Ember Reviews 126

A fab journey on the 5.27 from Kinross into Edinburgh to see a show at the Playhouse, Chris was a very patient driver with the busy roads in Edinburgh he took an interest in his passengers and took the time to let people know about the disruption the roadworks are making around Haymarket area, we had him as the driver on the 22.40 return journey too and gave all passengers a warm welcome onto the bus, definitely need more drivers like him

The new service between Aberdeen and Edinburgh is excellent. Brand new electric buses, which are comfortable, very quiet and have free wifi. Polite drivers.
The live tracking system is excellent, allowing you to see where your bus is located if you are waiting at a roadside stop. They even send a text message if your bus is running late.

The buses are nice, modern and comfortable with WiFi.
The drivers appear to have next level patience (with other road users) and are friendly and helpful.
The prices are excellent.
The communication is good, text alerts when buses are over a few minutes delayed).
The booking system and ability to cancel/change up to 10 minutes before is fantastic.
The frequency is great.
The fact they are electric is wonderful.
I catch these regularly for work and would rather use these than the train.
The downside - more of these! Pick up from Perth park and ride to Edinburgh would be great!

I bought a ticket for a journey from central Edinburgh to Bridge of Earn. The bus stop is advertised as st Andrew’s square and I waited for a 14.50 service that never came. 25 minutes later I found the live chat on their website and was told that the bus stop had been closed and the stop had been changed.
I ended up getting a bus 1 hour late. Their customer service is awful with no offer of compensation and stock reply’s from their team who clearly haven’t read emails. When technology breaks down the customer is left for dead. Very poor that they are unable to put a sign on a bus stop to advise of changes

I have mixed views about Ember bus services.

On the one hand, they have free WiFi, quite comfortable buses and drive a decent speed. Also, the frequency of services is quite decent. Their mission to decarbonise inter-city transport is laudable.

On the other hand, their payment system is unnecessarily punitive. I recently hoped to take an Ember bus spontaneously but was told by the driver that a ticket bought on the bus would be 100% more expensive, even if I used the contactless payment method. I tried buying online, inputting the very same card details to pay the ‘normal’ fare. The system did not allow it as we were quite close to departure (aka ‘computer says no’). This gives Ryanair vibes. I ended up not travelling with Ember and went with one of its many competitors, since there are many options on the routes that Ember services. I also lost some of the appreciation I had for this start-up and have since not travelled with Ember again.

This is a friendly request to Ember to reconsider their payment strategy. You lost a customer who was willing to pay, for no other reason that I would’ve paid via contactless for one of the remaining available seats. That can’t be in the interest of your business. I can see why you don’t like cash since this could delay departure of the bus. But a quick contactless tap should really not imply such punitive additional charges. Be nice!