Mumsnet Talk

So, it's snowing. It's 6.50 am (therefore very dark). I have money (£10 note). Get on the bus, apologise for lack of change. This has happened loads of other times, bus driver always fine about it, but I am always overly apologetic anyway.
Fare is £2.30, driver has no change, tells me he will take the tenner and I will have to do without my £7.70 change or get off the bus. I explain that I am 5 months pregnant, it is snowy and slippery on the pavement, I have money and am prepared to pay, but not without change. It will take 40 mins to walk in the dark. He basically tells me tough shit.
Aibu to think he should have let me on without paying, as it is their problem if they don't have any change?
No one else was on the bus, so there would have been no one to spot him helping me out. He was really arsey and rude.
I may have called him a cock loudly once off the bus. Whoops. I am aware that that was unreasonable, but I was fuming (and freezing).

You were not even SLIGHTLY unreasonable! Horrible man - poor you!

I would complain to the bus company, this is not reasonable at all.

Most buses have CCTV in the cab, so there is someone to see. But technically he should have given you a refund ticket that you could claim later. I would have just let you on though.

I would be writing a strongly worded complaint tbh.

yanbu

You can check the policy of the transport company for what to do in such a situation and complain.

He could have let you on the bus and waited until he had some change from the other passengers as they got on along the route.

Is it not completely std practice to know you need change for a bus? Why don't you just make sure you've change? And presumably bus driver isn't supposed to let people on without paying..

And 5months pregnant is 5 months pregnant- not a serious illness. ..

I dunno about this one cos it must really get on the bus drivers nerves ppl always getting on the bus with tenners and then wanting change I can remember being really annoyed when I worked for tesco in my youf and the same ppl always came in for a loaf o bread with a tenner ! lol

Poor bloke was only doing his job.

YANBU.

It is a business, no different than any other large service provider.

Tesco's manages to have change, so should the bus companies, especially first thing, it would be different if it was a rural route and middle of the day.

I should add they only gave us a float of 10 pounds change to start with it used to cause a huge kerfuffle!

Total cock

Buses don't give change here presumably because it is a complete pita . Tbh I don't see what being pregnant has to do with not having bus money

Why didn't you have the Correct change though? You know how much it is so why were you not prepared? Sorry but it is laziness on your part to not be ready with the right change and expect the driver to sort your change.

I don't know, it depends where you live.

There aren't really any busses where I live now but I have lived in areas where it is a blanket policy that they don't take change. The conductor doesn't even take the money, you just chuck it in a slot. If you don't have the correct fare you can't ride. If it was one of those busses then YABU.

Definitely not unreasonable! You need to make a complaint to the bus company about this. Don't understand why he couldn't give you a voucher for the change, thought this was pretty standard practice? If not, any decent person would of just let you off the fare in these circumstances.
Bus drivers always seem to one extreme or the other, cheerful and helpful or just complete cocks.

Letting you on without paying was not going to be an option as the bus company will never allow the driver to do that.

There should be some option to give you a change ticket or similar. However presumably you knew in advance you were going to catch the bus? Why then did you not have change? Be better organised next time. Our bus drivers don't start their shifts with change - that is the bus company's decision not the drivers.

Keep a change jar or make sure you get change the night before. He could have been politer but you were more responsible having not sorted yourself out with the right money.

First thing Monday morning and someone rocks up with £10 for a journey they presumably know is £2.30.

You think you're right, he thinks he's right. He was arsey and I bet you weren't exactly a total treasure either.

It's not the driver that has to fill up on change, probably someone at the depots job but its the driver that takes the flack, which isn't fair.

Let it go.

YANBU. You offered to pay. It's not your responsibility to make sure they have change and I wouldn't have thought their policy is to keep all the money if they don't have change. Check their website to see their terms of carriage and then report him.

In a lot of areas, companies bid on a route and get good subsidies.

They are awarded the contract based on the service that they pledge to provide, they are not doing us a favour by running the bus, they have responsibilities and part of that is having change.

Arrggh, this really fucks me off! Why dont they ever carry change? I never get the bus because any time I have its always bloody late and they never have change. The last time I got the bus, the driver told me he didnt have any change and I would have to make my own way to the depot at the end of the day to get my change from a tenner!

I used to work in the transport department of my local council, and it was full of sad lonely male middle aged incompetent fuckwits, who used to try and come up with all these great advertising campaigns and electronic timetables etc to encourage people to get the bus. I was just like 'Make sure they run to time and have change...that is all'!

Being pregnant only has to do with slipping over in the snow and ice, nothing else. Wouldn't have a problem with walking if it wasn't for that.
The reason I didn't get change is that it is never normally an issue. And it's not like it was a twenty!
And doing your job doesn't involve being completely rude about it. If he had been apologetic, I don't think I would have been so pissed off...

But if they have change and everyone turns up with a tenner for journeys that don't cost a tenner, they won't have any change left anyway.

Newsflash: buses never have change, bring the right money.

Yes exactly birds, these are all private companies that have bid on each route and are there to make money, not council run buses.