We used this bus service for our wedding this past weekend. We did like that it was a more economical bus option to ensure no one was drinking and driving! But I guess you get what you pay for.. The bus driver was unprofessional with our wedding planner in front of guest and refused to listen to the bride and groom’s wishes.

2 buses were reserved, which were quite full going to the venue and the plan was for the wedding party (which had already been dropped off at the venue by cars earlier in the day) to ride the buses back from the venue to the hotel at the end of the night. Because the numbers were going to be close going back, (I had previously called the local bus location and talked with them about one of the buses making a second trip back, and was told that would be perfectly fine to do as long as it was between the time we had the buses reserved for and that we just needed to talk to the bus driver the day of). So an announcement was made an hour before the end of the night for those that wanted to get on the bus. 15 or so people chose to leave the venue and were seated on the bus. Our wedding planner then went out to tell the bus driver they could leave to drop off the guest at the hotel and then come back with plenty of time to get the rest of the guest at the planned departure time. The driver raised her voice at the wedding planner and refused to leave the venue without a full bus load of people. After 15 minutes, the wedding planner realized there was nothing else she could do at that point to get the guest back to the hotel, she pulled them all back off and had them call Ubers and some were able to squeeze into other guest cars. It left the bride and groom feeling a little embarrassed for the guest to be sitting on the bus and listening to the bus driver raise her voice and be disrespectful and refusing service.

The only bus trips that were not messed up were the first and last. The bus arrived at the hotel and dropped our participants at our meeting location on Monday. After that, it was a mess. Monday afternoon, the bus was supposed to pick us up and take us to dinner in downtown St. Louis, wait 90 minutes, and take us to the hotel. The bus showed up a half hour late and had no idea that was the trip. No one from the company called to tell us there was a problem and the bus would be late. We had to track down the information by calling their dispatch line over and over. Once the bus arrived and after the driver agreed to do our pre-paid itinerary, it took another half hour to get everything sorted out. I had to pay for the driver's dinner AND gave her an additional $20 tip because she was NOT expecting to do more than a simple 30 minute run. She was lovely and did what was needed.

On Tuesday morning, our bus was supposed to arrive at 8:30 but didn't arrive until 9:20. By then, our participants had all taken Ubers to the meeting location. The driver was suck in traffic but again, no one called to tell us the driver was running late.

It took another hour on the phone to sort out refunds and make sure someone would be at the location for our final trip which was from our meeting location back to our hotel. Thankfully, that driver came early and hung out in the parking lot until we were ready to leave.

It was a mess. We were late for a dinner reservation and missed an hour of our meeting time because of the buses. And no one responds to phone calls!

Bus drivers were on time and communicative! Our route and needs are unique, so very thankful for how smoothly everything went! Thanks Union Branch Dispatch and Drivers!

Our customer service and our driver experience was terrific from start to finish. We went and saw holiday lights as part of a family outing and our driver was so festive, even playing holiday music for us!

The bus drivers and transportation was great. The problem we have is communication with the office. So difficult to call to arrange the trip. Also- we did not need to leave until 9:45 but we were forced to contract at 9:00. 10:00 would have been cutting it too close. That is a lot of extra expense. We will not be able to take trips this year due to cost.

Ashley was an awesome customer service rep. I appreciated her attention to detail and was willing to work with us, even when we had changes.

The drivers were awesome and did a great job. They were on time and flexible with our schedule.

This is the third time we have used First Charter and will use them again in the future.
An overall great experience.

Customer Service rep was great! Always helpful and helped make it a very easy process for us. The bus driver was also great and was helpful with the school when transitioning with their lunches. Buses were on time and was patience with everything!

Trip was great! Thank you!

Good afternoon,

I can not give an explanation about the actual bus experience, only about the cost - per trip is extremely
HIGH and the process to receive a quote in not consistent. Thank you for asking-

Our driver was prompt, courteous, and professional. Great experience

The driver was on time, very friendly, and accommodating!

Ms. Regina was a wonderful driver! We have a great trip.

The driver was polite. I felt safe the whole time. She was punctual.

The scheduler for the buses was great however once bus was unabled to be used and back to the hub because there was a leak and no one contacted me regarding that challenge.

No complaints from the students or teacher.

The bus arrived on time and waited patiently for the guests. The driver was nice and understanding.

2 buses were to arrive at 9:00 am. None showed up. When I called to check on this, no one could even find where they were supposed to be coming from. Event had to be rescheduled to a later time. Didn't know if we would have buses until 10:30 for an 11:00 arrival. It was a very stressful experience. Also, we had 74 kinder through 4th graders. Three could fit across the seat easily. However, we were told we had to have two buses. The driver said we could have had all on one bus. The bus held 72 and we were told you have buses that hold 78. Lastly, we spent $850 for two buses to go 25 minutes away. Waaaay too expensive. I will avoid using First Student in the future if at all possible and will make sure to pass this on to all Archdiocesan schools.

I appreciated the promptness of the buses. We were late getting to our destination due to our driver taking a wrong turn.