We had a charter bus to take a group of 55. On the day we were to be picked up, the bus arrived late, and right before we were to leave, one of the family members of a passenger noticed we had a flat tire. We then had to wait until someone could arrive to change the tire, putting us even further behind schedule. The first few hours were uneventful, other than the bathroom in the rear of the bus was leaking some kind of fluid, and there was a smell back there, even though no one had used the bathroom at all.
We switched drivers, and things went well, except for the continuing smell. Our driver was nice and polite, and did a walk-around the bus before we left after the driver switch. At least this time, we knew we didn't have a flat since she did the walk-around.
Several hours into the trip, the bus slowed to a crawl, and a warning beep began sounding. The bus had over-heated. The driver was told to add collant, but there was no stepladder so she could not reach the port to pour it in. Fortunately, we had a tall passenger who was able to reach up and pour it in. We managed to limp along to the next exit, about three miles, but could not have made it any further. The driver called the ACR mechanic back, and he told her to pour in more water...which was not going to fix a leak in any way what-so-ever. The earlier coolant, and this water just poured out almost as fast as it was poured in to the bus. At one point, the supervisor blamed the driver for not checking the engine out before she drove. I don't know how they expected her to check out the internal workings of the engine in a parking lot in the middle of the night, but apparently she was supposed to see that there was an issue with an internal part.
ACR did not send someone to fix the bus, but a couple of us passengers were able to locate someone to take a look at the bus, and after we did that, ACR apparently authorized them to try to fix the bus. Unfortunately, the engine of the bus was in such poor shape, it could not be repaired.
When we asked for assistance from ACR to either continue our trip, or to help us get back home, they did nothing. We eventually had to rent several 15-passenger vans so that we could all leave.
The company did nothing to help us out. If we had not arranged to rent those vans on our own, at additional expense, we would still be sitting at a repair shop in Maryland.
I would definitely recommend staying far, far away from this company, unless you enjoy being abandoned somewhere far from home, and having to come up with a solution to get more than 50 people to safety.
ACR Coach Reviews
We had a charter bus to take a group of 55. On the day we were to be picked up, the bus arrived late, and right before we were to leave, one of the family members of a passenger noticed we had a flat tire. We then had to wait until someone could arrive to change the tire, putting us even further behind schedule. The first few hours were uneventful, other than the bathroom in the rear of the bus was leaking some kind of fluid, and there was a smell back there, even though no one had used the bathroom at all.
We switched drivers, and things went well, except for the continuing smell. Our driver was nice and polite, and did a walk-around the bus before we left after the driver switch. At least this time, we knew we didn't have a flat since she did the walk-around.
Several hours into the trip, the bus slowed to a crawl, and a warning beep began sounding. The bus had over-heated. The driver was told to add collant, but there was no stepladder so she could not reach the port to pour it in. Fortunately, we had a tall passenger who was able to reach up and pour it in. We managed to limp along to the next exit, about three miles, but could not have made it any further. The driver called the ACR mechanic back, and he told her to pour in more water...which was not going to fix a leak in any way what-so-ever. The earlier coolant, and this water just poured out almost as fast as it was poured in to the bus. At one point, the supervisor blamed the driver for not checking the engine out before she drove. I don't know how they expected her to check out the internal workings of the engine in a parking lot in the middle of the night, but apparently she was supposed to see that there was an issue with an internal part.
ACR did not send someone to fix the bus, but a couple of us passengers were able to locate someone to take a look at the bus, and after we did that, ACR apparently authorized them to try to fix the bus. Unfortunately, the engine of the bus was in such poor shape, it could not be repaired.
When we asked for assistance from ACR to either continue our trip, or to help us get back home, they did nothing. We eventually had to rent several 15-passenger vans so that we could all leave.
The company did nothing to help us out. If we had not arranged to rent those vans on our own, at additional expense, we would still be sitting at a repair shop in Maryland.
I would definitely recommend staying far, far away from this company, unless you enjoy being abandoned somewhere far from home, and having to come up with a solution to get more than 50 people to safety.