some back-and-forth, the owner said that he "wasn't proud" of his company's performance that day but would not be giving us a full refund as we requested. In the end, the United Bus owner offered less than a one-third refund, and after consulting with a lawyer, we decided to accept the offer rather than deal with this incompetent company any further. All in all, I would STRONGLY suggest not using United Bus Charter for any reason. read more

United Bus Charter - Photo shows damage to bus caused by driver's incompetence. After hitting a fence, she was unable to      maneuver bus in reverse. - Buses Near Me

Do not use this bus company!!!! We were guests at a wedding and 2 of the buses did not show up to transport the guests with no calls/warning. The guests were stranded and had to take Uber's to the wedding which caused the wedding to be an hour late and the couple lost an hour of their reception. Then, after the wedding, the bus driver on our bus got stuck because she couldn't make a turn to get out of the venue. We were stuck on the bus for an hour while she tried to get out. People were throwing up on the bus because they were so carsick from the jerky driving going forward and backwards trying to get out. It was a nightmare situation and to make matters even worse , the owner gave the couple a (laughable) partial refund. Not only should they have given a full refund but an apology would have gone a long way too. I highly encourage you avoid their services and find a company that has better ethics and management. Also, Gregor L.'s review is someone at the bus company who is trying to balance out the negative reviews. The sketchiness of this company continues. read more

After chartering 2 of their buses for a couple of days: The good: Their prices are competitive. The staff is nice, flexible, and responsive to work with. They worked with us to revise our itinerary up to the last minute. The drivers were on time and patient with our group. The bad: - They accidentally charged us twice and had to give back the money from the 2nd charge (they weren't supposed to but internal miscommunication in them). - One of the drivers they selected drove terribly (recklessly and unstably) - The driver put the wrong address so that we were heading to the same street in the city borough instead of the actual city, where we were supposed to. I had to check with the driver to get him back on course. - buses were old and not great read more

I beg of you- DO NOT HIRE this bus company. They are so incompetent. The bus drivers are unprofessional and late. They will ruin your event. If you are reading this thinking, "oh it's not so bad, they have 3 stars, how bad can it be?! and they are so reasonably priced!"- THINK AGAIN. That is what we thought...and then it went horribly wrong. ALL of the positive reviews on here are from YEARS ago. This company has gone seriously downhill (which is an understatement, really they should be out of business). Please don't make the mistake of booking them and then kicking yourself later. read more

IF I COULD GIVE ZERO STARS, I WOULD. Possibly the WORST transportation company on this planet. My company booked them for transportation for two nights. First night, we were supposed to get two buses. One showed up. The other took another ride right before our reserved time and therefor was "running late". Cool. The bus that did show up was so run down, it looked like it got into an accident on the way. Also outdated buses. The second night we then received two buses, two bus types that we did not order, and they were on time sure, but run down and just so unprofessional. The worker/representative/booking agent WHATEVER you would try to call her, is so incompetent. When you ask to speak to the person in charge, they are never around and always off on site somewhere. I call BS. We were told we would receive a refund for our trips. They offered a $60 refund, for a $2,000+ reservation..OKAY. I will forever spread the word on how awful this company is. DO NOT USE THEM...especially if you have any respect for your company and guests. read more

So disappointed in the company. They were late. The drivers didn't know how to manuever buses around large driveways and around the streets of Virginia. Definitely ruined my day and the entire event. I would never use them again. read more

I give United Bus Charter 5 stars, they did a really good job taking us on a tour to New York City. The seats were so comfortable and spacious, the bus and the bathroom were clean, in addition to the cold water bottles they always give. This is the way buses should be! I would definitely recommend it! read more

United Bus Charter is a wonderful company. Jay and Carmela are always patient. They know the industry well and operate the company efficiently. They have a lot of resources for the buses and always try to meet all the needs for the client. They listen and respect people. We used the service for one of our client before with highly praise. Thanks Jay and Carmela for the wondering service and management!!! read more

We had an excellent experience with this company. I was able to get everything set-up with pretty short notice. The driver was prompt and really friendly. He found a spot to wait and I called him when we were ready. I would work with this company again on another trip in DC. read more

Do NOT hire this company!!! Wedding transportation can be a difficult thing to organize properly, but this was the worst I have ever seen! The ceremony was forced to start an HOUR late because the buses simply didn't show up and half the wedding had to last minute take Ubers to the wedding after waiting outside the hotel for over an hour. THEN the buses got stuck trying to take the guests back from the reception (in perfect weather, the bus driver just didn't know how to turn), and 100 guests were stuck for ANOTHER HOUR. I felt so bad for the bride and groom, this was the biggest buzzkill I could possibly imagine. Do not trust this company with any event you care about!! read more

We went on a three hour bus ride from Houston to Austin took six buses and Two of them did not have air conditioning luckily one of the buses had windows you could roll down sadly that was not my bus the driver said that it would cool off but that wasn't the case when we got there someone took the temperature and it was 87°. I know the weather outside had nothing to do with this because it was thirty degrees cooler outside. Along with this the bathroom did not have any lights and no toilet seat. I would not reccomend company that does not check there facilities before offering them. read more

Staff was very professional. I was able to book a charter last minute for a big group and the staff was on top of it. They're communication was amazing. The trip went exactly as planned. I would recommend them over any other company. I do plan to use again in the future. read more

What is the job of a bus company? To show up on time, and deliver customers to their desired location safely. That's the bare minimum. I'm not even asking for comfortable seats or cleanliness or even a friendly driver. Just to show up on time and drive. This company did none of the above. When it was time to get picked up from the hotel to go to a 250+ person wedding at a property once inhabited by George Washington himself, the bus didn't show. We waited 30 minutes before finally being told by the wedding planner that the bus wasn't going to show up and that she could not get a hold of anyone at this bus company. They just didn't show up AND went radio silent. The entire wedding was delayed an hour while most of the attendees scrambled to order ubers, which ate into the reservation time for the wedding. Meaning, the actual wedding was cut short because of a bus company. On top of this, when the bus company could finally be bothered to answer the phone 3 hours later, they lied and said that the owner was out of town and then when called back an hour later they had an entirely different excuse for why the bus never showed and why they didn't answer our requests for help while we were stranded at the hotel. At one point they said they didn't own any buses so they couldn't control them! Oh but wait, there is more. On the way out of the wedding, the bus that was supposed to take everyone back to the hotel literally pulled an Austin Powers and got stuck between a tree and a fence and we lurched in reverse into drive repeatedly for an hour before we could get out of the property! An hour! People had to get off the bus because they were getting sick. They never even thought about how to get out of the parking lot. So we missed the after party as a result. The bare minimum requirement of a bus company folks: show up and get you there safely. They didn't do either and then they lied about it all. You can use this bus company if you choose because after all, this is America. Just know you're playing with fire. They may literally not show up, not answer the phone, lie to you and then crash the bus. read more

Jay and his staff at United Bus are very reliable and dependable. I will be using them for additional projects we have in the DC area!

Jay Rihan was FANTASTIC and very flexible throughout our weekend in DC. We had a group of about 25 people with multiple different stops, and Jay was always very timely to work with us when we had to change the schedule on the fly. He was also very knowledgeable about the area and was able to provide the best pickup locations for us to get our group to and from busy areas. The one suggestion I would provide to the company would be that the lights on the inside of the bus would turn on and off over large potholes in the road. Otherwise was a smooth trip throughout. Thanks Jay! read more

United Bus Charter did a great job with our 6th Grade class on a trip to NYC. Keith was our driver and he was extremely pleasant and very good to work with. Bus was clean and comfortable. I would give 5 stars, but we had a little trouble setting up the booking. For some reason, it was difficult to hear when we called the company and emails were not always responded to as quickly as we would have liked. Still, our kids were safe and happy and the price was fair. We would definitely do business with them again. read more

We used United Bus Charter for wedding transportation. They picked us up at 2 different hotels, brought us to the ceremony, and then on to the restaurant in Alexandria and finally back to the hotels at the end of the night. The bus was clean and comfortable. Jay was our driver. He was very pleasant and friendly and did a good job of driving. . read more

A wedding that I went to recently used United. It was awful. They were late and some buses didn't even show. Definitely do not use them!

We had a wonderful experience with United Bus Charter. We booked them for a work outing and they were on time, courteous, and very professional -- not to mention affordable! Our driver even had snacks and water aboard! Will definitely considering booking with United Bus Charter again. read more

This company is an epic disaster. I hired them for my wedding and had 55 guests waiting for the bus at night. The driver ended up going to a location in NW DC, rather than NE. All of my guests had to order Ubers. On the top of that, the company never apologized or gave us our money back. Stay away. Jeff from DC. read more

This company ruined our wedding and I do not recommend them. We had 50+ guests waiting for a bus, but the company sent it to NW Washington, rather than NE. After the mistake, the company felt no remorse and did nothing to apologize for leaving everybody hanging. Worst company ever. Please spread the word. read more

We had a great experience with United Bus Charter! After an awful experience with a different company, the team over at United really helped us out. We needed charter buses to transport over 150 wedding guests around DC over the course of two days, however, many of the details of the trip were changing up to the last minute. Mary helped us organize the details and was so patient and kind, and even helped us to keep the cost within our budget. On the days of the event, our drivers were Jay and Robert. They were extremely professional and friendly, and got us everywhere we needed to be on time. They were also really flexible when plans changed. Overall it was a great experience and we will continue to use United Charter Bus for all of our bus rental needs. read more

We want to thank United Bus Charter for shuttling our wedding party and close family around for our wedding. We wanted a shuttle to take our close guests around Old Town Alexandria after our ceremony to take pictures and to drop us off at our venue. Our driver was very professional and the shuttle was very clean. Of course our ceremony went later than expected but the driver was right on time and kept us running on time. We had a limited time outdoors for taking pictures before sunset and our driver calmly and efficiently drove us around Old Town to the places we wanted to go. When we called the company a couple of times before our wedding to confirm the shuttles and times, everyone was always helpful and professional. I would highly recommend this company. read more

Would not recommend using this bus charter company. They had the most competitive rate but their driver got our mini bus stuck in a large hotel parking lot (wedged it into a small but obvious incline to the point where the back tires were off the ground) and we all had to take uber to the restaurant and they had to call a tow truck to get the bus unstuck. Because the bus got wedged into the parking lot and the back bumper got bent upwards at a high angle, we were no longer able to use the back luggage storage compartment from that evening forward. The A/C did not keep the bus cool, and the DVD player didn't work. It also ate the DVD we put into it when we tried to make it work. The bus driver also didn't know how to use the DVD player at all. All of that I could have lived with if their customer service in addressing these problems hadn't been so ineffectual. I lodged these complaints immediately, and it took them a whole month to get back to me about my complaints. I called twice a week, every week for four weeks, emailed every week multiple times, and they always said a manager would get back to me and that the manager was always not in the office. When someone finally responded to me, I'm not sure that it was a manager, and it was not helpful or accommodating in the least. I can't imagine why it took them one month to write it. read more

Our church group had a very good experience with United for a 3-day trip from DC to North Carolina. The quote and reservation process was easy. Staff was courteous and professional over the phone. The driver was cooperative and friendly. He arrived on time for departure and for the several stops we had at our destination. The bus was clean and comfortable. A few areas for improvement were that the heating on the bus was somewhat uneven from front to back and the bathroom did not have a working light. Also, wi-fi only worked for a few of our passengers who attempted to access it. We were pleased that United agreed to our request to refund what we paid for wi-fi. We would recommend United to others. read more