AIBU? Bus driver refused to let me on the bus

[tulipkisses]

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?

@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?

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

This is definitely reportable.

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

Excellent advice.
They hate being called out in public.

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.

I cannot understand this conversation at all OP

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).

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

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.

We’re both buses the same bus company?

Was there a seat or standing room available? If so then he’s being an idiot

This is completely bizarre behavior; a driver has no right to "police" which bus you board, and threatening to hold up an entire vehicle full of passengers just to force you off is a massive overstep and power trip. You missed the first bus—it happens—and even if you hadn't, choosing a quieter second bus is your prerogative as a fare-paying passenger. Since you have the number plate and the specific time, you should absolutely report this to the bus company, making sure to highlight his unprofessional threat to stage a "sit-in," as that is a clear breach of their service standards.

Report! 100% report. What if he regularly picks and chooses who he lets on? It could be somebody vulnerable next time.
Did you tell him you actually missed the last bus and it wasn’t because it was too busy? (Why would he assume this, randomly?)
How did the conversation actually go, because I’m struggling to wrap my head around this bizarre situation…

Report him, he is being a prick..

So do you think it was a lie??

I think there's more to it .

@teletubbyy 0:26 😉

That sounds weird. Was this the same bus route as the bus you just missed and was that bus meant to pick up passengers anx set them down at that stop? I have many buses, often completely empty, sailing past my front door because they are not meant to stop at my bus stop even though they are going the way I want to go (3 stops to the terminus). My bus pass would not work on them anyway. Other than that, I can think of no reason why a driver would refuse to pick up bona fide passengers except where the bus was already full or the passenger was drink or abusive (which I assume you were not!).

You should complain to the appropriate bus company about this incident. Driver was totally out of order, in the way that he treated you

Bus companies often have CCTV on board. their buses so they can check incidents

Good Luck
👍🍀🚝
X

And young people are never disrespectful to a bus driver? Perhaps get a balanced view as I see how bus drivers are treated as unfortunately I have to use the service when students get on. Some are fine but others are just vile. Are you so naive to think that it's all the bus drivers fault?

I think this post is a pile of horse poo and that’s why OP hasn’t been back.

You really have no idea what to do? You are only "considering" reporting it?

I have no idea how the driver would conclude that you should have been on the earlier one, but that seems borderline crazy. How would he even know you were there three minutes earlier? In an ideal world, if it were daytime, you should have gotten on, sat down, and pulled out your telephone to call the bus company on the spot.

Of course you should complain! Vehemently! If by chance you are any kind of a minority (elderly, Asian, handicapped), mention that as it means it was possibly discriminatory. (And it's perfectly reasonably to pass up a crowded bus and wait for an emptier one.)

Ours are every two hours so we dare not miss one!