First Student Summer Buses Review

My company has used First student to provide buses for our 5-week summer program for the past few years. This includes daily bus trips for 34 days straight with a varying schedule depending on the date. In the past, we could rely on First Student to consistently provide transportation to us based on an agreed upon contract. Unfortunately, this summer we had many issues with them.

We had many instances of no buses showing up to confirmed trips, the wrong amount of buses showing up to confirmed trips, and changes not being made to trips even when they were communicated in a timely fashion. The higher ups at the local office never reached out to me, despite many emails they were included on regarding these issues. At the end of the summer, a lower-level employee was texting my personal cell-phone number to confirm upcoming trips. I appreciate that person going above an beyond, but it shouldn't reach that point to begin with.

Also, they do not send an updated billing sheet when changes are made to the agreed upon trips. Its up to you as the customer to track changes on your end, hope the company has an official record of them, and to track if they owe you a refund.

Overall, its been a very disappointing working with them this summer. Which is a shame, because in past summers they have been very reliable company to work with.

Another amazing experience with First Charter and our amazing driver Roosevelt.
Cannot say enough about how seamless the entire experience was, from making the reservation to completing our event.
Everything went perfectly!
I would highly recommend First Charter and our driver Roosevelt!

We were so grateful to utilize your services to bring our vision to life. The experience created a special memory for our kids, who thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to ride on a big school bus.

We did want to share a couple of opportunities for improvement to help future experiences go even smoother:

Storage Information: There was no available storage on the bus. When booking, it would be helpful to clarify that there is no undercarriage or interior space for items like coolers, as this could impact transportation plans. Fortunately, we had alternate vehicles available, but otherwise, we would not have had a place to store them.

Curbside Drop-Off: Our driver would not allow a curbside drop-off, stating she "couldn’t," even though all other buses—including other large school buses—were safely dropping children off at the sidewalk. Having children cross the parking lot is not only unsafe but also contradicts standard transportation policies regarding student safety.

We truly appreciated the opportunity and hope this feedback helps make the experience even better for future riders.

The drivers were punctual and kind. They made sure we arrived safely and were very diligent in bad traffic. Traveling with a large group can be difficult and they were insanely flexible. ALL of them were amazing.

I’m writing regarding our recent bus rental for a distributor conference, for which we specifically requested charter buses through your online quote form. The form and the subsequent contract clearly referenced "charter" or "shuttle" buses—at no point was it indicated that a school bus might be substituted.

To our surprise and disappointment, a school bus was sent instead. This significantly impacted the professional image we aimed to present to our customers, especially considering the nature of the event. The presence of a child with one of the drivers further detracted from the level of professionalism we expected and were led to believe we had secured.

Had there been any indication—either on your website or in our communications—that a school bus could be used, we would have never agreed to the booking. This misrepresentation of service has caused both reputational damage and frustration on our end.

The driver was on time and very helpful with reminding the students to use the handrails. She greeted all staff politely and with a smile. The bus was clean, and all hardware was working (seatbelts). It was a great experience with this company for our first encounter with First Charter I will be using them again for all four of my centers.

Friendly local staff, reliable service, clean fleet and ease of reservation … why wouldn’t you use FIRSTCharter

The drivers did a great job! The best thing was they were drivers that know how to treat other working class people. 👍🏽

Great bus driver, good bus, too expensive though.

We had a wonderful experience with First Charter Bus Rental. Our driver KC was AMAZING! He was kind, helpful, communicated great, and even played age appropriate and fun music for the kiddos on the bus ride to and from our destination. Two of the best features was seatbelts on the bus as we do have quite a few smaller children which kept them safe and secured and AC! AC in Texas is a must during the summer. It was a great experience and I highly recommend.

They were on time and the bus driver was very kind and patient : he transported children to a sports event
Great customer service

The communication of expectation of billing, confirmation of itinerary, professional staff over the phone and in person (drivers).

My group and I had the best time on our bus ride! Our driver, Rosevelt, was absolutely wonderful!

He was on time and both ways. I was so very appreciative.

Quoting process was easy. We rented 6 buses in total for the day (3 going to one location and 3 to another), however, when leaving destination and heading back to our start point, 2 buses went in the wrong direction for quite a while before they realized it and so they were delayed in getting our students back for the next portion of our event.

Drivers were on time and courteous and buses were clean!!

Recently took the Sunday school girls on a field trip and could not have expected things to go any more smoothly alhamdulillah! Our bus driver, Ashton, arrived 10 mins early and was very polite and professional. He gave me his number so I could keep in touch with him when we got off the bus. We arrived back to school on schedule. Thank you for the great service! The only criticism I have is the cleanliness of the bus. There was no garbage or anything but the seats and floor definitely needed to be wiped down.

Dave Chan and his team were awesome. We had to make multiple changes to the program last minute including adding equipment and the Houston team stayed on it, communicated and executed. Drivers were awesome! Thank you!

Our drivers were excellent, on time, and courteous and our busses were in good condition.

Getting in contact with first charter was very difficult. The phone did not give me the option to sit and wait and if I didn't provide a number for callback it would hang up. Once I finally got my quote and approving it, it took forever for them to confirm how many booster seats I would get. They kept going back and forth and it even got to the point where the first charter representative asked me to call and confirm because she could get answers. Leading up to my field trip day was not good. The actual day of the field trip was great! THe two bus driver and the helper that was on the first bus were excellent! They were so sweet and were willing to make accomodation for our students!