JJ Kavanagh & Sons Avis 

Can anyone explain why a long distance service for the airport (presumably aimed at people coming from outside dublin on their way to trips abroad) has to pass through the most traffic heavy part of Dublin so that it can collect a couple of extra people who could take other buses that are short distance? It makes the service so long and unreliable. And it raises the costs because of the tunnel. Plus, on today’s trip the whole bus stank of sewer, I guess thanks to a too full tank in the toilet? It was hell. Time Ireland graduates to this century in terms of transport it’s unbelievable

I’ve been taking JJ Kavanagh & Sons for approximately 4 years to get to Dublin from Waterford, never had an issue with any of the other bus drivers but just this one bald driver.

If you don’t have your young adult leap card with you this bus driver will not let you on the bus till you pay for an adult ticket. I was heading to Waterford from Dublin and during this time I had lost my leap card (I had already called in for a new one but it just hadn’t arrived yet). I’d already paid for my ticket online but the driver wouldn’t let me on the bus till I showed him my leap card. I had explained the situation to him and his response was that because his machine is showing red he couldn’t let me on the bus. So on top of paying for the young adult ticket, I had to pay for the adult ticket. Couldn’t he had let me pay the difference??? I’ve taken the bus with other drivers before and they’ve never asked for my leap card so why is it only him that I have to show my card to???

Another issue with him was that a woman on the bus today (it was the bus at 15:45 from Waterford to Dublin) was calling someone. He had pulled in and told her that she was being annoying and had only 10 minutes to talk to the person on the phone. Very rude. Like I’ve said I’ve taken JJ Kavanagh & Sons numerous of times, other drivers had never had an issue with passengers calling someone it’s just him who seems to have a problem.

These are just the main issues I had with him. I’m writing this complaint because I’m getting sick and tired of him. Anytime I’ve taken the bus with him there seems to be an issue whether it be with his attitude or something else. I also have friends who take JJ Kavanagh & Sons and they’ve had the same complaints about him as I have.

Do better with your staff!!

First of all: I welcome the fact that there is public transport in Ireland at all – unfortunately, it's completely privatized for profit rather than public and of the appropriate quality. I've used Kavanagh's buses there frequently in recent days. The bus drivers do their best. But 1) the buses are completely unpunctual, and 2) sometimes you just have to rely on your luck – for example, if you want to go from Dublin Heuston to Kilkenny. There are several stops in the right direction, but none are marked with "Kavanagh." You simply have to "know" that Kavanagh is serving one of the many route numbers posted there.
Furthermore – and this is even more important for this bad review – young people and students (theoretically) receive a significant discount (good). And if tickets are purchased online, there's an additional discount. That's only the theory. If you then try to buy tickets online (with different smartphones/tablets, with different browsers, and with different credit cards), it simply doesn't work. A tragedy.
Expropriate these profit-hungry private companies and establish a functioning public system. Better yesterday than today.

Got the bus from Dublin airport to Kilkenny ormonde road, and the bus driver was driving so so slowly we left the airport at 5pm and didn’t arrive in Kilkenny until 7:45pm when it’s only meant to take 1hr and 45 minutes. Absolute disgrace of a service and needs to be time managed

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.