MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Fernando pay for Lewis' service?

ken_1969

It's not made clear whether or not Fernando is paying for petrol - if he is then he is paying his fare.
If not, I agree he certainly should pay a contribution to petrol as a set amount, but this must be agreed up front.
Otherwise, Lewis is being unfair by on the one hand offering something free, but then demanding payment later.
On the other side, by taking on a car Lewis is taking responsibility for the running costs and must expect to pay them all. If Lewis doesn't want the hassle / cost of running a car maybe he should be consider getting the bus himself?

traceya89

Fernando should offer something towards petrol on a weekly basis as getting a lift saves him waiting in the cold for unreliable buses. having said that if he does not have a car he probably thinks the car runs on air and water, cos some of my non-driving friends do! I never go shopping/out with a certain friend of mine who lives quite out of my way as she expects me to be her personal taxi service so i never get into a situation now where she expects a lift home!

bobbybee2

I wouldn't hold out much hope for Lewis if Fernando is like my work colleagues. I find it hard enough getting £1 out of them for a 15 mile journey that takes me an additional 15 mins out of my way. If I asked them to pay towards maintenance they'd laugh in my face.

I think Lewis should charge petrol costs, but set them slightly higher than 50% to put something towards the maintenance of the car, however he shouldn't ask directly for the money for the maintenance as if he comes to sell the car I'm sure he's not going to give fernando the money back for the parts he's payed towards.

heppy23

I wouldn't ask for money. A lift is a lift. I used to sometimes give a colleague a lift to work if we were on the same shift and she would sometimes give me a lift.
Another senior colleague would often get a lift to work but would let me go early if it was quiet!

In another job I had a colleague that would ask for lifts a lot and it meant me going out my way a bit. I often had to rush off places after work and couldn't help!

There are insurance implications of taking money for carrying a passenger.

olly300

Cars have maintenance requirements so whether Fernando was there or not then Lewis would still have to pay for the maintenance. So he can't ask for this.

The orignal question didn't state whether Fernado gave Lewis petrol money, gifts instead of petrol money or helped him in any other way. If he does then everything is fair if he doesn't then Lewis should stop giving him lifts.

jeffk

Fernando isn't obligated to pay, but you'd think he should offer something towards the running costs considering the time he's saving (Not to mention the fares). If he doesn't, he best be buying a yearly bus pass....and Lewis should have had the common sense to discuss payment in advance if he was expecting it.

Aud910

I agreed in advance to give a work colleague a llift to work if he gave me a weekly donation i.e £5 towards petrol costs. This went on for over a year and I only received £5 about twice during that time - I was always promised that I would get it on pay day but then it never happened. In the end I had to say that I was no longer giving them a lift to work so he went and bought a car. Now all he does is complain about the costs of running it!! If an agreement is already in place and Fernando is not adhering to it then Lewis needs to act by stopping the lifts. If no agreement exists then they have to sort one out which is agreeable by both parties - it's alright saying that Lewis is going there anyway but Fernando is saving money and time by getting a lift. If Fernando doesn't want to pay anything then Lewis should stop giving him a lift.

Marisan

I don't think Fernando is obliged to pay up for maintenance costs on someone else's vehicle,but he certainly should be offering petrol money.Cars cost a lot of money to run,and apart from the saving on bus fare there is also the saving on time and not having to hang about at bus stops in bad weather.
I used to give a work mate a lift home every day as I was 'going that way' but she never offered any money and I didn't like to ask.I had to literally drive past her street to my house so I did feel obliged,but also a tad resentful at being taken for granted.

Little_Miss_Road_Rage

I think if Fernando pays towards fuel then thats ok if he doesn't he should be. I don't think he should pay towards the maintainence costs tho.

I used to give my college mates a lift and they always left me 50p in the ashtray. It helped when I filled up (only cost me £6 to fill up then).

I also gave a mate a lift to Kent when we went to college. I would pick her up from a garage near her home and drop he at her accommodation. Then pick her up and drive her to her front door. She always paid half the fuel which was normally about £20 but it saved her the train journey, underground, another train journey and a taxi and worked out cheaper.

I never expected anyone to pay maintainence costs

macaroni

Of course Fernando shouldnt pay for maintenance of Lewis' car!!

If Lewis has to deviate from his 'usual' route to collect Fernando then he should ask him for a fuel donation. If he doesnt have to deviate then hes loosing nothing by picking him up