Bookaride Reviews 195

Bus skipped Belleville and customer service was terrible. No response or refund. Avoid at all costs

I cannot fathom that I would get onto a blank white bus that should be saying “bookaride” but nothing.
Get pulled over by a police officer forced to get off and wait 3 hours for another bus when they said it would be there in 20 minutes.
The new bus smelled so bad of urine, I felt like I was sitting in an out house all the way home.

One the first bus I had he got pulled over and we had to wait 3 hours for the next bus and then we had the worst driver ever. When I tell you this diver got off an exit from the highway slammed on the brakes realized he’s going the wrong way and wasn’t supposed to get off the highway yet and then proceeded to back up off the exit into the highway, if any vehicle wanted to take that exit they would have hit the bus as he backed onto a busy highway during midday rush

The only benefit of this carrier is its low price, but it doesn't compensate for all the discomfort we experienced as passengers on our way from Toronto to Ottawa. The bus was about 30-40 minutes late. It was a night trip, the lighting was dim, and passengers were about to sleep. However, the driver was talking on the phone the entire time, and the conversation was so loud that we couldn't even think of falling asleep. There was no lighting in the toilet and it was so disgustingly dirty and stank, and terribly full and clogged that no one could use it. There was no cleaning between rides, not to mention that the bus was old and dirty throughout and the company didn’t care about customer service and its reputation at all.

Waited for the bus for over an hour in downtown Toronto with my son and other students going to Kingston for st paddy’s day and the bus never showed up! No way to contact them that night! Terrible! Never use them.

Horrible/ non existent customer service, help phone service they provide doesnt work, always departing and arriving late. Writing this on a trip where we got picked up 10 minutes late but will somehow arrive 2 hours late.

Their cancelations are actual scams, I canceled a trip and got. A voucher to amount X to use on another trip, but attempting to use it while paying for another trip of exact X amount just refreshes the page. Ended up paying twice.

I don't even get my tickets through email anymore, and their "send ticket to email" service when logged in NEVER works.

There's a "where's my bus" feature but the feature but the GPS trackers turned off half the time so the drivers don't show anyone how late they are.

Buses are dirty. There's literal scraps of food on the seat behind me.

Wifi never works. Power outlets are a decoration, they've never worked on a a single bus I've used.

I've been going with bookaride for almost a full year now (at least once every 2 months or so) and this was the final straw. Don't take at all costs, you can find better deals for better quality elsewhere.

I booked a bus for Friday at 8 pm, checked the site while getting ready at 7 15 to find that they canceled the trip and didn't bother to tell me.

They canceled one Saturday morning at 7 am, and a friend of mine waited an hour at the bus stop in the freezing cold because they didn't send him an email either. Now the only bus after that is going to be 2 hours late?

Paying that cheap price is a gamble that you'll arrive not a. Guarantee.

You can do better.

I have used BookARide 6 times in the last few months because I go between Ottawa and Toronto for work. 5 out of the 6 times, the outlets didn't work... so my laptop died while I was working and I had to charge my phone by using the bus driver's port (not sure why his outlet worked and our didn't.)
The wifi NEVER works and 3 different times, I had to wait 45 mins or more for the bus to arrive (in -15C weather. It will never get to the destination on time either. I now prefer to spend the extra $100 with Via Rail and have stable wifi for work, outlets that operate, and bathrooms that are cleaned. These people are about as bad as Greyhound at this point. I don't recommend unless you're desperate.

The bus upon entering smells like pee. the 2.5 hrs of bus right mad eme puke coz of the smell. Please clean your bus. I qm in the bus right now

Avoid at all costs. Booked a ride from Brockville to Ottawa, and the bus never came. Asked for a refund but never got an answer from them.

Bus did not come. I waited for one hour . No notification from company. I shall never use this company again.
My stop in Marmora ON, bus from Ottawa.

I've used several bus companies in Ontario for years.
This was a last minute booking with this company as there weren't any departure times available for me with any other bus company. The bus didn't look or sound like it had been maintained.
The driver didn't seem to be familiar with this particular route (Toronto to Kingston) as he nearly missed an exit leaving Toronto. The driver also asked the passengers for directions leaving Whitby as he was unclear which direction to go. The driving didn't leave me feeling too relaxed as we were constantly drifting onto the rumble strips.
There were no announcements made at any of the 4 stops to and including Kingston. We waited at each stop while the driver got off for a smoke break.
I had to ask the driver to lower the temperature on the full bus as it was unbearably warm at 23C.
It took 3 1/2 hours to reach Kingston from Toronto and I couldn't get off this bus fast enough.
Very unprofessional company and I'll never consider using them again.

Extremely old buses, smelly cabin, no heating in winter so you have to wear your coat during the entire ride. Always late, support is non-existent and often cancels so be prepared to have a plan B when booking with them.

The bus broke down before we even left the parking lot. Information was not given by the bus driver at all, and I was forced to take a Lyft due to the significant delay. I have not received any refund, even though I requested this via. the customer service email, which you do not respond. This is inacceptable.

The company does not provide any updates whatsoever, my driver was 45 minutes late and when we got on the road he was an awful driver as well. The driver also saw me struggling to put my bag into the compartments below and he didn't even help. He almost went into the ditch several times. The bus also did not smell great.

I bought my son a ticket to come home from London to Toronto on February 17th - pick up location was at Via Rail station. He arrived early and no bus arrived. He waited with 20 other people. He then receives another email saying the bus arrived at the Via Rail station but when you open the map it says the bus was at another stop. He waited for an additional hour and no bus arrived. He put a ticket in on the 17th and has not heard back from them. I sent an email to contact @bookaride and have not heard back. Tried to use their "live" chat waited 1 hour no response. FYI, Bookaride had under their FAQ that if the bus is late up to 4 hours you will not be compensated anything after 4 will be. This has now been taken down. I also looked on the better business bureau they have a F rating. It is not worth saving $10 when you have to purchase another ticket from another company.

If I could 0 stars I would. The company that owns Book-a-Ride is called " Express Group of Companies." If you think that's a silly name, it's because the company is fake. They seem to specialize in "Business Setup Services," whatever that means. They will do absolutely anything to keep as much money from you a possible. I've lost a total of $110 CAD from this company. I got charged twice but was given no ticket. They eventually gave me these vouchers that can only be used with their service, which do not even work more than half of the time you use them! I finally was able to get a ticket, and the bus failed to show up. Luckily, I was able to book a VIA Rail ride in time, but seriously find another solution. It's not just about the company being totally useless, but truly the principle of it. These people are scammers. By patronizing their business, you only allow them to scam more people. Trust me, there are other options to get where you need at an affordable price, Pop-a-Ride for instance, heck, even look through Kijiji!

Good luck, you'll need it if you're already mixed up with these fraudsters

Scam company! Leaving customers stranded with no email letting them know if they are going to be late or a no show! They should be shut down!

They are not deserve even one star. It’s a cheat company and they don’t update to the customer not contact the customer. I strongly recommend not to book any service from bookAride company. They gave me bus ticket for 02/16/2024 at 08.05 pm at Toronto International Airport to London but no bus was there and they didn’t reply any call or message/ email. They harassed me very badly.

Bus was over an hour and a half late, no compensation. The busses always have a bad smell and they are never clean. Poorly trained drivers, they're always slamming the breaks and making risky maneuvers, I take this all the time from Ottawa and Toronto.

I totally don't recommend it. The bus hasn't arrived, and no one has returned the money. There is no technical support on the site. It feels like this is not a legitimate company, but rather scammers, as they sell tickets for non-existent buses.