Help!! I’m being blamed

[mummyhappiness]

Please wise Mumsnetters help.
My two dc, both teenagers, get the bus to and from school. I’ll is ment to be a door to door service. Since September I have driven 4 mins along the road to collect my DC at home time. If they stay on the bus it is another half an hour before they get home as the bus turns around there and drives in the opposite direction.
About 6 weeks ago a neighbour who’s DD gets the same bus decided she wanted her DD to be collected there too. She contacted me to ask if I would do week about, she would collect one week then I would collect the next and so on.
My neighbour decided last Monday that this wasn’t on and why should she have to collect when the bus service is ment to be door to door. She contacted the bus company.
She complained to the owner of the bus company and said why does the bus turn around at that point and why can it not drop our children off then turn around.
World war 3 has now broken out !!!
The bus driver has been told to drop our DC home then turn around. He is not at all happy and has announced this eve on the bus to the children that it was ME who had change the route and that is why they are all going to be late home from now on !!
I am now getting nasty text messages from the other parents on the bus and my DC are getting blamed by the other children in the bus too.
I’m not sure what to do. Any advice please

All of this started because your healthy teenage children cant get off the bus and walk the short distance (4 minutes) home. You think driving to collect them is reasonable
Are you incapable of telling the bus driver and the people who text that you did not complain?
What a ridiculous storm in a tea cup all because your children are too lazy to walk.

Um, we don’t know that the OP’s dc can walk home unaccompanied. Not all dc can at that age Poshindevon

Surely a four minute drive is not the same thing as a four minute walk. Seems odd that a door to door service turns around without dropping kids off.

Just text them back and say "nope wasn't me who asked, sorry. It was x. And leave it there.

Can’t be more than a 10-15 minute walk though, surely?

Dc might be disabled or there could be a dual carriageway between house and bus stop 🤷🏻‍♀️

Could be country lanes without pathways? Why do people assume rather than ask a question. And so unnecessarily rudely 😒

Secondary schools/Local authorities do not offer door to door bus services without very good reason so I had assumed SEN.

Thank you for your replies. We live in a rural area. The walk home would be up a Very steep hill about for 1.5miles. Their school bags ( rucksack) is extremely heavy and I really don’t want them damaging their backs, trying to carry them up the hill. It really is quite a climb.
I have now text a couple of the parents who contacted me, to say it wasn’t me. I haven’t heard back from them.
To be honest I’m more worried about my DC getting bullied on the bus now.

I should add. It’s a private bus service that is run in our area.
I’m thinking of speaking to the bus driver on Monday to find out why he said it was me ? Not sure if this would make things worse ??

I'd speak to the bus company, preferably someone in a management position, and tell them what the bus driver said. Explain that it wasn't you who asked for the route to be changed - presumably they will know that as they will have a record of who did. It might also be worth contacting the school to let them know as well.

What do you want to happen? Do you want the bus driver to tell all the kids that actually he made a mistake, and it wasn't you?

Decide what action you want the bus company to take, and pursue that.

It's kind of hard to reply to everyone to say it's nothing to do with you as that then leaves the other child as the only target for the complaints which I assume you don't want any more than your own children. I think I would say something like you hadn't raised the issue but had been coping with the problem of the distance on your own for a while but now there was another child involved it had been worth getting the bus company involved. (Even if you don't really feel that way yourself) or you're going to sidestep it yourself and push your neighbour under the bus. I think you have to take the neighbours side really. I would complain about the bus driver as well though.

Thanks for that damia. Your right, I certainly wouldn’t want my neighbours child left to face backlash. I’ve slept on it and I feel I have to contact the bus company about the driver. He was the one that started all the rumours, which he shouldn’t have !!
As for the other parents, I will see what ( if any) texts I receive today. Will keep you updated

I would txt all the nasty parents back saying "it wasnt me but as its a door to door service why should my and X's kids walk 1.5 miles uphill home every night when all the rest of the kids are dropped off at home? The bus driver decided to change his route without notice or reason."

And tell the bus company you want the driver to apologise to the kids on the bus for getting it wrong. Why should he spread rumours about you, stirring up trouble and get away with it? I would also ask them why he decided not to bring your kids home in the first place.

Living rurally i know how a short drive can be a dangerous long walk for kids. The bus company were not providing the service they promised. It was not up to the driver to decide he wasnt going to complete his route.

It’s only 8 extra minutes the others are on the bus though!
I don’t see why that warrants nasty text messages from parents !

Contact the school and the bus company, at the very least it is a breach of data protection.