JJ Kavanagh & Sons Reviews 

We tried to get a bus from Waterford to Dublin Airport. When we tried to book on website no route was showing for 1.15am to be able to buy tickets however it was showing on timetable. We wernt too sure if they bus was running or not but decided to take chance. Bus arrived. We asked the driver for 2 tickets and he said " no entry if no ticket" i asked could we but a ticket and he said no only online. I showed him it wasn't showing up and he completely ignored me and said to move if iv no ticket. I said to him I can see that online if I select start point kilkenny it allows to buy online but not start from setu. He said does this look like killkenny. Unbelievable rude and smart ass. No empathy or consideration for customers. We walked home and drove up to Dublin having been rudely left at the side of the road. Hes arrogance has put me off using this company again

I use the bus to get me to and from work and so far the normal drivers on the services I use are great.
For some reason known only to them they sent me a weekly ticket with a barcode that would not scan. I printed the ticket out to assist them but the drivers were fixated on the barcode not the printed ticket which shows my journey.
One driver in particular was especially hostile towards me when he could not scan my ticket and was not going to let me on the bus. Everyone in the queue with me felt sorry for me at having to take his rude behaviour.
Contacted their non existent Customer Service who did absolutely nothing about replacing my ticket with a barcode that worked.
It is a shame that one bad driver and their non existent Customer Services staff make the rest of the excellent drivers look bad.

I am a student with a TFI student leap card. The website would not process my ticket order - kept timing out. No TFI card readers on the bus. And they 'can't' (more like won't) process student ticket sales onboard. Absolutely ridiculous that JJ Kavanagh, with all these horrible reviews, is still a service provider.

I am utterly appalled at the way JJ Kavanagh & Sons handled a serious complaint concerning the safety and well-being of my daughter on one of their buses. During our return journey from the Macklemore concert, my daughter fainted, fell down the bus stairs, and temporarily lost consciousness. Passengers pleaded with the driver to stop, and although he eventually pulled over after 20 minutes, he showed no concern, offered no assistance, and instead focused on berating passengers for raising their voices during what was clearly a medical emergency.

Despite reporting this disturbing incident immediately and following up several times over a 9-day period, I was met with silence, excuses, and delay after delay. My requests for a phone call were repeatedly ignored. When a response finally came, it was a generic, insincere email that completely failed to acknowledge the gravity of what happened — not just the physical harm to my daughter, but the absolute lack of compassion or professionalism from the driver.

For a journey that cost €200, I expected far better. Instead, I was left feeling dismissed and disrespected by a company that should take passenger safety seriously. The driver’s negligent and aggressive attitude, paired with the company’s shockingly poor communication and unwillingness to take accountability, makes it clear that customer care is not a priority here.

I will not be using JJ Kavanagh & Sons again, and I strongly advise others to reconsider before putting their trust in a company that treats serious safety concerns like a minor inconvenience.

— Louisa Grimes Moran

Absolutely disgraceful company with terrible customer service, they refused to refund me despite their bus not showing. DO NOT USE THEIR SERVICE

I purchased a one-way ticket, showed up 20 minutes early, waited until the bus was due - no sign of it. Attempted to check their real-time tracker, no information available, checked their timetable - no bus listed for the time I picked, attempted to call their customer care - lines were closed.

Left me scrambling to find alternative means of transport as I had an event to attend and was already behind waiting and wondering if said bus was even scheduled as there was absolutely no way for me to confirm.

Contacted their customer care team via email afterwards and was told the bus conveniently arrived 2 mins after I left so no refund will be issued. Asked for my request to be escalated to management and I was simply sent a screenshot of their T&Cs, no apology and no explanation of why their website provided inaccurate or no information.

It's funny, when you check their T&Cs, the only information you'll find mentioning refunds - is every which way you're NOT entitled to one - tells you everything you need to know about how they operate and treat their customers.

Bus just never shows. Trying to get home from Naas to Maynooth. Always make it to bus stop 15-20mins early and it just doesn't show up. Try calling but never any answer. A disgrace of a bus service.

I have been making late night trips from Dublin to Kilkenny. The buses are on time. Tickets are easy to buy and cheap. Buses are clean and comfortable. Excellent service.

The map with the ticket indicated where the relevant bus stop was located. I waited in plenty time, but a full ten minutes after the scheduled time, the bus sped past. And that was the end of my planned journey down the country. I rang the company ,who offered me a seat on a later bus, an offer that was useless because I would be marooned . By the time I got to the destination, Kavanagh return buses would have stopped running.

Kavanagh's office have automated phones and you know what that means. They did not rush to help anyway. One operative told me the bus should have stopped and another tried to convince me, in outright contradiction of the Kavanagh map, that I was at the wrong stop.
A miserable experience.

Outstanding customer service I got today,so helpful credit to the company delighted with the service thank you

I was travelling from Waterford City - Dublin at 16:00 on 10/05/2025 with JJ Kavanagh Bus!

I was amazed how helpful the bus driver was (Mr. Colin) was and I couldn’t recommend enough this bus service! Mr Colin is definitely an asset to the company! He even lend me his own power bank to charge my own phone as it was about to die.
Thumbs up and well done to yous all! Phenomenal job
Well done JJ KAVANAGH AND MR COLIN THE BUS DRIVER GREAT MAN. 👌🙏💯👍🍻

The driver of one of the coaches pulled out on us today as we were overtaking the coach near armoy, nearly wiping us out and leaving 4 children without their parents. Shockingly bad driving. He clearly had not looked in his mirrors before pulling out. Makes me wonder how competent/qualified the driver is to be driving coaches. I tried ringing the company 38 times today to report this driver but line was constantly engaged. If you value your life avoid this travel company.

One of the most unreliable bus services, nearly always 20 minutes late and poor drivers

Very unprofessional driver today. My husband was the last to reach the bus and the driver became aggressive towards him even after my husband apologized for being the last one in. Drivers need to work on manners, customer service and anger management. As I was getting my car I could see the driver waiving his hands in anger and slamming the baggage compartment unnecessarily loud.

We took the Dublin Airport to Clonmel 5.45am bus on 24th March, after a long haul trip. Our driver Ken is a gem..so kind, courteous, pleasant to every passenger, helpful with luggage. He was so kind to an elderly gentleman who was stressed about a forthcoming hospital appt in Dublin. Ken greeted many obvious regular passengers by name. Great customer service service & a wonderful representative for JJ Kavanagh. Thank you Ken

I'll make this quick when I want to use a Irish bus company to book tickets I expect English to be the first language I see

Unreliable and much more expensive than other coaches. Night bus did not show up as per schedule and they refused the refund or even offer to use the ticket some other day as other operators do. Customer support rude and unhelpful.

Bus journey was fine.
Issue was a foreign national driver who insisted on having a foreign station with non english DJ’s blaring from his radio the whole way from George’s quay to Waterford. Asked driver to turn it down but he refused. Was the 1300 bus from George’s Quay to Waterford should the operators want to do anything about it.

Arrived just on time for the bus after a very stressful plane journey. The bus man could not have been more kind and helpful. You don’t realise how important this first impression of Ireland this can be. Thank you so much to this bus man for his patience and kindness.

Prebooked seat from Kilkenny to Dublin airport on 717 route. Bus didn’t arrive and the next bus, scheduled for one and a half hours later,didn’t arrive on time; over thirty minutes late I believe. After back and forth emails JJK said that there was nothing they could do about my missed flight. No way would they compensate me. They never even mentioned reimbursing me for my prebooked, guaranteed seat.

Booked a 2 way private bus, driver was an absolute pleasure. Would absolutely do business with them again. They were also very quick and informative in replying to all emails looking for information.