To think this bus driver was a complete penis this morning...

[Mawgatron]

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).

[Mawgatron]

And I didn't know in advance about gettin the bus. I had planned on cycling but when I got up and saw the snow I thought better of it...

[Figgygal]

Er so he should have let u ride for free pg or not yabu

[Mawgatron]

And every other time they have had change!

[EnjoyResponsibly]

"This has happened loads of other times"

No mention of cycling in your OP.

Nope still BU.

[Iamsparklyknickers]

In my city only a couple of the smaller providers give change, the main one hasn't for years. It's not difficult to try and break a note....

Anyway, neither of you come out smelling of roses, I'm pretty sure drivers have a duty of care and can take your details for paying later and you could have accepted/suggested a receipt to claim your change back. Drivers can radio through to their depot to check.

The sooner buses can take cards the better, although I hope they do it as pay points at the bus stop instead of loads of people faffing with their PINs on the bus.

[SkinnybitchWannabe]

YABU. You knew how much the fare was so you should've had smaller change. If I know I'm going to need change for something I make sure I've got change.

To compare Tesco tills to a bus is ridiculous..tills can have upto £500 in change (my one does because I count the floats) can't see a bus having that much tbh.

Next time have change!

[usualsuspect]

You should have had the right change,bus driver was only doing his job. They don't carry an unlimited amount of change.I expect they have a float.

[Mawgatron]

Stopped cycling since being pg and feeling shite in the mornings. Recently started cycling again (last week after it started to warm up). Didn't realise weather was meant to be shit today. So yes, I have got the bus a lot recently, but was planning on cycling this morn.

[yaimee]

He should have either let you on and given you change after a few stop or offered you a change ticket which U can take to the office of the company and redeem for the correct change, which would admittedly have been a pita but better than nothing.
He is a nob.
I don't think that many bus drivers grasp that part of their job is customer service and it drivers me up the wall. If any other type of business or service provider had front of house staff with attitudes as bad as most bus drivers they wouldn't have any customer but as most bus companies have a monopoly in their area, they behave as they like!

[usualsuspect]

I would never expect to get a free ride on a bus because the driver didn't have change.

[EnjoyResponsibly]

If you're inclined to complain it should be to the company about their policy not to provide drivers with change.

If the driver had let you on, just because there was no one about, and an inspector had got on you'd have been in line for a fine.

Or would you have said, well the driver let me on...

Don't drop the driver in it.

14 hours later, let it go.

[IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece]

Sorry but YABU

why the hell should he let you on for free?! If he did that for everyone that didn't bother to have the right change then it would be ridiculous...everyone else has to pay!

you should have had the right change...don't blame him for daring to follow the rules of the bus company

[Annunziata]

Oh, and if you work with the public, everyone tells you they are pregnant to try and get their way.

[EnjoyResponsibly]

I'm also of the opinion you can't go about behaving like an arse and moan that you didn't get the "customer experience" you were hoping for.

[cate16]

Our bus, semi rural clearly states 'correct fair only, no change given' they do give small amounts, but reserve the right not to give any.

If I only have £2 for my £1.70 trip - I know not to 'expect' change, but have always got it.

[LilMissSunshine9]

My dad is a bus driver and he basically says the following:

They are not given much change in the first place, so when they start their shift and go to the bus depot to collect their bus the float money/ change is given to them and most bus companies have it as a general rule.

The reason for not providing much change is because

1. Increases chance of theft if it is known that there is a lot of money being carried on buses, especially at night time at the end of shifts where there is greater chance of there being more money - my dad works on buses outside of London and therefore is not protected by a plastic barrier so the risk is greater for him if he is attacked.
   
   
2. Buses run on a strict timetable and if too many people get on needing change it slows the service down - granted on this occasion OP was only person getting on.
   
   
3. If you are presenting a note whether it be £10 or £20 particularly early morning than they will run out of change for the rest of the shift e.g. no change to give to someone who might have £4 for a £3.50 fare. More likley to change notes towards the end of shift as its quicker for drivers to tally up the money when they go back to the depot.
   
   
4. Bus drivers have to make up any money missing - so if the money does not tally up it comes out of their own pocket. Easy for mistakes to happen on busy routes due to time pressures.
   
   Hope that helps

[puddeycat]

I'm a bus driver in London and we are not given any change as a float and we are not supposed to accept notes. It's up to the passenger to have the correct change, and if they haven't got the correct change we can either; take the note and tell the passenger to pick the change up from the garage at the end of the drivers shift, or give them a yellow ticket which the passenger then has to pay over the phone or at a post office. The yellow tickets are given out at the drivers discretion,( you do get people just getting on and asking for them) and a lot of drivers don't even carry them.
If it was me I would have prob just let you on. But would have got in trouble if an inspector got on.

[manticlimactic]

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.

Same here but the other side of the argument. The bus is always late because people get on the bus with tenners and twentys expecting the driver to carry loads of change and even if they have the change it takes longer to sort them out. The more people with notes the less change they have too.

[MidniteScribbler]

So you regularly pay with a tenner and expect change, despite knowing that you are one of the first to get on the bus in the morning? Poor driver has probably had enough of your wiping out his change first thing in the morning and thinks that if you haven't figured out by now to break the note that you need to be taught a lesson.

And it's hilarious how you're all fine and well and able to cycle to work, but suddenly you're too pregnant to be able to walk when he tells you to get off his bus?

[littleducks]

I understand your frustration. However most places I have lived buses dont give change so if I got on with a tenner I wouldnt expect change.

Now I live in London and luckily now I can use my contactless bank card to pay my bus fare on Monday mornings if my Oyster has run out of money. Maybe suggest your bus company consider something like that.

[Naysa]

OP what planet are you from? Expecting a free ride because you couldn't be bothered to get the right change?

The area that I live in won't accept £10 at all. Some of the smaller buses that cost £1 won't accept £2 coins because their regular passengers are elderly and use passes so they don't have the change to give you.

[SomethingOnce]

YABU.

As a frequent bus user it irritates the crap out of me, the number of people who expect drivers to sort out their problems with notes.

Everyone knows the deal with the change thing so plan your life or take the consequences with good grace. If the driver can help you out s/he's doing you a favour; you're not entitled to special treatment because [insert reason].

Also, seeing the amount of shitty attitude drivers get from the public (great example, btw) I'm not surprised they aren't always full of joy.

This reminds me of when I was on a packed bus the other day and the driver couldn't let a woman on with a pushchair because all the pushchair spaces were full. So she was all "But I've been waiting half an hour". So he said she could fold it and get on, but she said it wasn't a folder and asked to get on anyway because "I'm only going a little way".

1. Just because she'd waited didn't mean the driver could magically create a pushchair space.
   
2. Perhaps she should've made a wiser choice of pushchair instead of wasting all that money on a Mugaboo.
   
3. If it's so little distance why did she wait half an hour for a bus and why not just crack on with walking.
   
   Not the driver's problem.

[SomethingOnce]

Also, it's really annoying when people hold up a bus full of people while they argue for special treatment.

[HollaAtMeBaby]

YAANU but this is the sort of situation that can usually be defused with a bit of politeness/wheedling. Did you ask if there was any way you could pay later or get change later by going to the garage? Or ask for a receipt for your £10 so you could claim change back later on?

I would not have flounced off a bus in the dark on a snowy day just to make a point!

[ComposHat]

YABU to expect the bus driver to give you a free ride. His hopper has to tally with the number of tickets issued.


At 6:50am the likelihood of a driver having change were slim to non-existent. If anyone rocked up with a tenner and tried to pay for a single, they'd be fucked.

Our local bus service doesn't give out change at all. If you have got the change tough shite. When I hadn't got change, I'd buy a weekly or daily rider or go to the shop and get a stick of chewing gum to break a tenner. There are way around it.