Tuesday 18 September 2012

When Things Go Wrong


The Momentum network is in the Coach Hire business –coach hire like all logistics can go wrong.

However at momentum we believe we do more to drive forward coach hire industry standards than any other company in the industry. This includes the following:7

1. We ask all customers what they think of us on every trip we do. This has resulted in an overall rating of 4.05 out of 5 for the Momentum network.

2. Out of the last 40,000 trips we have a customer dissatisfaction level of 1.6%. Or more importantly a customer satisfaction level of 98.4%.

3. We have taken the unprecedented step of publishing all complaints warts and all on two website www.momentumcoachhirereviews.com and our sister websitewww.coachcompare.com (which shows reviews of individual coach companies). We show all adverse rating scores and only modify the ratings for the libellous or personal comments. It should also be noted you can only publish ratings if you have actually had a trip. 98.4% on time and satisfied – please take note airline

4. Service Level Policy – Momentum pioneered in conjunction with trading standards a Customer Service Policy which lets our customers know what happens and what they can expect in the event of an actual or perceived service failure. We are the first company in the industry to publish a combination of a plain English contract and a full list of penalties and compensations. It is also worth commenting the overwhelming reason for late coaches is the previous passengers running materially over schedule and the biggest cause of complaint re coach presentation is how it was left by previous passengers.

5. Broken Down coaches –The industry does some hard miles and vehicles do break down whilst on jobs. Momentum have rescued 96 groups of (other Companies) passengers from roadsides who have been in broken down vehicles in the last 12 months (the industry closes ranks in the face of adversity).

5. Customers who have been let down. Momentum booked over 250 trips in the last 12 months for groups who have been let down by other coach companies in the week before travel due to vehicle availability problems. Momentum network partners have developed vehicle availability problems for 217 trips this year in the week before departure in all but less than 20 cases we have been able to find suitable solutions for our clients

6.Naughty customers – in over 1100 cases the customer seeks to cancel a coach in breach of contract the week of travel. We are not as a rule in the business of suing customers (exception being customers who wilfully waste coach resources) – and generally do operate on a goodwill basis, however this should be borne in mind when considering the literally handfuls of customers we fail!

7. Defence of the industry. Logistics in this country is difficult – road congestion and fuel prices. But almost to a man we at Momentum never cease to be amazed by how the average man and women in this industry work long hours for relatively modest returns and almost to a man give of their best.

8. Competitors and malcontents. Read the reviews – www.momentumcoachhirereviews.com – over 6,000 of them. Companies should work on processes/ policies/ Customer service agreements, invest in fleets, staff and technology. Posting anonymously about is so sad, small and bitter – we know who you are and you are kidding yourselves if you think you are helping customers. Get a life!

The next 6 months will see the Momentum network reach its 1,000,000th quote and 200,000th trip. For the 0.05% we let down we again apologise, for 1.5% we disappointed we recommit our desire to do better. For the 98.5% who are satisfied we just say THANK YOU.

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Coach Hire In London


When looking for coach hire in London it is important to remember that a lot of suppliers are not based centrally.

So when booking a trip give yourself a bit of extra time to allow the coach to arrive, coaches are not like taxis and if you plan for the coach to arrive 30 minutes early then you will not get an extra charge.

Also give yourself enough time to allow the coach to park and for people to get on and off the coach as parking in London can be difficult for coaches.

So give yourself a bit more time and plan for those occasions when something can go wrong.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Reaching Peak Season For Coach Hire

We are starting to hit the peak season for coach hire over here at MCH, you can see it as the volume and call levels increase in the operations team.

This peak load is an interesting time for us where operations, customer service, sales, marketing and IT are all working on giving our customers the best level of customer service.

It is this time of the year where good drivers really make the difference for all coach companies.

The driver Hue, was a lovely man. Coach arrived on time but 20 mins late on pick up.  ****


Nick our driver was brilliant. Very helpful and constantly contactable. Good price. Great service would definitely use again. *****

It is the time of year to thank all the good coach drivers out there, you make a big difference.

Thursday 14 June 2012

Olympic Traffic News

Interesting article in the Telegraph this week that people should take notice of when planning a coach hire in London.

A lot of the road restrictions for the Olympic games will start on the 1st of July.

So make sure you give yourself extra time for London coach hire.


Thursday 31 May 2012

Wednesday 30 May 2012

When Coach Hire Goes Wrong

We had an issue with a client the other week that was rather embarrassing not only did the trip go wrong but the problem was not handled well on the day or after the event.

Despite the investment in a customer service manager and the new process for dealing with customer complaints we did not initially handle things as well as we should have done.

It was a humbling experience in sorting out the issue but thankfully the client is now happy and it does go to show that dealing with the issues in the right way does make a big difference.

Here are a few tips for customer on when things go wrong with coach hire. .

Thursday 24 May 2012

Reasons To Use Coaches For Group Transport

I was inspired by this interesting article on reasons to take the bus rather than the car to come up with our own list on reasons to hire coaches for group travel. Our list is only four points but I think they sum up the key reasons.

1. It is the most cost effective way of transporting a large group of people.

2. Everyone is in the same place making it easy to get everyone to the destination on time.

3. Yes things can go wrong but if you look at coach hire comparison website coachcompare.com most coach companies have a service score of 4 out of 5, that is amazing given the nature of the industry.

4. A trip on a coach can be a lot of fun because the travelling is part of the experience, be it a wedding, stag event, football match, night out ...