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).

[MrsKeithRichards]

I've not been on a bus that gives change since I left school. You put your money in a slot, the driver sees it then it disappears, I'm not even sure they can give change or even touch the money at all.

[simplesusan]

When I lived in the midlands the drivers did not give any change.

[Machadaynu]

So why are buses different from, say, shops? I work in a shop, and I don't have a little glass screen to protect me or anything - and I can always make change. All day, every day - and my till has to balance too.

Why do we just accept that buses don't give change and that's fine?

[MrsPoglesWood]

Most regular bus users have a weekly/monthly/annual tickets or Oyster cards if in London. Not many passengers pay in cash these days which is why bus drivers don't have huge change floats. But if he was rude YANBU about reporting him. As frustrating as it is though you do need to have as exact change to the fare as possible.

And as a regular bus user I get so frustrated with other regular bus users who get on, ask the driver for a "return to X" and then fumble in their pocket or bag for their wallet/purse. You get on this bus every day, you know how much it costs, stop wasting everyone's time!! Buy a season ticket FFS! Yes Dr Thingy from The Royal Armouries, I'm talking about you. You're clearly an intelligent person so stop acting like a total dick. Have your money ready or buy a pass!!

[missnevermind]

Big notices all over the bus to state drivers have no access to cash and change cannot be given.
Has been the same for years.

[SirBoobAlot]

Well you were rather unreasonable to expect him to be able to change a ten pound note first thing in the morning. Why didn't you make sure you had the change? Surely if you know how much it's going to be, and they don't carry change, you put your coins to one side over the weekend?

However, around here the bus driver would have told you to get on, then changed your £10 once he had the change to.

[SunflowersSmile]

Round here you would have to wait til change but would have been able to get on bus.
I would complain if driver arsey...

[Sugarice]

Yes he sounds like he was an arse but you presenting a £10 note on a £2.30 journey and expecting change or a free ride is also unreasonable.

Not sure I'd go to the trouble of reporting him as some have suggested, he was doing his job after all..

[TandB]

YABU

You say this has happened loads of times, which suggests that you habitually turn up with a note and expect the driver to give you change.

I would have thought that everyone who uses buses regularly would know that there is a reasonable chance of there not being enough change, or of the driver refusing to wipe out his entire stash of change on one person.

When I lived in London the drivers almost never accepted notes. If I found I didn't have change it was always quicker to just go and get some, rather than wait for the bus, offer the note, have it refused and then go in search of change anyway.

There are all sorts of reasons why he might not have wanted to let you on without paying - maybe he'd just been in trouble for doing that for someone else. Maybe lots of people try to get on without change and he was worried that you might pipe up "but you let me on without paying" when he was arguing with the next passenger. Maybe he knew there were inspectors about. Maybe he's accepted a note from you "loads of times" and had used up his store of nice as well as his store of change.

A complaint would be a bit much, given that the driver wasn't actually doing anything wrong - he was just refusing to do you a favour - and that you called him a cock.

[Cat98]

YANBU. He should have let you on.

[MammaTJ]

You would have been on there uninsured if he had let you on without a ticket. Had an inspector got on he would have been sacked.

Yes, he should have had change, you should have had change.

[BabyRoger]

I would not expect to travel for free in this circumstance.

I think It's a bit annoying buses round here do not give change but I know this so I always get the right money before getting a bus.

I.do think.working in a shop is different. They can empty their tills when It's full of notes. Bus drivers with loads of notes would be a much easier target than someone in a shop.

So as annoying as it is, I think yabu.

[youfhearted]

at that time in the morning yabu, you should have had change prepared, even a fiver woudl be better than a tenner. you will know for the future.

[Lynned]

Get an Oyster card. People that pay cash are a pita.

[NopeStillNothing]

You are absolutely BU to expect a free ride! You are also BU to use your pregnancy as an excuse for some sort of special treatment.
Having said that, there were options other than just pay up or get off that should have been offered to you. But without knowing your attitude towards the bus driver I can't really comment on whether he was BU not to offer them.

[youfhearted]

and 5 months pregnant
dont be so precious,

[scarletforya]

YWBVU

On what planet is it acceptable to try to pay bus fare with a note? It's not allowed where I live for very good reason. You either have the correct fare or feck off and stop annoying everyone and delaying the bus. Buses here don't give change either. You put the correct fare in the chute and if you have too much you get a refund ticket that you can collect at the bus office on your own time

It's a no brainer, you have the correct fare ready if you're taking the bus.

You were very irritating attempting to get a free ride just because you were unprepared. Selfish. You say you've done this more than once too. Can't you see how thoughtless and irritating what you're doing is.

And sorry, working in a shop is not the same as being on a bus route. You can 'make change' in the shop? Right. Well the bus driver can't.

[TheFallenNinja]

I sometimes wonder why bus drivers are such miserable old sods, they hate the public, rarely have change and usually have faces like smacked arses.

Is it a job requirement?

[NotGeoffVader]

I can see both sides.

You wouldn't want to be walking in the ice and the snow. He wouldn't be expecting to have his first passenger presenting him with a note.

My local bus company has changed hands (operator) several times, and the staff are now far less surly. We're in the commuter belt so unfortunately it's not uncommon for people to get on the bus with notes and expect change. On these occasions the drivers have either a) made change out of their own pockets, b) waived the fare, c) written a 'receipt' for a fare to be paid.

But I think you ought to have change ready. Particularly for the morning bus. If I knew I was going to need the bus in the morning I used to either pop into the shop on the way home/way to bus stop to get change, or borrow it from my DH before leaving the house. By the afternoon, the float was usually full enough for this not to be a problem for the bus drivers.

[Bogeyface]

Keep emergency bus change in the house, just in case. Problem solved.

YABU, I have always understood it to be that you can ask to pay with a note but it is done at the drivers disrection and if they dont have change then they dont have change. It comes down to the fact that you know how much it is and you know that you will be travelling so you can get the right change in advance. The bus driver however doesnt know who will be travelling and paying with £10 notes so can't make sure that they have enough change in advance.

[Bogeyface]

I sometimes wonder why bus drivers are such miserable old sods, they hate the public, rarely have change and usually have faces like smacked arses.

Is it a job requirement?


If you dealt with dickheads all day you would be miserable. I have seen drivers subjected to all sorts of verbal abuse, threats etc and thats just using the bus "normally" when my car was off the road. I can't imagine who much shit they have to deal with in the course of a day if what I have seen using the bus 3 times a week is anything to go by.

[Bogeyface]

how not who

[GrimmaTheNome]

It's a no brainer, you have the correct fare ready if you're taking the bus.

If you're in an area where there is an actual 'correct fare' rule then this is absolutely the case.

When I lived in the midlands the drivers did not give any change.
same here and that's going back over 30 years - most people had WMPTE cards. I was quite suprised this wasn't the case everywhere by now.

But, if you're anywhere where correct fare is not required, then ideally the bus company should either make sure their drivers start with a decent float or have some other method of dealing with the issue. It might not be totally convenient to you (eg a receipt which you could redeem later) but doesn't seem beyond the wit of man to come up with some solution. Write a polite letter to the company asking for clarification on their policy.

[TroublesomeEx]

He could have shown a bit more compassion maybe, but I don't ever get the bus and even I know that you need change.

[BalloonSlayer]

Why is it a no-brainer to have the correct fare?

I have a car and I practically never get the bus. The other day DD and I were dropped off in town and got the bus back, something we never normally do. I had absolutely no idea how much the fare would even be until I got on and asked. I would have been gobsmacked if the bus driver had said he couldn't change a tenner and we'd have to have no change or not come on the bus. What if we were catching the bus because our car had broken down? As is is there was no problem - I don't think we are in an "exact fare only" area.