Chariots For Hire

We used Chariots for Hire and had the worst experience. They sent a seriously damaged and broken «Party Bus» with broken shock absorbers. We had several people seriously injured. This company totally ignored us and their insurance company would not respond. Please do not use this criminal company. You will regret it.

Right on time. Good locations. No trying to hail a cab or wait for an über necessary. This is a group service but with personal style. We really enjoyed using them.

We hired Chariots for Hire to take guests from a church parking lot to our home on the river which has little to no parking. There were only approximately 30 people that needed to be transported. The bus arrived in the worst condition that you can possibly imagine. It had apparently been in a car accident and had not been cleaned. The interior was equally as bad the upholstery was dirty and had several tears and rips. Even the seals for the doors were hanging in mid air so that there were gaps to the outside. The vehicle also had been sprayed with some type of deodorant that smelled like an a restroom in a strip club, the condition of the vehicle that they sent was so poor that I was compelled to send it back and cancel the service as they were unable to provide a solution. I felt badly for the driver whose time they had wasted.
I was told to call on MondaySpace about a refund. I called and was told that they would refund the balance but they were not going to refund the deposit. I felt that this was unfair as they were unable to correct the problem and as they had sent a vehicle that was in such poor deplorable condition that it was impossible for us to comfortably use for our event. And please look at the photographs that I’ve enclosed and you’ll see what I mean we will not be using the service of chariots for higher ever I suggest you do the same.

I wouldn’t use Chariots for Hire again. They were really easy to book, schedule, re-​schedule, and handle everything on the front end, but their actual performance was poor and their handling of the problems after the fact was also unreasonable.
We rented a van to go wine tasting in Virginia. The van arrived at 10AM as expected, but the driver was sleeping and looked exhausted. Also, the driver needed to take ten minutes to fix the seatbelts in the front seats, something that came in handy later. Why were the seat belts so handy? Well, the driver’s driving was not good. He was all over the road, frequently crossing over the lane lines, and at one point nearly got into a head on collision on a country road at a high rate of speed. Luckily, we survived.
In addition to this, the driver got us home late and Chariots for Hire charged us for the additional time. The manager who I talked to after the fact was very confrontational, mean, and was not willing to completely refund the additional time.
I was very disappointed that this was how everything turned out given how easy it was when booking. And given the manager’s response after the fact (arguing with me about whether the driver’s routes were reasonable and complaining that I should have called dispatch immediately regarding his poor driving), I couldn’t help but think they didn’t care. Their inability to refund the whole overtime fee proves my point.
Overall, disappointed with their performance and professionalism.
**UPDATE AND RESPONSE TO COURTNEY W.‘S COMMENTS**
You arrived, at most, 3 minutes early. That’s not arriving early. That’s arriving on time. More importantly though, your response to my review doesn’t address the main problem (which is consistent with your company’s failure to address it on the phone with me privately). The principal concern I had was that you provided me with a driver who was not fit to drive and your response doesn’t address that issue at all. I don’t care about the money. I care about getting home alive.

We were staying at the Gaylord National Convention Center in Maryland and needed an easy way to get to our next hotel in DC. Fortunately the Gaylord offers Chariots For Hire’s services at their concierge desk, and they made the trip super easy.
The busses were timely, fairly clean and efficient. The trip took a little longer than a taxi, but we got there in one piece.

Great company. Very friendly, prices are very fair and their chauffeurs and vehicles are top of the line. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Chariots for Hire, and would recommend them to anyone!

Went on a Chariots for Hire Monuments at night tour from the Gaylord in National Harbor! It was awesome! David was our guide and T was our driver! David was knowledgable and knew a lot of history! T was a professional driver! I highly recommend this tour!

My husband and I contracted Chariots for Hire for transportation for the bridal party and guests for our Rehearsal Dinner (5÷23÷14) and Wedding (5÷24÷14), both held in Washington, D.C.
Pros:
— Patrick at Chariots for Hire was very professional and responsive to e-​mails (very easy to work with)
— Pricing was competitive with other transportation in the metro D.C. area
— Shuttle and Limo was clean and temperature was comfortable
Cons:
— Did not notify hotel or myself that the shuttle was on the side of the hotel and not the front upon arrival (could not go to the front due to sizing constraints)
— Did not plan a route that would accommodate the size of the vehicle (i.e. could not make turns) causing the shuttle to be late to the rehearsal
— 1^st shuttle left the reception with only half the guests and did not return therefore leaving more guests then seats on the 2^nd shuttle
Overall our experience with Chariots for Hire was positive. We have yet to have attended a wedding without some sort of issue with transportation regardless of how well planned thus I feel fortunate our issues were relatively minor! I suggest to future brides to discuss with Chariots for Hire the route of the vehicle and confirm with the driver upon arrival that his schedule corresponds to yours.

We used Chariots for Hire this past weekend and had the BEST experience! Moruece was our driver and was right on time (even a little early actually). They had actually emailed me his cell phone number and information the night before his arrival which was super convenient and he also helped us get all our bags on the bus, had everything fully stocked (waters, clean champagne glasses, etc.) and even had the music already playing for us! The bus itself was super clean and really comfortable for our large group — everything I had hoped for.
We rented the 27 passenger Titus limo bus which was perfect for our group of 23 along with bags and coolers that we brought. If you have 27 people I would suggest getting something larger as this size was perfect for us!
We did a wine tour so we chose three wineries to go to. He had everything mapped out ahead of time and I must add he was also SO friendly and nice! At the first winery, the bus had to park pretty far from the entrance, but he gladly took us straight to the front and came back to pick us up when I called his cell. The air conditioning wasn’t the best (especially with it being over 90 degrees this past weekend), BUT he made it as cool in the bus as he possibly could for 23 people! He was even nice enough to swing by a local gas station so that my friends could use an ATM — super accommodating!
All in all, a wonderful experience and I will definitely be using them again in the future!

I used this company the morning of Friday April 19^th and they were amazing. I was planning a surprise trip for girlfriends so the details were secret and very important.
Booking/​quote process: Awesome. They provided me guidance as far as the best vehicle for 5 heavy packers being picked up from different addresses and dropped of at the airport. Gave a great price compared to other companies. The booking process was really perfect.
Leading up to trip: They sent confirmations and reminders so I knew they were on top of things and never had to worry. They provided me the drivers name and number and I was able to talk to him the day before and confirm all the details.
Day of: The driver was early, with a clean vehicle and great attitude. Would definitely use this company again and again!
My only special note is if the exact type of vehicle is important make sure you let them know that because the SUV that I was picked up in was not the same one quoted. Still as effective for the purpose.
As Tony the Tiger would say, They’re great!

We used Chariots for Hire for a birthday wine tour (there were about 20 of us) of the Leesburg area. They were great to work with. Our driver was Kelvin and I would highly, highly recommend him! Not only was he nice, but he was an excellent driver. We were using one of the mini-​buses, and we had picked 2 wineries that were REALLY off the beaten path– I had never visited them before, so I didn’t know how far back they were. But through teeny tiny bumpy dirt roads, Kelvin got that bus to the wineries safely and I would definitely call him again for another wine tour! All of our friends (about 20 of them) kept commenting on how impressed they were.

we used chariots for hire for a few birthday celebrations (20+ people) and they always make the day/​night extra special. the drivers are professional and don’t care about the loud music.
at times the cars have some previous party/​prom momentos but overall a good limo service in dc area.

I booked a limo bus from CforH a full year in advance of my October wedding.
We have a three hour gap between the cermoney and reception and wanted to make sure our wedding party was comfortable while we drove around DC taking photos so we made sure to book a limo bus with party seating, a bathroom and more then enough room for the 18 guests on board.
Less then 24 hours before the bus was set to pick us up I got a message on my phone saying that our bus was no longer avalible. After calling CforH back their «Solution» was to give us a small bus, with regualr row seating and no bathroom.
When I told them we had booked a year in advance, specificlly because we did not want row seating and no bathroom, and asked if they could give us one of their other larger buses with party seats — we were willing the higher price. Their only response was — «Sorry, it’s homecoming season and we would have to cancel somone elese’s reservation in order to do that».
So, because of this I got to spend the day before my wedding with my bride in teard frantically calling every limo and bus company in DC looking for a replacment. Thanksfully we were able to find a replacment bus with the correct seating.
Would not use again!

I have used Chariots for Hire multiple times in the past four years. Mostly I have hired the company to take fans to college football games and wine tours.
Having «tried» 5 other local companies in that time span I can assure you that Chariots is the best and most professional company I hired to provide transportation services. One would think that when spending thousands of dollars on a luxury service all companies would provide «white glove» service but I quickly learned that the limo and bus charter industry provides a very wide range of customer service and quality.
There are only two things I would say in connection with my glowing review of Chariots — one is that they require a non-​refundable deposit to reserve a motorcoach (not all companies do — but if you know for certain you need a bus this is not a problem) and the other is that if at all possible, request TROY as your driver. He is the best driver we have had in 20+ trips and consistently provides a great experience for our guests.

I’ve used Chariots for Hire a few times. Everytime their bus has showed up a few minutes late, but nothing terrible. The drivers have always been super friendly, and the busses are pretty nice. On one trip the bus brokedown and they had to send us another bus that was half the size for most of the duration of the trip. Even after having to wait for the new bus to arrive, and not receiving nearly what we paid for, I had to call and request a partial refund– that still did not seem quite fair.
The prices on the website are completely misleading. A 20% service charge is added to everything, and that doesn’t include any driver gratuity. Not really sure what it is for, or why it isn’t just baked into the price they advertise.
My most recent interaction on the phone with one of the owners sealed the deal for me not using this company again. He was extremely rude and condescending.
I’d recommend looking elsewhere first– but they do have the best vehicles of any I’ve found.

Had the Chariots for hire for a wedding event in June. They were reasonably priced and the service was pretty efficient. They transported our guests from the church to the hotel and everyone said that the trip was enjoyable and it was efficient. No complaints here.

Chariots For Hire provided the shuttle service from the Gaylord National to DC for $ 20 roundtrip. This sounded like a great deal, but little did I know that the shuttle did not adhere to the timetable it set out, nor did it drop me off in the place where it said it would. The shuttle was at least 30 minutes late, and I was expected it to stop at the Old Post Office. Instead, it picked up a whole busload of teenagers and the driver proceeded to joke around with the kids and complete drove by the Old Post Office, even after I had told him I was expecting to get off there. I reminded him as he drove past the stop, and then he dropped me off a random spot nearby. Thankfully, I was picked up at the correct place, earlier than expected (so it’s a good thing I arrived at the stop 20 minutes early). Not reliable and quite disappointing.

I’ll attempt to keep this review as objective as possible, but it will be difficult considering the quality of service (or maybe non-​service? disservice?) that I’ve received from Chariots for Hire. For our wedding day, we reserved 3 vehicles for transportation and confirmed the reservation multiple times.
Vehicle 1 — 14 Passenger Van — Scheduled to pick up the bridal party from the church after the ceremony (3:30pm) and take us to the reception venue for pictures before the guests arrive. They sent a 14 passenger van, but it was missing an entire row of seats. An 11-​seater 14 passenger van. We were forced to flag down family members in the street and ask them to go directly to the reception venue and not back to the hotel first as they had originally planned. Not what we paid $ 565 dollars for.
Vehicle 2 — 56 Passenger Bus — Scheduled to pick up guests from the hotel at 4:30pm and take them to the reception. 4:15pm… no bus. 4:30pm… no bus. 5:00pm (reception starts)… still no bus. Needless to say, my new wife and I were a little stressed out that the reception had started and half of the guests were still missing. After our friend had called Chariots for Hire multiple times, a party bus (the ones with stripper poles — defiantly not what we ordered) arrives at the hotel at 5:15pm and the remaining guests cram in and show up to the reception an hour late.
Vehicle 3 — 33 Passenger Bus — Scheduled to pick up guests from the hotel at 4:30pm and take them to the reception. This one actually showed up on time and was the correct vehicle.
Two out of three ain’t bad, right? Not when it’s one of the most important days of your life that you spend months planning, confirm your transportation reservation multiple times and drop over $ 2,000 so that your friends and family can enjoy the reception and not have to worry about driving. Needless to say, there were some people that were upset.
I wish the story ended here. The next day we receive an email from Chariots for Hire thanking us for our new $ 57 purchase. Apparently one of the busses went over the booked time slot and they charged us an overage fee. Really? They show up an hour late and then charge us a fee when they (allegedly) went over the paid time? Upon calling Chariots for Hire the next day to explain the situation (and inquire about the $ 57 charge), they seemed like they could care less. Not once did we receive an apology or an admission of wrongdoing. I might as well have been speaking into the box at a drive-​through. After being on the phone for 40 minutes, we were assured that someone from customer service would call us on ¹⁰⁄₁₁ — the day we were back from our honeymoon.
I followed up today and was told that the only person that can help me is on a medical leave of absence. I will be sure to update this response with their resolution.
**UPDATE**
Was contacted fairly quickly by the owner after posting my review (thanks, Unilocal!) and was able to work out a resolution that I felt was appropriate.

We used Chariots for Hire while in DC and the service was spectacular and very professional. Reservations were made easily online and they were prompt in pick up. I’d use them again if ever in the D. C area and need transportation to or from the airport.

We used Chariots for Hire Saturday night for a bachelorette party. The reservation process was very easy (I like anything that I can book online) and they checked in and communicated with me via email (another plus).
Things on Saturday went pretty smoothly. The AC was broken in the limo we were supposed to have so we got a free upgrade (score). Our driver was the BEST. His name was TC and he took care of us all night. He even made sure we got safely back in our building and protected us from the creepers out front. Very nice guy.
The only reason Chariots isn’t getting a 5 star rating is because I think their pricing is a little misleading. They advertise $ 80 per hour (for the limo we had) when most companies were about $ 100 per hour. Sounds good right? Well they tack on 20% taxes & gratuity. At first you think, oh I’m paying gratuity anyway so no big deal. Well once I read the fine print I figured out that’s not the case. I emailed the company to see how much the driver actually gets of this «gratuity» so I could cover the difference. They said «about $ 10.» That’s not even a percent… I also asked TC and he said he doesn’t see any of that. I believed him for whatever reason. I ended up tipping him another 20% so the prices don’t really end up being any cheaper than their competitors. It would probably be better business to just be up front about the price.
Anyway, still a great experience and LOOOOVED our driver. I would use them again and ask for TC specifically.