Chariots For Hire

So we have used Chariots for Hire for prior events, including an event this past weekend. This past weekend we had enterred into a signed contract to use their bus service many months earlier. We entered into a contract allowing and paying for extra travel time as we had to be at our destination by a drop dead critical arrival time. We had confirmed all information prior to the day of the event because it was important that the bus and driver pick us up by a specific time and get us to our destination on time.

On the day of the event, no bus and no driver. We called dispatch and they said they could not find the address on file. (Subsequently, we found out that they had evidently keyed in the wrong dispatch address from the contractual records that we signed and had given them.) On the day of the event we demanded they get someout out there and take care of us.

Unfortunately the dispatch personnel were quite short with us and insisted that we had given them a bad address, (which is not correct, we gave them the correct address on the contract. They keyed it in incorrectly.) Finally the bus arrived and I was able to influence the driver to get us to our destination quickly. I did tip the driver as I have always done in the past. Subsequently, evidently one of the passengers left a pair of glasses on the bus. Chariots for Hire did call me and told me that this was left behind.

I asked them to simply mail us the glasses. Again, the dispatcher and manager said that they could not do that unless I paid for special shipping. Keep in mind that we have used this vendor many times before; each time incurring a significant bill of thousands of dollars for their service. Yet, now they insist that we have to pick up left items at their offices and/or have them specially shipped and insurred at our additional expense.

I happen to know the part owners and founders of this business. I originally sent them the business to help out these fellow business owners. Yet, I also know the owners of Reston Limosine Services. On a go forward basis we will be using Reston Limosine as this is their main competition in this already competitive delivery service business. I too am a business owner, and I was amazed at the rudeness that we received from their dispatching office as they insisted that everything was our fault.

I suggested that they have one of the owners reach out to me, to which the dispatch office said they would not do. And so, I know unfortunately am writing an uncomfortable review. Beware, there are many chartering services here in the Washington DC area. Review and make your selection wisely.

This company caused my wedding to start an hour late. They also only waited at each hotel for about one min and left several guests behind Including our officient. My mother called and spoke to the owner for a while. He said he would call back but never did.

Booked a party bus to get down to a wedding and a getaway car to get back to the hotel at the end of the night. Party bus was awesome, arrived on time, and got us to our destination on time even though the party itself was a bit late. At the end of the night, however, our driver arrived late, and didn't answer a call. We did our wedding exit and did a fake out back into the venue to wait for our driver.

The worst part was that he dropped us off at the wrong address. Luckily the correct hotel was just around the corner but it could've been a lot worse and was definitely not the sort of error we wanted to be handling after a very long day.

I'm writing this review from the point of view of a parent. We reserved a prom package for our daughter in February, with final details to come the closer we got to the date. The week before prom I sent the final itinerary to the company. They sent a confirmation that was incorrect. We sent a correction and got back a corrected confirmation. The day of prom, the car arrives a bit early, which was nice because it was raining like crazy.

We went out to check with the driver, after all, he'll be taking our daughter and four of her friends. I was a little put off because he hardly spoke English and the "suit" he was wearing was a tattered mess. I was starting to be uncomfortable sending the kids with him. But, they did go. After a bit, I checked to see if they had arrived yet at their dinner location (Find My Phone) and see that they are completely on the wrong side if town. Turns out the driver had written the itinerary on paper and completely left off their dinner stop.

According to the kids, when they asked questions, he just stopped in the middle of the road in an intersection! They eventually made it to their dinner reservation, but he apparently dropped them off at a different restaurant across the parking lot and they had to get to the correct one in the rain, in their prom best. Once that seemed to be settled we eventually went to dinner ourselves. An hour after the kids were picked up, the phone rings and Chariots For Hire is on the phone.

They say the driver is at our house to pick up our daughter. What?! She left an hour ago! The person just nonchalantly says ok, have a good.? Does this happen a lot?! After our daughter arrived home that evening, we asked her about the driver. She said she and her friends were nervous and held onto each other several times because he would just stop in random places and make unpredictable turns.

She said a few times he just stopped in intersections to look at his paper. He used Ways for navigation and kept the phone on his lap, so he was looking down a lot and not at the road. I'm told he would sometimes pick up the phone and steer with the back of his hand while doing something with his paper with the other hand. We hired a car for the kids so they could SAFELY enjoy their special night, but it seems Chariots For Hire was a huge mistake.

We would have been better of to just rent a nice car ourselves and drive them for the night. Additionally, Chariots For Hire automatically charged a gratuity of 20% to our card. There's absolutely no way we would have tipped the driver this much, if at all, based on how he regarded the safety of our children.

The drivers in many cases simply don't care and are rude. For example at the Sterling, VA "Dulles North" commuter park and ride lot the buses use the lot in mornings to take construction workers to construction sites which is an improper use of that lot. They block the lanes so that true commuters have a hard time getting in and parking. And dispatch doesn't care and just makes lame excuses.

I booked a 24 person bus for a Virginia winery tour. Our driver Sandy was great - so friendly and accommodating! The vehicle was clean and comfortable. Thank you Chariots for Hire for the fun experience.

We would definitely use Chariots For Hire again! Marco was prompt, and very professional and friendly, vehicle was well maintained, BMW limo like van; whole experience was amazing for Prom Group of 11. On time and stayed true to our schedule. Would highly recommend! Thank you Marco!

We scheduled a car service for our son's dance. They managed every detail. Because the dance was at Catholic University.there were a lot of details. Chariots was first, and foremost, on time.the driver, Marco.was amazing and kind. He showed up early and let us know he was ready when we were. He took our son to pick his date up in Great Falls, then to a pre-party in Arlington, and the on time Catholic U. Marco called to let me know they arrived on time for the Regimental Ball. Marco had our son's date home on time/prior to her curfew.

The company emailed me the itinerary ahead of time to double check. Marco, our son's driver, double checked everyone's cell phone for safety. Thank you so much Marco and Chariots for Hire for making it a special evening!

The price was good and the car was nice, but we were a bit disappointed in the service. We didn't get the contact information of the driver until the night before our wedding, and we passed along our info. None of our contacts nor us ever received a call when we arrived. We then did an exit tunnel with glow sticks to the car. When we got to the car to leave our wedding.the door was locked.

We tried again.still locked. We tried the other side. Locked. Then my husband saw this guys standing about 5 yards away.and was like are you the driver? He was! He was paying no attention, looking at us and seeing the exit tunnel and just seeing us trying to get into the car. He then slowly walks over and lets us in. Its now a funny memory, but it was a bit unsettling at the time to have our awesome get away hit snag because the driver was not paying attention. Overall communication was severely lacking, but price and car were good.

We had a great experience. We had 17 teens in the party bus, loud music and plenty of craziness. The driver just kept driving. He was incredible. We kept having a problem with the audio hook up to our phone to play the music, likely because the USB to iPhone cord was old, and it sounded like an alarm was going off. But he driver just kept driving and seemed unphased.

He was amazing. He arrived a few minutes early and was kind and easy to work with. The only problem we had was connecting the phone to the speakers (our cords were not in great shape so maybe buy a brand new one if you are worried.) Connecting to the Bluetooth was a challenge, but the kids eventually figured it out. Still they had an amazing time. I recommend this company 100%.

When it was clear we would wrap up our evening within time window for which we paid, driver drove aimlessly around mall and commercial areas to take us 15 mins over. Company then billed us an add'l $50 for going over our time. Two inquiries went completely ignored.

From the moment I reached out to this company to provide a family car for my fathers funeral they were beyond nice and professional. Everyone from the receptionist who took my reservation to my driver who was not only prompt, but dressed for the occasion. They exceeded all my needs and made my experience wonderful! I highly recommend them for your transportation needs!

Service was amazing! Prices are definitely reasonably and the van that we rented was nice and clean. Would definitely recommend

Thank you so much for a smooth homecoming rental. The driver Mamady was especially kind and attentive to a bunch of rowdy high schoolers. Very much appreciate it!

My husband and I, along with 7 of our friends needed to rent a van/bus to take us to a music event being held at a brewery in Round Hill, VA. The person I spoke to, Cody (I think that was his name), was very friendly and helpful in explaining the size of buses that were available and the pricing. Since we didn't need the bus to stay, our reservation was just for drop off and pick up and the price was just right for us.

Our bus ride down was on the Mercury which was the perfect size for us, driven by Clayton. He was extremely nice, arrived right on time, explained how all the things worked on the bus, and really helped us have a fun ride to the event. And he had no problem waiting a few extra minutes while we got all our items ready before getting on the bus. And the bus ride back was so much fun!

The bus was actually a larger model of what we rode down in and had the fun pole.such a great surprise, especially when celebrating birthdays! Our driver, Mamady, also arrived right on time, seemed just as excited as we were, was all smiles, and he also helped make our ride extremely fun, and got us home safely. The whole process of renting the bus was smooth, with no hiccups. I would definitely use this company again and recommend them to others.

I requested a quote on Yelp for a tour company in DC for a trip my family was taking. Chariots for Hire was one of the companies that Yelp automatically sought a quote from. The price they offered was lower than the others, but some of their reviews were really bad. They contacted me and I wrote back, explaining that while their price was good, their reviews were not and I didn't want to risk my family's vacation experience to a company with such bad reviews. Whoever was writing back got rather short and rude, explaining that happy customers don't leave reviews and that basically I'd be sorry by not choosing them.

Extremely unprofessional. I'm pretty sure they've earned every negative review they had based on that unprofessional interaction. I'm so glad we didn't go with Chariots for Hire -- there are better companies out there, message me and I'd be happy to tell you who we used -- they were fantastic (and have a lot of HAPPY customers who leave reviews!)

I rented a van for a winery tour for my boyfriend's birthday and I couldn't have been happier with the service. Our driver was named Jason and he was an angel and made the trip so much better. He arrived on time, was communicative, and patient with our loud group. He also helped us find a winery that would take our group when our original reservations did not work out. I highly recommend this company for their great prices! I was overall extremely grateful for Jason!

My daughter's wedding on 11/2/19 went very well. We hired a tour bus and a 14 passenger van. On time, clean great drivers. They took drunks back to the hotel etc. The story I share that amazes all. My daughter left the bride and her cell phones on the bus. Also my daughters wallet. We got a call they were found. Everyone I've shared this story with has said I've left stuff on a bus and never got it back. Thank you Chariots for Hire!@@

We almost died in one of their buses. 15 minutes into the drive we were swerving in and out of traffic only to finally stop on the side of the highway. The driver informed us that the brakes did not work AT ALL. We waited almost 2 hours on the side of the interstate for a replacement bus- when the bus arrived they drove past us and told us to walk over half a mile ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY to the bus.

We refused and had to wait another 40 minutes for the bus to turn around and pick us up safely. The reckless endangerment of this company to drive 30 people in a vehicle that was clearly not fit for any road is staggering.

I had a very positive experience with Chariots for Hire. I needed a 20 passenger bus to bring us from DC to Annapolis for the AF vs Navy football game. They gave me the 28 passenger bus at the same rate as the 20. The driver (Deborah) was awesome and the bus was clean and had everything we needed. If you are tailgating at an event I recommend using this company to bring you there and back.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! Just tried to get quotes from this company and in five minutes received three different prices. When asked to speak to a manager, Chris told me he didn't know when one would be in and to just call back in a couple of hours. I called backed and asked for a manager, got a guy on the phone who said "I could be whoever you want me to be." I told him I needed a manager because I was trying to book a vehicle for my bday weekend.

The person who then says he's the "owner Jeff, " gives me another quote which was much higher than the three quotes received earlier from Chris. It's a scam! I think they are just charging individuals what they feel at that moment they want to charge! I even stated what the website said re: how much they charge /hour/ vehicle, and the quote still did not match up to what was online. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Buyer beware. Allow me to share a recent experience with Chariots For Hire. Several weeks ago we booked a large bus with Chariots For Hire for a concert at Jiffy Lube Live. A deposit of $225 was required. As the concert approached, it was apparent that we didn't need such a large bus so we contacted Chariots For Hire and asked if we could reserve a smaller bus.

After some negotiation, the salesperson agreed to cancel our reservation and booked us into a smaller bus. We received emails confirming both the cancellation and the new reservation for the smaller bus. Well, on the day of the concert, the 12 of us were left stranded when the bus never showed up. We immediately contacted the company and were told that our reservation was canceled.

Full disclosure, they offered to try to send another bus, but they were already 30 minutes late and another bus would not have not have arrived in time to get to the concert. Despite our pleas, Chariots For Hire has refused to refund our deposit, claiming that we canceled the second reservation. We shared the email reservation confirmation clearly showing the new reservation; however, they claim that we canceled a second time.

This is simply a lie. Note again that we received an email confirmation of our first cancellation. We never received an email confirming the alleged second cancellation and they have no record of ever sending a second cancellation confirmation. According to the email response from Chariots for Hire, "there is no evidence one way or the other so what do you want to do." Are you kidding me?

I repeat, we have an email from Chariots For Hire confirming our reservation (See below). They never showed up. Basically, they f'd up and refuse to refund our deposit. Moreover, of the multiple people we've spoken to at Chariots for Hire about this issue, NOT ONE HAS OFFERED AN APOLOGY. I should also mention that we are repeat customers. Who conducts business this way? I'll be doing business elsewhere in the future.

Chariots for hire is an incredible charter bus company. They have a major contract transporting people between NY and DC that I just utilized. Despite the holiday season and the fact that they were the white label charter and not the primary provider of the trip, their contractor manager Larry Moon went out of his way to drive and return a lost wallet to me. Chariots for Hire was there when working with everyone else could not return my wallet quickly and safely. This level of dedication is more than what can be expected by any major busing provider in need of a charter for hire.

As a travel agent I need to have local vendors I can trust & are professional. This company has been a wonderful partner in my business for individuals, couples and groups. They have always been on time and their drivers have been gracious & helpful to all of my clients. Chariots for Hire are my go to transportation company in the Washington DC area. They have picked up clients in MD & VA, all airports and made my clients travel start and end with reliable, safe, clean & professional service.

We chose Chariots for Hire to have two vehicles to hold family during a full honors burial at Arlington National. The prices were reasonable and the customer service was good. The cars were beautiful and the drivers were attentive and caring. They made sure we were comfortable and were completely prepared to go to our destinations. I would definitely use their services again for any event. Thank you so much.

I have used Chariots for Hire for vineyard days a few times now and they are faithfully amazing every time! We have had Charles and Robert and both drivers were warm, welcoming and very helpful. They got us to vineyards on time but most of all they had personality and our large groups have enjoyed interacting with both. Price is fair and 14 passenger vans are always clean and top notch! Thank you Chariots for Hire for being our go-to shuttle company in the DC area!

We had a bad experience with this company. They took a reservation from my 17 year old son using his mothers credit card. 3 days later and one month before the scheduled date we wanted to cancel the reservation. We had nothing in writing with the company. They refused to return our deposit. The owner refused to talk with us on the phone about the matter. I can only imagine what this will mean in terms of service should actually use this company.

We have used Chariots for years with very positive experiences. They are ontime, the drivers are safe and courteous. Other than 1 trip when the DVD player was on the fritz we have had great trips with them. Our youth groups use them to and from the DC area to NJ and PA for summer camps!

Overall really good trip. Pros: 1.) Bus came early, 2.) Bus was clean, 3.) Bus driver was very professional and knew the routes we were going. Bad: 1.) bus driver took the longest possible route so my time tables were way off. 2.) Bill you for over time even though they took long routes and bus driver could not find us at our last stop. The only reason I gave them 4 stars after the negative issues was the manager knocked off the additional overtime price. He didn't want to at first, but eventually did. Make sure that you do not go over the agreed time or it will be a big expense.

We used Chariots for Hire for a wine tour on Saturday, and were charged for a late/OT fee. I have attempted to contact you multiple times to dispute this fee and you have not responded. Here are the reasons why: * Our driver showed up 30 minutes late * Our driver then proceeded to take 30+ minutes to leave my neighborhood. I live in Glover Park so I understand the streets are narrow, but we have several public buses larger than yours that come through those roads frequently. * Our driver hit another car during our journey to the winery which caused us to pull over for 20 minutes * After our driver dropped us off at the first winery, he proceeded to get stuck in a ditch, which delayed our timing for moving on to the next winery Your drivers evident lack of experience driving the bus made our entire party feel unsafe during our trip.

Driver of bus 646 in Crystal City was crossing lanes without signaling and almost hit a car and a pedestrian. 10.24.2018 6pm. This is a very high traffic area, this kind of driving endangers lives and isn't great advertisement for your company.

Complete failure. Took the "ballpark bus" to the redskins game and they did not know they needed a parking pass! How do you not know this? So we had to park in the free lot and trek through the wood and cross a stream when it is freezing cold. The driver said we had an hour after the game but almost 1.5 hours and still waiting. I have tried all the ways to get to the stadium and unfortunately PAY for the parking pass and control where you park and when you leave. It is actually cheaper if you have 2 or more people.

I had a great experience with Chariots for Hire from start to finish. We booked a party bus for a brewery/winery tour. The booking agent, Chris, was helpful and courteous and was able to get us a cheaper rate on what we wanted. It was easy to get in touch with the booking agent and follow-up with our itinerary. Confirmations were immediately sent to my email.

On the day of, I got a text message from our driver, Johnny, letting us know he was in route. He arrived on time and the bus was fully stocked with ice, cups, water. We got the bluetooth connection set up and everything worked perfectly. Johnny was really flexible when one of the places we wanted to go was closed for a private event and Johnny took us to new place not on our itinerary.

He couldn't park in front of the new place and he texted me to let him know when he should come pick us up front. I gave him a 10 minute heads up and 10 minutes later, he was there waiting for us. We arrived home safely and everyone had a great time. Great communication, excellent service, and would recommend!

We hired Chariots for Hire (CFH) to provide transportation for our family before, during, and after my grandfather's funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery. Although their pricing is decent, you get what you pay for. The driver did show up on time, but was not friendly or polite. Neither was the reservation staff-quite brusque and sometimes defensive when asked routine questions. Again, if you want basic service, this company is fine, but don't expect to be dazzled with sterling customer service.

I have used Chariots for hire for a few events now and I have always had great experiences. They have always arrived on time, had great drivers, and been very accommodating. When you are transporting large groups of people things can happen(traffic, breakdowns, miscommunications). The people with bad reviews on here need to understand that everything cannot always go as smoothly as you want it to. Chariots for hire has ALWAYS been great to us and always helped to insure our trips go as smoothly as possible.

If I could give this business 1/4 of a star I would! Just horrible business practices! I called to get a quote for shuttle bus service for my wedding party. a guy by the name of Chris gave me the quote then told me there would a "travel fee". one hour (approx $115-120) then I was told "you should take your business somewhere else". I was totally shocked!

I called back spoke with Jeff, who actually ended up being one of the OWNERS! JEFF DAUSCH could care less about his employer telling me to take my business somewhere else! I would not recommend this business to a stray dog on the street! BTW, I had no issues with paying the travel fee! My problem was the unprofessional behavior of both the employee & the owner!

For our annual Redskins-Eagles tailgate spectacular at FedEx, we decided to go with Chariots for Hire this year. They did not disappoint. Our group was about 55 strong so we went with a charter bus so we could fit our entire group plus all of our essentials. We all fit on the bus without any problems and were super comfortable. There was a ton of space above us to put smaller items like jackets, footballs, and purses.

As for the other things we brought, several coolers, cases of beer, and tables, it all fit neatly in the side storage area of the bus with no problem at all. Our driver arrived probably 10 or 15 minutes before he was scheduled to, so we were able to start loading everything earlier which was a huge help. Coming from Arlington for a 1 PM game at FedEx, that was a nice bonus.

Our driver killed it all day. He got us there and back safely and in a timely manner, and was just a nice dude in general. I can't recommend Chariots for Hire enough for big group outings or when you're in need of transportation larger than what a couple of uber's would hold. They've got our business again next year for sure.

We hired Chariots for Hire to take guests from a church parking lot to our home on the river which has little to no parking. There were only approximately 30 people that needed to be transported. The bus arrived in the worst condition that you can possibly imagine. It had apparently been in a car accident and had not been cleaned. The interior was equally as bad the upholstery was dirty and had several tears and rips.

Even the seals for the doors were hanging in mid air so that there were gaps to the outside. The vehicle also had been sprayed with some type of deodorant that smelled like an a restroom in a strip club, the condition of the vehicle that they sent was so poor that I was compelled to send it back and cancel the service as they were unable to provide a solution.

I felt badly for the driver whose time they had wasted. I was told to call on MondaySpace about a refund. I called and was told that they would refund the balance but they were not going to refund the deposit. I felt that this was unfair as they were unable to correct the problem and as they had sent a vehicle that was in such poor deplorable condition that it was impossible for us to comfortably use for our event.

And please look at the photographs that I've enclosed and you'll see what I mean we will not be using the service of chariots for higher ever I suggest you do the same.

We chartered four buses for a 15 hour each way trip. ***One bus had control panel issues that left the bus without signals. Five hours into the trip the bus would not start and we had to evacuate the students due to the smell of smoke. ***Two buses leaked on top of a teacher and students during the rain. Water ran into the cargo hold getting luggage and clothing wet. ***One bus had acceleration issues and had difficulty reaching legal speeds on the freeway. ***One of the buses bathroom was not serviced prior to the trip and caused an obnoxious odor.

While another bus was not stocked with toilet paper. ***One bus the air conditioning went out--with 40 people on board it made for an uncomfortable ride. ***We were left stranded with 190 students, in a parking lot for two plus hours, in a city we were not familiar with. because the bus drivers did not show up on time. This caused us to miss prepaid dinner reservations and a scheduled prepaid concert.

This is just a snap shot of the difficulties and does not cover all we experienced. Each bus had an issue and we were put in questionable situations due to staffing and mechanical failures. I could not in good conscience recommend this company to anyone.