Bus driver refuses small change

quinnray

Hi All,

Recently when buying a bus ticket from Dublin airport to Calow,
The bus driver refused my fare because the last 30c of the 16EUR fare,
was in small change.
Having just arrived into Ireland I didn't have alot of Euro.
I had to go back to the airport ATM and get larger money.
As I did so I became increasingly annoyed with myself for accepting
the bus drivers request.
As far as I know what he did was illegal.
I felt I should have boarded the bus anyway and told him to call the police if he had a problem.
I've seen this bus company (JJ Kavanagh) do similar some time back in Carlow with another passenger. Although that time the fare was accepted but the passenger was told not to bring small change again, or expect refusal to board.

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Ray.

AlexBM

I'd be pretty p****d off too. It was only 30c, not the full amount, and, having gotten on at the airport, I think it's safe to assume that you may not necessarily have a lot of euro on you. You should write to them and complain - I haven't had any experience with that company, personally, and I hope I never do. It's still legal tender, regardless of what denomination it's in.

Doctor DooM

Thats really crappy.

I think (but I could be wrong) the actual law says that any more than 20 of one denomination can be refused.

But a bus driver refusing you? Definitely not on either way, especially from the airport.

axer

quinnray wrote: »

Hi All,

Recently when buying a bus ticket from Dublin airport to Calow,
The bus driver refused my fare because the last 30c of the 16EUR fare,
was in small change.
Having just arrived into Ireland I didn't have alot of Euro.
I had to go back to the airport ATM and get larger money.
As I did so I became increasingly annoyed with myself for accepting
the bus drivers request.
As far as I know what he did was illegal.
I felt I should have boarded the bus anyway and told him to call the police if he had a problem.
I've seen this bus company (JJ Kavanagh) do similar some time back in Carlow with another passenger. Although that time the fare was accepted but the passenger was told not to bring small change again, or expect refusal to board.

Any thoughts ?

Cheers,
Ray.

You say the last 30c of €16 was small chage. How did you make up the rest? e.g. a €10 note + €5 note or what?

inforfun

axer wrote: »

You say the last 30c of €16 was small chage. How did you make up the rest? e.g. a €10 note + €5 note or what?

Maybe the last 30c was REALLY small change (1 and 2 cent coins)

I guess that driver would have been right if you came up with the full fare in 5 and 10 c coins.
If he didnt want the small coins he should have told you to forget about the 30c and take a seat. But well... this is greedy, moneygrabbing, ripp off Ireland.... So better is to send you off to the ATM.

ztoical

That is very odd, I've taken JJ Kavanagh's from Thurles to Kilkenny alot and as they leave at 7.30am sometimes I only have the fare in the small change but have never had an issue with them. I've had buses at the airport refuse to take large notes - arriving home with no money and the ATM is only giving out 50's and the fare is 12euro - mad run around the airport looking for change. While its a pain I can understand not having the change to break a 50 but to not accept exact change in small coins is silly.

axer

inforfun wrote: »

Maybe the last 30c was REALLY small change (1 and 2 cent coins)

Or maybe the first €15.70 was made up of not so small change such as €1, 50c and 20c coins thus by the time the OP got to €15.70 the bus driver said "ah here, come back with some less change".

craichoe

Ah haha ...

We used JJ Kavanagh last weekend from Dublin Airport to Killashee, the driver is a total psycho, he had a knock with another car on the way down too. Although he did drop us off outside our B&B which was sound.

Pain in the ar*e though for you man

quinnray

The 15.70EUR was made up of 10EUR note, 2x2EUR, 1x1EUR, 1x50c & 2x10c
It was the last 30c that concerned him..
It was made up of a of a 5c and a bunch of 1&2c's,
which the other passengers were kind enough to contribute seeing my position.

All Legal tender..
If it happens again I'll be boarding the bus and tell him to call the cops if he has a problem.

axer

quinnray wrote: »

The 15.70EUR was made up of 10EUR note, 2x2EUR, 1x1EUR, 1x50c & 2x10c
It was the last 30c that concerned him..
It was made up of a of a 5c and a bunch of 1&2c's,
which the other passengers were kind enough to contribute seeing my position.

All Legal tender..
If it happens again I'll be boarding the bus and tell him to call the cops if he has a problem.

Once it was under 50 denominations in total it is legal tender however legal tender is only obliged to be accepted in the settlement of a debt. The driver did not have to accept the legal tender for the bus fair as you were not already in debt with the company. The bus driver did not do something illegal and actually has the right to refuse to accept the coins.

Maybe it wasn't that you were giving so many small coins but that you were looking for contributions off of other passengers at which point he may have thought - just go to the bank and take out some money ffs.

BTW - have you an Irish bank account?
If you have an Irish bank account then I don't see what the big deal is going back getting cash out instead of relying on other passengers to help pay your fare. The ATM is not far away or anything - I believe there is one in that spar shop in the multi-level carpark building. If it is the case that you have an Irish bank account then I do not see what position you were that required help/handouts from other passengers - you had cash a short walk away to pay for the fare yourself.

quinnray

Jezz, what got up your ass today..

axer wrote: »

Maybe it wasn't that you were giving so many small coins but that you were looking for contributions off of other passengers

Looking for contributions?

axer wrote: »

just go to the bank and take out some money ffs.

How do you know how many bags/children I had with me
or how much time before the bus was leaving ?

axer

quinnray wrote: »

Jezz, what got up your ass today..

No need to be like that. I'm sorry I didnt just automatically agree that this person was an ass'hole and what they did was illegal (even though it wasn't) without having the facts and looking at it from their point of view. People always do things for a reason.

quinnray wrote: »

Looking for contributions?

You said that you made up the money from contributions from other passengers i'm presuming because you didnt have enough euro cash on you?

quinnray wrote: »

How do you know how many bags/children I had with me
or how much time before the bus was leaving ?

I don't know because you didn't say. From what I read I presume you had enough time to get to an ATM and back?

quinnray

axer wrote: »

i'm presuming

axer wrote: »

I presume

Very good !

axer

quinnray wrote: »

Very good !

I can only presume if I don't have all the facts as obviously neither I nor anyone else on boards (odds are stacked against that anyway) were there so we are hearing only one side of the story. I never 100% trust one side of the story as it is usually very biased so I try to see it from the otherside too. Not sure why that seems to offend you though.

ztoical

axer wrote: »

If you have an Irish bank account then I don't see what the big deal is going back getting cash out instead of relying on other passengers to help pay your fare. The ATM is not far away or anything - I believe there is one in that spar shop in the multi-level carpark building.

not taking sides or anything but I'm a pretty frequent flyer and last couple of times I've been at Dublin airport the ATMs would only give out 50's which the bus driver wouldn't take so it was made dash around the airport trying to get change. Last time I got a can of coke in spar and had to argue with the woman to take the 50 off me - after 22+ hour travel time thats the last thing you need. heading off tomorrow put flying from Cork for the first time, will see how that works out

rom

you should be able to pay by swiping your card.

most bus drivers are ****ers cause they deal with lots of difficult people so they treat everyone like crap as a result.

craichoe

axer wrote: »

No need to be like that. I'm sorry I didnt just automatically agree that this person was an ass'hole and what they did was illegal (even though it wasn't) without having the facts and looking at it from their point of view. People always do things for a reason.

You said that you made up the money from contributions from other passengers i'm presuming because you didnt have enough euro cash on you?

I don't know because you didn't say. From what I read I presume you had enough time to get to an ATM and back?

No .. he said the other people made up what the change was, as the driver wouldn't take the money he had..

FFS man .. the driver was just being a langer .. plain and simple.. i've gotten the same guy and he is a langer.