Arriva Bus (UK) Reviews 3,954

Absolute joke, raising the prices just to never turn up and by chance they do eventually get here there half an hour + late, they don’t seem to have any plans on improving this any time soon, absolute worst service

They missed our stop completely by taking a different road, I was there early and watched it happen on the tracker page.
1 star is too kind.
I had to walk a mile with a 2 year old to a different stop, causing us an hours delay.

One star is too much for the service provided.
Today 8/04 at bus stop Leagrave Railway Station in Luton, bus no 28 going to Hockwell Ring. was supposed to be there at 10:37am, I waited until 11:00am but the bus NEVER came. Other buses like 27 and 23 were coming regularly but not our 28.
By the way the buses 27 and 23 have approximately the same route when they come from town. So no traffic excuses can be provided.

12 Bus (Rhyl) running late on several occasions! Some Drivers sarcastic when asked why or very stand off attitude given.

Dont feel when phoning head office to report these issues its looked into seriuosly enough. Depot always has excuse!!!! I have rang customers services several times but depot managers always have an excuse for head office...

Joke of a joke this company 89 was late by 18 mins but decided to turn off at airport and turn left to the motorway to get to saint Helens absolute joke

I've had phone calls from the hospital with appointment dates for cancer treatment, but because the information on the bus pass card is confusing i tried ringing them to get up to date information i called 01513301000 now changed to 03001311881 but was left on hold on the system queue line for over 20minutes then the usual go on line tactic i gave up in the end has the nurse wanted me to get back to her in 10minutes, i just wanted to check the times being ok also being bank holiday holiday also but you can never get a answerer.

They don’t even deserve one star. The management is extremely poor and unprofessional. After waiting for a long time, it’s frustrating to see two or three buses with the same route number arriving and leaving together. This clearly shows a lack of proper planning and organisation.

We had the best bus driver today for the 135 Pontefract, my little boy is autistic and absolutely loves buses, the bus driver let him sit in the drivers seat which he did for all of 2seconds because he panicked, then when we walk away the bus driver waved at him and did his horn, honestly made mine and my little boys day, he didn't have to do it but I can't thank him enough x

I have the misfortune of taking the Number 7 to and from Durham city on a daily basis, and it is by far the most useless and disgusting public transport "services" I have ever used in my entire life. Both in the UK and overseas. It is utterly sickening how bad the North East branch of this company is. Seriously, it is comically bad.

-The price is extortionate. Ok, so it is £2.50 to travel 8 miles into Durham from my home which totally fair and acceptable. However, WHY do I have to pay the exact same price to travel 1 mile or so mile up the road? That is £5 just to run to the post office and back. Blatant thievery and banditry.

-Every couple of months there is a new excuse as to why they "need" to raise the price in order to deliver a good service to the customer. Yeah, sureeee, you're totally doing it as a public service.

-It is late every. single. day. without fail. Sometimes up to one hour! I don't think I have had a bus come on time in at least six months now.

-The drivers are generally extremely rude, condescending, and hostile for no good reason. I have been barked at to wait/move etc. and called disrespectful names by them on several occasions.

-The state of the busses is vile. The seats are absolutely filthy and usually reek of smoke, weed, or urine. People leave rubbish and food all over the place. Dogs do their business on the floor. The card and tap/on off readers don't work which is a joke. We are living in 2026 not the Soviet Union.

-It is unsafe. Feral, low IQ individuals who openly consume excessive amounts of alcohol on the bus. Often ending with them getting aggressive or abusive towards other passengers. I have witnessed several fights due to these mouth-breathers (while children were present!!) and no attempt is ever made to remove them from the bus or contact the police.

-Entitled people who play their awful music or vapid TikTok videos at the highest volume the entire journey with no earphones, and those who let their wet, dirty dogs climb all over the seats and other passengers.

-The app is functionally useless and looks like it was designed by an 8 year old.

-They do not listen to feedback or complaints. I have tried to contact them several times about being overcharged for my journey, and they deliberately ignore my calls and emails.

These are just a few of the main issues I have on a regular basis, and they do not fully capture the scope of how dire things are (not that I expect Arriva to lift a finger to do anything!) Particularly in the North East, it is beyond parody how simply inept, useless, and barbaric this "public service" is. Arriva are a prime example of why the privatisation of public transport is a disease on British society and needs a complete overhaul.

I had places to be and they kept swapping drivers would never use again

You'd be better off walking than using Arrival. Turn up when they like, scruffy busses that are cancelled all the time because they prefer to have them rammed full instead of providing the service they're given a load of cash from the councils to provide. Absolutely awful service.

I would like to compliment the driver of the 141 bus from Palmers Green to L Bridge. She drives safely, smoothly, and with gentle braking, making the journey very comfortable.
Even in the morning taken the bus from Wood Green station@ 7:50 I arrived @L bridge it was a driver guy who was driving safe

Fuddu service as always

The worst transport service in the Uk… never keeps to time and sometimes the buses won’t show up… it’s so annoying that I have to put up with your service every week

10:02 bus Greenway drive missed out. 30 min wait and will make me late for my appointment.

Using Arriva transport for a majority of my life, they have been the most inconsistent company with buses not turning up or driving past when you are waiting at a bus stop with your arm out.

My most recent experience is that 2 buses did not show up and I was waiting to go to a hospital appointment, i had to pay £15 in a taxi and wrote to the customer service, and in their response, they lied to my face about the bus running.

Really hoping we get a new company that’s more honest and reliable soon, they need to go.

Went to rhyl bus station to catch the 11.45 Llandudno bus (12). On the stand was one about to depart. I was just about to get on when the driver closed the doors on me and shrugged his shoulders. Other people waiting at the other shelter were shocked by the attitude of the driver. Obviously he must have been 2 seconds late for his departure. He was then stuck at the lights as a penance from God. I shall make sure I show the exact same courtesy when I'm in the car and they wish to pull out. We'll done arriva from employing an absolute moron. Received a phone call from an arrogant employee today 15/April regarding my complaint. He said he reviewed cctv footage from the bus stating I wasn't at the doors when they were closing. Not what I witnessed along with a passing woman who said she couldn't believe what had happened. I asked for a copy of the footage. He flatly refused. Now I see why they have such poor feedback on TripAdvisor and trustpilot. 1 star being the least you can give, that means 0.3percent feedback. Arriva hang your heads in shame.

Twice skipping me, they saw me but the drivers just signed that they are not stopping for me, what the hell is this? I saw the bus it still has a lot of room. This time happened at 14:30 Queen Elizabeth GS for 110 route towards leeds on 23 Mar. It is ridiculous, are there any complaint process even in place?

Usually not too bad but yesterday the 164 to Market Drayton left Newcastle station 6 minutes EARLY! Hence I missed it and had to get my partner to drive 12 miles to pick me up and 12 miles home. Late buses I can understand, but leaving early is unacceptable. The app is useless, when or if I can get it to work, resetting my password is impossible!

Disgusting, I have just witnessed a girl put her arm out for the bus and they drove straight past her it was the 156 from Airedale to Castleford around 6:05pm, how rude, she clearly put her arm out and moved from the edge of the road when the bus came closer expecting the bus to stop. I wonder how many people get ignored like that, I couldn’t believe it, RUDE!!