ARRIVA driver forces mum with 4yr old to walk 1.5 miles in freezing conditions

I am furious! My wife called me this afternoon in tears having been verbally abused and treated like dirt by an ARRIVA bus driver in Macclesfield. All this happened in front of a bus full of elderley passengers.

He refused her passage because she had a £5 note to pay for a £2.10 fare. Consequently she had no choice but to walk 1.5 miles home in freezing rain with my 4 year old daughter. My wife suffers terrible Raynards Syndrome so was in considerable pain by the time she arrived home.

The full story

This morning at Macclesfield bus station a group of elderly pensioners, my wife and 4 year old daughter waiting in vain for the Bowers bus to Buxton, which never arrived, we assume, due to adverse conditions. They elected to wait for the Number 1 ARRIVA bus instead, which arrived a couple of minutes after the Buxton bus was due to leave.

The Driver A nonchalantly glanced at the passengers stating "I'm not going", shook his head, bearly making eye contact with a sole.

From 12:25 until 12:55 the passengers waited further. Having watched a Driver B enter the original Number 1, change number to Number 14 and dissapear, Driver A finally appeared to drive a Number 1 bus stating he was "only driving the bus out of the goodness of his heart".

Having already accepted fares of a number of passengers my wife presented her £5 note for her £2.10 fare. The Driver A abruptly said he had no change and refused point blank to accept the money. Considering he had already had several cash paying customers travelling to the same location, it beggars belief that this was true.

The driver continued to fire several disrespectful challenges at my wife, reducing her to tears, in front of a child. By this time several passengers came and offered my wife the money to pay for the journey.

When she quite rightly demanded the bus drivers number and name, he refused, stating these details were on the bus tickets. Of course, my wife could not get this information.

However, due to the bullying and rude nature of the driver, my wife was by now so upset and insulted that she back down off the bus and it left.

What have I done?

This afternoon I phoned ARRIVA but quite frankly I don't anticipate much back apart from a limp apology letter. The fact is the damage has been done and ARRIVA bus drivers are abusive, unreasonable and irresponsible.

Posted via email from Paul's posterous