Barnes Coaches
Established in 1920
Average rating:
(4.91 out of 5 from 2284 reviews)
Company Vehicles
8 seat Luxury MPV
19 seat Luxury Mini Coach
30 seat Executive Coach
41 seat Executive Coach
41 seat Executive Coach
49 seat Executive Coach
61 seat Executive Coach
72 seat Standard Coach
96 seat Executive Double Decker
96 seat Standard Double Decker
100 seat Standard School Bus
About
Barnes Coaches are one of the leading coach companies in the area, hopefully you may well have heard of us and seen our distinctive green coaches out on the road. For those of you who already use our services, thank you for your continued custom, for those of you who haven’t used us before, why not give us a go and see what you are missing out on.
We have a range of coaches from 8 seat mini-buses to 96 seat double deck coaches.
We always offer an exceptional service and can offer you some amazing deals on coach hire! The safety of our passengers has always been of paramount importance and we have been vindicated in the pursuit of this goal as we were amongst one of only 11 founder members nationwide of the DVSA’s EARNED RECOGNITION scheme for coach operators.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Luke Barnes
Director
Operator Licence
Barnes Coaches currently holds a International licence.
Location
Customer Reviews
Showing reviews 1 to 10 of 17
Customer, Thornhill drive
(1/5)
2 months ago
"Driver just stopped in middle of the road and turned off engine very unprofessional!!!"
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 20th September 2024, 7:48am:
"Hi,
Thank-you for your review. Please can you let me know when and where this was so I can work out which driver this was?
Thanks"
The Arts Society Hungerford, HUNGERFORD
(1/5)
2 months ago
"The driver forgot to look at his instructions to go to the first pick-up point (Aldbourne). He arrived at Hungerford shortly before 9.00 am and had to drive back to Aldbourne (where he was due at 8.45 am) and then come back to Hungerford. Subsequently we lost more than 30 minutes of our very special tour as Longford Castle were unable to overrun. The driver was pleasant and very apologetic however he was not given instructions to take us to our lunch venue at The Radnor Arms. (He willingly took us there ). I was also given a mobile number to contact him but the phone was not switched on. I am giving you one star because this was a very special tour for us and unable to be repeated. Longford Castle is not open to the general public and we were incredibly fortunate to be able to book (over a year in advance). The coach was clean and comfortable and the driver's appearance was fine. We have had hiccups in the past with Barnes Coaches but this was by far the most disappointing."
Would they recommend: Yes
Operator replied on 9th September 2024, 7:23am:
"Hi,
I can olny apologise for this breakdown in communication and the affect it had on your day. I believe we have been in contact to offer you a reducstion in the cost of your trip so please let us know if you dont feel this is satusfactory. Thanks"
Liam Parkinson, Wantage
(1/5)
2 months ago
"Journey to Bristol Airport with Jacob was a pleasure, very steady travel for 8 of us early hours. But reason why I’m giving 1 star is for our journey home with Vladimir - think that’s his name. What a disaster. Unable to pay at the barrier on exit, so the driver went into the multi story car park to pay which was fine but on the way back he thought he was a gymnast. Instead of unlocking the gate, that had a latch on he performed a stunt to hop over and coincidentally landing awkwardly, twisted his ankle and hitting the other barrier with us head. He wanted to see an on site medic which I can only appreciate but all we wanted was to get home. I wish I could add photos as I have all of this. We got going after 45 minutes of waiting, and I’m not sure if he was in a rush to get home because the driving was very erratic. 3 young children in the car, and he was swerving lane to lane to beat any kind of traffic in Bristol city centre. Emailed my concerns to Barnes, and they were going to review the footage. I was sitting in the front of the minibus, and I don’t recall any dashcam. If there was it would be pretty damning. Luke emailed me back, stating that upon viewing the footage he saw that the drivers driving wasn’t perfect and would talk to him. I asked to be compensated for this mess, and total unprofessionalism only for the journey back home. As the ride with Jacob was really good. Got offered less than 25%. I’m sorry, but because of this we won’t be using this company again."
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 9th September 2024, 7:24am:
"Hi, I can assure you we didn review the footage and I can only apologise that you don't feel our offer was adequate. In your reply, yoyu didn't let me know if you wanted to take up our offer so please respond to my original e-mail to let me know if you woul dliek to accept this.
Thanks"
Customer, swindon
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"Do not book a holiday with Barnes they are poorly organized, no care for safety for customer nor staff. Will cancel a trip while 1 hour away from destination with no care to what the passengers wants and will not refund money. If you do book take out insurance- all they care about is your money. They always seem to also have to change the coach last min due to faults so always stuck with an older style coach on a long trip. Overpriced for a ride on a green bus!!"
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 30th October 2023, 10:10am:
"Hello,
We really hated cancelling this holiday after it had departed, however the event was only cancelled at 09:58am that morning of departure when we were well on our way to the resort. Matlock Illuminations put this update on their website but didn’t inform customers directly, so it was after 11:00am by the time we knew the event would not be going ahead. By this stage, the Environment Agency was also advising against visiting the Peak District due to the flooding.
So, we were left with two bad options. One, to cancel the trip and come home. Second, to visit the area against advice and put our customers and driver safety at risk. As mentioned, both were bad options, but we chose the one that didn’t endanger anybody.
As discussed in our letter we have sent to you, we have sent you a partial refund from what we could claim back from the attraction, and we have offered a reduced rate for this tour if you book this tour again in 2024.
Travel Insurance is always recommended and is an available add-on for holiday, insurance is to cover for unforeseen circumstances and unavoidable events like this that are out of our control.
Please accept our apologies again to all affected."
Customer, Tetbury
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"Very disappointed to have booked a 19 seater to pick up our guests after our wedding to find that the driver could only legally take 4 passengers back. Leaving many of our guests stranded at night trying to book late night taxis. Not a service that I nearly paid nearly £300 for. Needless to say that the first coach never turned up."
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 6th October 2021, 4:24pm:
"Hi, I am very sorry that you were disappointed with our service. I can only apologise as the driver misread the registration number of the vehicle he was meant to be taking. If you would like to contact me I can certainly arrange some compensation and apologies again."
William Loughlin, Newbury
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"Holiday to the Ilse of Wight a total waste of money. Attempt at compensation pitiful. Holiday not as described and the hotel was a total failure in the heating and catering departments."
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 19th December 2019, 4:37pm:
"Thank you for your post, Mr Loughlin. The hotel had a problem that week with the hot plate in the kitchen and you and all of our guests received compensation as a result of this. Many thanks."
Customer, Thatcham
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"this day trip was a disaster, which was not only due to the weather, we left Newbury late just before 11am.There was no chance of getting the 11:30 ferry. We had booked the Isle of Wight by Hovercraft, not Gunwharfe Quay, not Dockyard or the Spinnaker Tower, which was part of the reason which made us late for the ferry, where we were booked for a 11:30 ferry, we arrived at 12:30 we were told our ferry was not until 13:45, and were told the return Ferry was 16:30 which meant being there for 16:15 . Which only gave us just over 2 hours on the island which did not give us a lot of time to look around the Island and as it was our first time, there just was not enough time to explore"
Would they recommend: Yes
Operator replied on 20th August 2018, 6:55am:
"Hi, I can only apologise regarding this. We had run exactly the same trip, in exactly the same way, earlier in the year with no problems at all. Unfortunately, due to bad weather and traffic conditions the coaches were late by the time all of the pick ups had been done. Although we then tried to amend the schedule as much as we could, the coaches were late getting to the Hovercraft. Apologies again."
Charlie Orchard, Swindon
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"I have used Barnes coaches a few times now and always thought the service was decent. The last couple of times I have used Barnes I have not been impressed at all! Yesterday I used Barnes to go to the air tattoo, pick up was fine and on time, but when we arrived we were clearly told to be back to the coach for 6 or else the driver will be leaving with or without us. Bare in mind we paid for these tickets and the actual flying display didn't finished until 6, we were sat on the coach watching the displays which I found absolutely appalling! But that wasn't the worst... when we arrived back to the coach we were greeted by the worst smell imaginable. The driver had clearly been sat in the warm coach most of the day with absolutely no deodrant! Put it this way, we were in row 11 and we were still trying to hold our breaths, so god bless the people sat at the front of the coach! I am going to be writing you and email regarding this experience because it was appalling for the amount we paid for it. I will then explain the "clown" we had taking us to London for Guns n Roses, he was the only person that thought getting back to swindon at 4:30 am after leaving London at 12:30 am was hilarious! I will not be using Barnes coaches again after these experiences and will definitely NOT recommend anyone to use this service. Please contact me regarding names of your employees, so some action can be made against this!"
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 17th July 2017, 10:55am:
"Hi, thank you for your review and we are disappointed that you haven't been as happy with our recent trips as you have in the past. We will be investigating both instances and Mr Barnes will be in touch."
Customer, Birmingham
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"Vehicle was clean and comfortable but everything else was horrid. Driver was ignorant, refusing to drop the group off at convenient locations and being late (by upwards of an hour) on nearly every pickup. The journeys took nearly twice as long than thry needed to be due to consistently missing turns, going wrong ways, etc. in fault of the driver. Overall poor experience, better off finding a different busing company or taking a cab."
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 19th April 2017, 9:38am:
"Hi Mr Alexander. I cannot find a booking recently under your name so could you please let me know where you traveled and on what date so that I can investigate further? Many thanks."
Dee, TQ2
(1/5)
More than a year ago
"Yesterday we went out on the bike and ended up behind a Barnes coach for a stretch of about 10 miles-- from around Chillington to Dartmouth.. This road is narrow and hilly in places-- BUT there are many passing points. The driver did not pull in once and allowed a HUGE amount of traffic to build up behind him. I could go on about the overheating of the bike-- and farmers and locals who were trying to get on with their work-- just like him-- but his actions as a driver were rude and inconsiderate to other road users. I hope you can work out who he was and action an improvement."
Would they recommend: No
Operator replied on 20th February 2017, 10:50am:
"Hi, apologies regarding this. I will certainly speak to the driver involved as whilst he was probably doing his best to give his passengers a smooth and pleasant journey he should also understand the needs of other road users. Thanks."
