Beware Of Ultimate Bus Rentals - Breese, IL

Be aware of Ultimate Rentals as their customer service is non-existent. I rented a bus for my friend`s Bachelorette party and it never showed up.
I had called Ultimate 3 times before the party and talked to the same person each time. The last time I talked to the "lady" was to confirm the price for the bus. I had talked to her about how we didn`t have as many people as we expected but that we would still keep them for our party since the first student bus was just as expensive. I had asked her if the gas surcharge was still valid even though gas prices have gone down. She informed me that it was valid since all the buses use diesel. I said okay then we will see you on the XXth. Meaning we will meet the bus at that time.
The evening came and we went to meet the bus for our party and it wasn`t there. We called the lady at Ultimate and asked her where our bus was she said someone had canceled the reservation a week prior. We told her that no one canceled the reservation and she insisted that someone must have because our party was crossed off her list..... I said, "Why were we standing there with full coolers of beverages ready to get on a bus if we canceled?" "I don`t know but someone canceled", she said. There was really no reasoning with her. We went around and around.
I was the only one that even knew what company we were using and my name was on the deposit check and I did not cancel the reservation. After half an hour or longer she said she would try and find us another bus but instead we decided to get a cab since we wasted so much of our evening arguing with her. She said she would not cash our deposit check.
The following Monday they cashed my deposit check...LOL. Called "the lady" to ask her why in the world they would do that and she still insisted that someone canceled the reservation!! No ifs, ands, or buts! She said that they cash the deposit checks at the time the reservations are canceled but mysteriously mine was cashed after our party was supposed to have pick-up service. Hmmm.
She said she would send me documentation that shows the reservation was canceled. A piece of paper with a line through our name??? Please, give me a break. She can show me everything under the sun but the fact remains I DID NOT CANCEL....lol. Geez.
This all would have been easier to stomach had she just said, "Hey, maybe I made a mistake. We won`t cash your deposit check and sorry for your inconvenience." Of course that didn`t happen and it is still very frustrating when I think about our conversation and how stubborn she was.
So the moral of the story is if you get service from them it may be good or it may be bad, I wouldn`t know. I do know that if something goes wrong along the way you will have no recourse but to call your bank and have a reversal done on the deposit check. It may cost you $15 and take three weeks to get your money back, but it`s well worth it for some piece of mind.
Posted by ~M~; updated 01/26/09

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You were wrong and did not provide good customer service. No one called to cancel. Maybe you should assign every reservation a number and when they cancel you can confirm that it is the correct party calling to cancel if they provide you with that confirmation number. Our name was crossed off the list by accident but you will not admit your mistake. That is poor customer service.
Posted by ~M~; updated 04/05/09

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The policy is that we will contact you 2 weeks before to confirm the bus run. If we do not confirm the reservation with you or recieve a call back from you, we assume that you have cancelled. This is company policy and is gone over with customers when booking, as we have had many people stand us up. If you did not return our call then we would not have shown up. If you had booked the bus before October you would have spoken with me and I know that I would have diligently went over the rules with you. As I have trained the person that took over my position and keep in constant contact with the entire staff, I know that they are just as diligent about saying the terms of the agreement. I am sorry that you were not happy. But as a former employee and loyal customer, I can vouche for our services. Obviously, we cannot please everyone, but apparently we are doing something right with double bookings every weekend. Thanks!
Posted by Megan; updated 04/06/09

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The last time I talked to the company was a couple of weeks before the reservation to confirm the price. The last thing I said was, "See you on the 17th!"
I don`t know how that constitutes as a cancel. I know what happened and it is not my fault that the person who took the reservation is stubborn and unwilling to work with the customer. Said that the deposit check is cashed at time of cancellation but it was not cashed until the Monday after our party was supposed to have pick up service. One more inaccuracy.
I am done.
Posted by ~M~; updated 04/06/09