Complaints

This profile includes complaints for First Student's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  First Student

  191 Rosa Parks Street, 8th Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202

• 

  First Student

  1000 North Jefferson St. Amarillo, TX 79107

• 

  First Student Inc.

  727 Route 206 N Andover, NJ 07821-5038

• 

  First Student

  762 Queenstown Rd. Severn, MD 21144

• 

  First Student

  27 Henry Street Bethel, CT 06801

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 8/08, my 3 year old, nonverbal, developmentally disabled son was taken to the wrong daycare by a First Student transport bus because the driver was given an outdated roster from her headquarters. This is unacceptable and if I had not been available at the time the daycare he was taken to called me I don’t know what would have happened to him! When we give custody of our most precious children over to a third party these types of mistakes are unacceptable.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/09/2023

  Looks like this is not exactly what happened.  Bottom line, the child was never left at the wrong daycare.  The school attempted to coordinate with the driver directly and put the child on the wrong bus.  In addition, there was an update on the route and the Driver went to the old daycare.  However, it was identified on arrival and the child was taken to the correct location.  We reached out to the mother this morning and discussed what happened as well as communicated to the school that they need to coordinate with dispatch  to have visibility of any changes to routing.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 21, 2023, First Student School bus#212 drove on to my paved driveway to turn around, causing damage to the asphalt. There are now deep groves in the driveway as this full-sized bus was too heavy for a residential driveway.
  
  Email to head office has not been returned. A local branch was unable to locate the bus.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2023

  Originally our Stratford Location received a call with a
  report of a bus doing a turnaround in a laneway in Cambridge (17 **** Street)
  on June 21st.
  The location did not have a bus with that number or in the
  area at that time. The location Manager did speak with ********** a couple of
  times and did try to assist to locate the bus #112.
  
  I believe I have now located the bus and location; I will
  have the location Manager reach out to the customer and investigate this
  complaint. Once we have a reply from the location manager we can update the reply.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/24/2023

  called her again last
  Thursday to give her an update.  I let her know that this was reported to
  our insurance adjuster who she should be hearing from soon.   The
  reference number I have with ******** is *******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.

  This issue remains unresolved.  I have spoken with the insurance company.  Next steps are for me to obtain a quote to repair the damage and forward it to the insurance company for their review.

  Until such time as my driveway has been repaired at no cost to me I will not consider this issue to be resolved.  Communication with the bus company and the insurance company has been timely, collaborative and courteous.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ********** Butler Tournadre
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/10/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The Driver of Bus ***** * at *** **** seems to be having some kind of mental breakdown or severe mental illness which has compromised her ability to make sound decisions.
  
  All school year, we have had several bus drivers that showed up either early or late to pick up or drop off my kid from school.
  
  The driver we have now is the newest driver. Since she started her job, she has been picking up my daughter earlier than the previous driver did in the mornings.
  
  The driver decided out of nowhere without talk to me about it, that she would start showing up very early around 6:17am or 6:20am. So we kept missing the bus in the mornings as that was not the normal pick up time. And does Tynisha W**** answer her phone to tell the driver to come back to our stop? No. Tynisha W**** is basically just there for decoration. She only wants to talk if it's negative. Negativity is what excites people like her.
  
  So I had to speak to the driver myself. I asked her what time exactly she will be coming in the mornings. She said earlier around 6:20am instead of 6:37am like the previous driver. So I said, that's fine.
  
  So for a few weeks now, the driver has been showing up early. Evidence of this is on the app. The bus tracking app will show u the arrival times of the bus. She has been arriving very early and picking up my child.
  
  But then two days ago, she decided all by herself that she doesn't want to do that anymore. So we came to the bus stop early around 6:20 expecting the bus driver to pick us up as usual. Instead she drove to the ******* across the street and just parked her car there for over 10 minutes. See image attached. After waiting a while and not seeing the bus I checked the app and thought we had missed the bus and almost drove away, only to check the app closer to find that the bus was parked this whole time at *******. I was LIVID.
  
  she refused to pick up my daughter and didn't come to our bus stop. I had to drive to ******* to put my kid in the bus.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/17/2023

  There have been 3
  instances now of issues with this parent that we are aware of.
   Additionally, Tynisha W***** is the Transportation Director for *** ****.
  
  Earlier this year this parent complained to the
  BBB. This was sent after the parent entered our bus and accosted the
  driver because our driver wouldn’t let the student off the bus without the
  parent showing an ID or bus card.

  
  “Mrs. H***
  (driver) did report that this mother is never at the stop on time am or pm.
  H*** told me that she had been getting to the stop early but waiting at the
  stop and the mother was not there on time. The stop time is 6:37am. On 5/9/2023
  H*** was early to the stop, so she parked at the ******* until her stop time,
  the mother tracked the bus to ******* and wanted to put her child on the bus at
  that time and it was not a designated stop. Child was put on the bus by her
  mother anyway and drive off. H*** then when to the stop on ******* & *****
  for 6:38 am. H*** reported that on 5/10/2023 that the mother did the same thing
  again as she was waiting at the *******.  On 5/10/2023 the Driver was at
  the stop on time for 6:37am and left the stop @ 6:39am.  This parent is
  not willing to follow the rules.”

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/05/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I requested a quote for a charter bus rental for my wedding. It took a week to hear back, received the quote and then had countless phone calls, emails, etc go unanswered when trying to book. No one every answers the phone and after 10 minutes it says they will save your place in line and call back but never do. All over their website says you will never wait and they value customers and get right back to them. This clearly isn’t the case

  Business Response

  Date: 05/10/2023

  Current status:  Customer
  has a revised quote and is not ready to book yet.  Overview of the events
  that transpired are below.  Please let me know if you have any
  questions.  I think we should have no problem resolving this one. 
   
  
  History with this customer:
  04/25/2023: Received
  online request and voicemail from ******:  Called her back and sent
  quote for wedding scheduled for 8/13/2023.
  5/8:  Called
  ******* and left a message, called ****** (name on account) she said she
  was at work and would get back to us.
  5/9:  Called
  ******* and left a message, Called ****** and said she would call us
  back. 
  5/9:  Received a
  call from *******:  She said she is not ready to book.  Asked
  that we revised the scope of service and submit a revised quote.  She
  also asked that we extend the expiration date of the quote.  We
  informed her that we will honor the price through her event date.
  
  Tammy
  W***
  Senior Charter Manager

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/21/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  The school put my 6 year old daughter on the wrong school bus. That school bus than let my daughter off without an adult being present to get her. My daughter was alone and walking around for an hour before she was found.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/01/2023

  We have been
  involved with this since the beginning. The Location Manager and Area General Manager spoke with the
  parent who was upset at first, but calmed down after talking with them. The
  school district took the majority of the blame on this as they put the child on
  the wrong bus.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/01/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We were very disappointed with our experience with First Student. We had reserved a bus for March 12, 2023 to transport students for a field trip on and the bus never showed up (order #********, paid $435). That day, we contacted the phone number provided on the invoice and no one answered the call to tell us if the bus was late or would be coming at all. We ended up using chaperone cars to transport students. Following the no-show, we called more than 10 times, and were put on hold and never able to speak with an agent to obtain a refund. There is no contact email address on the website or other way of reaching this company.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/13/2023

  Our charter manager called and texted with no response from the person who filed the complaint. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/21/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ********* ****
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/27/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This organization has a national headquarters and then there are local sites. They require you to book with the national headquarters, but it's the local site the fulfills the order. We had an event on Friday, and the buses never showed. The national headquarters sent us a confirmation the morning of the event, and they charged our credit card for the full amount. We were waiting to get picked up, and they never showed. We called after waiting over 20 minutes, and the local site told us they weren't coming. They said they cancelled it last week. They claimed the notified the national headquarters, but either they never did or the national headquarters didn't notify us. Either way, we were left stranded. We ended up having to have all of our members get an Uber to and from the event. It was incredibly lucky that we were able to get over 50 Ubers at one time to the same location. We have since contacted the company multiple times, and they have been nonresponsive and they haven't yet issued us a refund.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/30/2023

  ***** ***** filed the complaint
  on behalf of CHI OMEGA UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH . We have spoken to ***** regarding her complaint and
  fully refunded her payment for this event.  At this time, she is pleased
  with our handling of the complaint.  She also informed our Supervisor,
  Kathryn J, that she plans to make another reservation with us soon.
  
  ***** has informed us that when
  she called the location servicing her event to inquire about the missing buses,
  she was told that no buses were coming.  She also said that she was given
  an email address to follow up with First Student regarding her complaint and
  refund. However, she did not recall what the email address was. She also
  confirmed that she did not contact us at the Charter Center to resolve her
  complaint.  We have reviewed our contact information with her and how she
  can contact us directly in the future. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/30/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ***** *****
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/23/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Good morning.
  I sent an email this morning to Tiffany H*** and T****** Write at 6:43am on Monday January 23rd. My daughter was just picked up by a substitute buss driver who usually subs for our regular driver.
  
  The buss driver this morning did not ask for My Id. I even offered it to her and her exact response to me this morning was
  
  "No I don't need to see your id, I don't know anything about that"
  
  So... Apparently. Your buss driver's don't know "anything about that" even though just last week Tiffany H*** and T****** Write claimed that asking for ID is PROTOCOL.
  
  Just last week, my daughter was suspended from the buss for three days. Which was a major inconvenience to me as I have to work. Tiffany H*** called me last week to tell me my daughter was suspended from the buss because I entered the buss to get my child. I only entered the buss because the buss driver refused to give me my child. The buss driver last week suddenly decided to follow this imaginary protocol of asking for ID, a protocol which clearly isn't truly enforced. So since they ft it was appropriate to defend that buss driver who asked for my ID and didn't want to give me my child, forcing me to have to enter the bus to retrieve my daughter, I hope that today they will fire the buss driver who did not ask for my ID this morning before taking my daughter.
  
  
  
  And since you claim you have cameras on the bus.. please watch the footage from this morning and see your own driver deny protocol.
  
  I'm sure u will be now firing her correct?
  Since T****** Write told me last week that all drivers have been told and retrained to ask for ID and those drivers who don't will be terminated. This is what T****** Write saod to me last week.
  
  I'll be looking forward to you suspending her for breaking protocol. Since u care about protocol all of a sudden.
  
  Let me know when she is fired.
  
  Don't start what you can't finish.
  U don't even follow ur own protocol yet u suspended my child.
  
  Do better.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/26/2023

  Our Senior Location Manager spoke to the parent on Tuesday shorty before her PM run. They discussed each situation with her and heard her thoughts. She helped him to
  understand how the original driver may have escalated the situation in her mind,
  and what she could have done differently to deescalate the situation. He helped
  her to understand the policies and how we are a vendor for the district and we
  are complying to the policies just like the students and parents are expected
  to do.
  
  She stated that while her child was suspended, she had to
  pick the child up from school each day, and was never asked for an ID. She just
  walked in to the school and asked for the child. She stated that the bus rules
  are hypocritical because of this. He again apologized for the inconvenience and
  asked her to be patient with any sub driver and to please bring the pick up
  card or ID to the bus daily. She stated that First Student handled this
  situation much better and different than the district and she really appreciated him calling her. He left her his name and phone number and asked her to call me or
  text him in the future if another issue should arise with her students school
  transportation.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On Friday January 13th 2023, a substitute First View bus driver who usually subs for our regular driver refused to let my 5 year old daughter off the buss. This driver has seen me many times before and dropped off my daughter to me many times before without ever asking for my ID.
  
  On Friday, the driver decided to act like she had never seen me before and she put her hands on my daughter and blocked my daughter from exiting the buss.
  
  I was standing Infront of the buss asking the driver to let my daughter off the buss and the driver refused to let my daughter come to me. The driver kept asking if I had my ID.
  
  I did not bring my ID with me because no driver has ever asked for my ID to pick up my daughter ever since school started. And like I said, this particular driver has also dropped off my daughter to me many times before and has never once before asked me for my ID. So I was shocked at how the buss driver was acting. She was acting like she had memory loss and had never seen me before.
  
  So I got upset and entered the buss to grab my daughter. The driver kept yelling now causing a scene, telling me to GET OFF THE BUSS.
  
  This is the issue with *** **** and the drivers you people hire.
  
  The drivers are inconsistent and do not follow, strictly, their own rules and it causes problems. Inconsistency causes problems.
  
  If your drivers are going to ask for ID. Then ask for ID every single time.
  
  What sense does it make to go the whole school year not asking for ID and then suddenly without any warning, the driver wants to now be vigilant when they where not vigilant just last week.
  
  Then I emailed Ms. Tiffany H** to report the issue and she completely ignored my email for an entire day. She did not at all address via email and apologize for their inconsistency.
  
  Instead she called me the next day to tell me that my daughter was suspended from the buss for three days because I entered the buss to get my daughter from an inconsistent buss driver.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Explanation from First Student Senior Location Manager Chris O***:

  This parent climbed inside the bus and attempted to remove
  her student from the bus. The last time the sub driver drove this route was
  December 5th. This was prior to an incident (12/9/22) where another sub had let
  a student off the bus without confirmation and the student was missing for a
  couple of hours. We had a meeting on December 12th with all the subs
  and elementary drivers to reconfirm the policy. This was the first time that
  the sub in question below had driven the route since that meeting.
  Additionally, another male parent, entered the bus and actually physically
  accosted the driver. He broke her glasses, shoved her, and spit in her face.
  His student was permanently suspended.
  
  After investigation, it was confirmed that the regular route
  driver was not checking for IDs. She had become familiar with the students and
  parents and had stopped asking. However, the sub driver was following the
  reestablished policy. The regular driver has been suspended for the rest of the
  week due to not checking for IDs.
  
  Tiffany H*** works for *** ****. I am not aware of her
  contact with the parent. *** **** made the decision to suspend the student.
  
  This parent also sent this same message below to First
  Feedback yesterday afternoon. This morning I responded to this parent with an
  email response and apology to the same comment below and left my name and
  office number for her to call if she has any other concerns or questions. At
  this time, I have not heard from her.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/18/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, reasons for rejection are included below.
  

   

   

  The substitute driver has never once asked for my ID all the other times she subbed. That is the issue. Everyone is trying to put the blame on the regular driver and make her the scape goat. But the issue is that the lady who subbed on Friday has seen me many times and has dropped off my daughter to me many times without asking for my iD. She should be suspended. 

  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ********* ********
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My child is complaining to husband and I that the other little girls that chose to sit with her on the afternoon bus (*********** **** Charter bus #**) are being mean to her, putting hands in her face, biting, and using inappropriate language. She claims that the bus monitor always sits in the back of the bus to where they cannot monitor all the kids. Something needs to be done about this. My child is only 5. This should not be allowed to happen.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  Our Location Manager sent the following to the parent and they said they are good with this resolution  I’ve talked with the monitor and she knows the child from her stop.  She did not know anything about the issue, but will now have the student sit back with her and try to identify the students causing the problem and let me know.   DT
  
  DAN T*******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/09/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ********* *****