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AIBU?

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Original poster

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:
GnomeDePlume · 20/03/2026 18:22

I wonder if he was hoping to speed through to take a break further on.

Purplecatshopaholic · 20/03/2026 18:21

Eh? Why on earth did you get off? It’s a bus. He drives it. Passengers get in and off. I’d have sat there and phoned the bus company while sitting there. He sounds like bus driving is not the job for him…!

ginasevern · 20/03/2026 18:20

Report and put on social media. What if it was late at night. Presumably he'd have left a lone woman stranded. I wonder if he'd have done the same to a big burly bloke. Unhinged prick.

CandyEnclosingInvisible · 20/03/2026 18:20

What??? You missed a bus and as a punishment the driver of the next bus made you wait for the 3rd bus - that is totally insane! Please put in a complaint to the bus company and let us know the outcome that is a horrible thing to do.

househelp12345 · 20/03/2026 18:17

Totally wild. So what if you did chose to get on an emptier bus? I do that all the time

wyntersky · 20/03/2026 18:16

Absolutely report him! He sounds unhinged

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.

Schmojoe · 20/03/2026 18:11

amber763 · 20/03/2026 17:16

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

Yes, I find that posting on Twitter/X gets a speedy response.

StormyLandCloud · 20/03/2026 18:11

Outrageous! How did you know his bus was empty!? It could have been absolutely packed! I’d certainly be reporting him, cheeky arsehole

Munchyseeds2 · 20/03/2026 18:09

How strange! Makes no sense
Yes report him

Monty35 · 20/03/2026 18:08

If there is space on board, if you are paying your fare why you are taking this bus is no business of his.

dizzydizzydizzy · 20/03/2026 18:06

I’ve been reliant on buses for donkeys years. I have never experienced that! Very strange!

ExitPursuedByABare · 20/03/2026 18:05

As already asked, why did he think you should have/could have got on the earlier bus?

MyDeftDuck · 20/03/2026 18:02

Completely unacceptable behaviour by that bus driver……report him!

Would he have done that if it was late in the evening, pitch dark and a potential passenger was alone and vulnerable???? Total fuckwit!

StephensLass1977 · 20/03/2026 18:01

Goodness, no you are not being remotely unreasonable! He sounds absolutely unhinged.

Pearlstillsinging · 20/03/2026 17:59

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

So would I! Is he trying to stop the company taking fares? The man is barking mad!

WilfredsPies · 20/03/2026 17:56

What an absolute dick. What would he have said to his supervisor when asked why he’d just been sat at a bus stop not going anywhere? ‘Not my fault, I didn’t like the fact that a woman wanted to get on my bus’.

I’d have made such a fuss, but I’m not adverse to behaving like a fishwife in public. I’d have got on, sat down and made myself comfortable while phoning the local depot to complain. Worst case scenario, you’re out of the cold until the next bus comes along and have the chance to film him refusing to drive.

TheSecretAgent1 · 20/03/2026 17:54

YANBU he sounds bonkers

BMW6 · 20/03/2026 17:52

I have got my phone out and told him to repeat his stance to video..........

twilightermummy · 20/03/2026 17:51

Why do you even need to ask if he's been unreasonable and whether you should report? He was and you should.

CustardySergeant · 20/03/2026 17:49

This is so bizarre. I hope you report it and let us know the outcome.

SummerInSun · 20/03/2026 17:48

But how does he know that you didn’t arrive at the bus stop 90 seconds after the last bus left and 90 seconds before he pulled up?

Personally I would have gotten on the bus and sat down and called the bus company from there to call his bluff, but you are clearly a better person than I am and didn’t want to inconvenience all his other passengers!

JohnTheRevelator · 20/03/2026 17:44

How bloody odd. He said you should have been on the earlier bus? How on earth did he come to that conclusion? Has he never heard of people missing buses?

SaucepanRattle · 20/03/2026 17:40

No YANBU! What does the bus driver think his job is but to pick up passengers? You weren't there in time for the last one! That's why you didn't get it! But you were there for his one!

Camcam · 20/03/2026 17:37

Report him. My brother is a bus driver. He was telling me they get in big trouble if they leave even one minute before the bus is due to leave.