Rome mini-bus and coach hire

 Rating by Mary Pogue from United States

The quote seemed reasonable for the service we requested-transporting 24 pilgrims from Rome's airport to our guesthouse near the Vatican-and we had no reason to expect anything but suitable service upon accepting the offer. The rest of the experience did leave much to be desired, however, starting with seemingly more interest in getting the payments than in communicating necessary information. I had to ask for information that I would expect a bus company to provide; for example, Where at the airport would we meet? How would we meet? Would our driver be in the airport hall with a sign to lead us to our bus? What is the driver's name? phone number? (etc.) The answer for the latter: "We will provide name and number at 18:30 the night before pickup"-we were arriving at 10:30 in the morning, so for a group traveling from the USA, that time was not going to allow us to have ready communication...(while flying overnight) and then in the end, it SIMPLY DID NOT HAPPEN, so that we arrived at the airport with the only information provided to my other questions being to "leave the terminal, turn to the right, and walk to the buses area, looking for a sign with my name" (for the group) to determine which bus was ours. Two of us did that while 22 waited inside FOR over AN HOUR with no other communication forthcoming (as I texted we were waiting) and when finally thinking we might have to find another means to get to our hotel, (and be on time for lunch rsvp) the bus does arrive with a driver rudely acting as if he had been waiting for us!!--impatiently pointing to his watch, wanting everyone to be on board in a minute, etc. No apology for being an hour late after arrangements (and payment!) were made well in advance. It was a frustrating start to our Rome experience, to be sure. The trip from the airport to our CASA was fine, the driving fine, but the proximity for drop off to our front door was not what was expected. This we were willing to forgive if the street was "tight" for bus travel, but in fact a different bus later in the week was able to pull right up to the front gate without worry or complaint. In short, the overall impression we received was not that of providing service, but that providing service was an inconvenience for the bus driver! :( I was quite shocked at that communicated attitude; none of us on board had experienced that kind of late and unapologetically rude service before. If it is part of the Italian way of doing business, I would kindly suggest that a greeting and smile with an understanding that a group of pilgrims/visitors to your city come counting on your contracted service would give a much better impression! If you find transporting groups, being on time, and allowing at least five minutes for all to get on board is annoying (even though they have all waited an hour for you to arrive!), please choose another line of business! We are grateful that at least he eventually showed up and that at last we were transported to our guesthouse safely. If times are not honored per agreements, that should be communicated up front--for example, "the pickup time can vary up to an hour"--that would have helped tremendously for all of us waiting and wondering if there would be a pickup at all. Biggest need: clear, improved communication and assurance of timeliness per contracted service. Thank you!

 Rating by Marinela Dinca from Romania

We had a wonderful trip to Rome and have received good quality service from transport company.

 Rating by Nils Palmertz from Sweden