Dozens of school children broke down in tears after their special limousine party bus was canceled just 20 minutes before their school prom.
Thirty-six students at Lyndon Green Junior School in Sheldon were stranded after a Posh Limos driver called to say he was stuck in traffic in Liverpool and unable to make the trip.
Parent Joanne Glover, who booked the £700 special bus in January, then had to break the news to the group of excited 11-year-olds.
She said the Class 6 was devastated after the incident and accused the company of handling the situation “appallingly” as they failed to offer alternative transport.
Excitedly, students Lian, Ashleigh, Gracie, Harmani and Ella await the special party bus that never arrived
“We booked the special bus so the whole class could travel together and no one was left out, no matter what friendship group they were in,” explained Joanne, whose 11-year-old daughter Grace is in the 6th grade group.
“It had lights, a dance floor and the kids were so excited to get on the bus. They had talked about it for months.
“We all met at the school gate at 6 p.m. to be picked up. I was about to leave the house at 5.40pm when I got a call that the bus was stuck in Liverpool.
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“I have to admit that I lost my temper and they didn’t offer us an alternative.
“I just can’t understand why we were only informed 20 minutes in advance when the bus was 100 miles away.
Students “dab” while waiting for the bus. Back row – Joshua, Joel, Sophie, Billy, Samuel, Alex Front row – Isabella, Katie-Mae, Ibby, Callum, Jack, Henry, Bradley and Henry’s grandpa Mr Steeples
“I frantically called every limousine company in the area trying to find a replacement. I was in tears when I had to leave to break the news to the kids.
“I felt so responsible. The kids were so excited.”
Luckily Joanne from Yardley managed to find a 16 seater Hummer on short notice from a local VIP limousine company in Digbeth.
The driver arrived 45 minutes later and took the children in two groups to their farewell party at the Arden Hotel.
“When the second group arrived, all the kids came out of the party and cheered,” Joanne said.
“They ended up having a great night, but it wasn’t thanks to Posh Limos.
“I asked them for compensation and they offered us a half price ride for £350.
Students LR Joel, Grace, Ibby, Bradley, Katie Mae, Isabella, Benji, Alex, Henry, Callum, Billy, Samuel and Sophie in the spare Hummer
“But that’s not good enough – we had to shell out that for the replacement Hummer.”
Posh Limos, based in Stoke-on-Trent, has now issued Joanne a refund and apologized for the incident, which they say was due to “excessive traffic conditions”.
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A statement said: “Traffic caused major problems that day as the motorway was closed. This resulted in the driver then running out of driving time and being stuck with the coach on the route.
“Arrangements were then made to contact the customer and make arrangements to get the driver and bus back to the yard.
Sophie, Grace, Joel, Samuel, Billy, Joshua, Katie-Mae, Ibby, Benji, Isabella, Bradley, Alex, Jack, Callum and Henry Special with the backup limousine
“Subject to EU driving rules and regulations, he was unable to continue his journey and this resulted in the cancellation of Ms Glovers’ booking as we had no other vehicles available at the time.
“We have fully refunded the monies paid and have since fully apologized and offered the children a half-price cruise over the summer holidays to compensate for the inconvenience caused.
“Canceling bookings is always a last resort and we cannot predict the traffic conditions, which were excessive that day.
“Please accept our sincere apologies.”