Consumer Alert 9/24/07
My Best Ride/We Give You Ride
On 8/28/07, The Phoenix news site, AZFamily.com, reported this company for being a no-show, and then refusing to refund the church's $2,400 for their youth trip to Six Flags. We have also received over a dozen complaints from bus companies and customers alike that have gone unpaid or have not had their buses show up after contracting with this bus broker. My Best Ride/Tifa Xpress is now operating under the name "We Give You Ride". The company had its California transportation charter party class P permit revoked at least one month ago: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/tmis/det_PSG0008144.htm. The company has an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau:
How can you confirm that you are dealing with a reputable bus company?
One of the primary problems facing the bus industry today, is that it is very difficult for customers to determine which companies are reputable and own buses, and which companies imply they own buses, but do not. A broker is a company that books your trip at a premium, and then subcontracts your job out to an undisclosed company. Due to increasingly bold mark-ups, we have received reports from bus operators that customers are extremely disappointed to learn how much they could've saved had they contacted the operator directly. The easiest way to determine if you are working directly with an operating company is to:
1. Search in the Department of Transportation's database:
www.safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx
This will tell you how many buses the company owns, inspection compliance record, insurance verification and safety rating. (All operating bus companies are required to register.)
2. Run a search on the Better Business Bureau's site by company name: www.BBB.org
In an effort to help you figure out who's who and what's what, the following websites have been identified as national brokers:
AAGetawayCoaches.com
BusBank.com
CharterBusAmerica.com
MetropolitanShuttle.com
USABusCharter.com
USCoachways.com
About this Site
Though we remove bus companies from our free searchable database for unethical conduct, we do not thoroughly research bus companies before allowing them to post their fleet information. Please research each company before booking. Use the "Tips and Info" page for more suggestions on how to identify a reputable company.