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:11/18/2022

  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.

  My son’s bus shows up when it wants to and at anytime it wants too. This has been going on for over a month. The tracker is no good, it shows buses all over the state and is never accurate anymore. I spoke with a supervisor a few weeks ago and nothing has changed. I call in almost every morning and some days I get people and others days I will call for 30 minutes straight and no one picks up. Today I was left on hold for 45 minutes while they checked for my sons bus and as I was on hold the bus shows up and my son misses the bus. Yesterday it never showed up and no one ever picked up. I am in jeopardy of getting written up at my job because of my attendance issues over this. My son and I are stressed out every morning because he is unsure how or if he will make it to school. These are children’s lives that’s are being impacted and First Student doesn’t appear to be taking it seriously. I even called *** ***** Public Schools and the receptionist could care less about my issue. She was rude and told me to call back sometime after “11am, 11:30, or 12pm, her supervisor Teddy should be in around that time”. This is out of control. I’ve been patient for weeks hoping they fix it but clearly no one cares! It’s unbelievable that people who are supposed to help children are behaving in this manner. My son has to get to school and this issue needs to be resolved!

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2022

  Location manager spoke with **** ****** this morning.
  
  He went through her concerns and listened to the challenges
  
  She stated the AM bus has been inconsistent for about 4
  weeks and that she knew her regular driver was out sick, she has an 814am
  scheduled AM pickup and the bus has been arriving between 815 and 830am with a
  few instances of the bus arriving at 845am.
  
  They looked at the route and indeed the regular driver is out
  on Leave. They found that the bus has been arriving as she described.
  
  She stated that the calls have been answered more quickly in
  the last week or so, but the inconsistency remained.
  
  Shevette, the Assistant Location Manager, has reviewed the route, they have made a
  driver change, and they have adjusted the schools to allow for the bus to get to
  this out of district student more comfortably.
  
  **** ****** was appreciative and they will start the new
  structure of the route and driver tomorrow morning 11-29-22. They gave **** ****** our contact info and will follow up with her periodically to ensure this
  fix resolves the issues she had been experiencing.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/14/2022

  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.

  You guys need to hire better First Student drivers. My daughter bus comes flying down the street stops suddenly in front of our house then pulls right off never giving my daughter a chance to get on the bus. When she does make it to the bus it pulls off while she is still standing trying to find a seat. Why hire people who don't care about children safety or care if they get to school or not. First Student should look at the record amount of time my student didn't get the bus it's ridiculous. Hire better, do better, these are our children lives at stake.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2022

  Several attempts have been made by the Region staff to contact this parent.  No response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/17/2022

  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 son was on the bus having medical issues that was not address properly that was dangerous the driver did nothing about it that was my child you do not play with some body child like that.the driver said the school put him on the bus like that I felt the school and bus company was both wrong

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2022

  My location Manager has been in contact with the customer regarding this issue.  Refresher training for our drivers at the location has occurred.  The parent has requested a monitor be added to the route, which the Location Manager is in contact with the transportation office at the school to collaborate and put a solution in place.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/20/2022

  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:10/03/2022

  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.

  Every morning my son goes outside early to wait for his bus. The bus never comes in the morning to pick him up like it should. Ever since the bus changed from the over crowded bus, the new bus doesn’t pick him up. This problem has caused him to miss many days out of school. The bus number is ***. This is ridiculous and whenever we call the bus company First Student ********** County no one answers or return messages. The tracking app for this company always says the bus arrival time but still never come in the morning like it should.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2022

  our location manager has been in touch with the parent, she spoke with the parent on 10/4 with a solution for route *** to transport the students
  on time. Route *** is currently still assisting with route **** Route *** is
  now assisting with the 2 stops from ****** ***** subdivision for an on-time
  arrival. Route *** transports the remaining stops listed on route *** with an
  on-time arrival and no further complaints. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/20/2022

  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.

  First Student is contracted with my daughter's school to pick-up her up, deliver her to school and to pick her up from school and deliver her home.
  The contract requires that buses will have GPS tracking and that the school will have a route exclusive to school.
  The bus:
  - Does NOT have GPS
  - The bus shares a route with another school
  - Is regularly 45 mins- 1.5 hours late to pick up and cannot pick up daughter in time to deliver to school on time
  - Is regularly an hour to 1.5 hours late to pick up from school leaving her there to sit in an admins office
  - First Student does not equip drivers with technology to track the bus or to consistently communicate with dispatch. Dispatch has to call personal cells and guess location if they cannot reach the driver (who should be driving)
  
  First Student does not communicate if/when these will be resolved. These are children; they are a transportation company. This is what they do.
  
  This is Negligence - a high departure from their promises and with no plan to fix.
  
  I'd to talk to a leader in the Corp company to ensure they have a plan and resources to make this right.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2022

  My Area General Manager Tyfani N*** is in contact with the parent to resolve their complaint.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/23/2022

  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.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  *** ********

   

  - Business has not offered any specific information on solutions to the complaint; they did reach out.

  - I have asked for the buses to be equipped with GPS systems and made available to parents, per the contract.  This has not happened and no date has been offered.

  - Information from company provided more confusion and is in conflict with my direct experience with company

  Example:

  Business said:

  In regards to the GPS and radio issues you described. Our buses are equipped with functioning GPS units and the location is on track to roll out a bus tracking application to the parents. This should significantly help parents with updates on bus location for their students. The location did receive several new buses well after school start. Since receiving the new buses radios have been installed.
  
  My response:
  ... The site's dispatch has told me, on multiple occasions, that the buses do not have GPS OR that they cannot get ahold of the driver to track the location.  They've also told me that the bus was at the school loading when it was 20 minutes away.  Is this a training issue?
  

   

  The company does not yet have a solution on how to remedy the problem and is not familiar with what is actually happening on-ground.  

   

  Business Response

  Date: 10/10/2022

  Good Morning,
  
                  I am working with the school to ensure that the parent bus tracking app is working fluidly before rollout. At this point I cannot give a firm date but I am hopeful that in two weeks it will be ready to push out to the parents.
  
                  For proactive communication my staff is sending messages between 430-5 am and again around 12 pm each school day on the status of routes. From there any changes that may happen due to a driver either calling out or a no call/no show is communicated as soon as the information comes available. We also work to keep updates going out as plans are made to cover any open routes. There is a lot of fluidity to this process as we are short staffed but we do alert the school as quickly as we can as we react to changes.
  
                  The dispatch team here is doing their upmost to stay ahead of where each bus is at. They are getting better each day as their systems become more established. And as we’ve been able to hire more drivers. We do continue to do training and I will continue to work with them to make sure that we are all putting out the same information and that we are as accurate as we can be at the time. I apologize if there has been any misinformation as the staff works through route coverage and getting answers to parents and schools.
  
                  Several conversations were had over the summer and I was very forthright in explaining the challenges this school year would bring. Any changes that have had to be made as we’ve adjusted operations to provide the best support possible have been communicated early and at multiple levels. I continue to work with the school in order to look at how we can communicate better and provide better service. To include multiple re-routes, tiering, and bringing in additional out of town drivers. Corporate has provided additional drivers from across the country, many leaving their families for weeks to help drive route here, additional staffing help and remote support with communication.
  
                  In the past week the call volume has decreased which has allowed the staff to be more responsive via phone calls. And we do have four phone lines, all manned individually unless there is an emergency that pulls a staff member out. We are also receiving support with email communication so that can be more timely. We will continue to work on bettering our communication with families.
  
                  What will make the biggest impact is hiring drivers. If you wish to help then please share that we are looking for bus drivers and that anyone interested can apply at workatfirst.com. We do provide paid training and will pay for the certifications.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/30/2022

  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.
  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  *** ********

  Problem:
  First Student continues to put my child's well-being in danger. On Nov. 7 my child was delivered to my home 2 hours and 10 minutes after school concluded and I could not track her nor receive accurate information from dispatch. Tracking is INCLUDED in the contract and is still not active. For a national company with significant resources, this is unacceptable. On Nov. 11 my child was delivered to my home at 7:10 - 3 hours and 25 minutes after dismissal. I called the police for help bc, despite calling multiple times, I was not able to connect with a FS employee after 6 pm; only an answering service. At 5:54 I was told by FS that my child was near by (59/Wornall) and by 6:25 still no student. I place two messages with the answering service 15 minutes apart with no response so I called KCPD. According to parents with GPS tracking "on their kids" the driver was so confusted it drove to another state; one of our friend's children threw up. 2.5-3 hours IS TOO LONG TO BE ON A BUS. Tracking is a must; and required by the contract with the school. When will there be trackiing? How can we trust the company to deliver students; they are failing. I'd like to hear from corporate on this matter. The Area General manager, Tyfani N***, made has not been able to resolve any of these issues since my first complaint in September despite being able to reduce the buses from 11 to 5 once the school took over service for its Middle School. The wait times have increased from 20 minutes- 2 hours and 20 minutes. I am considering legal action and have reached out to the State's Attorney General and the State's senators. I'm desperate. I'm child deserves better.
  
  
  Desired Resolution:
  Finish the Job
  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/07/2022

  The following was sent to the parent on 11/30/22 from my Region Representative, with no response:

   

  ***,
  
                 
  I received a Better Business Bureau complaint about the late drop off of your
  student on November 7th and 11th. That was the first week
  that the new routes started, the drivers were given some time between routes
  and over the weekend to ‘dry run’ their new route series but the first days did
  see several issues. We have worked with the drivers to help provide as much
  guidance as possible to help with consistent drop off times. There was also an
  issue on November 11th with a spare driver on your student’s route,
  where the spare driver was unfamiliar with the route and that caused delays.
  Dispatch and the Location Manager were present and helping the driver through
  the route.
  
                 
  There is an answering service that starts picking up the Dispatch line at 7 pm.
  I have called and verified that they will not begin answering the line until 7
  pm.
  
                 
  With the reduction of routes the route times have been extended due to the
  increased student load and the location of each of their stops. This was a
  request made by ********* that First Student complied with. While it did eliminate
  the two latest routes, 5 and 15, it did cause the other routes to run later
  than previously scheduled. This was explained and approved by the school.
  
                 
  The First View bus tracking application, as explained before, has been rebuilt
  to provide better performance. The roll out is being conducted to the school
  this week, along with training on how to utilize the application. From there
  First Student will be working with the school on the best way and time to roll
  the application out to parents.
  
                 
  This year has been especially tough with the driver shortage and late addition
  of the ********* contract, due to the previous provider going out of business.
  The location has worked hard to find solutions on how to get students to and
  from school. This has included route reductions, re-routes, route pairing, and
  bringing in out of town drivers. Unfortunately, each of this solutions brings
  their own problems and none of them has allowed us to provide consistent
  on-time service. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/15/2022

  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 tracking app should be available by now. It was supposed to be available by the start of the school year and has not been prioritized by the company, First Student, though the regional manager who responded seems to have tried to improve it, which is laudable.

  Additionally, the response included mistruths that appear to sweep the issue "under the rug" or illogical answers.

  From First Student: There was also an issue on November 11th with a spare driver on your student’s route, where the spare driver was unfamiliar with the route and that caused delays. Dispatch and the Location Manager were present and helping the driver through the route. 

  My response: The driver drove to another state. If the team members were present, that would have been prevented. Additionally, the dispatcher I spoke with called me back 15 minutes after speaking with me to confirm my child had been delivered.  She was shocked when I said the child was not home.  It took 10 more minutes for my child to be delivered. The dispatcher didn't know where she was.  

  
  From First Student: There is an answering service that starts picking up the Dispatch line at 7 pm. I have called and verified that they will not begin answering the line until 7 pm.
  
  My response: This is inaccurate; you don't have the correct facts and someone in the company is not telling the truth. I called multiple times on from 6-7 and my calls were only answered by an answering service, further exacerbating the problem and the reason why I called the police.

   

  From First Student: With the reduction of routes the route times have been extended due to the increased student load and the location of each of their stops. This was a request made by ********* that First Student complied with. While it did eliminate the two latest routes, 5 and 15, it did cause the other routes to run later than previously scheduled. This was explained and approved by the school.

  My response:  The school told me in an email that the extended times were not reasonable or expected.  I request proof that the school knew about the extended times. Also, this doesn't make sense.  The number of buses needed were reduced by over half. Why were the loads increased?  A better explanation of this logic should be provided; in particular when First Student is in charge of setting the routes. 

   

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2022

  Type:Sales and Advertising 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.

  This is the first day of school. My fresh into school twin kindergartners were greeted by the bus pulling up to us. The bus driver didn’t say a word after opening the door. I assumed being ok to help them up the big steps was what I needed to do and he sat there as I was lifting them up each step. He then roceeded to yell and say, “No you cannot get on the bus!” Me with replying “they need help!” He said “I got cameras everywhere you cannot be on the bus!” I said “ sir, this is their first year, they have never been on a school bus, let alone be without someone they do not know, are you serious right now?” He said “I understand but you cannot get on!” This gentleman didn’t even attempt to get up or help me assist my 5 year olds at all! Clearly there should be more than one adult on that bus if you have kindergartners for their first year on a big bus! How can you go from having to be in car seats every time you get in a vehicle to ok have a good day, good luck getting up those big steps, and find a seat to sit down on! Very unsafe for one person, let alone the most important person that is controlling a large vehicle alone, with students that are fresh and so little to safely make sure they are ok on that bus? The bus driver rushed me as well and that was a horrible feeling with zero assistance or guidance for my children or myself to follow! So very unsafe and unprofessional.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2022

  The complaint has been sent to the location manager to resolve.  I have also requested they let me know their resolution.Tell us why here...

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2022

  My location manager sent the following email on 9/9 with no response from the parent:

   

  *********
  
  Good morning. We received
  your concerns listed below. We apologize for ***** and ********* experience on
  their first day of school. You are correct, your children have gone from car
  seats to a full length bus all in one year. Each year, the elementary schools
  offer kindergarten orientation. We spoke with Belle V elementary school
  this morning. They did not offer kindergarten orientation this year. During
  orientation, the children have the opportunity to explore the school bus for
  the first time. Yes, getting on a large bus can be scary and intimidating to
  five year old children.
  
  In October, we are sponsoring
  Safety Dog assemblies at each of the respective elementary schools. During this
  assembly, students from kindergarten through second grade have the opportunity
  to meet with Safety Dog and learn bus safety through positive reinforcement.
  
  Unfortunately, we can not
  allow our drivers to get out of their seats to assist the children up and down
  the steps. The driver must be in control of the vehicle for safety reasons at
  all times. We did have lengthy conversation with our driver regarding his
  conversation with you. We apologize for any offence. We also cannot allow the
  general public on the buses beyond the second step from the ground for safety
  purposes. There have been safety issues in the past that have caused harm to
  both the students and drivers.
  
  We would like the opportunity
  to address any additional concerns that you may have. Please contact us at
  First Student, ************ ext. * for dispatch.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/30/2022

  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.

  I have been having trouble since the school year started with morning transportation for my 5 yr old. The bus is suppose to come at 7:21. I been outside since 7:04a. The bus (30) route 30 pulls up and I flag it down cause it was gonna drive pass me. The bus driver tells me she’s not doing ELV (Early Learning Village ) right now. I don’t understand her driving past my stop and the bus comes at a certain time , why she wouldn’t be she pick her up. She checks the paper cause I asked what time,& I tell her that this route is fckd up and she closes the doors and drives off. I don’t have transportation for my daughter to get back & forth to school and she leaves. I want something done. This is ridiculous and unprofessional. Euclid transportation (First student)

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2022

  The complaint has been sent to the location manager to resolve.  I have also requested they let me know their resolution.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2022

  my location manager spoke with the
  parent she stated this occurred the first week of school. Ms. ***** said
  everything has been rectified and no further action is needed

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/26/2022

  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.

  TWO DAYS NOW THE BUS DID NOT STOP. THEY SPED BY. THE APP REGISTERED ARRIVED WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND THE STOP. WE WATCHED THEM DRIVE BY AND WHEN WE CALLED THEY SAID THEY DID STOP AND REFUSED TO TURN AROUND TO PICK UP MY DAUGHTER.
  
  TWO DAY.
  
  I CALLED EVERY NUMBER POSSIBLE.
  IVE LEFT FEEDBACK AFTER FEEDBACK ON THEIR WEBSITE.
  
  THIS NEEDS TO GET FIXED.
  MY DAUGHTER CRIES EVERY MORNING SHE MISSES BECAUSE SHE THINKS ITS HER FSULT EVEN IF WE WERE STANDING OUTSIDE FOR 30 MINUTES JUST FOR THE BUS TO ZOOM PAST AND NOT STOP.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2022

  I have forwarded this complaint to my location for resolution and requested they respond to me with their resolution.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2022

  from my location manager - As I stated, Mrs. ********* is a former employee who
  currently lives in a local hotel with the financial support of our school
  system.  We verified GPS data every time she or Mr. ********* called with
  their complaint.  We have attempted a stop each day but either no one is
  there or we are “waved off” by Mr. ********* or another person.  We can
  also pull video evidence if needed.  I have also alerted the
  Transportation Director, Jeff W of this issue so it can be investigated by
  the school district.  The ********* also issued corporate complaints which
  I addressed.  If you need other information or evidence please let me
  know. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/22/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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 was lost for 45 minutes on Wednesday 8/17/22. I had to reach out to the District Manager of Transportation Linda M******* who spoke to a dispatcher who not only could not reach the drivers but then even told us that my child was not on the bus when the school officials already confirmed she was placed on bus 2 with other children such a Sophia and several others named. Not until we kept challenging the dispatcher, did they remotely attempt to figure out what was going on. Ultimately, she was on bus 2 and her name was not on the driver's route sheet. Drop off was supposed to be 4:06 and they did not confirm my daughter was actually on their bus until 4:53pm, the bus was about 5 minutes away and my daughter was finally home buy 5pm. The most scariest moment of our lives as parents and it's as if these dispatchers could care less. There's clearly no sense of urgency here, it's incredible to me that you would not be able to reach a driver, and the employees seemed totally complacent with telling me they did not have my child when they, in fact, DID. In addition to this no one ever came to pick my child up on Friday 8/19/22 nor today, Monday 8/22/22. I called multiple times with no answer. Linda finally was able to get an update from a dispatcher at 8:53am to find out the bus is running late due to a sub driver, yet pick up was supposed to be 8:36am and at this point I already had to leave my job to take her to school.
  We are currently afraid to continue using First Student as a safe or reliable means of transportation to school however with them being the only option for public transportation at this time that would force us to take on the burden of jeopardizing our work schedules to accommodate what First Student is lacking to provide us. Instead I’d rather First Student be held accountable for their poor service and provide the parents with additional reassurance that they are responsible enough to do the job

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2022

  I have sent this complaint to our Location to resolve with the parent, have instructed them to send me the resolution to post here.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2022

  note from my Location Manager - Since this incident I have corresponded with *** ******* via
  both email and phone. We have made changed to her daughter’s route which helped
  to stabilize the driver situation on that route which, in turn, stabilized her
  daughter’s drop times. It has also improved our ability to reach the driver for
  updates on delays. There are still unavoidable delays (*** ******* is rife with
  train tracks and construction) but the delays are within reasonable limits and
  extreme delays are being communicated to the parents. Since the 22nd (Monday after documented incident) I have not been made aware of any issues,
  and indeed have received correspondence from Mom stating that she was confident
  enough in the new transportation to put her daughter back on the bus.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/15/2022

  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.
  

  Good evening,

  I am replying that I am not satisfied with First Student’s
  response to my situation due to the following reasons: First Student refuses to
  proactively communicate delays in arrivals/drop offs and places the blame on
  the District for not relaying messages. Per District Transportation Manager, First
  Student is not proactively communicating with them neither which is not
  allowing them the opportunity for relay any such messages. Secondly, the
  Manager technically never replied to my response to his email when he finally
  reached out late August 22nd. Although I did speak to him the next
  day due to the bus arriving over 45min late for pick up and also being late for
  drop off over 20min, Kurt continued to show his lack of urgency in his
  profession in our conversation which I have documented below.
  To recap, my daughter was lost on August 17th. It
  took for me to not only reach out to the District Transportation Manager but
  also First Student Corporate website as well as BBB to finally get a response
  from the manager of the Wheeling office, Kurt C******. He finally replied to an
  email that I sent that morning due to the bus not arriving for pick up per the expectations
  set by First Student. In his reply he did apologize and essentially placed the
  blame on the drivers and took no accountability for his dispatchers’ behavior
  and lack of care in the matter despite my reply asking for such. Additionally,
  he never replied to that email as well. In the email he “pledged” that the
  service would improve however according to First Student ********* bus drop off
  is 4:05p. ******* has yet to been able to be dropped off at quoted time since
  the start of school and can actually vary anywhere from 4:20-4:40p. This means
  the expectations being set by First Student are completely inaccurate however
  they refuse to send some sort of communication to amend the time and just say
  our drop off time has been updated to say 4:30p based on the patterns of the
  current route. This is done in other transportation offices and there is no
  reason why First Student cannot just own the message and proactively communicate
  the proper expectations to the parents of the children they are caring for.
  

  There was a similar yet slightly different incident that
  occurred in **** ****** ******* this past Monday, September 12th where
  there was a mishap with a bus route and a child was placed on the wrong bus and
  not found until the child was finally returned to the school and finally the
  mother called to advise of the matter with far too much time past. This also
  making that parent uncomfortable enough to want to pull her child out the
  school. This is already too consistent of a possible scenario for children to
  be lost when merely trying to get their education and parents expecting the
  upmost care.
  

  I reasonably request that some sort of structure be put in place
  to require this type of proactive communication from any transportation
  services exclusive to children. To not do so is pure negligence. I could also
  ask that Kurt be required to receive some sort of bias/sensitivity/soft skills
  training if he is going to be in the business of transportation for our children
  because I never felt so uncomfortable and disrespected for trying to advocate
  for my daughter and our parent/student rights. No one should ever have to feel
  like their child is being treated as that of a cable company. Kurt clearly made
  that comment because I made it known that I am a dispatcher for a cable company
  which is yet another example of his character and how he is unfit and
  incompetent he is of being in the position he is in.
  
  Incident 8/23/22:
  As of 4:15pm no bus arrived, I called Linda @D62, she spoke
  to Kurt @ First Student who paged driver. Initially Kurt said driver stated she
  was out front however I explained there was not bus outside. Kurt then
  communicated that the driver was 2 stops away and should be about 8min away.
  Kurt called 10min later to say driver is outside and I had to re-explain that
  there was absolutely no bus outside. My husband was able to locate the bus
  several blocks down the road no where near our address and finally we met with
  the bus in front of our home. Kurt proceeded to apologized and comment that
  things are getting better. I explained that the communication is the main part
  that is lacking, if the right expectation is set then that eliminates the noise
  in between. He then proceeded to make a joke saying it is better than a
  two-hour window with the cable company, in which I had to stop him immediately.
  How dare he compare my child to cable??
  

  Linda M*******, District Transportation Manager, has reached out to Kurt’s manager to continue
  to try to advocate for proactive communication from First Student as ******** ** has also been having a hard time getting in contact with First Student
  personnel. Not to mention she has continuously demanded that First Student
  proactive reach out to her if any issues come about with the routes however the
  only communication, she has been receiving is from the parents questioning
  where their children.
  

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