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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU? Bus driver refused to let me on the bus

260 replies

tulipkisses · 20/03/2026 17:12

Where I live buses can be infrequent and often delayed due to awful traffic. We also don’t have tap on/off, we have to show the driver our tickets or purchase one as we get on.

I work about a five minute walk from the bus stop. As I got to the bus stop this evening the bus was just pulling away, I checked the app and there was another one coming three minutes later.

It turned up and I put my arm out to hail it. It pulled in, someone got off and I stepped on. The driver refused to let me on because I “should have been on the earlier one”. He said if I walked onto the bus he wouldn’t pull away and would wait for me to get off, and he didn’t care about sitting there for hours to see if I’d stay on. He said he knew I was “only getting on this one for a faster journey” because it was empty compared to the one in front.

I have never experienced this in my life, I have no idea what to do? I have the number plate and I’m considering reporting it but this is just totally bizarre, should I have waited for the one after this one?

OP posts:
SamPM · 21/03/2026 18:52

Report him immediately. What are you waiting for. It's not for him to judge which bus you should get and he should be sacked.

Lilacblu · 21/03/2026 18:49

Unbelievable.. report him and also put it in writing..

ASongOfRiceAndPeas · 21/03/2026 18:37

Sorry, did you actually comply and just walk off with no argument? This is mind boggling. I would have played him at his own game and sat on the bus until the next bus arrived (or he gave in and continued his route, which he likely would have).

greenteaandlimes · 21/03/2026 18:37

I cannot understand this conversation at all OP

JJWT · 21/03/2026 18:29

I keep coming back as his behaviour was bonkers so I want to know what the bus company said? I hope you told them. He doesn't sound fit to be conveying the public on a bus.

DreamTheMoors · 21/03/2026 18:15

amber763 · 20/03/2026 17:16

In fact, get onto the bus companies social media while you wait!

Excellent advice.
They hate being called out in public.

butterpuffed · 21/03/2026 18:10

Op only stayed for a few minutes to post before she disappeared , what a surprise .

Snakebite61 · 21/03/2026 18:07

tulipkisses · 20/03/2026 17:12

Where I live buses can be infrequent and often delayed due to awful traffic. We also don’t have tap on/off, we have to show the driver our tickets or purchase one as we get on.

I work about a five minute walk from the bus stop. As I got to the bus stop this evening the bus was just pulling away, I checked the app and there was another one coming three minutes later.

It turned up and I put my arm out to hail it. It pulled in, someone got off and I stepped on. The driver refused to let me on because I “should have been on the earlier one”. He said if I walked onto the bus he wouldn’t pull away and would wait for me to get off, and he didn’t care about sitting there for hours to see if I’d stay on. He said he knew I was “only getting on this one for a faster journey” because it was empty compared to the one in front.

I have never experienced this in my life, I have no idea what to do? I have the number plate and I’m considering reporting it but this is just totally bizarre, should I have waited for the one after this one?

This is definitely reportable.

Haystackhunting · 21/03/2026 17:53

Do you think he would’ve done that to 6 foot 2” 15 stone Derick?

BambinaCucina · 21/03/2026 17:53

@tulipkisses just checking you did actually get on the following bus?

Could you imagine the, justified, furore if, God forbid, anything had happened to you after being turned away?

igelkott2026 · 21/03/2026 14:41

If anyone is reading this and ever experiences something similar, get on the bus sit down and refuse to move. The bus driver will either give up and drive off, or call the police/the bus company who will hopefully tell him to get a grip.

youbizarrehorse · 21/03/2026 14:07

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:10

When a bus driver asks where you're going, they're asking which of their stops you're getting off at, it's not a social question..

Eh? Sure I know that …

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:43

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

It does explain why some busses just 'vanish'

i take the bus to my local hospital for eye checks (as they dilate my pupils I can't drive afterwards now). A few months ago several busses were scheduled on the board (coming home, not going), but kept not turning up! I was waiting further 2 hours for a bus that's meant to be every 15 minutes. It was bloody cold & miserable, I could have taken another bus to a nearby town & changed there if I had known, but I just assumed the next one would actually turn up & the route via the other town is much longer.

after your post I'm thinking that maybe if no one was going TO the hospital, they chose to skip the hospital 'loop' 🙄

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:35

PrismRain · 21/03/2026 06:39

Today, on Things That Never Happened.

I think you might be right!

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:10

youbizarrehorse · 20/03/2026 18:14

Definitely report him.

I had an annoying experience just before Christmas. I needed to pick my car up from a mechanic in the arsehole of nowhere and wanted to get a bus before dark. They are very few and far between at the best of times. Anyway the bus arrived bang on time and I was just about to get on when he asked me where I was going. I told him and he said he wasn’t going that far, closed his doors and drove off. There was only one stop between mine and the one I wanted to get off at. Rural area, so a mile or two between bus stops. There were people on the bus and there was no way they were all getting off at the next stop as it is very isolated and the bus rarely even stops there. So he was definitely going to my preferred stop. And beyond because the bus station is in the next small town. I can only assume the rest of the passengers were all getting off in the small town and he couldn’t be bothered stopping to let me off before that. And yes, I did complain. Absolute dickhead.

When a bus driver asks where you're going, they're asking which of their stops you're getting off at, it's not a social question..

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:05

tulipkisses · 20/03/2026 17:25

No, I have a bus pass.

I think he’s grumpy because he has a relatively empty bus and could probably get through most of his route quite quietly.

Maybe so, but one more passenger is hardly going to make much difference and that's an 'in your own head' thought! Not one to say to a customer & not to have a go at them. Grumoy is one thing, his behaviour quite another!

ChickpeaCauliflowerSalad · 21/03/2026 13:01

amber763 · 20/03/2026 17:15

Get this reported! Im stubborn and I think id have got on and let him sit there while I called the bus company

I'm with Amber!

unless there wasn't anyone else on the bus at all. I'm not fond of being kidnapped by local madmen, bus or not.

But definitely needs reporting. He's not stable enough to be driving busses.

Even if you could have got on the previous bus it's your choice to wait for the next one if you want to!!

Musicaltheatremum · 21/03/2026 11:52

I think most buses have video recording and audio in the cab so I'd definitely be taking this up with the bus company as they will be able to deal with the driver accordingly

Smittenkitchen · 21/03/2026 11:35

Unreal. What an arsehole. I think you should've stayed on but it does sound very intimidating.

Labelledelune · 21/03/2026 11:27

How fecking rude. I’d have been tempted to just sit on the bus. I would definitely complain massively about this and say you’ll report it to the papers.

HoppityBun · 21/03/2026 10:49

FrangipaniBlue · 21/03/2026 09:07

Even if the OP had deliberately let the other bus go to catch this one because it’s quicker….. so what??

the guy was bonkers

Sometimes the bus in front actually tells you to get on the following bus.

“There’s another one a few minutes behind“. Which might or might not be true.

JustCabbaggeLooking · 21/03/2026 10:44

YerMotherWasAHamster · 21/03/2026 09:16

Something certainly needs reporting here.

😂

Catwalking · 21/03/2026 10:39

How were you possibly supposed to know this bus was going to be ‘near empty & therefore quicker’, was driver sending out telepathic messages?

& why would it necessarily be quicker!??

Username19893847477374 · 21/03/2026 10:24

This is completely batshit

Lairymary · 21/03/2026 10:11

Report to the bus company AND the local council.

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