Bolt: most-reported complaints
- Complaints in recent reviews
- 43% of 486 recent reviews analysed
- Most-reported issue
- Poor core service 22% of complaints
- Company replies
- 98% of negative reviews, typically within 24 days
- TrustScore
- 3.7 from 27,682 total reviews
- Review window analysed
- 2026-03-27 to 2026-11-11 1,053 reviews
- Sector
- Telecoms & IT
Automated analysis of 1,053 public Trustpilot reviews published 2026-03-27 to 2026-11-11. TrustScore 3.7 from 27,682 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is Bolt legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report issues with poor core service, citing 160 instances where drivers could not be found or trips were canceled. Support unhelpfulness is the second most common complaint, with 153 reports highlighting difficulties in getting assistance. Other concerns include arriving at the wrong location or encountering an unexpected driver, accounting for 130 reports. Additionally, 122 reviewers mentioned overcharging or unexpected cancellation fees.
What are the most common complaints about Bolt?
| Issue | Share | Count | Trend | By month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poor core service | 22% | 160 | falling | |
| Support unhelpful | 21% | 153 | rising since 2026-09 | |
| Other | 18% | 130 | rising since 2026-09 | |
| Overcharging | 17% | 122 | rising since 2026-09 | |
| Billing errors | 11% | 77 | rising since 2026-09 | |
| Missed appointments | 9% | 68 | steady |
Poor core service
160 reports · 22% of complaints“At the due time got a message saying that they could not find a driver! Great missed our train!!”
The company replied on 2026-11-07: “Hi, being told a driver had been found and then left without a ride, causing you to miss your train, is a major disruption. We're sorry the booking failed and that the replies you received afterward…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“They accepted my fare 7 different times, then cancelled each time”
The company replied on 2026-09-02: “Hi! That repeated cancellation after your fare was accepted at Heathrow should never have happened. Final fares can change with traffic, distance, and demand, so pricing may adjust, but we want to…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Drivers accept then disappear.”
The company replied on 2026-10-07: “Hello, your trips have been let down by drivers who either did not show up or seemed to stop heading to your pickup as time passed. We know that having to wait when you have an appointment is…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Support unhelpful
153 reports · 21% of complaints“At the due time got a message saying that they could not find a driver! Great missed our train!!”
The company replied on 2026-11-07: “Hi, being told a driver had been found and then left without a ride, causing you to miss your train, is a major disruption. We're sorry the booking failed and that the replies you received afterward…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“My complaints were repeatedly shuffled across numerous different support representatives. Basic account and promotion details had to be explained over and over”
The company replied on 2026-10-29: “Hi, we're sorry that conflicting replies and the business profile selection error left you repeating details and spending so much time trying to resolve these disputes. You should be able to expect…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Its taken them a month to make it rights. There is no urgency in addressing my concerns. No feedback is provided.”
The company replied on 2026-09-08: “Hi there, that sounds like a serious incident. We want our team to review the details of what happened. Please share the information via ☰ Account > Support and select the related trip. We appreciate…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Other
130 reports · 18% of complaints“The person who arrived was not the driver shown in the application.”
The company replied on 2026-09-02: “Hi there, That should never have happened. We know how frightening this felt, and this is the kind of safety issue we take seriously. Please contact our Support team through ☰ Account > Support and…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“These are the kinds of tricks Bolt uses”
The company replied on 2026-09-26: “Hi, this sounds really frustrating, especially with the uncertainty around getting requests on time and how cancellations affect bonus eligibility. Please share the details through in-app support (☰…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“driver cancelled the booking five minutes later”
The company replied on 2026-08-14: “Hi there, thank you for sharing the impact of those cancellations, especially when the driver was shown as on the way and then canceled right before your pickup, leaving you late for your…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Overcharging
122 reports · 17% of complaints“I reserved a retour with Bolt in Amsterdam for ADE, but when I was downstairs at my place for the pickup time, I suddenly saw it was canceled”
The company replied on 2026-10-27: “Hi, having both reserved pickups cancelled, especially the one that left you arranging a costly journey home alone before dawn, must have been unsettling and disrupted your plans. We’re sorry for the…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Cancel my trip and request my £19! Back and they refuse to refund my money.”
The company replied on 2026-09-02: “Hi there. If you were asked to pay an extra £10 to prioritise and then the ride wasn’t provided as expected, that should be reviewed. Please open ☰ Account > Support and select the affected trip so…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I was charged over £48.”
The company replied on 2026-10-26: “Hi, seeing the fare rise after booking and then receiving a refund as ride credit without that being made clear is understandably frustrating, especially when you no longer trust the service. We're…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Billing errors
77 reports · 11% of complaints“They will lie and swear to you on the phone. I'm response to the reply, bolt ignored my messages on the app”
The company replied on 2026-10-27: “Hi, concerns about money are serious, and going weeks without a response to your messages would leave you with little confidence in getting help. Please share the details through in-app support (☰…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I ended up with US$60.70, $15.20 and $26.92 on my credit card.”
The company replied on 2026-10-26: “Hi, having to hand over your phone and then find two unexplained charges alongside the correct fare is understandably unsettling. Please contact us via in-app support (☰ Account > Support) so we can…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“sometimes they continue charging you. If you contact them, they do not refund you.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Missed appointments
68 reports · 9% of complaints“I reserved a retour with Bolt in Amsterdam for ADE, but when I was downstairs at my place for the pickup time, I suddenly saw it was canceled”
The company replied on 2026-10-27: “Hi, having both reserved pickups cancelled, especially the one that left you arranging a costly journey home alone before dawn, must have been unsettling and disrupted your plans. We’re sorry for the…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“my booking was cancelled. I attempted to book a replacement, but that was also cancelled.”
The company replied on 2026-10-13: “Hi, it sounds like two prebooked rides were cancelled and you missed a hospital appointment as a result. Medical travel is time critical, especially when you have planned in advance, and a pickup…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“taxi as cancelled from 8pm the same pick up day!! No notification nothing!!!”
The company replied on 2026-09-05: “Hi Monique, thanks for sharing this. We’re sorry the pre-booked taxi was canceled without notification, especially with you and your 9-year-old waiting outside for an O2 Arena concert. Please share…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
How to reach Bolt
These are the contact details Bolt publishes on its Trustpilot profile, as of our last check on 2026-11-11 — it publishes no phone number there, email [email protected].
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2019-03-20, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, uses Trustpilot’s AI-assisted replies, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-11-10. Trustpilot ranks it 3 of 5 in Software Company. We last checked this profile on 2026-11-11 and found 44 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Forum footprint: 0 MoneySavingExpert forum discussions mention this company (browse). Roughly 0 of the top, relevance-sorted search results were posted in the last 90 days — an approximate figure by construction, not a true recency count.
Elsewhere: 4★ on Google (1,429 reviews, as of November 2026)
TrustScore over time
3.7 → 3.7 across 13 census measurements since 2026-10-06. Our own record, independent of Trustpilot’s display.
Reply behaviour over time
Solid: % of negative reviews replied to. Dashed: typical days to reply. Both as reported on this company’s Trustpilot profile, recorded whenever our census re-checked it and a figure had changed — the gaps between points are not equal:
Show all 13 dated readings
2026-10-06 (98%, 26.2d) · 2026-10-09 (98%, 26.0d) · 2026-10-12 (98%, 25.8d) · 2026-10-15 (98%, 25.6d) · 2026-10-18 (98%, 25.4d) · 2026-10-21 (98%, 25.3d) · 2026-10-24 (98%, 25.1d) · 2026-10-27 (98%, 24.9d) · 2026-10-30 (98%, 24.8d) · 2026-11-02 (98%, 24.5d) · 2026-11-05 (98%, 24.3d) · 2026-11-08 (98%, 24.2d) · 2026-11-11 (98%, 24.1d).
Severity: 21% of this company’s 727 graded complaints were classified as severe (money lost, an essential service cut off, or a problem unresolved for months). See the harm index.
Reviewers here waited a median of 0.7 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (782 reviews record both dates).
What their policy promises
refund window: until the right candidate is found — meanwhile 20 reviewers in our census window reported refund delays.
“Our positions remain open until we find the right candidate.”
refund window: 1 month — meanwhile 20 reviewers in our census window reported refund delays.
“Temporary accommodation for 1 month.”
Quoted verbatim from the company’s own published policy (source page); complaint counts are census classifications. As of 2026-11-05.
Policy-page monitoring
We monitor this company’s published policy page. No change to the policy text has been detected since we started watching on 2026-10-19.
1 other page edit recorded (dates, counters, menus, banners, or edits we could not verify against the page text) — not listed
Automated change detection on the company’s own published policy page. A change is listed only when a term, price, time limit, right or contact route in the policy text changed; other edits are counted, not listed.
Measured reply time: across 762 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 0.1 days — the company profile reports an average of 24 days. The two are measured differently: ours counts only replies we captured to negative reviews.
Reply quality: of 762 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 70% engaged with the specific problem and 29% were generic templates.
Review provenance: 359 company-invited reviews in the recent window average 4.08★, while 127 organic (uninvited) reviews average 1.15★.
63% of its 221 recent 5★ reviews came from accounts that had written only that one review when we captured it (the median across companies is about 39%). A high share is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fake reviews.
Sector benchmark: poor core service makes up 22% of this company’s complaints vs a 25% median across 52 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 13,790 of this company’s 27,682 Trustpilot reviews (50%) were written in the last 12 months.
Other UK companies with evidenced “Poor core service” complaints
- BOXT
- Bridge Base Online
- British Airways
- British Gas
- britishgardencentres.com
- BT
- Calor
- Capita
- Chestertons
- CI Group
See all companies by issue: Poor core service · Support unhelpful · Overcharging · Billing errors · Missed appointments · Sector table: Telecoms & IT in the UK
Compare Bolt with…
Method: reviews are classified into a fixed complaint taxonomy by an automated reader; every category shown is backed by at least two verbatim quotes from distinct reviews. Trends are computed from dated review counts only. Negative reviews are deliberately over-sampled for evidence depth; headline percentages use an unbiased recent sample only. Report updated 2026-11-11.