Bus driver wouldn't let my dad on bus aibu to think he is a jobsworth?

[oohopo]

My dad is 85.
He has a bus pass.
He was coming to my house last night for tea.
He got on bus and his pass wouldn't work (it has a tiny rip in)
It was valid for two years still.
Normally you tap your pass and they let you on.
Obviously when he was tapping it wasn't registering.
So he had to get off and go home to get his wallet.
He was coming to mine so didn't think he needed anything but his pass.

It made zero difference to that bus driver
Aibu to think it's a shitty thing to do to a elderly man.

You didn’t answer the question? If you get special treatment because you’re old then surely school kids who’s zip oyster have a crack in it should still be allowed on the bus?

If old people get allowances for being old then why can’t younger people get allowances for being young? I’d genuinely like an answer

DoubleBuggyDriver People at 85 are very often vulnerable to cold, being mugged, falling over and seriously injuring themselves because their bones are less strong than yours and mine. The driver could also use his eyes . He should have good eyesight too as he is driving a large vehicle you will agree. And it should be easy to tell that someone who is 20 years over the free pass age should get free travel for the above reason.

He could simply do what the non jobs worth driver did in a similar situation this week on a bus I was travelling on. Acknowledge that machinery is fallible, tell the OAP not to worry, sit down and have a safe journey. Much better customer relations there.

The bus pass has a picture of my dad on so pretty clear it's his

What a shithead of a driver.

Please complain. This is awful treatment.

*if you get special treatment because you’re old then surely school kids who’s zip oyster have a crack in it should still be allowed on the bus?

If old people get allowances for being old then why can’t younger people get allowances for being young? I’d genuinely like an answer*

It's not special treatment for being old. It's FAIR treatment because he has a valid pass that happens to be ripped. I'd let ANYONE on with a valid pass because I'd see with my own eyes and brain that they're legit. The fact this passenger was old and vulnerable only makes it so much worse.

Most old people are frailer than younger people. Do you hate old people? You don't sound a very nice person.

He had his bus pass it just didn't work. So you are saying if you were the bus driver you wouldn't have let him on?

I can't believe some people think the bus driver's actions were OK. The man was clearly entitled to used the bus so slight damage to the pass which rendered it unscanable is no reason to not let him travel. I would definitely complain.
I'd like to think that wouldn't happen around here but judging by some of the comments I might be wrong.

How do I sound like I hate old people? I don’t think you understand, no one is obliged to do any favours for anyone. You just said his pass didn’t work. If the bus driver let him on then that would have been a nice thing to do. He asked him to get off meaning he didn’t want to do OPs dad a favour.

I don’t think you should get certain allowances just because you’re old. So many of these comments are saying the driver’s a prick or a jobsworth etc but if the OP said her daughter’s zip oyster had a crack in it and a driver didn’t let her on, people would be saying she needs a replacement and the driver didn’t do anything wrong. Double standards tbh

I’d complain 🤷‍♀️ back before they added QR codes to scan on the bus apps one bus driver wouldn’t let me get on a bus to school because my phone screen had a crack on it even though you could still see the whole ticket very clearly. My parents were at work so if I had no money idk what I would’ve done. Just like any jobs you get jobsworths who just want to flex a little bit of power

It must have been more than a small rip for the pass not to have worked. 🫤

I think it's a shame the bus driver couldn't have let him on but I think it's unfair for posters to be so rude about the driver when they don't know what the rules are. Maybe some companies give bus driver some discretion but maybe this bus drivers company doesn't or, if it does, then it only covers people travelling at night or something.

My brother works as an engineers for a big national company and has ZERO discretion about how he does certain parts of his job that customers can not seem to understand. My brother thinks the rules are too rigid but ultimately won't risk his job.

Maybe that bus driver had been to generous in the past and is on a warning. You just don't know the rules.

I suspect though that he gets so much abuse from passengers that he has decided to just follow the rules. If he let on one person then he risks other passengers whinging about when they weren't let on free. Anyone who doesn't fancy paying would just claim they forgot their pass and that they were disabled. It's harder to stop if there aren't fixed rules.

There is plenty of fraud around and plenty of people who try it on all the time.

People give up seats on buses for old people, pregnant ladies & disabled people because they are being kind. Most people probably wouldn't give up a seat for a young healthy person. So yes most people do tend to treat old people differently.

You’re right but the driver didn’t do anything wrong by not letting him on, it’s really as simple as that

People can still think he's a twat for not letting him on.

Will have to agree to disagree.

YANBU.

Total arsehole.

My card hasn't work for whatever reason in the past and the driver would let me on.

Some of them are jobsworths.

I always brought a spare euro on the school run because I have seen drivers refuse school children if they'd no credit for the fare or their card acts up.

I've only had to use it twice for a school going child.

I'd like someone to do the same for DD.

I'm sorry someone didn't offer to pay your DF fare.

Thank you for the information and it is nice to know that there is still commonsense being used.

Perhaps you could read the post from a bus driver who explained how you deal with this.

So for those of us not in London, can you check visually that the oyster card is valid/n date/paid for or whatever, is there a photo so you can see it is there. If you can visually see the card is OK but the reader isn't reading it then yes I think they should be allowed on.

JOFFCV Yes I have, in the past given up my seat or moved seats for people more vulnerable than me on quite a few occasions. On a couple of occasions to people with double buggies too. There are even signs on the buses I travel on requesting I do this for elderly people. Bad bus companies giving favours to the elderly like that. I think there is a bit of the green eyed monster about what she/he considers freebies/favours to the elderly in DoubleBuggyDriver posts.

How do you check your pass is working without getting on a bus and trying it?

Yes I remember this case, it was truly chilling. She was 20p short or something in the middle of the night. I’m amazed at the lack of human decency often displayed by bus drivers.

It sounds ridiculous. Drivers have waved me to sit down when the card won't scan due to the tech being a bit precious at times. If someone comes to inspect then obviously the driver and the passenger would explain and stick to the decision when they can visually check its a valid card?! There's no point in it being photo I'd if it doesn't work as a manual back up.

These kinds of incidents really upset me, I get so cross on behalf of an elderly chap I’ve never meant. It’s just so unkind. I so wish someone on the bus had offered to pay.

And how would this revenue inspector know how many people had got off the bus?

I have never seen them count people.

They get on, check tickets and passes. The OP's Dad could have shown his pass - albeit damaged.

Do you have insider knowledge of revenue protection inspections?