Big Bus Tours Washington DC Omdömen 2 681

TERRIBLE. We have done hop on hop off tours around the world, and this has been the WORST so far!!!!!

If I could give this 0 starts, I would immediately. Group of 6, in town for an event, decided to do a 1 day tour Saturday. 1: The buses do NOT come every 20 minutes. We waited 1hr 15mts for the first bus. While waiting, of course, approximately 55 people arrived for the same purpose. As the bus finally came, it was full enough where only 10 people could board. Although, there ended up being 0 seats...standing only. We were just happy to finally get on a bus. 2: They let us out at a closed stop, without saying it was closed. 3: They switched the order of 2 stops, which caused issues for other folks (and us) with the general plan around the city. 4: With the bus routes taking 45 minutes between stops, we had to walk rather than ride to ensure we saw even half of the stops. 6 tickets...only being able to utilize 3 out of 13 stops. Such a waste of money.

I traveled on Big Bus on June 21 and 22, 2022 at Washington DC. I was in a party of 6 with 2 children less than 5 years old and 2 older adults over 70 years old. We had a 2-day ticket booked for all 6 of us so that we could visit all the monuments at our leisure given the slow pace of the children and older adults. Day 1 went off without issues. We were given a printed ticket that looked like a receipt on day 1 which I had in my pocket all day. When we returned for day 2, there was no information that we were supposed to hold onto this printed receipt. Apparently, the email confirmation with the QR code does not substitute for a ticket once it has been converted into a printed form. This is an extremely archaic and meaningless practice since many of us now have converted to an electronic form of communication. When we attempted to get onto the bus at Washington Monument on day 2, we were confronted by the bus driver that we were apparently trying to get onto the bus without a ticket. I showed him the email confirmation for the 2-day package for 6 people including the QR code. He accused me of lying and that I had no proof. I was not told to carry the paper ticket with me on day 2. Regardless, there should be another mechanism to print this ticket out if that is of such prime importance since it is ridiculous to think that we have to carry this piece of paper around for 2 whole days. Furthermore, he told us to get onto the bus stating that, "I am doing you favor by letting you on the bus and will let you off where you want. You will not be allowed to get back on after that". This is extremely disrespectful and not at all customer friendly. We were treated very poorly by this driver. When we got off at White House, we spoke with a local ground agent who was profusely apologetic and attempted to help us. The bus driver walked past nonchalantly and told us that he could not care less about our situation. Unfortunately, despite company policy, he did not have a badge and I could not get his name. I have taken pictures of him both inside and outside the bus for proof. I have discussed this extensively with the ground agent, but I am not sure if this has been relayed. I have not heard back from them nor had any subsequent follow-up. This is extremely disappointing and cause extreme amounts of agony and suffering for my older parents and young children who were stressed out by heated conversation. Furthermore, I do not expect customers who have paid their dues to be treated so poorly and being blatantly accused of lying. Unfortunately due to these issues, we will have never travel with this service again. I will also attempt to speak to as many family and friends that I can regarding this, so as to spread the word regarding the poor service offered by this agency.

Stay away from this tour. No buses ever showed up and I was out on the street for 6 hours at different stops. I saw hundreds of other buses pass by but never the big B bus. No phone number to call for help. Online chat was of no help.

They did not give refunds for my second day that I was not able to use nor the Night tour.They blame you for that you could have figured out that the route was not running by the chat on their website. Stay away.

Bought a voucher for a museum that said it works at any time, upon arrival they said they were sold out and couldn't accept our $100 tickets

Undependable! Waited 40 minutes at one stop, app said next bus would arrive in 45 minutes. Gave up and took a cab to the hotel.

Buses are worn out and disgusting inside. It’s impossible to sit upstairs at the open top because they have too many riders and not enough buses.

They don't give refunds even when they cancel the bus routes (not to mention it says they will in their terms and conditions). They say it is your fault, that you could have figured out that the route was not running by the chat on their website. Stay away. Did not see but one bus in the entire 3 days I was in DC.

Do not waste your money on this company!

We purchased combo tickets for the day, that included night tour.

At our check in the bus driver wasn’t very friendly, actually looked pretty annoyed.

During the day we did one full loop on the red line. We chose not to hop off the bus, because we noticed that they were people waiting at the bus stops, for whom there was no seating and they were left to wait for next bus, which could be easily be full too!

We were told that the night tour starts at 7pm. We were at the bus stop at 6:45pm just to see extremely long line of people waiting. When we showed our tickets to the employee for check in we were told that if we want to take the tour we must be seated inside, because all seats on the deck are already reserved. We asked if we can use our tickets on the next day, but they don’t offer it every night. So we asked for refund and we were told, that because we purchased the tickets on their website we should call the office and ask for refund. Of course at 7pm office was closed. So we decided to take the tour anyway. What a mistake! It turned out that their is no AC on the first floor of the bus and windows can’t be open! We were all in sweat in no time! On top of this there was stupid emergency sign on my window that interrupted the view further!

You will hear exactly the same information during the night tour as the day one.

Overall not worth it!

I will not recommend this company and especially the night tour to anyone!

This company was unwilling to give a refund after their policy stated they would. Unresponsive and unhelpful don't make a mistake when ordering because you will be out that money.

On Tuesday we took the bus tour starting at L’Enfante. Your person selling tickets assured me after I asked, that I would get the same price as online. When my credit card was processed there was a significant increase in price. When I questioned this she told me to hurry and get on the bus. She lied to me about the difference in price.
Also on board there was no sign warning about the tree branches. I did hear the warning on the recording after I was hit in the face by branches.
Additionally there were no seat belts on top causing my wife to hold onto our granddaughter. We have taken many big bus tours and this is my first negative experience

One of the buses is falling apart. No AC and the whole first floor had leaks all around. The drivers are everything but friendly.

Very disappointed with big bus tours this time. The new route takes out many stops and the pre recorded narrated tour is extremely lacking especially when compared to live tours. It was not worth the money.

Purchased a 2 day pass. Observed the following: very old and ill repaired buses, such as leaking windows, mostly nonoperational headphone plug-in(s), dirty cracked seats and stained ceilings below, just to name a few.
Also, noted an outdated U.S. history recording.
Worse value for the price.
Very disappointed!

It’s 100 degrees out. The buses have no ac. The top part of bus has no shade and you are in the blazing sun. I’m sitting on a bus right now. The recording isn’t working and driver not interested in trying to get it to work. And was quite rude when I asked about it. The bus I am on is also dirty.

Do not waste your money. Tour bus stopped at Lincoln memorial for 15 minutes and that’s it!!! We drove by Martin Luther King memorial and Black Lives Matter plaza and the audio recording never mentioned anything about them. We sat on the top and was continuously ducking to avoid being hit by tree limbs. Save your money or we e DC another way!!!

The a/c was out on the day trip, the gps was not working for select buses and they did not run on schedule, and the staff was ridiculously rude. The female attendant for the night trip decided to cancel the trip for a line full of remaining paid passenger with two empty buses remaining because she unilaterally determined she didn’t want to send a bus 2/3rds full. The staff were rude and confrontational. The phone line doesn’t even go anywhere, it is a conference line. Don’t waste your time, money, and energy on a company this poor - Please go to Old Town Trolley.

First I would not even give it one star. I am extremely disappointed with my purchase. 4 adults and 3 children, premium tickets. Planned out my trip events pins in my gps for bus pickups. All stops were changed and only was able to use it 1 time for a 2 day pass. They even took out stops in the middle of the day. Had to buy metro passes due to not being picked up. unable to talk to a human and try to discuss the issues and then did receive text message that only put all their fine print on them....I have used this kind of services before, thought it would be good for DC. DO NOT waist your money. Try a different company...At the end of the text there is no refund to be given

Unable to reach anyone with questions. App doesn't let you reserve times for the evening tour as promised on the website. Ended up disputing the charge on my credit card. Do not purchase.