All reviews of Jenny Cottle
Review about: Shearings Coach Holidays
Coach Holiday
Dublin and the Heart of Ireland Oct 22
I was left alone and vulnerable at 4.30am at the pick-up point as the coach was running late.
The 'Executive' coach had very limited leg room and narrow seats. it was not suitable for a long distance drive. The toilets were not cleaned for the duration of the trip and smelled very bad. The heating was either very hot or very cold.
The drivers had no local knowledge which made the trips out very dull. They seemed disinterested in the paying customers. The trip to Dublin was arbitrarily re-arranged to accommodate the birthday celebration of one driver the night before. As a result the passengers were forced to endure Dublin in a thunderstorm (the only day of the week this occurred, a fact born out by the weather forecast) This enabled them to sleep all afternoon on the coach.
Once back on the coach soaking wet and miserable, we had to wait a further 40 mins at a garage whilst they re-fueled and tried to pay the garage using a Shearings bank card with no funds in it. Since the drivers had 4 hours free time that afternoon I would question why this was done when the 45 seat coach was was full. As a result we were late back for dinner.
The travel times to and from our destinations were heavily increased by a multitude of pick- up points.
The cramped coach was not suitable for anyone who was heavily built or tall. It resembled a school bus. On the journey home the driver spoke for 7-10 mins on his mobile phone, informing his caller the he was "concentrating" on his driving on numerous occasions, but continuing the conversation.
Shearings response to my complaints;
They deal with everything in-house, all drivers are contracted out and the coaches are individually leased. When they called me I spent the best part of an hour confirming my experiences, after which time the customer service rep had a five minute exchange with her manager and I was dismissed. No wonder Shearings went into liquidation! Has Ian Henry of Leger any idea what he has taken on?