Ember Reviews 

161
TrustScore 4 out of 5

4.0

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 129 reviews, reviewers had a great experience with this company. Customers frequently praise the staff for their friendliness, helpfulness, and professional conduct, making journeys pleasant. The service is often described as brilliant, with many appreciating the comfortable, clean, and spacious buses. People also found the online booking process easy and convenient, contributing to an efficient overall experience. However, some customers also noted that buses were occasionally late, leading to missed connections or extended waiting times. Additionally, a few reviewers expressed dissatisfaction with some staff members, citing unhelpful attitudes or concerns regarding operational aspects.

What people talk about most

Service

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about service, with many praising the excellent facilities, smooth... See more

Staff

Customers had positive experiences with staff, frequently praising drivers for being helpful, friendly, and... See more

Location

Consumers find location to be ambiguous, with many reviewers highlighting issues with bus stops in rural... See more

Delivery service

Clients share ambiguous opinions on delivery service, with some praising the ease of booking, live tracking,... See more

Booking process

People report ambiguous experiences with the booking process, with many finding the online booking system... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

First coach journey for years, from Edinburgh (Corstorphine) to Perth, and it was a joy from booking online (so simple) to the journey itself (friendly driver, good seats, easy-to-connect-to wifi). T... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant service, will definitely use again! I recently took a trip with them from Glasgow to Inverarnan to do a section of the West Highland Way. The online booking service was super easy and... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Took ember to Glasgow and back with bike today. Driver on 8.40 bus explained so well that road was blocked by an accident and we all had to transfer to train at Stirling. Because he explained so well... See more

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

I took the bus from Aberdeen City Centre to Edinburgh Airport and vice versa. No complaints about the bus, the price, the communication and the driver. All good. However I had to get off at Aberdeen... See more


Company details

  1. Bus and Coach Company
  2. Bus Company
  3. Taxi Service
  4. Transportation Service

Written by the company

We're building the future of public transport — convenient, affordable, connected and zero-emission. Our goal is to make it easier and more enjoyable to get from A to B with Ember than it is with your own car.


Contact info

4.0

Great

TrustScore 4 out of 5

161 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
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1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 35% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 2 weeks

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4.0

All reviews

(161)

132 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ember Driver - Ryan - SO KIND

We were stuck on the A90 for about an hour and a half and the bus driver from Ember called Ryan let everyone who needed the toilet use it!! Very kind and so friendly - thought he deserved a good review!! Thank you again, meant so much to everyone!

August 26, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Been travelling Scotlands mountains for…

Been travelling Scotlands mountains for years and at last a service that gets you to places there competitors don’t at earlier times.Came down earlier than anticipated from the mountains and wanted an earlier bus….no fee to change and zero hassle ❤️

August 23, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Lovely Touch From Ember After Long Delays

Had the longest trip ever from Glasgow to Dundee due to no fault of Ember - severe congestion, roadworks. The poor driver even ran out of driving time so we had to wait for a replacement driver. Took over 3 hours. But know what Ember done - they emailed me to apologise for the severe delays and fully credited me the total ticket amount to use on my next booking, didn't even ask for it as was out with their control. Lovely touch and most of the other operators wouldn't have considered such a thing. I received the email before I got home!! Well done Ember!

August 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent customer service on the E1…

Excellent customer service on the E1 route, the driver was friendly, helpful and went above and beyond to make sure he could collect passengers who were waiting at a stop that couldn’t be accessed due to a road closure. Our trip was significantly delayed but the information given by Ember and the customer service delivered by the driver were excellent.

August 8, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent customer service

I was informed timeously by text that our bus to Edinburgh would be delayed by approximately 6 minutes, which it was. This was not a problem.
Same again with our return journey, the delay being around 15 minutes. Given the volume of traffic entering and leaving Edinburgh delays were inevitable and no fault of Ember. I was therefore amazed and delighted to receive an email from Ember apologising for the delays and fully refunding me for both journeys! What great customer service.
The buses are very clean and comfortable with good wifi access. Also, the drivers on both journeys were both very professional and patient given the heavily conjested roads. I would highly recommend Ember.

August 6, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent service

Travelled between Dundee and Edinburgh and it was brilliant! Seats were comfortable and USB seemed to be fast charging which was brilliant compared to other coaches and trains I've been on. Leg room and recline was excellent and adjustable head rests so you can have a sleep. Brilliant service and will definitely be using them in the future.

August 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant service

Brilliant service, will definitely use again! I recently took a trip with them from Glasgow to Inverarnan to do a section of the West Highland Way.

The online booking service was super easy and convenient, prices were also great.

On board service was great, the comfortable seats recline and came with plenty leg room, the driver was friendly and helpful too.

I'm not a regular bus user as I find it a bit too stressful not knowing whether bus is delayed and what to expect but Ember's website and services made the experience stress free!

August 3, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Zero clear information about pre-booking

Absolutely horrible. We waited in the bus stop and driver just passed next to us without stopping. There's no clear information anywhere on the website that tickets are pre-booked - in fact, I found a mentioned after scrolling for ages through FAQ section, saying that buses stop even if there was no booking done - ruined mine and my mum's trip, who came down from the Netherlands. We had to book online another bus, which put us in a really uncomfortable position and made us loose a lot of money due to another arrangements we couldn't do anymore. Considering how many people not speaking English are visiting Fort William, it is ridiculous there's no clear information about it on the top of the website- furthermore, it is not inclusive for people who do not use Internet.

August 2, 2025
Unprompted review
Ember logo

Reply from Ember

Hi - we're sorry to hear of your frustration on this occasion. Most of Ember's mid-route stops are pre-book only.

The big strength of this system is that it means we don't need to call into stops with no-one booked to get on or off, which can often involve pulling off the main road and holding up other passengers. This approach allows us to reach many more rural communities than many operators with a more traditional approach.

Our FAQs state the following:

You need to book online at least 10 minutes before for pre-booked stops, otherwise the bus will not call there. This covers most of our intermediate stops. If you're unable to book online you can call us on +44 (0)131 510 4007 and we'll ask the driver to stop there so you can buy on board.

We certainly appreciate that if you're initially unaware of this approach, it can be frustrating to have the bus miss your stop. If you'd like to email us at ride@ember.to, we'd be happy to add some credit to your account so that you can, if you wish, try Ember as intended in the future.

Please accept our apologies for any stress encountered on the day - this is something we always aim to avoid.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent service from Ember

Excellent service from Ember. Modern spacious and comfortable bus. Friendly driver and so reliable. Prices are very good and service is head and shoulders above other bus companies.

July 31, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding customer service

The customer service was outstanding when I reported leaving a bag on a late night bus. They responded overnight to say the bag had been recovered and gave me options for its return. Within 12hrs the bag was back in my possession after being put on a bus for me to collect at a chosen location. The communication and efficiency from Ember was excellent!

July 27, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Having prevoius problems with Ember '…

Having prevoius problems with Ember ' I would thoroughly recommend using them again ,
They helped me out after a difficult situation I was put in i could not predict or them at no fault of there's,
I certainly will be using them again for transport to get me to destination overnight from Aberdeen To Edinburgh Airport 😀 on time for my early morning check in special thanks to management who went out of there way to help a old man get to where there was no other transport available at that time ofnight

July 15, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Honestly easily tops as best coach…

Honestly easily tops as best coach service in all of the UK as of now. Their bus drivers honestly are very friendly, the way you book for a ticket is actually really easy. And I like the fact that they operate a very good timetable for each of their services. What mainly makes them stand out easily is the fact that they are consistently expanding. Something of which most bus services aren't doing. Overall I would say the best coach service in the UK as of now as they are doing what the others aren't properly.

July 22, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant bus service that puts megabus…

Brilliant bus service that puts megabus and stagecoach to shame. Really comfortable seats with adjustable head rest. Charging port and WiFi both worked. Helpful driver that informed me paying online was going to be about 3rd of the price then waited whilst I did it on my phone in about 3 mins. Hopefully they get more services more regularly in the future.

July 15, 2025
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Delightful trip on the E7 Inverness - Aberdeen

First trip on the E7, Inverness (from Elgin) - Aberdeen Ember bus today and it was an absolute delight.
Comfortable, quiet, smooth and we were in Aberdeen in excellent time.
Lovely driver who was very helpful to all passengers.
Great service all round, Ember team

July 9, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Even though the site leads you to…

Even though the site leads you to believe Inverurie is a pre book stop for Aberdeen,this is complete rubbish,you can only travel north from Inverurie,and only to Keith and beyond from Aberdeen.The E7 is just a poor duplication of what's already on offer by service 10,M96 or train,all of which can be caught without the hassle of pre booking.I,d expect this will be withdrawn before the end of the year.

July 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Ember logo

Reply from Ember

Hi Angela - I'm sorry to hear of your frustration. When launching an express service, regulations mean that no operator can permit journeys that are shorter than 15 miles as the crow flies. This is why, temporarily, travel south from Inverurie to Aberdeen is not possible. Once we have approval for a fully registered service, this trip will be possible and we will sell tickets accordingly.

We will check the customer communications here to see if there are ways to make this distinction clearer.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I followed three Ember coaches…

I followed three Ember coaches travelling in a close convoy at 45mph on the A9 north on 4/7/25 for nearly an hour.

There was over two miles of a tailback.

Not once did the coaches think to pull in nor make space between them to allow overtaking.

Talk about ignorant!

Update in view of the reply - I think it’s perfectly fair. They may not have been in service, but represented your company.

I also note you say on most instances, which by definition means not all.

The fact remains that three coaches were in a convoy holding traffic up.

The only thing I will concede is that all you want is one or two cars unwilling to overtake the coaches for a queue to build up, but a professional driver should have spotted this if they were using their mirrors and either broke up the convoy or all pulled into a sufficiently large layby to let traffic past.

I am just surprised you appear to be endorsing your drivers behaviour and not learning from the incident going forward.

July 4, 2025
Unprompted review
Ember logo

Reply from Ember

Hi Simon - I'm sorry to hear of this experience. I don't, though, think that this is a fair review of Ember's services. These were coaches that were being delivered to a new depot, and were not in service. I've checked some footage from the day in question, and in most instances there was plenty of distance between them.

I hope that your experiences wih Ember now that the route has commenced are much more positive.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Travelled from Forfar to Aberdeen for a…

Travelled from Forfar to Aberdeen for a henny party. Bus journey was great but buses aren't suited for disabled people. I really struggled to get on & off the bus. Thankfully I had friends to help. More disabled friendly buses where the bus can lower the floor to get on & off

June 21, 2025
Unprompted review
Ember logo

Reply from Ember

Hi Elaine - I'm really sorry to hear of this experience. All of our buses have electric wheelchair lifts which are tested daily, and the drivers have full training on how to assist passengers with limited mobility. If you could email us more details to ride@ember.to, I'd be very happy to look into this one and see what we could do differently next time.

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great service

Travelled from Keith to Elgin return and both buses were punctual, easy to book online, reasonable price, clean and comfortable and both drivers were very nice. Also I was the only passenger so no bother. Wouldn't feel so safe on a stagecoach (thanks SNP 😡) The usb sockets are a great feature.

June 19, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic bus service

Used the bus service from Elgin to Inverness. The bus was new and clean and best of all there was nobody else on it 😁 The driver was friendly and helpful, I think the journey cost £5 which is a great price for the service. I wouldn't personally travel on a stagecoach bus as it's full of drunken neds with their free bus passes (thanks Green party and SNP, that's been really feckin helpful! 🙄) It would be great if this bus company can keep the bus pass neds off of their routes 🤞🏼

June 11, 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Ember not for disabled....Travelled on Ember for first time with…

Travelled on Ember for first time with disabled son. I found drivers unhelpful. When we arrived in Edinburgh i asked if the storage was open so i could get my son's rollater ...response was 'see for yourself'. The driver did not lower the bus to make it easier for my son to step off.
Dont use this service if disabled.

May 28, 2025
Unprompted review
Ember logo

Reply from Ember

Hi Susan - I'm really sorry to hear of this experience. All of our drivers have full training on how to assist passengers with limited mobility. If you could email us more details to ride@ember.to, I'd be very happy to look into this case and see what we could do differently next time.

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