Bus driver rude over £10 note

Fredula

We have IOU's in Bristol - I nearly threw my 20p IOU out the other day! Imagine that :P

How rude though. Can't you pay with card? I think chip and pins came onto our buses last summer.

toniq

This thread is going around in circles, pretty much like a bus route


x

davidxhobbs

It is very difficult to find out in advance what the fares are on buses. We visited Birmingham and had to ask somebody in a queue how much the bus cost, then go to a bank to get the change.
When I was a teenager, I was a bus conductor (remember those?) and we happily gave change.
What has happened to the concept of giving service?

Craftyblue

Where I live you can only pay with the correct change on the bus. I've never heard of buses giving out change - sounds a lot more convenient.
As to your question - it probably was a pain for him and I think bus drivers do get a lot of hassle, so he may just have been in a general bad mood. I read somewhere that bus drivers are the grumpiest of all trades, I wouldn't take it too personally!

stmartinsdiver

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

I can get change, but I don't want to have to buy something just to get it.

Then what is the problem?

minislim

on the rare occasion that i've had only a note to pay with most bus drivers are sensible and let you on without paying if they haven't got enough change.

there are one or two drivers though who've taken their authority to a another level though and wont allow you on.

its these that really annoy me. so much so i complain to the bus company about the rudeness of the driver.

i'd understand if the fares where a couple of quid but they're almost a fiver now anyway. they should be prepared for notes in this day in age.

its attitudes like this that put people off using public transport!

harz99

Okay OP; you say you hope to walk in the warmer weather, so guessing you don't pay much more than maybe £2.50 for your journey, possibly a lot less.


So at that rate £7.50 ish of the drivers change goes in one transaction, a few more of those and nothing left to break even pound coins down. It will become a problem for the driver. You now realise that.


From your first post the driver was not rude, but was simply pointing out in his way that you could have problems in a different scenario. So time to move on everybody.


In many areas Stagecoach does use an IOU system, basically you give them your note, and they issue a ticket for your journey plus a change ticket for future use. So to use my earlier figures, £2.50 ticket to travel and £7.50 change ticket out of £10. The change ticket is effectively a £7.50 note, and you use that on your next journey, should the next driver not have change the process can be repeated and so on. The downside to you is the tie up of your £7.50 which cannot be spent anywhere else.


Stagecoach are also introducing a Smart stored value card ticket, you may wish to look into that possibility.


Bus drivers are NOT normally issued a change float, any change they do have to start the day will be their own money, which they are using to make their job easier until they accumulate change from fares paid.


Finally, for those seeking change in shops, the best option is often to buy a daily newspaper, the "I" for instance is only 30p, others can be had for less when on offer. Of course the shopkeeper does not have to sell you the paper if he/she does not wish to!

w211

I once paid a €6 fare using a €100 note on a bus in Dublin.

Did ask the driver if it was ok, and he said it was fine.

However, it was an airport service and probably used to tourists just landed with large notes anyway. He had plenty of smaller notes for change.

duchy

I wouldn't reckon your chances on ordinary Dublin buses though !
Airport buses as you say -full of tourists who have only just arrived.

Frankly I'm amazed at just how rude some people are to people just trying to do their jobs. Trouble is that's how we ended up with so many miserable bus drivers in the first place.....One too many rude passengers eventually created the grumpy driver culture.

bods

I know lots of people say "just get lots of change". Well I usually do but sometimes you just end up without any.

But the fact is that many bus companies actually have a policy for these scenarios. The driver can give a change voucher. This can either be exchanged by post, in a travel shop or on the bus for part payment for another fare.

Now in an era when buses take fewer and fewer people who actually pay cash, this is an amazingly easy and simple solution to the problem.

So why, when the company does it, do the drivers not always know?
And why, when the company doesn't do it, do they not do so? It's simple and easy and better for the customer!