Easy bus

A snowHead

Apologies if this should be in a different forum but I just want to advise that nobody use this useless transfer service.

Arrived in Geneva on 5th March and went to get our easy bus and it went reasonably smoothly despite leaving 20 minutes late. Only me and my other half on the bus for les gets and a single guy going to morzine. Arrived just over the hour later and all in was a good experience at an excellent price.

Wednesday 8th March standing at the pick up point from 345pm for a 415pm pick up to get us back for our 715pm flight to Edinburgh. At 5pm my oh is panicking and leaves to go to tourist office to look at alternatives. I remain until she returns at 530pm and still no bus. She has phoned every transfer company available and alpy bus come to our aid with a 615pm pick which came on time. Despite it flight being delayed 30 minutes we still missed it and are currently sitting in a hellhole hotel near geneva airport before getting flight tomorrow morning.

At present we have forked out 500 pounds due to missing our flight and I have been unable to find anyone to complain to. You might ask why I didn't phone easy bus after day 20 minutes. That's because you can't as they have no phone number. They also have no desk at Geneva but are ran by cham express. I went to their desk and got a driver who was very coy but admitted they had the franchise for easy bus. He wouldn't give me a contact number for his boss and told me to email when I got back to the UK.

Having spoke to alpy bus they said they had been baling out easy bus passengers all season for buses not turning up. My mate used them 2 weeks ago to morzine and had no problems. This is unacceptable though and having no contact number is a nonsense. We are both due at work tomorrow and have also left our 18 month daughter for the 1st time so that has also been upsetting.

My advice is pay extra and use alpy bus at least you can call them

y

A snowHead

@mikeelsa, grim. I have heard similar.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Dreadful reviews on Trustpilot, too.

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Report on Radio 4 a few weeks ago telling the same story about the UK operation. Sad

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Sorry state of affairs when Alpy Bus are seen as the more reliable service wink

They used to be seen as the lower end of the market with questionable reliability / long delays at GVA etc. Easy Bus seem to have sorted out Alpy Bus's reputation by taking service to a new low!!

Lots of terrible stories about Easybus / Cham Express - I've heard several people reporting that buses not arriving, missing flights and not even getting refunds on the transfers... But the company seem to be good enough to send you an email to confirm they didn't pick you up so you can claim on your travel insurance!!!

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I always just use the scheduled Quibus, ok the departure time may mean a small wait but they are extremely reliable.

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I won't stop emailing until I get somewhere. I am sure easy jet as a company won't want there reputation dragged through the gutter by these cowboys flying under their banner. It appears picking up 2 people is not cost effective but at the very least they should phone you to let you know. My insurance company are very good but the bill should fall at easy buses door.

After all it is free

Strangely enough I have used the UK easybus service to get to Manchester airport, it runs from Shrewsbury via Wrexham and Chester. I have only used it once but it was smack on time and everything worked good. I was the only passenger on the trip to the airport, in a new minibus which was nice for me, but I guess not so good for easybus as I only paid £8 Puzzled

They did have a catastrophe a few weeks before where the bus caught fire at Wrexham station but I understand that was due to a fault on the (new) vehicle and nobody missed their flight. I did have a backup plan anyway as it seemed too good to be true Toofy Grin

but I did not need it.
That easybus franchise, chamexpress and other services I believe are all run by Andrew Martin from Shrewsbury . The Shrewsbury-Manchester one only started in September 2016 so I suppose you could say it's just getting on it's feet, or wheels.
I am probably going to use it next week, but will have a back-up plan Laughing

Totally different situation to @mikeelsa, I appreciate. Easy to have someone ready to come and run me up or back from Manchester in a car, not so easy to have a back-up plan for Morzine to Geneva at the end of your holiday. Terrible way to treat people.

@mikeelsa, The local Morzine FB page is full of stories of shocking service and no support from Easybus so I doubt Andrew Martin really gives a toss (you can quickly find him on FB if you want - he's the one stood next to the Ferrari in his profile picture!), so your approach of going after Easyjet might be a better one! Although there was a fella on there recently who seemed pretty incensed at being taken to Chamonix instead of Morzine and dumped there at midnight - think he was trying to go after them - might be worth catching up with him? PM me if you want me to put you in touch...

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My daughter is working in Moraine. Her company advise their guests not to use Morzexpress/Easybus.

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@mikeelsa, @Dashed, I think the way it works is that the easy brand is licensed / franchised to easybus / andrew martin, as it is to easyjet, by Stelios (what's is name). Stelios is now only a shareholder in easyjet, although a major one, but owns the name, so he / his master franchise organisation might be a better target, perhaps. That's the way I think it is anyway ie easyjet has no real connection with, or control over, easybus apart from both hiring their brand names off the same guy. Not sure if they promote easybus on their website etc. ?

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I booked a whole load of Easybus transfers at the start of the season, for two reasons:

1 - Alpybus kept taking the bookings but then moving the times forward for collection, i expect a bit of this (maybe upto 30mins) as I am far side of Chx, but some of these were 90mins plus.
2 - A scheduled service from Chx to Geneva should be the ideal for me as I can get to Chx Sud easy on the bus in 10mins and then jump on a 75min long scheduled service straight to GVA.

Now Easybus have never let us down (yet) but the stress of standing in Chx Sud waiting for a bus I am never sure will show is just not worth the saving in time and money I make.

So next season it will be back the Alpybus, they mess you around a bit, but I never doubt they'll turn up.

Unfortunately the Ouibus times just don't work for me.

Having said what I have above here's a bit of balance in regard to the reviews on the web:

First the service is a franchise, so a duff review of the Gatwick service for example has little relevance to the Chx service. Except I guess it shows the Franchiser is not too picky about it's Franchisees.

Second i was stood in Chx Sud last week waiting for a 9am Easybus by 8.40am, at 9am there was no bus and no other passengers (how worried was I that the bus was never showing). The bus did show at 9.20am, by then there were at least a dozen people waiting for it. Now a couple of them had been flapping all over the bus depot looking for the Easybus stop since before 9am, but the others all breezed in between let's say 9.05 and 9.15am. This was so weird to me that i wondered if the time had been moved back to 9.30 and I had just booked before that happened. So I asked, and everyone confirmed that they were there for the 9am bus. So if the bus had been waiting at 8.50, as it often is, and had left at 9am prompt then everybody but me (and maybe the two lost waifs wandering the depot) would have missed it. The result I'm sure would have been negative reviews on the web (and I've read some like that). It's a scheduled service, be there on time or you miss it, and just like the 7.22 to Kings Cross you will have no one to blame but yourself.

Having said all that then the least Easybus should do is honour that schedule, and it really sounds like far too often they don't.

You know it makes sense.

Another thought, which is a question really:

You book any transfer and it is to take you from A to B at a certain time. It knocks and for sure you should get a refund (not easy with Easy by all accounts). But are you able to claim any more than that from any transfer company? Or is there responsibility limited.

I know in such circumstances you can probably get insurance to cover things, but my query really is this an example of one of the disadvantages of DIY arrangements, in contrast to the more expensive, but joined up, arrangements and therefore responsibilities of TO's?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@midgetbiker, They have this in their conditions :-

Except as provided in these Conditions of Carriage, we shall not be liable for any loss, damage, liability or cost suffered by you as a result of any cancellation or withdrawal of any easyBus Service by us, or any delay to or termination of any easyBus Service.

and this :-

5.9 Maximum Liability:

Our maximum liability to you for any loss, damage or liability which you may suffer or incur as a result of our failure to carry you, our delay in carrying you, any breach of contract to carry you, our negligence in connection with carrying you, or the deliberate or negligent acts or omissions of any of our officers, employees, agents, representatives or sub contractors shall be limited to the cost of the easyBus ticket purchased for that journey.

Whether any of that would stand up in court I do not know and for most people it's probably not worth the cost of finding out. The loss suffered by the op @mikeelsa, is quite substantial though, but then does he/she want to risk more money ? or just do what you have done and vote / protest with your feet.

A snowHead

I think our insurance are going to cover us but why should they when this company are 100 per cent to blame. I think it is ridiculous that they can just confirm they never picked you up and then expect your insurance to cover it.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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TBH poo-poo always happens.

The issue here is that it happens a LOT seemingly to EasyBus and when it does you have no one to ring after 30mins to see if the bus is ever showing (and no easy way to get a refund if not).

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I am quite surprised that Alpy Bus is being touted as the best alternative.
I had a less than positive experience with them last Saturday night.
One on my sons was booked on the 22:45.
His flight was due in at 21:50 but showing as delayed one hour.

It is no way Alpy Bus fault , and the T&C say very clearly that if you miss the bus then that's considered a no show, and they give no guarantee that they will find you an alternative, I am perfectly fine with that.

We called them before it took off, and they said they'd sort it. So I though they had really stepped up to the plate and found an alternative, excellent customer service.

As it happened the flight landed at 22:33, and was shown on the boards as having arrived, but by the time he got to the Alpy Bus desk it was 22:50 (hand luggage only) and he was told that the bus had left.

Ok - no problem with that. They then said the next bus was full so he could not get it.

The result was me driving 1hr down to the airport to get him, and an hour back again, getting home at 1AM, and wasting 26 EUR on the ticket.

I accept that it's all in the T&C, but what disappoints me is that they told us it would be sorted, and then the reality was that it was completely not-sorted.

If they'd just said "If he misses it, then the next one is full so sorry we cant help" that would be fine. I'd just have set off earlier to be at the airport to get him.

I worked as a driver for 4 seasons, and we had people's flight numbers and mobile numbers ( part of the booking process ), and if we saw that the flight was down, but they had not come through we would call the number provided (on shared transfers) to see if they would be through imminently, or they had missed the flight, or just out of courtesy to say that we we're about to leave.

I just wonder what is the point of them taking a flight number and phone number if they're just going to leave anyway? (it just "wrongly" gave me the impression that they gave a toss, especially as the last bus was full, and no alternative actually existed).

As I say, I understand that they are perfectly within the T&C, so I have no reason for recourse, I am just disappointed by those two elements of poor expectation management.

I would add that I had checked for availability with Skiddy, Ski-Lifts, Rolling Road, Magic, A2B, and The Mountain Bus before engaging their services. This experience has not elevated them in the pecking order.

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I think the comparisons being drawn between Alpybus & EasyBus are because they are the two providers at the budget end of the market.

I was boarding the EasyBus at GVA last month when I looked at the Transporter/Vito next to us. It was a transfer company. Blacked out windows, maybe 6 seats total, all leather with tables and screens. The driver was in full uniform and was ferrying bags from the terminal for his passengers. Those passengers clearly had a great service from a company who would no way leave them in the lurge, but they will have paid handsomely for it, which is their choice and right.

BTW that doesn't excuse unacceptable service from a budget provider, if that service falls below what you can reasonably expect (at the price point).

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I would also add that alpy bus were the only ones able to help us as others we phoned spoke French (as is their right in France) and we couldn't communicate so they hung up. It's the first time in 9 ski holidays we have not went with crystal and only because we wanted a short break so not leaving our 18 month old to long without us. I normally trip adviser everything but didn't think I needed to with easy bus. Just home and our wee girl is delighted to see us.

Back to crystal next year and any future shorto breaks I will hire a car or pay top dollar

After all it is free

Not relevant from a bus experience, but a "good" transfer experience with a private transfer. We used Green Valley transfers from Geneva to Megève and back 3 days later. 7 guys total cost €340 - no problems. I accept if you're on your own buses etc are cheaper, but I would always look at getting a private transfer. We booked these guys through www.findtransfers.com

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Don't know how to add the
Reply I have had but easy bus have replied with a cut and paste of what was put on here earlier. Basically they are not liable for anything and will refund my fare to my bank account. Unbelievable that they are getting away with this. Like I said I am going to take this as far as I can. The guy running this as far as I am concerned is a fraudster and a criminal. Even if I can get watchdog or someone to take an interest it might get something done

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Easybus are making Alpybus look good this season.

Easybus are as poo-poo as many people predicted, unfortunately for this that have booked. I've heard some interesting numbers of people stranded at GVA or in town by them each weekend.

You get what you pay for.

snow reports

You get what you pay for in some respects. Pay 50 quid for a hotel room and it will be dated and tired looking, pay 300 for a room and it will be pretty plush. Difference being it will be there and you are right you get what you pay for. With easy bus you pay but you get f#@$ all so you don't get what you pay for. I know what you are getting at but they are basically taking your money knowing they are not going to provide you a service. That is fraud. They probably hope people just give up but I won't

What about Altibus have you tried them , they seemed ok when I used them but that was a few years ago

You know it makes sense.

@mikeelsa,

Check to see if your contract is with an English registered company. A number of the transfer in the Alps companies are actually English, but with a French/Swiss transport licence. Or they may be operating as a "branch", which isn't quite the same as being a French company.

Potential to investigate trading standards U.K. or taking them to court in the U.K. if you've suffered loss.

Trading standards might only cover trade in England but given that easybus operates in the U.K. then it might be worth a go.

I am not a lawyer etc.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Myself and my brother tried easybus for the first time this year (seperate trips) as the price seemed too good to be true (which ironically it probably is!).

My brothers plane was delayed, so he arrived late and consequently the bus had gone. He was annoyed for 2 reasons - firstly, he's been on buses before (such as Ben's Bus) which have waited for an additional 10-15mins for delayed planes. And secondly, the plane that was delayed was an Easyjet!

Personally, I have little sympathy with his first annoyance - that's the service he paid for unfortunately! However, I kind of get his frustration at the second point, they must realise they are damaging both brands.

I also took Easybus - no issues with the transfer to resort (although hunting the bus in geneva car park wasn't fun as there didn't seem to be designated pick up point or anyone to ask!) but not overly impressed by the return trip. I received a text message from the driver 90mins before the bus's scheduled departure time saying "where are you, we've leaving". Turns out easyjet have sub-contracted it out to ChamExpress at an early time but no-one had thought to tell me! It all worked out fine but it's not worth the stress.

I won't be using them in future and will pay a little more for something more reliable. Everyone is right, you get what you pay for. I'm sure Easybus are okay in most instances, but you're on hols and it's not worth the stress. Never had an issue with Ben's Bus so will stick to someone like them.

A snowHead

This is well worth a run out on one of the TV/newspaper consumer forums. Sounds like they'll have no problems finding enough cases.

A snowHead

@Handy Turnip, You, understandably, are making a connection between easyjet and easybus. There is'nt really a connection as I understand it except for this :-

"I think the way it works is that the easy brand is licensed / franchised to easybus / andrew martin, as it is to easyjet, by Stelios (what's is name). Stelios is now only a shareholder in easyjet, although a major one, but owns the name, so he / his master franchise organisation might be a better target, perhaps. That's the way I think it is anyway ie easyjet has no real connection with, or control over, easybus apart from both hiring their brand names off the same guy. Not sure if they promote easybus on their website etc. ?"

I agree, all this sort of stuff cannot be good for easyjet, as well as all the other easy franchises, I think there is coffee and all sorts ?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Has anyone used Skiddy Gonzalas? Do they take you up to the top of Avoriaz or leave you at the cable car?

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Skiidy are very good.
They will take you to the drop off point at the resort entrance.
If you are in Pas de Lac, Sepia, Sassanka or Yucca the cable car is probably a better option.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@WindOfChange, I'm in saskia falaise which would you recommend, cable car or resort entrance?

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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@gabbooc Definitely Resort Entrance. Its about 2 minute walk to Saskia.

After all it is free

This is a weird question I know, and it's my own fault for being cheap in the first place. But I booked alpy bus return to avoriaz because of how much cheaper it is. Our flight back has been moved forward to 10:50am, with the cable car opening at 7 and our transfer being booked for 7:20. Reading here how unreliable alpybus can be, is it worth me shelling out the difference and booking a skiddy Gonzales transfer from the resort entrance on the way back?

+1 Skiidy Gonzalez.

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Since the summer we have been using ouibus ( for les contamines but also do cham st gervais megeve )all on line no problems Free wifi on bus nice big coaches not expensive def worth a look!

Help!!

Easy bus

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